The Rockies have been a surprisingly competitive baseball team this season, and with new leadership in place and a more modern approach to team-building, the future here at least looks mildly brighter than it has in a long time. But their trade deadline was a pretty big whiff for me.
They did well enough to get anything for the likes of Antonio Senzatela, Brenton Doyle, and Victor Vodnik, but their biggest priority at the deadline needed to be making room for a couple of interesting young outfielders having breakout seasons at Triple-A, and they completely failed there. In fact, they did the opposite, signing Mickey Moniak to a two-year extension that further complicated the medium-term path to playing time for Zac Veen and Charlie Condon.
But maybe that won't end up mattering, because the Rockies called Veen up Tuesday anyway. Veen flopped in a brief stint in the majors last season, but you may remember a story from this spring about how Veen spent the offseason getting sober and put on a reported 40 pounds of good weight after a healthy offseason. That wasn't enough to earn the Rockies' immediate trust, but then he went down to Albuquerque and had by far the best season of his career, hitting .327/.402/.635 with 24 homers and 18 steals in 100 games. Even in the inflated offensive environment, that was enough to give Veen the third-best wRC+ in the PCL.
He did that with good enough plate discipline (20% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate) and better quality of contact metrics than last season's. That wasn't enough for Veen to play his way back onto top-100 prospects lists, or anything, but we've seen plenty of players make an impact without populating top prospects lists, and the unconventional arc of Veen's career is enough reason to give him a longer look.
Yeah, but where does he play? It's a fair question, because it probably doesn't make a ton of sense for Veen to play every day and force one of Moniak, Jake McCarthy, or Cole Carrigg to the bench. The Rockies do have the DH spot to play with (Troy Johnston hasn't done enough to justify an everyday role), but they could also find some other ways to get creative with their lineup. The most realistic choice might be to move Carrigg to shortstop on something like a full-time basis, if they decide to finally pull the plug on Ezequiel Tovar. For what it's worth, I don't think that's especially likely, though even using Carrigg a couple of times a week in the infield could help clear up that playing time glut.
The point is, Veen may not be as blocked as it seems. It could get even more complicated if and when they promote Charlie Condon, but for now, I think it's worth just adding Veen in Roto leagues and hoping he plays enough to matter. There is clear upside here for Fantasy, and Coors Field will only magnify that if he can hit the ground running. There are plenty of ways for things to go wrong for Veen, but it feels reasonable to root for the positive outcomes here, given that upside.
Pre-game Lineup Card
Here's what you might have missed from CBSSports.com's MLB coverage in recent days:
Best schedules. Scott White looks ahead to every team's remaining schedule to identify who could be the best late-season stashes.
Manaea's bounce back. If you missed it yesterday, here's my recap of this weekend's action.
Power Rankings. The Dodgers sure aren't looking infallible anymore as Matt Snyder ranks all 30 teams.
Diagnosing the M's. Mike Axisa takes a look at what has gone wrong for the Mariners and whether they can turn things around.
Hitting the Wire
The top waiver-wire targets from Tuesday's action:
Brandon Young, SP, Orioles (55%) – Young bounced back nicely from a couple of rough starts, throwing six innings while allowing just one earned run against the Twins Tuesday. The four strikeouts and three walks are underwhelming in both directions, and that's kind of been the thing with Young all season even when he's been pitching well – he doesn't strike enough batters out for someone with just decent control, or he doesn't have good enough control for a below-average strikeout pitcher. But he has a 3.96 FIP to go along with his 3.33 ERA, and while I don't totally buy his success, I think he's a pretty good streaming option ahead of what looks like a two-start week with a couple of good matchups against the Rays on the way.
Edward Cabrera, SP, Cubs (46%) – Cabrera is working his way back from hamstring and adductor injuries, but the way he pitched in a rehab assignment game Tuesday might be a sign that he's ready to return and could make an impact. Pitching for Double-A Knoxville, Cabrera tossed five no-hit innings while throwing 64 pitches. He struck out seven and, notably, walked just one, and assuming his velocity was around 97-98 on average, like it was in his previous outings, I think he could be back as early as next week. It's been a disappointing season after he broke out in 2025, but Cabrera is the kind of high-upside pitcher who could get hot and help carry you to a title. It's not the most likely outcome, but it's not impossible, either.
Esteury Ruiz, OF, Marlins (18%) – It's been a pretty long time since we've had any real reason to get excited about Ruiz, but he might be worth a second look here. Or it might be a seventh look, I guess. Either way, Ruiz has been extremely productive whenever he's been in the lineup for the Marlins this season, pushing his raw power from "worst in baseball" to "just plain bad," while doing more to optimize his swing than ever before. It's a small sample size, but Ruiz's 39.8% pulled-air rate is an almost off-the-charts mark, and it could be enough to push him somewhere close to "competent" with the bat in his hands. And we know when he's on the bases, Ruiz has always been a difference maker, with 28 steals in limited opportunities this season. With Kyle Stowers put on the IL, Ruiz started in the outfield Tuesday while Griffin Conine manned first base, and if Ruiz is going to play anywhere close to every day, he's going to be a very valuable piece in Roto for his speed alone.
Sammy Natera, RP, Angels (8%) – That's two of the past three Angels' saves going to Natera, with his only appearance in between coming in the ninth inning of a tie game. That doesn't mean Natera is just the closer moving forward, but you've gotta admit, that's pretty closer-ish usage. Natera doesn't have much of a track record, but he has 42 strikeouts in 27 innings this season and sure has the looks of a high-leverage reliever right now. I'm buying in.
Three Up, Three Down
Three big performances that have players trending up, and three that have the arrow pointing in the opposite direction.
Three Up
Blake Snell hit the ground running
You can never be quite sure what version of Blake Snell you're going to get, and that feels especially true when he's coming back from multiple injuries, including elbow surgery, and has only made one start all season. That's why I was fine taking a wait-and-see approach with Snell's return from the IL Tuesday against the Royals, a move he immediately made me regret. Snell struck out the side in the first inning and ended up tossing six one-run innings while striking out 10 and walking just one, and perhaps most notably, throwing 84 pitches. It was reasonable to think the Dodgers would limit Snell in his first game back, with a stated goal of around five innings or 75 pitches, but when a guy is cruising like he was, you can be a bit more flexible. Snell's velocity looked fine and the stuff was obviously sick, and yeah, I think you're going to go ahead and get him back in your lineup next week.
Eury Perez's star turn is here
Even when he wasn't getting good results, the quality of Perez's stuff should never have been in doubt. He struggled with consistency and command in his return from Tommy John surgery last season, and he looked like the same guy to open this season, so I get why so many lost faith in him. But it's always smart to bet on talent when it is as evident as Perez's has always been, and that bet has been paying off in a big way for about three months now. After tossing seven shutout innings against the Pirates Tuesday, Perez now has a 1.82 ERA with 70 strikeouts to 16 walks in 64.1 innings over his past 11 starts despite missing a month with a hamstring injury in between. The improved control is the biggest thing elevating Perez, as he has just two starts with more than two walks in that span; he had at least three walks in four of his first 10 starts and had just one start with fewer than two. Not every ascension is permanent, and there could certainly be more rough patches in the future for a guy who is still one of the most extreme flyball pitchers in the game. But every peripheral in this stretch backs up the ace leap he has made, and it just doesn't seem reasonable to bet against Perez when it merely looks like he's finally living up to his potential.
Sean Burke isn't slowing down
At what point do we lose the concern about how sustainable Burke's breakout will prove to be? Despite his velocity continuing to be down from his breakout peak, Burke was dominant yet again Tuesday, holding the Reds to just one run over seven innings while striking out eight and walking none. He generated 20 swinging strikes, including nine on the slider and five each on the curveball, and he has generally been dominant lately, with a 1.60 ERA and 79 strikeouts to 11 walks in 62 innings over his past 10 appearances. I'll admit, if Burke's June velocity bump had held, it would be a lot easier to buy in, but the quality of his stuff doesn't look that different than it did when he was a pretty forgettable Fantasy option. When a players' breakout seems to come down to improved command and execution, it does make it a bit harder to buy into – let's not forget Burke's teammate Davis Martin putting up a 2.00 ERA and 2.32 FIP in his first 11 starts of the season despite using largely the same arsenal as last season, only to flop so badly over the next two months that his ERA is now over 4.00 for the season. Still, it doesn't seem fair to hold that against Burke, who is both younger and more talented, so my skepticism here can only go so far.
Three Down
Paul Skenes just doesn't look right at all
I just don't have a good explanation for what we're seeing from Skenes right now if the answer isn't some version of, "He just isn't 100% healthy." "Healthy" isn't a binary thing, and if you could give every pitcher truth serum, I bet most would admit they aren't 100% healthy in mid-August. That being said, most pitchers aren't bleeding velocity like Skenes is right now, as he was down to 95.7 mph in Tuesday's start against the Marlins, nearly a half-mph lower than his previous career-low average. The problem is, other than the velocity and the results when he pitches, there's no indication that Skenes is hurt. But he was pulled after just 65 pitches and after the game said this when he was asked if he was surprised to be pulled so early: "Not really. If I were the manager, I'd probably do it too. Wish I could have gone more, but it is what it is." That's all odd, especially since Skenes was actually effective in this one, limiting the Marlins to one earned run in his five innings, his best start in nearly a month. But it wasn't a great one, and I think it left us with more questions than answers moving forward. I'm probably not benching Skenes, and I'm certainly not dropping him, but I won't have any confidence in him when I start him at this point.
Kyle Harrison didn't either …
You've gotta wonder about Harrison's health too after Tuesday. In his second start back from an elbow issue, Harrison got rocked by the Padres, giving up eight runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings. That would be bad enough, but it also came with his fastball velocity down 1.7 mph from his season average, a pretty startling number for a guy recently recovered from an elbow injury. Maybe the calf cramping that ended his previous start is the explanation, which would certainly be less concerning; or maybe it's just one of those starts and it has nothing to do with his elbow. But Harrison is a pitcher who really needs a very good fastball to thrive in the majors, and his fastball just wasn't very good in this one. Given the context, I don't think you can just write this off as one bad start, though my preference would strongly be to avoid dropping him.
Shota Imanaga hit a speed bump
This was a more run-of-the-mill bad start than the other two, though it is still disappointing because it comes after a 10-start stretch where Imanaga had a 2.06 ERA. I think the biggest takeaway here is one that you should already have internalized: You can never get too comfortable with Imanaga. No matter how well he is pitching for any stretch of time, there is always the risk that he'll give at least some of it back with a bunch of homers. He's never quite as good as his best stretches might lead you to believe.
Extra Innings
Nick Lodolo gave us a new look
Lodolo has always been weird. His signature pitch has always been a breaking ball that he throws like a curveball but which acts more like a slider or maybe a sweeper – though, notably, unlike most sweepers thrown from his arm slot. That breaking ball has also played a big part in Lodolo's blister issues over the past few years, and he decided to tweak his grip on the pitch after his latest setback. He put it on display for the first time Tuesday on his return from the IL and it was … weird! Lodolo threw the pitch 1.1 mph harder (while the rest of his arsenal was down about 0.5 mph), and it moved about four inches less to the glove side. Which is to say, it played more like a slow gyro slider than it typically does, but it was still effective, generating eight of his 13 whiffs. Lodolo had no trouble missing bats in this start, but when the White Sox did make contact, they punished him, with three homers leading to four runs in four innings of work. Given the layoff and the introduction of a new pitch, Lodolo deserves some leeway for his struggles, but this start didn't exactly give me much confidence in him moving forward.
