Cincinnati

Reds

Weigel hasn’t appeared in the majors since making three relief appearances for the Brewers during the 2021 season. The 30-year-old righty is back in affiliated ball following a solid 39-appearance stretch this year for Saraperos de Saltillo in the independent Mexican League. He’s merely emergency organizational relief depth at this juncture of his career.

Burns was considered one of the top prep prospects in the 2021 draft but chose to go the college route, and after two solid seasons at Tennessee, he blossomed at Wake Forest in his junior campaign with a 2.70 ERA and a whopping 191 strikeouts over 100 2/3 innings in his 16 starts. His arsenal is impressive; starting with a fastball that can get up to 102 mph and quite often finishing with a wipeout slider that might be the best pitch of any player in the class. Between those two pitches is an above-average change and a quality curve, and while he’s not a control artist, he should throw enough strikes to be a starter. Burns has a nice combination of floor and ceiling, and it’s not hard to see him becoming a fantasy ace someday.

It’s Hinds’ first hitless appearance since being called up on July 8th. While Hinds’ start has been nothing short of spectacular, it should be noted that he was hitting just .216 in 77 games at Triple-A this season with a 38.4 percent strikeout rate. He also had a 33 percent strikeout rate in 109 games at Double-A last season and is a career .244 hitter in the minor leagues. He can certainly be added in fantasy leagues due to his performance so far with the Reds, but there’s not a lot that suggests he will produce at a level that will keep him in the Reds’ lineup long-term.

Lodolo got ahead of hitters often, starting 15 of the 19 batters he faced with a first-pitch strike; however, he struggled to put people away. He did strike out four on the day, but he also had just a 49 percent zone rate overall and had a hard time locating anything other than his fastball. He’ll carry a 3.33 ERA into a start against the Nationals on Sunday after the All-Star break. If he can recapture his command, he should have a solid second half of the season.

Fairchild was placed on the injured list retroactive to July 7 with a spine disc injury. The 28-year-old could end up missing another day or two if there are setbacks, but he should return to the outfield rotation well become the end of July.

India was removed from Saturday’s game with a contusion in his left knee, but the second baseman is feeling well enough to make a final start before the All-Star break.

Collier kicked off the scoring by smashing a gargantuan 409-foot blast to right-center field off Angels prospect Caden Dana in the third inning at Globe Life Field. It was his lone hit in a pair of at-bats in the prospect showcase, but it helped lead the National League to a commanding 6-1 win over the American League. The 19-year-old former first-round pick from the 2022 MLB Draft got off to a sizzling-hot start this season with 13 homers in 78 games for High-A Dayton in the pitcher-friendly Midwest League and showcased his big-time power potential in this one.

De La Cruz hit one of the six homers the Reds picked up against Miami on Saturday, with his solo blast to tie the game at 3-3 in the third inning. The 22-year-old wunderkind has homered 16 times to go with his whopping 46 stolen bases and 41 RBI over 357 at-bats.

Holy moly. Hinds has been spectacular since being promoted to Cincinnati, with five homers in his six games and a slash of .500/.542/1.409 over 24 at-bats. The 23-year-old took Edward Cabrera deep in the third for a solo shot, and then he obliterated a 454-foot blast to extend the Cincinnati lead to 9-6. There’s absolutely regression coming in large part because no MLB player can stay this hot, but this is very fun, and Hinds deserves your attention.

Neither starter was able to get out of the fourth inning in this one, as Edward Cabrera was also pulled early after allowing seven runs (six earned) in his outing. The good news for Abbott is that since Cabrera was worse, it’s a no-decision instead of a loss. Abbott ends his first half on a dour note, but he still finishes with a 3.39 ERA over his 106 1/3 innings. The metrics suggest regression is coming, but it’s hard to argue with those results.