Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk and his 10th home run of the season, a 445-foot blast into the Allegheny River, in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Rays. Cruz was batting .295 in June until a 1-for-13 stretch over his last four games, so he's back to hitting just .250 in June. For the season, the 25-year-old owns a .243/.295/.427 slashline. His OBP is so low partly because his BB% is below-average at 6.9%, but his SLG is high because, on the back of an 18.1% Barrel%, they tend to go for extra bases when he hits it. A 32.7% K% and 68.7% Contact% are going to limit his batting average, so hopefully he can keep slugging. Fantasy managers who drafted the Dominican surely were hoping for better than a 99 wRC+ season, however.

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon pitched seven innings of one-run ball in Saturday's 8-1 victory over the Mets. The 32-year-old allowed just one earned run on six hits and no walks while striking out a season-high 10 batters, picking up his fourth win of the season. It was the veteran's third straight quality start, lowering his ERA to 2.90 (3.82 FIP, 4.29 SIERA) with a 1.27 WHIP and 12.8 K-BB% on the season. We'll see how long he can keep it up as the righty owns a 3.93 career ERA, but it seems limiting the long ball has been key to his success this season as he currently sports a career-low 8.6% HR/FB%, down from 13.4% last season. Taillon will face the Giants on the road next Thursday in his next turn through the rotation.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez homered for the second straight game in Saturday's 8-1 loss to the Cubs. The home run accounted for the Mets only run of the ballgame, although Alvarez also doubled and walked in the contest. Alvarez was 2-for-14 (.143) over the first four games off the IL, but since then the 22-year-old is 10-for-19 (.526) over his last five games with two doubles, two home runs, three runs scored, and six RBI. Coming off a 2023 campaign in which he hit 25 home runs, fantasy managers would like to see this power surge keep going. So far he's also lowered his K% from 26.0% to 23.2% and upped his Contact% to 75.3%, so a final BA above last year's .209 seems plausible.

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper went 4-for-5 with his 18th home run of the season in Saturday's 12-1 rout of the Diamondbacks. Harper collected three RBI and scored twice in the contest as well. Harper now has a seven-game hit streak going, and has hit safely in 17 of his last 20 contests. The 31-year-old is having another MVP-caliber campaign, posting a .294-18-51-47-4 line with a .401 wOBA and 161 wRC+.

The New York Yankees placed outfielder/designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list on Sunday with a left-hamstring strain and recalled infielder Oswald Peraza from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a corresponding move. The move comes after Stanton had to leave Saturday's game against the Atlanta Braves in the fourth inning while injuring his left hamstring scoring from second base. Fantasy managers must keep the 34-year-old power hitter stashed in all league formats while he heals up. In the first lineup with Stanton sidelined on Sunday, Aaron Judge is serving as the DH and Trent Grisham is in center field. Even though Grisham is hitting just .113/.263/.306 on the year, he figures to be the biggest beneficiary in playing time for however long Stanton stays on the IL. In 260 at-bats this year, Stanton is hitting .246 (64-for-260) with 18 homers and 45 RBI.