Happy Friday, everyone! Dan Schneier here to check in after a wild first few days of the MLB postseason. We kicked things off with the classic MLB rivalry game between the Red Sox and Yankees and it left us with a sour taste in our mouths when it comes to Gerrit Cole heading into 2022 drafts. He'll still be one of the first pitchers off the board, but his second-half ERA has to get managers willing to spend early capital on him, at least a little nervous. We had a pitchers duel in Los Angeles nearly end in heartbreak for a 106-win wild-card Dodgers team before Chris Taylor blasted a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth. Then, Houston and Tampa got things started with Game 1 wins on Thursday.

We'll talk a little bit about those games more in depth below, but we also want to get to Scott White's everything you missed in September and need to know for 2022 drafts. With football season in full swing, we don't blame you for missing out on some of the most important September baseball action, but we're here to help you catch up. We'll also dive into Scott's 2021 Fantasy Baseball awards, and there are some really fun ones to unpack.

So let's dive into all the action.

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If his 2021 playoff debut is a sign of things to come, Astros SP Lance McCullers is locked in on the mound and that makes Houston a really tough out in the American League. The uber-talented but oft-injured starter shut down the White Sox and went 6 2/3 scoreless in a win over Chicago. McCullers only finished the outing with four strikeouts, but all you had to do was watch to see how dominant he was. The White Sox generated next to no hard contact during McCullers' entire outing. If this series needs a Game 4 or 5, McCullers will likely be called upon again.

We lamented for a large part of the Fantasy Baseball season about how all of the top prospect call ups (specifically the hitters) disappointed. Then came Rays SS Wander Franco. And even Franco struggled at first. But then he caught fire. And that hot streak led to the Rays batting him in the No. 2 spot for their first playoff game against the Red Sox on Thursday. And of course, Franco did not disappoint. He went 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and two smacked doubles.

Franco delivered the following slash line: .288/.347/.463 over his first 308 major league plate appearances. He reached base in 43 consecutive games between July 25 and Sept. 29. He will be one of the most popular draft picks this coming March for managers looking to hit on the next Vlad Guerrero type breakout. And it's going to probably be hard to suggest drafting him at what is almost guaranteed to be an inflated ADP.

Fantasy Baseball in September isn't always easy to keep up with if you're out of your Roto leagues and didn't make the playoffs in H2H, but there's a lot you can't afford to miss ahead of the next season. Scott White broke down the key developments in September that will impact 2022 drafts. You can find that here. He broke down the notable newcomers, concerning developments and a lot more. We'll highlight some of the key takeaways below, from Scott:

• Notable newcomer: "You may remember Phillies ground-ball specialist Ranger Suarez was beginning a successful transition to the starting rotation, but he just kept getting better the more he was stretched out, going six-plus innings his final five starts and even throwing a complete game shutout his second-to-last time out. In all, he had a 1.36 ERA, including 1.51 in 12 starts."
• Notable newcomer: "Career minor-leaguer  Frank Schwindel may have seemed destined to come down to earth, a la Yermin Mercedes, after his impossibly hot start as the Cubs  first baseman, but he ended up hitting .344 with seven homers and a .988 OPS in September compared to .344 with six homers and a 1.030 OPS in August. He'll almost certainly be a top 15 first baseman next year, crazy as it sounds."
• Notable newcomer: "Nicky Lopez went from being a black hole in the Royals lineup to everything we hoped  Nick Madrigal would be coming into the year. It started in June, but because he was batting .227 at the time, it took four months to bring his season batting average up to .300. He also had 22 steals in 23 attempts. There's no power to speak of, but Lopez would appear to have a place in Fantasy as a two-category specialist."
• Concerning development: "Clayton Kershaw , who already took two months to recover from a bum elbow, aggravated the injury in his final regular season start, only his fourth back, and was ruled out for the entire postseason. An MRI revealed no ligament damage, but in recurring cases like his, that's not always the end of it. Already no stranger to the IL, the 34-year-old Kershaw probably won't be drafted with the usual gusto next year."
• Concerning development: "There aren't a lot of details surrounding Carlos Rodon's  dramatic drop in velocity (we're talking upward of 3 mph) and infrequent use in September. Manager Tony La Russa has made reference to some physical issue, which Rodon has downplayed. The left-hander did miss a stretch in August due to shoulder fatigue but looked pretty OK in his first start back before faltering later. Or maybe falter isn't the right word. As it is, he put together a 2.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 11.0 K/9 in four September starts, short though they were. The way teams approach Rodon in free agency this offseason should give us a better idea how concerned we should be."

There's no better way to wrap up the previous season than by giving out awards. Scott White broke down all of the Fantasy Baseball awards including most valuable Fantasy hitter and pitcher. You can find all of those awards here. We'll highlight some of the most fun ones below:

And the Most Impactful Player Award goes to ... Shohehi Ohtani, DH, Angels: "Despite his mid-round price tag, he ended up being one of the top performers in both home runs and stolen bases. That is, unless you used him as a pitcher, enjoying his ace-caliber production. He may not have been the single best player in Fantasy, but if you won your league with him, he was probably the biggest reason why."

And the Most Valuable Hitter Award goes to ... Cedric Mullins, OF, Orioles: "Considered a fourth-outfielder type for a bad team, he was basically on nobody's radar coming into the year, having an ADP outside the top 400. But he dropped switch hitting in spring training and went on to become the season's only 30/30 man."

And the Most Improved Hitter Award goes to ... Tyler O'Neill, OF, Cardinals: "The real answer is Cedric Mullins, of course, but I'm trying for no repeat winners here. Both Riley and O'Neill arrived a few years back to great hype but were sidetracked by strikeout issues, raising the question whether they'd ever tap into their considerable power potential. Both this year emerged as six-win players, fringe MVP candidates and possible early-rounders for next year."

And the Most Improved Pitcher Award goes to ... Robbie Ray, SP, Blue Jays: "Here's where I'm slotting Robbie Ray, having previously written him off because of his control woes and penchant for hard contact. The latter doesn't matter so much if he's throwing strikes consistently, as he did for the first time in what was probably a Cy Young-winning season."