CHARMED SNAKE: Gallen has worked around some loud contact of late.

Had he not arrived ahead of schedule, TAM's Jonathan Aranda might have been a September call-up. But what chances do he and others have of carving a significant role? Others covered: Hall and Kjerstad in BAL, Rafaela and Walter in BOS, Pereira in NYY, Barger in TOR.

Pete Alonso slugs home runs with a lower BA, Alex Cobb induces grounders, Spencer Steer improves his skills, Ross Stripling gives up long balls, and Ezequiel Tovar delivers a mid-teens R$.

Analyzing K% changes from the first to second half of the minor league season.

Dog days are here on the field! Bring your questions on this week, rest of season, or next year to BaseballHQ.com co-GM Brent Hershey at Monday noon ET for an hour of fantasy baseball talk.

Aaron Nola is the top rated starting pitcher for his home start versus the Giants.

Though it's been trending that way, the signing of Carson Kelly and release of Eric Haase means Jake Rogers will continue to see the bulk of the catching duties in Detroit.

Injuries have changed or are set to change the landscape of each team in the NL Central. We look at both the short-term and long-term implications of these changes.

Matt Wallner has flashed his high power ceiling at home, where both his batted ball quality and production turn elite.

We have Frelick, B. Crawford, Maikel Garcia, Stripling, Hancock, and a Fraley update. Saturday: Some big ouchies, including Nootbaar, Gorman, Vientos, Tom Murphy, Stroman, and a Bleday update. Wednesday: Thought injuries would slow in August? Think again. We have Bleday, Margot, Willson, W. Castro, Albies, and Matz. Plus, updates on Trout, Lodolo, H. Greene, and Bryant.

We're deep into the dog days of August; here's a look at this week's two-steps....