Frank is on a well-earned vacation, so this is Dan Schneier handling the newsletter this week. It wasn't the biggest night in baseball with the exception of an injury scare for one of baseball's best hitters -- but more on that below. Instead, we'll focus on getting you a jumpstart on your preparation for next week with sleeper hitters and pitchers, matchups to know and more.

Of course, as always, you can subscribe to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify.

It hasn't exactly been the cookie-cutter season Fantasy owners anticipated when they spent a first-round draft pick on Nationals OF Juan Soto, and it might have just gotten worse. Soto is dealing with knee pain and will be evaluated again on Friday, but the early reports certainly sound ominous.

According to Nationals manager Dave Martinez, Soto "felt something in his knee" while scoring a run in the ninth inning against the Phillies on Thursday. This comes after Soto had finally picked up the pace from a power standpoint since the All-Star break. The 22-year-old has had a hot bat and upped his OPS up to .927. The worry here is that with Washington already out of playoff contention and having just gone on a fire sale, there will be no rush to get Soto back in action. They're going to play this thing cautiously.

Braves SS Dansby Swanson wasn't exactly a hot commodity in drafts this past spring, but he's proving that to be a mistake. On Wednesday, Swanson went 4 for 4, stole a base and scored three runs. He followed that up on Thursday by going 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles. Swanson is now hitting .347/.385/.663 in his past 24 games with seven homers and 10 doubles. He's seeing the ball really well and generating a lot of pop. He has eight stolen bases on the season and 20 home runs. At this point, he's a must-star middle infielder.

• Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw is hoping to return "sometime in September" for Los Angeles.
• A decision on White Sox OF Luis Robert's return will come Sunday.
• Yankees C Gary Sanchez was placed on COVID IL.
• Twins 3B Josh Donaldson returned to the lineup.
• Reds OF Nick Castellanos was activated from the IL -- he went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a walk.
• Angels 1B Jared Walsh is likely to be activated soon (intercostal) strain.
• Yankees SP Luis Severino will make second rehab start Sunday.
• Giants 1B Brandon Belt returned from the IL, going 1 for 3 with an RBI while batting 7th.
• Mets SS Francisco Lindor is hitting off a tee.
• Braves C Travis d'Arnaud caught SP Ian Anderson's rehab start Thursday and will catch Huascar Ynoa and then DH Sunday (finger).
• Royals OF Andrew Benintendi (shoulder) remained out.
• The Red Sox acquired Delino Deshields Jr, sent him to AAA.
• Nico Hoerner (oblique) played catch, did some running drills
• Padres SP Dinelson Lamet (forearm) began a minor-league rehab assignment.
• Giants 3B Evan Longoria (shoulder) began a rehab assignment at AAA (out since June).
• Tigers OF Robbie Grossman left after HBP on his left elbow.
• Giants SP Kevin Gausman is on paternity leave.
• Reds RP Tejay Antone (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment soon.
• Dodgers SP Trevor Bauer's administrative leave was extended to Aug 13.

• 78% rostered: Jon Gray at HOU, at SF
• 54%: Joe Ross at NYM
• 52%: Logan Webb vs. COL
• 50%: Luis Patino at BOS, at MIN
• 34%: Ross Stripling vs. LAA, at SEA
• 73%: Cole Irvin at TEX
• 70%: Johnny Cueto vs. COL
• 56%: Zach Thompson at SD, vs. CHC
• 32%: Adrian Houser at CHC, at PIT
• 65%: Tarik Skubal at BAL

• 58% rostered: Harrison Bader @PIT3, @KC3
• 73%: Tyler O'Neill @PIT3, @KC3
• 70%: Enrique Hernandez TB3, BAL3
• 71%: Andrew Vaughn @MIN3, NYY3
• 72%: Kolten Wong @CHC4, @PIT3
• 21%: Rowdy Tellez @CHC4, @PIT3
• 69%: Cesar Hernandez @MIN3, NYY3
• 17%: Lorenzo Cain @CHC4, @PIT3
• 40%: Josh Harrison @CLE3, @TEX3
• 67%: Mike Moustakas @CLE1, @ATL3, @PHI3