And, no, it was not worth the wait, despite improved control. This year, however, Lively looks like a completely different pitcher, notwithstanding a rough outing Thursday. Overall, he’s fared quite well over his first five starts for the Tribe thanks to a sinker that’s never performed better. In fact, other than his slider, Lively is seeing better results will all his offerings, even getting positive value out of his changeup and cutter for the first time in his career. We’re not 100 per cent sold on the sustainability of his results, but you may as well add him while he’s getting it done.

For now, Bart is seeing changeups much less often this season, and that’s good because he’s never fared well against the pitch. Bart’s work behind the plate was questionable when he was in high school, but he’s made amazing progression since then to the point that if he landed a full-time gig, he could compete for some defensive hardware.

He delivered an RBI single on Thursday, giving him four RBI in two games as he had raised his BA to a respectable level (before an 0-fer on Friday) while displaying much more pop than he did during his 56-game look at this level last year. Best of all, Fernandez’s strike zone judgment is vastly improved. Could he get a look at Coors before season’s end?

He enjoyed a career season as a reserve in 2022, but last year struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness. Now, Guillorme has another chance to offer some value thanks to Albies’ toe woe, and so far, he’s delivering. Guillorme played the hero on Tuesday, spanking a two-run double to give the Braves the cushion they would need to close out the Astros. Before taking an 0-fer on Wednesday, he had hits in back to back games and if he can reverse a three-year trend of a declining walk rate, he could prove to be a useful short-term NL-only option but is unlikely to offer much in the way of power or speed.