With September on the horizon, prospects anxiously await a promotion to the majors to compete at the highest level and for a spot on the roster going forward. San Diego made a preemptive strike and will reportedly activate Luis Urias prior to Tuesday night’s game. Urias ranks as baseball’s 22nd best prospect and should be the Padres second baseman of the future. Through 120 games at Triple-A, Urias hit .296/.398/.447 with 83 runs, eight home runs, 45 RBI and two stolen bases. While his counting statistics do not jump off the page, Urias owns an on-base percentage of 38.1 percent for his career in the minors, something his team desperately needs.
Urias will join the Padres in the midst of a hot streak riding a 15-game hit streak and hitting .500 his last 38 at-bats with 11 runs over his last 10 games. More of a keeper league option this season and fantasy owners will track his progress the next five weeks.
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Roster Updates
No Milwaukee pitcher has recorded a complete game this season, but Zach Davies fired one in a rehab outing needing only 85 pitches to do so. Davies allowed seven hits in nine shutout innings with six strikeouts. He could rejoin the rotation shortly.
White Sox reliever Nate Jones threw off a mound on Sunday and looks to head out on a rehab stint soon. He’s still targeting a return in September to further cloud a muddled bullpen situation.
Shohei Ohtani took time off from his hot streak for a 50 pitch simulated game on Monday afternoon. He also went 2-for-5 in last night’s game with his 16th home run and three RBI. Over the last 20 games, Ohtani’s hitting .340 with nine runs, six home runs, 18 RBI and four stolen bases.
To assuage Glenn Colton and Rick Wolf, here’s a video of a Gary Sánchez home run during his game last night in the minors:
Gary Sanchez jumped all over this pitch. It’s his third home run of the season with the RailRiders. pic.twitter.com/tGQfwygsYH
— Conor Foley (@RailRidersTT) August 27, 2018
Fantasy owners anxiously await a Sanchez return to try and salvage some production the last month of the season.
More turnover in the Nationals bullpen. Kelvin Herrera will miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury and they activated Ryan Madson on Monday night to replace him. Plan accordingly.
For the first time since June 25th, Houston started George Springer , José Altuve and Carlos Correa in the same lineup last night.
Good news for Didi Gregorius after his doctor checkup, he’s progressing well. However, Aaron Judge still has not swung a bat and still not playing catch at full strength due to his fractured wrist.
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That Just Happened
Carlos Rodon stayed hot winning his fifth straight decision since the start of July limiting the Yankees to two hits, two earned runs and four walks with three strikeouts. Over his last nine outings, Rodon owns a 1.84 ERA with a 0.93 WHIP giving up only 32 hits in 63.2 innings.
Rookie Gleyber Torres joined teammate Miguel Andujar by hitting his 20th home run. They’re the eighth pair of rookie teammates with at least 20 home runs in history, first since Joey Votto and Jay Bruce in 2008 with Cincinnati.
Another rookie, Billy McKinney , formerly of the Yankees, reached base for the eighth straight game going 2-for-4 with a double. HIs first nine games with Toronto yields a .407 average with six runs, three doubles, three home runs and nine RBI.
Jonathan Villar reached base in all four plate appearances, scored two runs and stole his 20th base of the season. He’s swiped 12 in a row without being caught and has four home runs with five steals in 23 games in Baltimore. Trey Mancini doubled and hit his 19th home run with five RBI. Mancini’s homered in back-to-back games, hitting .292 in the second half with seven home runs in 35 games.
Bounce back outing for Stephen Strasburg in Philadelphia. Strasburg pitched six innings giving up five hits, two earned runs and three walks with five strikeouts en route to his seventh win of the season.
Rhys Hoskins launched his 27th home run and walked in a typical night of production. Hoskins became only the second player to hit at least 40 home runs with at least 100 walks during his first 162 games joining Aaron Judge . Both players blend of power with patience fuels their success.
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo stayed hot with three hits, two runs, two doubles and his 22nd home run with two RBI last night. He’s hitting .358 over his last 40 games with 10 home runs and 24 RBI in them.
It could be a blip, but Pedro Strop only recorded one out along with allowing a hit and a walk before being lifted in the ninth inning. After Justin Wilson yielded a hit to the only batter he faced, Jesse Chávez notched his second save since joining the Cubs. Strop’s saved eight games in the second half and nine of his last 11 chances in 23 games, but Chavez could be moving up the trust tree with Joe Maddon. Chavez has a 1.33 ERA, 24:2 K:BB and 0.79 WHIP in 15 games with Chicago. Stay tuned.
Amed Rosario tallied two hits with a run, RBI and his 16th stolen base. He’s stolen 10 in the second half and hitting .304 his last 18 games with 15 runs, three doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI.
Although the A’s lost, Matt Chapman continued his breakout in the second half hitting his 21st home run with two RBI. He leads the majors with 29 extra-base hits (15 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs) since the break. Over the last 35 games, Chapman’s scored 33 runs with 23 RBI and a .352/.419/.732 slash line.
Not to be outdone, Alex Bregman went 4-for-5 with two runs, a double, his 25th home run and four RBI to propel the Astros to a victory at home. Bregman’s reached safely in 83 of his last 85 games, leads the American League with 41 doubles and in the top seven in runs (88), RBI (83) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.919).
Both Tyler White and Marwin González sustained their recent hot production. White hit his ninth home run with four RBI and Gonzalez added three hits along with driving in one. During the second half, White’s batting .342 with 13 extra-base hits and 20 RBI in 22 games. In August, Gonzalez has been torrid with four home runs his last eight games and eight in 22 this month with a .349/.411/.698 slash.
During a Rockies loss, D.J. LeMahieu set a career high in home runs hitting his 12th , a grand slam. LeMaheiu’s hitting .362 since August 12th and hit safely in 12 of his last 14 contests.
In only his fourth game off the disabled list, Mike Trout hit his first home run since, and 31st of the year. He’s recorded multiple hits in three of these four games. To think Trout’s yet to enter his Age-26 season.
A pitcher’s duel in San Francisco with Chris Stratton getting the best of Patrick Corbin . Stratton fired eight shutout innings allowing five hits and striking out six. He’s been a different pitcher since returning from the minors. Corbin became the sixth Diamondback to reach 200 strikeouts in a season (207) in this start and struck out nine in seven innings. His only mistake, a two-run home run by Steven Duggar, the first home run yielded by Corbin since June 16th, a span of 297 hitters.
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What To Watch For
A dreamy rematch between Cy Young candidates with Max Scherzer facing Aaron Nola in Philadelphia this evening.
Tampa Bay brings its “opener” to Atlanta to oppose Julio Teherán .
Rookie match-up in Texas with Walker Buehler opposing Ariel Jurado . Look for Justin Turner and Manny Machado to stay as hot as the weather in this one.
Jacob deGrom will try to add to his Cy Young resume facing the Cubs on the road with a revitalized Cole Hamels on the mound to oppose him.
Two recycled righties on the mound in the midst of pennant chase as Edwin Jackson faces Charlie Morton .
Be sure to check back on Wednesday for a recap of the tangible fantasy action from tonight’s game on Fantasy Alarm in the Round Up. Also check back later for the latest NFL camp news to prepare for the last weekend of Fantasy Football drafts.
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Statistical Credits:
MLB.com
MiLB.com
Fangraphs.com
BaseballSavant.com
Player News
Kyren Paris hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s win for the Angels over the Blue Jays.
That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.
Jorge Soler hit a three-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Trent Grisham went 1-for-1 with a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.
Jeff Hoffman blew a save and picked up a loss Wednesday against the Angels.
Devin Williams struck out three batters with one walk and hit another in a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win against the Padres on Wednesday.
The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.
Max Fried allowed five hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Wednesday.
Fried’s excellent season continued as he set down the Padres easily besides for a mammoth solo home run by Jackson Merrill. It was no matter though, as they rarely threatened otherwise and Fried continued to find his strikeout stuff. This was his fourth outing of the year with at least seven strikeouts, a mark he only hit 10 times last season in 29 starts. Fried with a strikeout rate that’s better than league average – which is where he’s at right now – is a clear top-10 pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Mariners and Mets.