Welcome to the final month of the MLB regular season folks. It should certainly be an exciting one, as many of us try to finish off a run to a fantasy baseball title and/or watch our favorite team fight for the postseason. We will also get to watch with anticipation as September callups offer the chance to showcase the talent of the future for all 30 organizations. Let’s get this Saturday morning started, however, by taking a look back the trades made Friday prior to the “waiver trade deadline”.
Deadline Deals
A move away from Toronto for Josh Donaldson had been widely expected and came to fruition, as the three-time All-Star was shipped to Cleveland on Friday. Donaldson has not played in an MLB game since May 28 due to injury but was in the midst of a rehab assignment with the Blue Jays’ Single-A affiliate.
Donaldson is not the only now former Blue Jay on the move, as Curtis Granderson was dealt to Milwaukee in exchange for minor-league outfielder Demi Orimoloye.
The Brewers also came to an agreement with the Nationals that will send Gio González to Milwaukee. It has been a roller-coaster season for the veteran lefty, as he worked to a stellar 2.27 ERA over his first 12 starts of the season but has struggled to a 6.78 ERA across his last 15 starts.
Reliever Ryan Madson is also departing from D.C., as he will join the Dodgers’ bullpen most likely in a setup role. The 38-year-old righty is not having anywhere close to his best season, but he has a long track record of success in the late innings and a wealth of playoff experience.
Greg Jewett made mention of this trade in yesterday’s Daily Round Up, but Andrew McCutchen was officially dealt to the Yankees for a pair of Minor League prospects Friday. McCutchen is expected to be in the Yankees’ lineup Saturday.
A Bomber is Back
Gary Sánchez is also expected to be in the Yankees lineup after spending the last week of July and all of August on the DL. Sanchez is hitting a weak .188 on the season, but he does have 14 homers through 66 games and his power has never been in question. For what it’s worth, Sanchez posted an .882 OPS with five long balls over 22 games last September.
In Case You Missed It
Indians ace Corey Kluber was in need of a strong rebound outing Friday against the Rays and came up with just that. After surrendering eight earned runs on 18 hits over his last 11.2 innings, Kluber fired 7.0 scoreless frames while giving up only two hits and two walks alongside eight strikeouts.
Asdrubal Cabrera has not been all that productive for the Phillies since being acquired from the Mets back on July 27, but he certainly delivered Friday night, launching a walkoff deep drive to center field to beat the Cubs 2-1 and pull his team to within 2.0 games of the Braves in the N.L. East race.
The winner.#RingTheBell | #BeBold pic.twitter.com/RP98E63dlw
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 1, 2018
Speaking of the Braves, Jameson Taillon held them in check Friday evening. The 26-year-old righty surrendered just two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out seven. Taillon has now put up seven straight quality starts and nine in his last 10 outings. Over that 10-start span, he has turned in a terrific 2.60 ERA and 59-to-12 K/BB ratio across 65.2 innings.
Saturday on the Hill
Like Sanchez above, Eduardo Rodríguez will be returning from an extended stay on the DL. He’ll take the hill in Chicago versus the White Sox for his first start since July 14.
Facing off with Rodriguez will be fellow southpaw Carlos Rodon who boasts a cool 1.84 ERA over nine starts (63.2 innings) since the start of July. His last time out on August 27, Rodon held the Yankees to two runs on two hits over seven innings in New York.
With all due respect to current DL resident Chris Sale , Blake Snell will have a chance to further build upon his A.L. Cy Young candidacy in Cleveland. Snell will look to become the third pitcher in the league to reach 17 wins and will head to the mound with an incredibly impressive 2.05 ERA. Following his own DL stint during the second half of July, Snell put together a ridiculous 1.04 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and 11.8 K/9 across 26.0 innings (five starts) in August. He’ll battle rookie righty Shane Bieber on Saturday evening.
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.