As if it's not enough to have to recap a whole weekend's worth of games and try to help you set your lineups for the upcoming week, we got a bunch of huge news dumped on us Sunday afternoon. That began with the shocking, but not surprising, news that Rafael Devers was being traded to the Giants.

This divorce has felt inevitable for months, since the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman without consulting with Devers first, which led to multiple standoffs between management and their purported franchise player over what his actual role would be. Ultimately, the two sides came to a detente and Devers has been one of the best hitters in the league after a cold start, but the relationship was seemingly beyond repair long before the Red Sox agreed to trade him to the Giants … 

… for basically nothing. Okay, that's an exaggeration. They got Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, and prospects James Tibbs and Jose Bello for Devers, which isn't nothing! It's just not the kind of return you expect to get for a face-of-the-francise type player unless you're viewing it as a salary dump. Which is, more or less, what this is, though as Scott White noted in his reaction column on the trade, it does give the Red Sox some clarity, both in the near and far term about how to build their team. Devers was locked into that DH spot for them, which really limited their ability to get all of their best players into the lineup at once, which has had obvious repercussions for the Fantasy appeal of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and more. 

This should make it easier for the Red Sox to get their best players on the field at once, though with the obvious caveat that their best nine players are probably worse today than they were when that nine included Rafael Devers. But the Red Sox decided it was worth having that flexibility and, potentially, a more cohesive locker room. For Devers, the move to San Francisco represents a downgrade in his home park, surely, but Devers should be good enough to overcome that. After all, he's managed to be a near-elite power hitter despite Fenway being one of the toughest parks for left-handed power. Oracle Park is tougher, but it should do too much to dampen Devers' value. 

And then, as we're all reeling from the Devers trade, the Dodgers snuck a landscape-altering bit of news out there: Shohei Ohtani is going to return to the mound on Monday! Ohtani, who hasn't pitched in a game since tearing his UCL back in September of 2023, will start Monday against the Padres. 

But we probably shouldn't expect him to be in there long. The Dodgers have been trying to figure out what to do about Ohtani's return from elbow surgery all season long because his bat is simply too valuable to ever take out of the lineup for a typical rehab assignment. So he's been pitching in simulated games and bullpens lately, and now they're going to just have him rehab on the fly, in major-league games. Against Fernando Tatis and Manny Machado and all those guys.

It's a tough ask, but they're going to ease him in. Ohtani will likely be used like an opener Monday, pitching maybe one or two innings, and I'd expect him to be used somewhat similarly in the coming weeks as he slowly builds up. What that actually looks like remains to be seen – if he comes out pitching like an ace, the Dodgers may not be able to hold him back for too long, and he could be pitching five-inning stints by July. But if Ohtani pitches more like Spencer Strider in his return from elbow surgery, we're probably going to see him worked in much more slowly.

The latter is my expectation, with Ohtani likely to see pretty limited workloads until the All-Star break. They'll give him a little more to do every time out, but I don't expect we'll see Ohtani approaching 90-100 pitches anytime before the All-Star break. The fact that Ohtani is a two-way player gives the Dodgers the flexibility to keep an extra pitcher on the roster, which should help them keep a tight leash on him.

But at some point, they're going to have to let Ohtani loose, and I'm excited to watch him try to force it. My expectations for Ohtani as a pitcher the rest of the way aren't super-high, but I do expect there to be some very, very impressive flashes as he works to figure things out. And the potential for him to emerge as a must-start pitcher again in the second half is tantalizing enough that any league that differentiates between Ohtani the pitcher and Ohtani the hitter should see him universally rostered as both. 

Sunday newsletters are already long enough without two huge breaking stories, so let's not waste any more time. Let's get those lineups set and recap the weekend: 

Here's who we're looking to add this week: 

• C: Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays (53%)
• 1B: Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Reds (56%)
  
• 2B: Jeff McNeil, Mets (38%)
• 3B: Abraham Toro, Red Sox (24%) 
• SS: Trevor Story, Red Sox (62%)
• OF: Evan Carter, Rangers (53%), Jo Adell, Angels (46%), Parker Meadows, Tigers (41%)
• SP: Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers (81%), Brayan Bello, Red Sox (39%), Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (58%)
• RP: Shelby Miller, Diamondbacks (44%),   Tommy Kahnle, Tigers (40%)

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

Best hitter matchups for Week 13

1. Yankees LAA4, BAL3
2. Nationals COL4, @LAD3
3. Astros @ATH4, @LAA3
4.  Rockies @WAS4, ARI3
5. Diamondbacks @TOR3, @COL3  

Worst hitter matchups for Week 13

1. Mets @ATL3, @PHI3
2. Marlins PHI4, ATL3
3. Guardians @SF3, @ATH3
4.  Royals @TEX3, @SD3
5. Red Sox @SEA3, @SF3  

Top sleeper hitters for Week 13

1. Addison Barger, 3B, Blue Jays (64%) ARI3, CHW3
2. Joshua Lowe, OF, Rays (74%) BAL4, DET3
3. Alejandro Kirk, C, Blue Jays (45%) ARI3, CHW3
4. Evan Carter, OF, Rangers (53%) KC3, @PIT3
5. Trent Grisham, OF, Yankees (60%) LAA4, BAL3

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 pitchers for Week 13

1. Grant Holmes, Braves (79%) at MIA
2. Shane Smith, White Sox (72%) vs. STL, at TOR
3. Matthew Liberatore, Cardinals (76%) at CHW, vs. CIN
4. Jose Soriano, Angels (50%) at NYY, vs. HOU
5. Clarke Schmidt, Yankees (79%) vs. LAA, vs. BAL

Good pitchers

Spencer Strider, Braves vs. COL: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 13 K – Now that's what we wanted to see. Strider's fastball velocity was up to 96.2 mph, up 1.4 from his previous start and his highest since before he hurt his elbow in April of 2024. Will that remain the case? Will he remain as effective when facing a more competent lineup? It's impossible to answer those questions, and I'm skeptical that the answer to either is definitely "yes." But for the first time all season, Strider looked like his pre-injury form. That's all we can ask for at this point. You could try to take advantage and look to trade him, but now you know you run the risk of being really wrong if you do. 

Nick Pivetta, Padres @ARI: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K – Pivetta entered this start scuffling a bit, and given his track record, it's not like we can just write it off as an aberration – if you zoom out far enough, the good starts look like the aberration with Pivetta. He streamlined his arsenal in this one, focusing on the four-seamer, curveball, and sweeper against a lefty-heavy lineup and it worked beautifully, though interestingly, it was the four-seamer that generated 11 of his 14 swinging strikes; the curveball and sweeper were more used for generating weak contact. I'm not sure that's a blueprint Pivetta can follow for every start, but it worked well here. 

Eury Perez, Marlins @WAS: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K – The results were better, but I'm not sure we should be particularly encouraged by this showing from Perez. He generated some weak contact, but he also didn't miss many bats, generating just four swings-and-misses – all on his four-seamer. There were 24 foul balls on 44 swings to go along with it, so it's not like hitters were comfortable in there against him. But he has struggled to finish guys off in both of his first two starts, and that's a little concerning. For now, it's just a little concerning, as Perez continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery, and patience is advised. But the hope that he would come back and be a difference-maker right away looks misguided. 

Grant Holmes, Braves vs. COL: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 15 K – It's going to be nearly impossible to find a tougher-luck loss than this one; it's just the second time in the past decade a pitcher has had 15 strikeouts and took the loss in a start. Holmes' slider was untouchable in this one, generating 16 whiffs on 28 swings, and when the Rockies did get the ball in play, they had just a 79.3 mph average exit velocity. This was about as dominant a start as I've seen this season, tempered only a little by the fact that it was the Rockies away from Coors Field. Holmes has had flashes before this, but his fastball has struggled to generate either whiffs or weak contact, and his command of his other pitches has made it hard to overcome that. But the upside is clearly pretty high. 

Brayan Bello, Red Sox vs. NYY: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K – If we're keeping it a buck, Bello has been overrated for a pretty long time in Fantasy. There haven't been but brief flashes of upside from him, and he never carries it for more than a few starts at a time, mostly because he has utterly failed to find a weapon besides his changeup. Maybe the cutter can be it. He's been working it in slowly this season, but he fully unleashed it Sunday against the Yankees, and it was excellent for him. He generated four of his 13 whiffs with it while allowing four balls in play with a 79.5 mph average exit velocity. The changeup is a great pitch and Bello's sinker dutifully generates plenty of weak contact, but that hasn't been enough so far in his career, especially against lefties. Well, the Yankees rolled a lefty-heavy lineup out there and he neutralized them. We'll see what he does to follow up on this one, but it was a promising look for a pitcher who hasn't given us much to be optimistic about this season. 

Charlie Morton, Orioles vs. LAA: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K – Morton was a disaster in April, but he's been pretty good ever since. It was easy enough to write off when he was doing it as a bulk reliever, but he's been back in the rotation for four straight starts and has a 2.70 ERA with 27 strikeouts and eight walks in 20 innings of work. It has still come with a 1.45 WHIP, which has been the issue for Morton for years and limits him to just a streaming role for Fantasy. But we couldn't even say that much about him a month ago, so we'll take the win and consider using him for an upcoming stretch against the Rays, Rangers, and Rays again (in a two-start week for the latter two). 

Mike Burrows, Pirates @CHC: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K – We're starting to see some upside from Burrows, and this one was especially promising against a very good Cubs lineup. Burrows had his changeup working unbelievably well, generating 10 whiffs on 14 swings – on just 18 pitches total! That's filthy, and it helped him overcome some loud contact. Burrows still hasn't finished the sixth inning in any start, but he has gotten there in two of his past three, with a 1.80 ERA and 20 strikeouts to three walks in 15 innings of work. Burrows was kind of overlooked when he got called up because we were waiting for Bubba Chandler to get the call instead, but Burrows had a 2.51 ERA and 31.5% strikeout rate of his own at Triple-A before the promotion and might be better than you think. 

Brandon Walter, Astros vs. MIN: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K – Walter now has two quality starts in a row and 19 strikeouts to just one walk in his first 17.2 innings of MLB work, with a 1.53 ERA. How's he doing it? Well, in this one, every pitch contributed, as he had 17 whiffs total, with at least three on each pitch type. Walter throws in the low-90s with his fastballs and is a 28-year-old non-prospect, so obviously, a big grain of salt should be applied to these results. But the combination of excellent control, high ground ball rates, and enough strikeouts has worked for him so far. 

Kumar Rocker, Rangers vs. CHW: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – I'm happy to see a good start from Rocker in the majors, but I need to see more than just one good start before I believe at this point. Rocker did expand the arsenal here, throwing both his harder cutter and his slower curveball at least 20% of the time each. But he generated a mediocre eight swinging strikes on 82 pitches and still has a 7.31 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in the majors, so again, I need to see more than just one start against one of the best matchups in the league before I recommend running out and adding him. I'd like to see him mix the slider back in because that's been his best swing-and-miss pitch.

Hunter Dobbins, Red Sox vs. NYY: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K – Dobbins is putting together a nice little run here with a 2.25 ERA over the past three starts, but with just nine strikeouts in 16 innings in that stretch, I don't really think it's worth chasing. He has some swing-and-miss potential but hasn't figured out a way to put it into games consistently enough, and I'm not sure the upside is high enough to be worth chasing here. 

Colton Gordon, Astros vs. MIN: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K – Gordon has settled in over the past two starts allowing just three runs over 11 innings of work while striking out 10 and walking just one. There is some theoretical upside here, but as bad as Gordon was in his first few starts, I need to see more before I'm looking to add him, especially with a start in Sacramento coming this weekend. 

Jacob Lopez, Athletics @KC: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K – In his minor-league career, Lopez always showed strikeout skills, but it was often muted by strikeout rates that were simply untenable, and we've seen glimpses of that in the majors. But not lately, as Lopez has just six walks in his past five starts since returning. The problem is he has also given up six homers in that stretch, leading to a couple of blowup starts and 5.08 ERA. But with 31 strikeouts in 23 innings of work, there could be something here – though it'll be hard to pitch well at home when he gives up as many fly balls as he does. Lopez might have some situational appeal in the right situations – maybe not this week at home, but maybe next week in Detroit?

Bad pitching performances 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto , Dodgers vs. SF: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 4 K – Yamamoto has looked a bit off lately, with 10 walks in his past six starts – by comparison, he had just 11 in his six starts of the season and 20 in his first 11 total. Nothing under the hood looks all that concerning, though – his velocity was around the same range it normally is and he threw 57% of his pitches in the strike zone in this one. He just couldn't generate any chases out of the zone, and while Yamamoto doesn't generally generate huge chase rates, he's typically at least average in that regard, so I'm willing to write this one off as a fluke. 

Jack Flaherty , Tigers vs. CIN: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 5 K – I'm hoping this is just a bump in the road for Flaherty, who had four quality starts in a row prior to this one. The control has been fine all season prior to this start, with the regression from 2024 mostly coming in the form of worse results on balls in play. Flaherty's fastball and slider haven't been as effective this season, leaving him extra reliant on his curveball, and while that pitch is typically up to the challenge, it might just be a bit tougher for him to command as consistently as the slider. It's been a frustrating season for Flaherty, but I remain mostly optimistic. 

Kevin Gausman , Blue Jays @PHI: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K – Gausman is still capable of starts and stretches where he looks like himself. Take May, when he had a 2.81 ERA and 33 strikeouts to just one walk in five starts. That's the kind of stuff he used to do fairly regularly. The problem now is he just can't sustain it – he's up to a 5.74 ERA with nine walks in 15.2 innings so far in June. He'll turn this around at some point, and you probably still just need to keep Gausman in your lineup and take the good with the bad. But I'm done looking at the good stretches and wondering what if he's turning the clock back. He probably isn't. 

Zac Gallen , Diamondbacks vs. SD: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K – There's a part of me that wonders if maybe Gallen has just had this coming for a while – he managed a 3.47 ERA and 3.65 ERA despite xERAs of 4.16 and 3.97 the previous two seasons. But then I see his strikeout rate down to a career-low 21.7% and his walk rate up to 10.7%, the second-highest mark of his career, and it's clear that something has gone wrong for him this season. I will note that Gallen had allowed just one run in the first six innings of this one before exiting with the bases loaded and just one out in the seventh, so this could have been a pretty good outing for him with a quicker hook. That's happened a couple of times to Gallen, but I don't think that's enough to explain why things have gone so wrong for him. I don't have a great explanation, frankly, but it's gone on for basically a full year at this point, so I do think it's time to stop considering Gallen a must-start pitcher. 

Tomoyuki Sugano , Orioles vs. LAA: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – He's starting to lose the rope. Sugano had a 2.84 ERA across nine starts that saw him go at least six innings in seven (and at least seven in four), but it never felt especially sustainable with his mediocre strikeout rates and homer propensity, and it seems to have caught up to him. Sugano has been chased in the fifth inning in consecutive starts with six earned runs allowed over his past nine innings. There will surely be useful stretches ahead, but struggling in consecutive starts against the Athletics and Angels doesn't exactly engender much confidence, does it? 

Landen Roupp, Giants @LAD: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 0 K – I wonder if starts like this are just going to be a fact of life with Roupp, who really doesn't have much he can rely on outside of his curveball. In starts where the curveball isn't working, he just may not have anything else he can reliably turn to, and it'll be pretty ugly when that happens. The good has outweighed the bad for Roupp lately, as he still has a 3.15 ERA over the past eight starts, but the strikeout rate is way down in that stretch, and it makes me think Roupp is just a fringe option at this point. 

Chris Paddack, Twins @HOU: 4 IP, 12 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – From April 6 through June 7, Paddack put together a 2.51 ERA, and while the peripherals didn't quite back it up, it's not like his 3.59 FIP in that stretch was terrible. But that's all for naught after his second giant blow-up start of the season sandwiched around those 12 really good starts he managed. Paddack now has a 4.30 ERA, a 4.40 xERA, and a 4.35 FIP for the season, which is to say I don't think the two blowups are an outlier, necessarily. He's earned his mediocre ERA, even if he's taken a weird path to get there, and we should probably expect something like that 4.30 ERA moving forward. He can be useful in the right matchups, but Paddack isn't someone you should plan on starting every week. 

Bryce Elder, Braves vs. COL: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K – I mean, who didn't see this one coming? Okay, fine, I'll admit, I thought would be useful against the Rockies, even if I thought his 12-strikeout effort in the previous start was more or less a fluke. It was, and with two upcoming matchups against the Mets on the way, I see little reason to hang on to Elder. 

Logan Gilbert will be activated to start Monday against the Red Sox, which makes him a two-start pitcher. He's coming back from an elbow injury, but his velocity was back in his last rehab start and I think you probably have to just start him in all leagues even without seeing how he looks. 

Justin Martinez will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of this season. AJ Puk was also pulled off his throwing program. It's Shelby Miller's job in Arizona's ninth inning for the foreseeable future. 

Jackson Merrill went on the 7-day concussion IL Sunday.

Tyler Mahle went on the IL with right shoulder soreness. Kumar Rocker was recalled to start in his place Sunday.

We have another prospect promotion: The Nationals are calling up third base prospect Brady House ! The 22-year-old was a first-round pick back in 2021 and was hitting .301 with 13 homers and an .865 OPS at Triple-A this season. His plate discipline hasn't been great, but he gives the Nationals a path to upside they didn't previously have at third base, and he's worth adding in deeper leagues. 

Will Vest will undergo further evaluation and testing after being removed Sunday with a right pinky finger issue. If anything happens, Tommy Kahnle is there to take over.

We had ourselves a trade on Friday: Andrew Vaughn was sent to the Brewers in exchange for Aaron Civale. Neither is likely to matter much for Fantasy at this point. 

Royce Lewis went on the IL with a left hamstring strain. He just can't stay on the field, and also hasn't been very good when on the field over the past calendar year. I'm not giving up on him entirely, but I do think it's totally fine to drop Lewis at this point if you need the roster spot. 

Hunter Greene was sent to Arizona for rehab and treatment. He's dealing with a Grade 1 groin strain and was given an epidural for his back. We don't have a specific timetable for his return at this point. 

Michael King remains stalled in his throwing progression. He's out with a pinched nerve in his shoulder and also doesn't really have a timetable to return. Just gotta keep him stashed. 

Isaac Paredes missed all three games this weekend with a hamstring strain, but he was not placed on the IL. I lean towards starting Paredes if I don't have a viable replacement in place, but I wish I was more confident in it. 

Chris Sale had his start pushed back from Sunday so that he can line up to face the Mets this week. He should make two starts this week instead. 

Luis Robert was out of the lineup Sunday due to right thumb soreness. Good excuse to get him out of your lineup this week if you can. 

Evan Carter missed Saturday with a wrist injury but then was back in the lineup Sunday.

Max Scherzer tossed 4.1 innings in a rehab start at Triple-A Friday. He allowed two runs with four strikeouts. He threw 56 pitches and is expected to need at least one more rehab start. His 57% roster rate feels fine until we actually see him back on an MLB mound. 

Shane Bieber had his rehab assignment paused after feeling discomfort in his elbow but the pain is not related to a structure issue, so hopefully a few days off will be all Bieber needs. He's still worth stashing despite the delay in his return. 

Colton Cowser missed all three games this weekend after a collision with the outfield wall Thursday.

Tyler O'Neill received an injection in his left shoulder and will pause all activity for about a week.

Brendan Donovan returned to the lineup Sunday after missing four straight with a strained left big toe.

Austin Hays will be shut down from running for a few days until pain in his foot subsides.

Giancarlo Stanton is likely to return this upcoming series against the Angels, which begins Monday. He is 47% rostered, which probably includes nearly all Roto and categories leagues, and I don't think he needs to be much more widely rostered than that until we see what Stanton looks like coming off injuries to both elbows. 

Grayson Rodriguez said he will throw off a mound this week and believes he'll be able to return sometime in the second half of the season. I expect this to be a pretty long rehab for Rodriguez and don't think he's a must-roster player at this point. 

Emmet Sheehan is expected to be activated in the upcoming week.  He's looked good on his rehab stint and has plenty of upside for someone who is only 15% rostered. If you have a roster spot to play with, he's an intriguing upside-stash candidate. 

Luis Gil is at least 10 days away from facing hitters and probably won't return until after the All-Star break.

Others who went on the IL this weekend: Kyle Freeland due to lower back stiffness and Jacob Melton with a right ankle sprain