DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting offering from the Alarm is the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters – Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.
OTHER LINKS TO BOOKMARK
ARRIETA HISTORY
Jake Arrieta tossed a no-hitter against the Dodgers. What you need to know.
He wore pajamas to his news conference.
He went 6-0 with a 0.43 ERA in August.
He has a 11-1 record, 1.07 ERA and 0.76 WHIP over his last 14 starts.
There have been 30 no-hitters the past five years. There were 28 the previous 15 years.
The Dodgers were no-hit twice in nine days. The record belongs to the 1917 White Sox who were no-hit in back-to-back games in 1917 (May 5th and 6th). They went on the win the World Series.
WHO MIGHT BE CALLED UP IN SEPTEMBER?
It’s nearly September when big league rosters expand to the point that any player on the 40-man roster can be called up. Who are some of 
those players? I will happily list a few here with one major note. A TON of the stars of tomorrow have already been called up limiting the potential impact of the September call-ups in 2015.
Mark Appel could be called up, but with all the options out of the rotation right now for the Astros it’s far from clear what path Appel would take. The first selection in the 2013 Draft, it’s been a bumpy ride for Appel as he’s tried to reach the bigs. In 23 starts this season he’s the owner of a 4.46 ERA and 1.45 WHIP, numbers that certainly don’t suggest that a call up is immanent.
Javier Baez extended his hitting streak to 16 games and seems nearly assured of being called up September first. He also has a shot to be in the lineup on a daily basis. The call up will come at a great time for the Cubs since Baez is batting .347/.383/.492 in August. He's a must add in mixed leagues for help up the middle. An elite talent is Baez.
Jose Berrios is a righty in the Twins organization. He profiles as a ¾ starter in the big leagues and at 21 years of age possesses impressive stuff. He has a 2.12 ERA and 43 strikeouts over 34 innings at Triple-A in August after a 12 strikeout game in his last outing. He’s recorded 155.2 innings of work, a career-high (he threw 139.2 innings last season). If called up he may work out of the bullpen because of those innings pitched concern. An AL-only option.
Archie Bradley was bad with the D’backs this season. He then experienced shoulder woes and when he was ready to return from that he was sent to the minors. In four outings in the minors he’s posted a 2.76 ERA with a 1.47 WHIP over 16.1 innings. Not exactly tearing it up. He’s still an elite talent, and there’s always reason to pay attention to that, but he’s just not locked in at the moment and is nothing other than an NL-only option.
Joey Gallo had a great few games with the Rangers earlier. He then went in the tank before being demoted with 43 strikeouts in 87 at-bats. Hideous. In 53 games at Triple-A this season he’s not exactly lit the world on fire batting .195 with 90 strikeouts in 200 at-bats. He’s a total mess. He’ll likely be called up and hit a few homers, but there’s not much to see here at the moment.
Tyler Glasnow, a potential star on the bump for the Pirates won’t be seeing Pittsburgh this stretch run. GM Neal Huntington flat out said it.
Aaron Judge will not be called up by the Yankees. Here is what GM Brian Cashman said. "He's not tearing it up in Triple-A right now, and I don't see anybody at Triple-A being able to solve our problem at the major-league level right now."
Steven Matz is set to make one more start before being activated by the Mets. Sounds like the Mets will slide him into the rotation to help keep the innings in check for Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard. That move will help the Mets but obviously diminish the outlook for the three hurlers individually. Matz is an NL-only option at this point.
Hector Olivera will likely be playing on a daily basis for the Braves when he's called up. He's dealt with many a physical woe this season (hamstring), but he should be good to go for September. Olivera is batting a mere .231 in 10 games at Triple-A for the Braves, so it's not like he's surging at the dish at the moment. Can take a shot in mixed leagues, but you had better be thin in the infield.
Dalton Pompey will be recalled by the Jays. He hit .193 with a terrible .601 OPS in 23 games earlier this season. In 64 games at Triple-A he’s posted a .289 average and .377 OBP while scoring 44 times and stealing 15 bases. Unfortunately he’s also been caught on the base paths seven times. Can’t see him playing every day with that loaded Jays squad so he’s an AL-only add at best.
Corey Seager is the only player the Dodgers didn’t promote or trade for this season. Shockingly. Seager is the best hitter in the minors right now and it’s likely he will be called up at some point. Will he play? That’s another story. Seager is still merely 21 years old, and his worked over 121 games this season is impressive (.292-18-71-77-4 with 101 games at Triple-A). A roadblock. I believe he’s not on the 40-man roster which means someone would have to be removed from the list in order to bring Seager up which would result in the loss of a player that (the player would be designated for assignment meaning they will be placed on waivers. If claimed by another team a deal can be worked out. If not, the player can be sent down to the minors). Seager is a hail mary at this point for 2015 production.
Blake Snell of the Rays could see some innings. Maybe. The Rays manage their young arms as well as any organization in baseball, and the fact is that they are very careful with innings with their young arms. Snell hasn’t allowed more than one run in any of his eight starts at Triple-A and over 24 outings this season he’s 14-4 with a 1.33 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 157 punchouts in 129 innings, numbers that simply leap off the page. Alas he’s at 129 innings, he threw 115.1 last season, so it remains to be seen how many pitches the Rays will let their lefty throw the rest of the way.
Robert Stephenson could be called up by the Reds. The #2 prospect in the organization is an intriguing option after going 8-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 22 starts this season. Alas, he’s been dealing with a forearm issue, but will that preclude a call up? Doesn’t sound like it. "Those are conversations I'll have with Walt [Jocketty, the Reds' general manager] when we finalize the roster of guys that are coming up," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "I just don't have the ability or the right to tell you guys who would be coming up because we haven't had that final conversation. There's a chance he could be a part of that September conversation." Price threw 136 innings last season and is at 120.1 right now. The Reds would like to build innings on his arm as well. “He needs to get those innings up to where we can say he can safely throw 185-190 innings next year and that should safely cover a six-month season." Sounds like he could be up and starting in September though he is not on the 40-man roster at the moment. An NL-only add.
Julio Urias is 19 years old. There has been talk that the Dodgers might call up his electric lefty arm to work out of the bullpen. Could still happen, but according to manager Don Mattingly even if the uber-talent is called up it won’t be early in September. Not even worth a look in NL-only at the moment.
- NOTE: Rookies have hit 149 homers in the month of August. With one day left there’s a chance August 2015 could go down as the month with the most rookie homers ever. The current record is 149 in September of 2006.
PHILLIES TURN TO YOUTH
Aaron Altherr is a 6’5”, 220 lbs outfielder who the Phillies have decided to just roll out there the rest of the way. Through his first 10 games this season he’s batting .257 with two homers, four doubles, a triple, eight RBIs and seven runs scored. That’s impressive work. Alas his big frame includes long arms and his swing can get long at times. See the 11 strikeouts in 35 at-bats. That’s danger territory when you include that he’s walked just twice with the Phils. At this point he’s pretty much all tools and a hope. He has hit .294 in 111 minor league games this season with 14 homers and 16 steals and he certainly possesses the skills to be a Michael Taylor like performer (.243-13-55-39-15 in 379 at-bats) and there’s certainly value in that.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 8 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).