Los Angeles Angels vs. Erasmo Ramírez
Ramirez has been significantly worse on the road this year as well as significantly worse versus lefty bats. He has a 7.23 ERA on the road and is now traveling to take on a division foe. He’s allowed nine bombs in 23.2 IP on the road and his opponents have hit .330 against him. Lefties have a .319 AVG on the year, an OPS over 1.000 and a .431 wOBA. When we start talking about the Angels bats, just note how CHEAP the pieces around Trout and Ohtani are on all sites.
The Angels have some very intriguing left-handed hitters on their roster, starting with Shohei Ohtani . Ohtani has had an incredible month of September slashing .378/.452/.865 belting four home runs, four doubles and a triple. Ohtani is hitting .323 with 17 of his 19 home runs and a .457 wOBA against right-handed pitching in his rookie campaign. Three other solid options are Jose Fernandez , Kole Calhoun and Francisco Arcia -- all who hit from the left side as well. Arcia just recently had a two home run game so we know there is upside and Fernandez has two home runs and three extra-base hits over his last four outings. Calhoun, although he’s been bad lately, has the platoon advantage in this spot.
We obviously can’t talk Angels without talking Mike Trout . He’s 10-for-26 with two homers off Ramirez in the past and has a robust .459 wOBA vs. RHP on the year. Andrelton Simmons is another player I’m intrigued by here as he’s hit .325 over his last 10 games. He’s notched five multi-hit games over his last eight contests.
Primary Option(s): Mike Trout , Shohei Ohtani , Jose Fernandez , Francisco Arcia
Secondary Option(s): Kole Calhoun , Andrelton Simmons
New York Yankees vs. Sean Reid-Foley
We’ve already seen this song and dance once before and it did not go so smoothly for Reid-Foley. In 4.1 innings at Yankee Stadium, he allowed six earned runs including three home runs. The Yanks offense came alive on Friday scoring ten runs; five right off the bat in the first inning. The 23-year old for the Blue Jays has a 40-percent fly ball rate and a 2.57 HR/9, which doesn’t bode well for him here. He’s really struggled with right-handed hitters thus far and the Yanks are full of powerful righties in their lineup.
Giancarlo Stanton , Didi Gregorius and Miguel Andujar all took Reid-Foley deep when they squared off. We know Stanton has major upside every time he steps on the field despite his recent struggles. Gregorius homered for the second time in three games on Friday and has six extra-base hits and 12 RBI over his last ten games. He’s also posted an OPS over 1.000 over that span. Andujar continues to just flat out hit as he’s riding a six-game hit streak and has hit .308 over his last 10 games which has kept his average at .298 for the year.
Since Reid-Foley has struggled so mightily against right-handed hitters this year, how about four more options to choose from? Your pick from the litter, so to speak! Andrew McCutchen homered for the third time as a Yankee on Friday and has an OPS of a 1.000 in his last 10 games. Gary Sánchez had three hits on Friday which was the second time he’s done that over his last four outings, something we’ve been waiting for all year long. Gleyber Torres ’ price has dropped drastically, all the way down to 4K on DK, which would help you fit the expensive guys like Stanton and Gregorius. Finally we have Luke Voit who seemingly does nothing but notch extra-base hits and drive in runs. He’s hitting .309 with a .443 wOBA versus right-handed pitchers on the year.
Primary Option(s): Giancarlo Stanton , Didi Gregorius , Luke Voit , Miguel Andujar
Secondary Option(s): Gleyber Torres , Andrew McCutchen , Aaron Hicks
Player News
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters Monday that Marcus Stroman is still dealing with left knee issues.
It certainly doesn’t sound like Stroman is close to making it back to New York’s rotation mix at any point in the near future. The 33-year-old righty received a cortisone injection a couple weeks ago after landing on the shelf with left knee inflammation and has yet to resume throwing. It’s looking like he’ll be out until sometime around midseason.
Rangers selected the contract of RHP Dane Dunning from Triple-A Round Rock.
Dunning rejoins the Rangers’ relief mix just a couple weeks after being jettisoned from the club’s 40-man roster altogether. The 30-year-old righty failed to make Texas’ season-opening roster, but he’ll get another look in long relief after posting a pedestrian 5.40 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 21/9 K/BB ratio across 20 innings (five starts) for Triple-A Round Rock in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats.
Rangers optioned RHP Caleb Boushley to Triple-A Round Rock.
Boushley heads back to the minors after posting a serviceable 5.87 ERA across 7 2/3 innings (three appearances) for the Rangers since his call-up back on April 8.
Orioles claimed LHP Walter Pennington off waivers from the Rangers.
Pennington will head to Triple-A Norfolk as extra organizational relief depth after being claimed off release waivers from the Rangers. The 27-year-old southpaw made 16 relief appearances last year between the Rangers and Royals in his shot at the highest level.
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reports Luis Arraez (concussion) is expected to be activated for Tuesday’s series opener against the Giants.
Arraez landed on the 7-day concussion injured list last Monday following a scary on-field collision the previous night in Houston. The 28-year-old infielder dealt with concussion symptoms for a couple days last week, but has been symptom-free of late and was able to complete workouts. All signs point to him being ready to return for Tuesday’s showdown in San Diego.
Rangers released LHP Walter Pennington.
Pennington was cut loose by the Rangers after passing through waivers unclaimed following his removal from the club’s 40-man roster last week. The 27-year-old lefty made 16 relief appearances last year between the Rangers and Royals in his first taste of the big leagues. There should be some interest on the open market, but he’ll likely have to settle for a minor league contract.