Philadelphia placed a waiver claim on Justin Bour and then traded a minor league pitcher to add him to the roster. On the surface, it seems like a sideways move since they signed Carlos Santana in the off-season. But, Bour carries some big numbers against the Braves, who the Phillies will face seven times the last 11 games of the season. Bour’s hit a combined .328489/.746 against the present Braves staff with eight home runs and 22 RBI in 90 plate appearances (67 at-bats).
Plus, Santana’s only slashing .209/.362/.387 against right handed pitching this year but hitting .241 against southpaws with five home runs in 116 at-bats. Bour’s line against right-handed pitchers of .241/.360/.475 with 17 home runs in 257 at-bats (HR every 15.11). Here’s Bour’s spray chart from this season including all hits and field outs on line drives along with fly balls:
It may or not work out, but it’s refreshing to see the Phillies going for it as things tighten up in the National League East.
Night Moves
A moment of silence for Mike Trout owners. His sore wrist landed him on the disabled list. He cannot be fully backdated, so Trout can return on August 16th if healthy enough to return. Plan accordingly.
Carlos Correa owners can move him back to the active lineup. He’s been reactivated and will hit third tonight in Houston. He last played on June 25th for the Astros.
Adam Jones will be shifting to right field the rest of the season. Baltimore promoted Cedric Mullins from Triple-A and will play him in center field the rest of the season. Mullins missed some recent games due to illness, but produced a .288/.346/.465 slash line with 76 runs, 11 home runs, 46 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 108 games. For those seeking steals, Mullins was only caught stealing once this year at Triple-A in his 22 attempts. Danny Valencia has been designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Mullins.
Two injured players on different paths to return. Tommy Pham took batting practice this afternoon and hopes to ramp up his rehab soon. However, Aaron Judge reported he’s on track in recovery from his wrist fracture, but will not swing a bat for the next couple of days and has not set timetable for a return yet.
Miami placed Kyle Barraclough on the 10-day disabled list with lower back stiffness. They recalled Drew Rucinski and selected the contract of Rafael Ortega from Triple-A New Orleans to fill out the roster.
J.P. Crawford also returns to the Phillies and could take at-bats away from Scott Kingery going forward or be a late inning defensive replacement for Asdrubal Cabrera .
More fallout from the Brewers bullpen implosion from Thursday. Joakim Soria landed on the disabled list with a right thigh strain. A struggling bullpen loses an arm while trying to weather the storm. On a side note, Milwaukee will start their power hitting infield tonight with Jonathan Schoop at shortstop, Travis Shaw at second and Mike Moustakas at third.
It feels like a lost season for Domingo Santana , but he’s on fire at Triple-A. Santana’s .317 his last 11 games with six runs, three doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and owns a 1.055 on-base plus slugging with five homers his last 21 games.
Rotation news for the Mets. Steven Matz will throw a simulated game on Saturday and could pitch in next Thursday’s doubleheader against the Phillies. Manager Mickey Callaway also stated the Mets could move to a six-man rotation to keep Corey Oswalt around when Matz returns.
Kenley Jansen officially landed on the disabled list due to his irregular heartbeat. He could miss up to a month and potentially longer depending on how he responds to treatment. Scott Alexander notched the save Thursday night in his stead, but an interesting arm to track for saves going forward according to the team’s beat writer:
The uncertainty with Kenley Jansen should expedite Kenta Maeda's return to the bullpen after tonight's start. If Jansen misses a significant amount of time, the Dodgers can split saves between Maeda and Scott Alexander.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) August 10, 2018
That Just Happened
Just another day at the office for Kyle Hendricks . He allowed a run in first inning, his 22nd earned run in 24 starts for an 8.25 first inning ERA. Hendricks ERA the rest of his innings, a much more palatable 3.14 spanning 114.2 innings. Although he did not factor in the decision, Hendricks did turn in a quality start.
Save number nine for Pedro Strop working around his own error with a scoreless ninth inning and a strikeout. Strop’s recorded a save in each of his past six appearances and converted seven of eight save chances dating back to July 19th.
Rookie Juan Soto continues to produce going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. Through 71 games this year, Soto’s scored 50 runs with 14 home runs, 41 RBI, two stolen bases and a .309/.428/.553 slash line. More impressive, his 51 walks against 54 strikeouts.
Daniel Murphy tallied three hits in four at-bats with a double and a run scored. He’s hitting .333 in August through 33 at-bats but it’s a bit empty with only three runs, three doubles and an RBI.
What To Watch For
Turmoil in the Brewers bullpen could lead to a committee. If Milwaukee leads tonight in the ninth, look for Jeremy Jeffress or Josh Hader to get the save chance. Good news, Christian Yelich has hit .403 (50-for-124) the last 29 games with seven home runs and 25 RBI.
Same goes for the Rockies with both Seung-Hwan Oh and Wade Davis serving up home runs on Thursday. Adam Ottavino should get the next save chance, but Colorado has $50 million reasons to keep Davis as the closer in spite of his second half 13.50 ERA and 1.96 WHIP in 8.2 innings since the start of the second half.
Aaron Hicks continues to surge with a .304/.459/.609 slash line his last 14 games with four home runs and nine RBI. Giancarlo Stanton ’s also wielding a hot bat homering in three straight has hit four in 21 past at-bats against Mike Minor .
Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell makes his second start since returning from the disabled list and the team plans to stretch him out to 75 pitches in Toronto.
Kevin Gausman makes his home debut for the Braves against the Brewers. Carlos Rodon looks to stay hot in a tough match-up versus the Indians and Jacob Nix makes his major league debut for the Padres at home facing the Phillies.
Be sure to check back in the morning for Fantasy Alarm’s Round Up to stay ahead of your competition.
Statistical Credits:
MLB.com
Fangraphs.com
BaseballSavant.com
Baseball-Reference.com
MiLB.com
Player News
Tommy Edman is not in the lineup for Monday’s series opener against the Marlins.
It’s an extremely rare day off for Edman, who is hitting .243/.284/.514 with eight homers, 19 RBI and one steal through 28 games. The versatile 29-year-old has cooled off considerably after a scorching-hot start to the year, hitting .111 (3-for-27) over his last seven games. It’ll be freshly-minted NL Player of the Week, Andy Pages, in center field on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
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.