There may have only been four games on the Major League Baseball slate last night, but amidst the Monday Night Football showdown between Cooper Rush and the Dallas Cowboys versus Daniel Jones and the New York Giants, we saw Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz log four hits, and Atlanta’s Bryce Elder fired a complete game shutout. After a rain delay, Baltimore and Boston competed in a high-scoring affair, and the Orioles are now 3.5 games back from nabbing an American League wild card spot and a berth to the MLB playoffs. As we close the door on Monday, we’ll look ahead to Tuesday, and I’ll give you my best bet of the day, which features a likely low-scoring contest out west. Spoiler alert: I’d look at both of these pitchers for your MLB DFS lineups this evening.

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball News & Notes from Monday

Bryce Elder Twirls Complete Game Shutout

For the most part this season, Elder has been fine for Atlanta, but since being recalled from Triple-A, he’s been quite good. He logged a complete game shutout last night against Washington, and with that performance, he’s now posted a 1.50 ERA (2.12 FIP, 3.36 xFIP) through four starts (five appearances), and if we look specifically at his numbers at a starter since rejoining the club, he has a 0.65 ERA and 9.11 K/9 through 27.2 innings of work.

 

He’s utilizing his sinker more, which has helped generate ground balls, and his slider and changeup are his swing-and-miss pitches. At this point, it’s hard to ignore what Elder has done of late, and his next start should come this weekend against the Mets, or if weather has anything to do with it, he could see his next start come against Miami early next week.

 

Matt Olson Heating Up for Atlanta?

Overall in the month of September, Olson is slashing just .127/.222/.228 with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate and a 24 wRC+. However, I believe the tides are starting to turn back in Olson’s favor. He hit his 29th home run of the season last night, and his exit velocity and hard hit rate are trending up over the last couple of games.

Could it just be a good two games for Olson amidst a bad slump? Sure, but the signs are there that he’s turning it around, and if that is the case, it couldn’t be happening at a better time for the Braves as they look to make a run in October.

 

 

 


O’Neil Cruz Logs Four Hits

He may not have displayed the big time power we know that Cruz has, but hey, a 4-for-5 day with two runs scored and no strikeouts is a great day nonetheless. He’s now 6-for-9 over his last two games, and he has gone three straight games without a strikeout. For a guy with a 36.7 percent strikeout rate in 2022, a trio of games without a strikeout is an impressive feat, and it’s just the second time all season that he has put together multiple games in a row without a strikeout. 

As we look to 2023, I’m fascinated in seeing how the fantasy baseball community values O’Neil Cruz. Through 80 games, he has 17 home runs and eight stolen bases, but he also has a .225 batting average and that horrid 36.7 percent strikeout rate. He doesn’t have the best supporting cast around him, but he projects to be a guy that should routinely hit 30 home runs with 15+ stolen bases.


Aaron Judge - Milestone Watch

Back on September 20th, Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run of the year. Since that game, while he’s still put forth a .278 batting average and 176 wRC+, he has yet to hit that glorious 61st home run. It’s coming, and he’s seeing the ball well, so he’ll get there, don’t worry about that. However, the bigger watch here is whether or not Aaron Judge can win the American League Triple Crown. He obviously leads in home runs, he has a firm grasp on the RBI lead, as he is 11 RBI ahead of Cleveland’s José Ramírez, but the batting average department is where it gets interesting, as his .314 batting average is just one point ahead of both Luis Arraez and Xander Bogaerts. The last time we saw a hitter win the American League Triple Crown was back in 2012 when Miguel Cabrera won it in Detroit when he hit .330 with 44 home runs, and 139 RBI.

 

Tuesday’s Best Bet

COL @ SFG UNDER 3.5 Runs First Five Innings (-105 Bet MGM)

This game isn’t at Coors Field, and neither of these offenses scare me to put up runs against the opposition. Logan Webb has a sub-3.00 ERA at home this year, and he has a 2.20 ERA over his last six starts. On the other side, Germán Márquez has a 3.50 ERA and .209 BAA on the road this season, and he hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a road start since July 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over the last two weeks, the Giants have the 14th-best batting average against righties, while the Rockies come in at 24th, and these two teams have the eighth-worst and sixth-worst strikeout rate respectively during that span.


 

 

 

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