You know the drill: Coming back from the weekend, we've always got a ton to cover, so I don't want to bother you with a long intro. You'll get plenty of those the rest of the week. Today, let's just hop right into it, starting with what you need to set your lineups for Week 16: 

The All-Star break looms after this week, and with a few days off coming up, it might make sense to check your league's waiver wire for the likes of Xander Bogaerts or Matt McLain who have a longer timetable for their return from the IL but who could be legitimate difference-makers down the stretch of the season. The upcoming break might only be four days long, but that's four days where those players' absence won't hurt you. Every little bit helps. 

As for Week 16, it's worth knowing that the Royals and Padres are only scheduled for five games this week, so sit your fringe-ier options there. 

Here are the top players to consider adding ahead of Week 16 at each position:

• C: Ben Rice, Yankees (59%)
• 1B: Nate Lowe, Rangers (64%)
• 2B: Colt Keith, Tigers (40%)
• 3B: Jose Miranda, Twins (72%)
• SS: Brooks Lee, Twins (52%)
• OF: James Outman, Dodgers (14%), Jhonkensy Noel, Guardians (37%), Matt Wallner, Twins (5%)
• SP: Reese Olson, Tigers (70%), Drew Thorpe, White Sox (37%), Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves (46%), Andrew Heaney, Rangers (27%)
• RP: Jeff Hoffman, Phillies (36%), Yimi Garcia, Blue Jays (28%)

For more deep-league targets, plus my thoughts on each of those players and more, head here. 

Best hitter matchups for Week 16:

1. Reds COL4, MIA3
2. Nationals STL1, @NYM3, @MIL3
3. Mariners @SD2, @LAA4
4. Cubs @BAL3, @STL4
5. Astros MIA3, TEX3

Worst hitter matchups for Week 16:

1. Padres SEA2, ATL3
2. Dodgers @PHI3, @DET3
3. Athletics @BOS3, @PHI3
4. Royals @STL2, @BOS3
5. White Sox MIN3, PIT3

Top sleeper hitters for Week 16:

1. Jonathan India, 2B, Reds COL4, MIA3
2. Noelvi Marte, 3B, Reds COL4, MIA3
3. J.D. Martinez, DH, Mets @PIT1, WAS3, COL3
4. Mark Vientos, 3B, Mets @PIT1, WAS3, COL3
5. Nate Lowe, 1B, Rangfers @LAA3, @HOU3

You can check out Scott's two-start pitcher rankings here, too. He ranks every projected two-start pitcher for the upcoming week, tiering them from must-starts to "no-thanks." 

Top sleeper pitches for Week 16:

1. Gavin Williams, Guardians at DET, at TB
2. Frankie Montas, Reds vs. COL, vs. MIA
3. Christian Scott, Mets at PIT, vs. COL
4. Andrew Abbott, Reds vs. COL, vs. MIA
5. Mitchell Parker , Nationals vs. STL, at MIL

Good pitching

Tarik Skubal , Tigers @CIN: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 13 K – There was some mild grumbling about Skubal's recent run of less-than-elite production. The word "regression" may have even been thrown out in some quarters, but not in this space. There was little to be alarmed by in Skubal's underlying performance, and lo and behold, he turns in a career-high in strikeouts in this one. Skubal's changeup was on another level Sunday, generating 12 swinging strikes on 18 swings, and it remains one of the absolutely most dominant pitches in the game right now. He has a legitimate case to be the No. 1 pitcher in Fantasy right now. 

Dylan Cease, Padres vs. ARI: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K – Cease was even better than the line here. He cruised through the first six-plus innings, before issuing his first walk of the day with two outs in the seventh, followed by a 350-foot homer off the bat of Eugenio Suarez . Cease deserved those runs, but after how poorly the previous month or so had gone for him, I'm counting this as an unqualified success for Cease. His xERA is nearly a half-run lower than his actual mark at this point and he has avoided the control problems that have sunk him previously, so I remain extremely optimistic about Cease moving forward, despite a less-than-ideal final line here. 

Justin Steele, Cubs vs. LAA: 9 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K – And after all that worrying early on, Steele's ERA is now slightly better than last season's mark. In fact, Steele's ERA, WHIP, and xERA are all better than last season, mostly due to improvement in quality of contact allowed. Even if you expect some regression there, it's clear Steele was no flash in the pan last season and belongs in the second-tier ace range of the rankings alongside the likes of Max Fried. 

Hunter Greene , Reds vs. DET: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K – There have still been some bumps along the way, but I think we're seeing something close to the fully realized version of Greene we've been waiting for. Greene allowed an average exit velocity of just 79.7 mph in this one, continuing what has been the defining theme of his season: He's allowing significantly less worrisome quality of contact than ever before. Greene's expected wOBA on contact has gone from over .380 in each of his first two seasons to just .317 this season, mostly thanks to improvements with his fastball. Quality of contact improvements take a long time to stabilize for pitchers, so some regression is not unexpected, though in Greene's case, I think the addition of a splitter, even a little-used one, may help explain why hitters are having a tougher time sitting on the four-seamer. And that splitter also gives him a potential path forward if the fastball starts to regress. Inconsistency remains an issue for Greene, but I'm still mostly buying into the improvements he's made this season. 

Luis Gil , Yankees vs. BOS: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K – Now that's how you do a bounceback start. Gil surely had plenty of people considering dropping him after he allowed 16 runs in 9.2 innings over his previous three starts, so this should walk you back from the brink. Gil's velocity was up to 97.7 mph with his four-seamer in this one, which makes me wonder if the Yankees discovered some mechanical adjustments to help get Gil back on track. The key is the lack of walks, and he threw 49% of his pitches in the strike zone, up from 47.3% for the season. Gil has good enough stuff to more than thrive working in the strike zone, but the question is whether he can keep doing this consistently. I don't mind using this as an off-ramp for Gil to try to sell high again, given looming concerns about his workload, in addition to concerns about how sustainable this bounceback will prove to be. 

Kevin Gausman , Blue Jays @SEA: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K – It might frustrate you to see Gausman is still capable of starts like this, but I think you just have to accept it. There will be days when his stuff is there – his fastball velocity was notably 1.4 mph up in this one – and he can still put up performances like this when that happens, especially against a matchup like the Mariners. But, unless Friday's velocity gains stick, you shouldn't expect it every time out. He can still be a useful Fantasy option, but inconsistency will likely be the defining characteristic of Gausman's season. 

Reynaldo Lopez , Braves vs. PHI: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K – It was another solid start from Lopez, but I really think you need to be aggressively shopping him right now because his surface-level numbers drastically overstate how valuable he has actually been for Fantasy. His 1.71 ERA remains the league leader, but even with that, he was barely a top-90 player entering this start because of how much the Braves have had to limit his workload. Add in that his xERA is 4.31 – the biggest gap between expected and actual results of any pitcher – and the fact that Lopez has walked 11 over his past three starts, and I think it's safe to say it's all downhill from here. 

Tyler Anderson, Angels @CHC: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K – See now this? This is just funny. Anderson had just nine strikeouts in his previous three combined starts, while walking nine, so of course he goes out and does this. Anderson's changeup was dominant, and the Cubs just swung through his lame mid-80s fastballs and cutters enough times to rack up one of the most unlikely double-digit strikeout efforts by any pitcher this season. The good news? He gets the Mariners in his next start, so while I don't expect a repeat, I do think he could remain useful – though the bottom is going to fall out at some point. 

Michael Lorenezen, Rangers vs. TB: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 4 K – 3.21 ERA, 4.84 xERA. We saw Lorenzen put together an incredibly useful stretch last season before falling apart, and I do expect him to fall apart again this season at some point. I would be perfectly willing to drop Lorenzen for any pitcher with any amount of upside. 

Sean Manaea, Mets @PIT: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K – That does not include Manaea, who remains interesting mostly in points leagues for his RP eligibility. But he tends to max out around a strikeout per inning and doesn't have the control to overcome that for the most part. He's a decent streamer when the matchups are right, but not someone you need to keep a strong hold on. 

Dallas Keuchel, Brewers @LAD: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 0 K – I don't really have anything to add here except to say that this is a hilarious pitching line against the Dodgers of all teams. No, you should not add Dallas Keuchel in 2024. 

Bad Pitching

Pablo Lopez, Twins vs. HOU: 5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K – If you're looking for a reason to be encouraged: At least he didn't allow any homers. That's been the primary issue for Lopez this season, but the Astros singled him to death, with all eight hits coming on singles. That's not to say this was just bad luck – six of those eight singles had an xBA of at least .520 – but it's just to say that it wasn't as alarming as the worst outings of the season have been for Lopez prior to this. 

Ranger Suarez, Phillies @ATL: 5 IP, 6 H, 5, ER, 2 BB, 7 K –  Maybe the minor hand injury he suffered in early June just derailed Suarez's season, but I think the more obvious answer is we're just seeing some natural regression. Suarez has a long enough track record that we could safely assume he wasn't going to keep pitching like one of the half-dozen best pitchers in baseball, so I actually don't think there's much to take from this one. If anything, I think it reflects well on him that he bounced back nicely from a really bad first inning in this one. 

Jose Berrios, Blue Jays @SEA: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 10 K – Berrios is such a frustrating pitcher because he'll go through stretches like his April where he had a 1.19 ERA and then stretches like … well, everything since April. At the end of the year, he typically ends up with a mid-to-high-3.00s, and as long as you keep your eye on that mid-3.00s ERA (and maybe sit him when things are going especially poorly, like right now), you'll probably never be too disappointed. 

Mackenzie Gore , Nationals vs. STL: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 5 K – Gore has still taken a big step forward from last season, but it's been disappointing to watch him struggle to sustain what looked like a legitimate breakout early on. The biggest problem is the control – he walked 17 through 11 starts by the end of May but has 17 in seven starts since. He's still generating a bunch of strikeouts and whiffs, so the stuff is still impressive. But the command has regressed, and it's brought the whole profile down. There's still upside here, but Gore isn't the must-start pitcher I thought he might be emerging as. 

Cade Povich, Orioles @OAK: 1 IP, 5 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 1 K – Povich generated some hype for his Triple-A success this season, but I had my concerns when he got the call, specifically about his inability to generate chases on pitches out of the zone or whiffs on pitches in the zone, and well, that's been a huge problem for him so far. His in-zone contact rate is 86.7%, compared to the league average of 82%; his chase rate is just 22.2%, while the average is 28.4%. As long as that remains the case, Povich just isn't going to miss enough bats to be a viable major-league starter. He might not be long for Baltimore's rotation and doesn't need to be on your roster anyway. 

Davidjohn Herz, Nationals vs. STL: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – Hertz is one of just six pitchers with two starts of at least 10 strikeouts and zero walks this season. The others are Tyler Glasnow, Tarik Skubal, Bailey Ober, Zac Gallen, and Garrett Crochet . I just find that kind of funny, because Herz now has a 5.17 ERA through his first seven starts. I think he's probably better than that, but he needs to give us more than those two starts to justify keeping him around. 

Hitters

Will Smith, C, Dodgers – Smith was slowing down a bit in June, but he closed the month out with three hits and three RBI in the final game of the month, and then he homered four times in his first five July games, including three Friday. He's on pace for career-best numbers in a down year for offense and is the third member of the big three at the catcher position for Fantasy. Outside of that trio, I'm not sure anyone is really a difference-maker. 

Wyatt Langford, OF, Rangers – Langford finally started hitting in June, and after going 4 for 5 Sunday is now hitting .322 since June 1. There hasn't been as much power as we hoped for – just three homers in that span, and his quality of contact took a hit in June – but he's elevating the ball more consistently while making more contact, so I can't nit-pick too much. I still think he'll be a difference-maker when it all clicks. 

James Wood, OF, Nationals – Wood has looked just a bit late so far, and pretty much everything he has hit has been on the ground and to the pull side. Big given his size and swing, the fact that he has only struck out seven times in 31 plate appearances has to count as a big win so far. He hit his first career homer Saturday, and his 96.9 mph average exit velocity would rank ahead of Aaron Judge if he qualified. Some stuff to work on, for sure, but a lot to get excited about in the early going, too. 

Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pirates – Reynolds is another hitter who has just been locked in since the start of June. He has nine of his 16 homers since the start of June, including three over the past four games, and he's hitting .336 since June 1 as well. It has his overall numbers right around where we generally expect them to be, which is just another reminder not to overreact to slow starts from established stars. 

Nolan Arenado, 3B, Cardinals – Arenado still doesn't quite look like himself, but we got some signs of life this weekend, with eight hits in three games against the Nationals. Only one of those hits was for extra bases, and Arenado still has by far the worst quality of contact metrics of his career, so we're a long way from being able to say he's fixed. But I will say, I do expect better from him moving forward than we've gotten so far. 

Julio Rodriguez was removed early on Saturday with discomfort in his lower right quad. An MRI showed no structural damage but Julio was out of the lineup Sunday, making him an iffy start for this week, though I do lean toward starting him absent more information. 

Yordan Alvarez was diagnosed with a right knee contusion after getting hit by a pitch on Saturday. He was out of the lineup Sunday but manager Joe Espada seemed to downplay the injury, so I'd be willing to start him this week. 

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Bryce Harper is "in play" to be activated from the IL Tuesday. Thomson also confirmed that Kyle Schwarber will be activated on Tuesday. I would start both, but obviously Harper a bit more hesitantly. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will begin playing catch this week. He's been out since mid-June with a right rotator cuff strain.

Jared Jones was placed on the IL with a Grade 2 right lat strain. He's going to be shut down for two weeks and will likely miss the rest of July, at least. 

Devin Williams is scheduled to throw live batting practice Tuesday at American Family Field. It sounds like they're expecting him back in late July, and he's worth stashing anywhere you need saves. 

Blake Snell is likely to start Tuesday against the Blue Jays. It would give him two starts this week, but I think I need to see Snell succeed at the MLB level before I trust him with how this season has gone. But I do expect Snell to be a difference maker at some point this season. 

The Tigers list Jack Flaherty as their scheduled starter Thursday against the Guardians. He's been dealing with his back injury off and on for a while and I would prefer to sit him if I can – though in one league, I am starting him ahead of Snell. 

Jose Altuve left Friday's game after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand. He sat out Saturday but was back in the lineup Sunday.

Ketel Marte left Friday's game due to lower-back tightness. He was out of the lineup Saturday and Sunday, but I'm starting him this week unless we find out more information Monday. 

Luis Rengifo was placed on the IL with right wrist inflammation. Keston Hiura had his contract selected by the Angels. Hiura was mashing in the minors, hitting .270 with 18 HR, .882 OPS, but with a 29% K rate. I would only add him in AL-only leagues at this point. 

Pirates GM Ben Cherington said Sunday that he anticipates David Bednar reporting to Triple-A this week to begin a rehab assignment. He's on the IL with a left oblique strain, but could be back by next week. 

Here's a name we haven't heard in a while: Matt McLain has been cleared for baseball activities. He had shoulder surgery in March and should be back some time in August. He is 46% rostered and should be stashed if you have an IL spot to play with. 

Max Muncy has been shut down from swinging a bat. He's been out since mid-May with a right oblique strain and doesn't seem like he's at all close to returning right now. 

Gleyber Torres left Friday's game with groin tightness and was out of the lineup Saturday and Sunday. He's an easy sit for this week. 

Lars Nootbaar has finished his rehab assignment at Triple-A and could rejoin the Cardinals as soon as Monday. He's 36% rostered and is worth adding in five-outfielder leagues, though I do wonder if he's going to play every day in a somewhat crowded Cardinals outfield. 

Tommy Edman is on track to begin his minor-league rehab assignment at Double-A on Tuesday. He's been out all season after having surgery on his right wrist.

The Tigers recalled Parker Meadows who was hitting really well in the minors.

He had an immediate impact, going 1 for 4 with a homer Friday, 2 for 4 Saturday, and then stole a bag Sunday before he was removed from the game with a right hamstring injury It sounds like he's likely to go on the IL, which is frustrating because he absolutely would have been a waiver-wire target this week if not. 

Yu Darvish was transferred from the IL to the restricted list as he deals with a personal matter. He's been out since early June due to a groin strain and right elbow inflammation.

Brandon Pfaadt exited his start early on Saturday after getting hit in the ankle by a comebacker. Pfaadt is expected to make his next start.

Eduardo Rodriguez's MRI came back clean Saturday, and he's expected to throw a bullpen soon. He's a relatively low-priority stash, but if you have the roster space to play with, go for it. 

Jason Heyward was put on the IL with a left knee contusion. James Outman was recalled. Outman was hitting well in the minors: .279 with 9 HR, 7 SB, .924 OPS in 38 games at Triple-A.

The Braves signed Eddie Rosario to a minor-league contract. He could matter in deeper leagues later this season.

Nick Senzel was designated for assignment by the Nationals. Trey Lipscomb was recalled.  Lipscomb has 10 steals in 39 games and could be worth adding in deeper categories leagues. 

The Guardians optioned Logan Allen to Triple-A on Sunday. He's struggled to a 5.67 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP this season

PROSPECT NOTES

The Diamondbacks are expected to call up pitching prospect Yilber Diaz to start Monday against the Braves. In 15 starts between Double-A and Triple-A this year he has a 4.03 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and 105 K over 76 IP, notably in very hitter friendly environments. He's one to watch in his debut for sure. 

The Dodgers promoted one of their top pitching prospects Justin Wrobleski to start Sunday. He pitched okay overall but allowed two homers en route to four runs in five innings before being sent back to Triple-A. I think he's kind of interesting, but probably only in NL-only leagues until he gets recalled and shows us something more.