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According to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, Tanner Houck made a few changes to his weekly routine that have helped lead to his breakout season.

Advice: Houck was recently named to the All-Star team after posting a 2.68 ERA in the first half of the season. While some of that success can obviously be attributed to improved command and a better attack plan against lefties, Houck also mentioned two changes that he and pitching coach Andrew Bailey made this offseason. Houck moved his lifting day up but also moved his mid-week bullpen session up a day, according to Bailey, “Just gives them an extra 24 hours to recover, to maximize that recovery process, to really take inventory on the body and where it’s at...Being as far away removed from the highest workload event (pitching-wise) is probably the safest bet. And then that way, we can take an honest look at what can we get done today that sets us up for a competition.” Houck also mentioned that those bullpens now feature fewer pitches since his mechanics feel a lot better this year and he’s now just focused on refining during those sessions. All of those changes seem to have worked for the 28-year-old, who is emerging as a legit front-of-the-rotation arm in Boston. Rotoworld 50 minutes ago

Skubal (10-3) allowed one run on three hits over seven innings to earn the win Sunday against the Reds. He struck out 13.

Advice: Skubal was dominant once again Sunday as he recorded a new season high in strikeouts and allowed one run or fewer for the 10th time in 18 starts. The lefty now has a stellar 2.37 ERA and 132 strikeouts across 110 innings this year, which earned him his first All-Star selection on Sunday as well. Skubal has been an excellent fantasy asset, and he's set up to make one more start before the All-Star break, likely on Friday against the Dodgers. It's a tough matchup, but the Detroit ace should remain locked into lineups the rest of the way. Rotowire.com Yesterday, 4:42 pm

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday that he anticipates Bednar (oblique) reporting to Triple-A Indianapolis this week to begin a rehab assignment, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Advice: Bednar has been on the 15-day injured list since June 23 with a left oblique strain, but he's on the cusp of a return after he threw a 21-pitch live batting practice session Saturday without incident. Cherington didn't say whether Bednar would require more than one rehab appearance with Indianapolis, but with the All-Star break looming, it wouldn't be surprising if the Pirates waited until the start of their second-half schedule July 19 before activating their closer. Rotowire.com Yesterday, 1:19 pm

Tarik Skubal dazzled across seven innings with 13 strikeouts in the Tigers’ 5-1 win over the Reds on Sunday.

Advice: Skubal seems to keep getting better. He forced a season-best 23 swings-and-misses en route to his season-best 13 punch outs and the Reds’ batters were clueless for most of this game. They had a mini rally in the seventh inning, but Skubal navigated through it and maintained the lead. It’s almost an impossible task for opposing hitters to be ready for 99 MPH heat, a quality sinker, an outrageously good changeup, a 92 MPH slider, and a devastating knuckle curve that comes out for special occasions. Rotoworld Yesterday, 1:09 pm

Garcia is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rays.

Advice: According to Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, manager Bruce Bochy said that Garcia isn't dealing with an injury and is getting "more of a mental day than a physical day" as the Rangers wrap up their series with the Rays. Travis Jankowski will occupy right field in place of Garcia, who has gone hitless over 10 at-bats in his last three starts to bring his season-long batting average down to .215. Rotowire.com Yesterday, 11:32 am