Among the 12 first-round picks in ADP entering the season, five are now on the IL, with Fernando Tatis going down with a stress reaction in his upper right leg. Tatis joins Ronald Acuna (knee), Mookie Betts (hand), Kyle Tucker (shin), and Spencer Strider (elbow) on the IL – and Trea Turner only recently returned from his own extended absence recently, making it six of 12 who have or now will miss significant time so far.
At this point, we don't know exactly how long Tatis is likely to be out, especially since the team acknowledged it was an issue he was already playing through and could have continued to do so. It's possible this ends up being a relatively short trip to the IL, but it could also be something that keeps Tatis out until the All-Star break to let fully heal.
And, unfortunately, the Padres don't necessarily have anyone to step into Tatis' spot who Fantasy players can get excited about – he was replaced on the active roster Monday by Bryce Johnson, a 28-year-old who has never had more than nine homers in a minor-league season. The best we can hope for is that Tatis gets healthy soon, and if you need replacements, check out my waiver-wire column from Sunday for outfielders to consider adding.
It's been a tough season for early-round picks, and it just isn't getting any better. Tatis' absence is just the latest big name we've had to deal with, and unfortunately, it probably won't be the last.
Here's what else you need to know about from around MLB Monday:
Tuesday's top waiver targets
Spencer Schwellenbach wasn't great Monday night, in what should have been a beatable matchup against the Cardinals. He struck out six over five innings of work with no walks, but also gave up four runs on eight hits, and it wasn't just bad luck; despite allowing just five hard-hit balls, he still had six batted balls with an expected average of at least .700.
That pushes Schwellenbach's ERA to 5.40 through his first five MLB starts, with just two quality starts to his name so far. That's not great, but I'm not ready to give up on him just yet. It's really only one truly poor start, for one thing; Monday's wasn't great, again, but it wasn't terrible, and neither was his three-run-in-five-innings debut.
For another thing, while Schwellenbach's ERA is a bit inflated, his peripherals paint a different picture; he has a 3.37 FIP so far, and had a 3.62 expected ERA entering this start, too. Schwellenbach is still trying to figure out the pitch mix that works best for him, and I'm not sure his fastball/cutter-heavy approach is the best one possible – his curveball and splitter especially look like his best swing-and-miss pitches, and we'll see if he can start leaning on those more to generate more strikeouts.
I think the upside is there, and unless there's an obviously more interesting pitcher out there – and I don't think there was on Monday night, at least among widely available Fantasy options – I'm trying to hold on to him.
Heston Kjerstad, OF, Orioles (31%) – The problem with the Orioles right now is that, every time they call up an interesting prospect, it either means that interesting prospect isn't going to play much or it means someone else interesting is going to lose playing time. Kjerstad was back in the lineup Monday after being recalled, and it came at Colton Cowser's expense, to highlight the point. The question here is whether the Orioles are willing to give Kjerstad more of a look with Cowser sporting a sub-.600 OPS since the start of May. Kjerstad had a .301/.397/.601 line in Triple-A and has 26 homers in 132 career games at that level, so it's worth putting a few cheap bids in on Kjerstad in daily waivers leagues just in case he ends up usurping Cowser.
Cade Povich, SP, Orioles (36%) – I remain pretty unenthused about Povich as a Fantasy prospect, but he did make some tweaks to his sweeper in his start Monday against the Guardians, throwing it 2.1 mph harder while the rest of his arsenal looked more or less like it had before. That led to five swinging strikes with the pitch and a 42% whiff rate, a significant improvement on his 15.4% mark entering the start. Povich needed to find a way to generate more swings and misses, and this could be the path to it. I prefer Schwellenbach, but if Povich can just be decent with that offense backing him up in that park, he could be very fantasy-relevant. It's not a bad bet to make, even if I don't love the talent.
Jonathan India, 2B, Reds (53%) – India was carrying a sub-.700 OPS through the end of May, but he's showing in June that he isn't just washed up yet. Since the calendar turned, he's hitting .323/.415.500, enough to work his way back up to the top of the lineup Monday against the Pirates. India can still be a 20-homer, 15-steal guy, and if he's going to hit at or near the top of the Reds lineup, he can still be a viable starter in all Fantasy formats.
