Happy Friday, everyone! It was an especially happy Thursday night for New York Mets as they watched Jacob deGOAT -- I mean deGrom -- doing Jacob things. The hesitation that came with deGrom's debut this season after so much time off was understandable, but he's doing his best to quell all of those concerns. deGrom dominated the Rockies and racked up nine strikeouts -- his fourth straight start with nine strikeouts or more. He allowed three hits, one walk, and one earned run through six innings. 

The Mets pulled him after 87 pitches and fans are more than happy to watch the team play it safe with their ace. deGrom really ramped up his slider usage in this one with a season-high 51% of his pitches coming via the slider -- and on the season he has a 53% whiff rate on this pitch -- meaning more than half of the swings against deGrom's slider have resulted in misses. He has a 2.15 ERA with 46 strikeouts through 29 1/3 innings.

He also has a 23% swinging strike rate. To put that in perspective, Shane McClanahan leads all qualified SP with a 16.3% SwStr rate -- the difference between deGrom and McClanahan is the same difference between McClanahan and Cole Irvin (9.8%)

We'll dive into more key takeaways from Thursday's action, but first make sure you're all caught up on Scott's latest on the waiver wire. 

Most notable to me was the case Scott made for a pitcher who is rostered in just 31% of CBS leagues -- Matt Manning : "The real headliner Wednesday was Manning, a five-time top-100 prospect who had the misfortune last year of being called up at a time when he had lost his way. He had an 8.07 ERA at Triple-A, for goodness' sake. Needless to say, the transition didn't go well, and his stock plummeted. But now, all of a sudden, the stuff is showing up again. Wednesday's outing marked his fourth straight with double-digit swinging strikes, something he accomplished only twice in his first 21 career starts. Twelve of his 16 Wednesday came on the slider, which has been the key to his turnaround. When he was sidelined by a shoulder injury from April to August, he went to work on it, adding more horizontal movement. He might be worth a pickup now that his potential is showing again."

It took a while, but it's starting to feel like Lance Lynn is going to get on track for the final stretch run of the 2022 season. Lynn was his old self on Thursday night. He threw six innings and allowed just one earned run. He allowed three hits and just one walk while striking out eight (on 15 induced swinging strikes). The key change for Lynn was his decision to throw more cutters and curveballs in this one. 

Lynn has a 2.77 ERA in the month of August over five starts with 34 strikeouts through 29 2/3 innings pitched.

A few days ago, we led this newsletter with Shea Langeliers as a player you should scoop off your waiver wire. Then, Scott wrote about him. But he's still a long shot -- right? Well, Langeliers is still hitting and he collected two more hits and his second homer on Thursday. He is just 29% rostered with six games next week.

If sportsbooks gave odds on which batter would win the Triple Crown, we can assure you the player who now ultimately has the best chance to complete the unlikely feat would've been a longshot odds wise. Paul Goldschmidt is starting to look like he has a realistic chance to do this thing. He collected three more hits and two more homers on Thursday night to bring his home run total to 33 on the season. He already leads the National League with a .339 batting average, he's second in the NL with 33 homers, and he leads the NL with 105 RBI. Given where he went in drafts this past spring, he's the clear-cut Fantasy MVP.

Patrick Sandoval was already on a heater after his complete game shutout in his last outing, but he continued to find success in his start on Thursday afternoon. Sandoval threw six innings of one-run ball and allowed just five hits and one walk. He struck out five Rays batters. He has now allowed just one walk over his past two starts -- walks being the major flaw in his otherwise impressive profile. Sandoval brings his ERA down to 3.05 with 120 strikeouts through 115 innings.

Marcus Stroman was knocked around for five runs and 11 hits through just five innings on Thursday. He allowed 11 hard-hit balls and also walked two while striking out just one. His ERA is 4.35 over his past five starts.

For a complete recap of every injury, update and more, make sure you're locked into the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast where Frank, Scott and Chris dive deep into every player note. For the CliffsNotes version, we'll recap the biggest news and notes you need to know right here:

• Zack Wheeler was placed on the IL with right forearm tendinitis, retroactive to Aug. 22. Bailey Falter is expected to start Friday against the Pirates. 
• Nestor Cortes was placed on the IL with a left groin strain, retroactive to Aug. 22.
• Ryan Pressly went to the IL with neck stiffness. Rafael Montero pitched the ninth inning Wednesday in a 5-1 game and gave up two runs. Hector Neris started the ninth with a 4-0 lead and, gave up two runs. Bryan Abreu recorded the final out for the save.
• Bryce Harper will be reinstated Friday.
• Wander Franco will not resume his rehab assignment until next week at the earliest. He's been experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired right wrist. 
• Giancarlo Stanton returned and hit third in the Yankees lineup Thursday.
• Tyler Mahle has resumed throwing and is expected to toss a bullpen session Friday. He went on the IL last weekend with right shoulder inflammation.
• Kyle Tucker was not in the lineup due to a foot injury. He's day-to-day. 
• Shane Baz has been cleared to resume a throwing program Monday and remains hopeful he'll return this season. 
• Yasmani Grandal will report to Triple-A to begin a rehab assignment on Friday. 
• Cristian Javier will not make his scheduled turn through the rotation this weekend against the Orioles but will be available out of the bullpen.
• Ty France left Thursday's game with a right calf bruise. 
• David Peterson will rejoin the Mets rotation Saturday and start against the Rockies. 
• Jared Walsh is officially done for the season after going to the 60-day IL Thursday with thoracic outlet.