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| Wednesday, September 8, 2021 |
| Let's quickly take a look at one pitcher and hitter before we get into the meat of Tuesday's action. At this point in the season, we're paying attention to matchups more than anything. While I really liked what I saw from A.J. Alexy on Monday, he's projected to face the Astros next week. I can't recommend somebody add Alexy for that start. I can, however, recommend Eric Lauer against the Tigers. Lauer has now completed back-to-back starts of at least seven innings and is tentatively projected to face-off against the Tigers next week. If you're looking for an early stream for next week, he's your guy. |
| Between the lack of production and the long IL stint, it's been a weird year for Alex Bregman. I'm here to tell you that if you held on to him, he might be ready to pay off in a big way. Bregman went 3-5 Tuesday with his first home runs since coming back. In 11 games, he's batting .357 with just three strikeouts. What's even more encouraging is that he's making a ton of hard contact and putting the ball in the air. With that short porch in left field, I foresee a strong finish for Bregman. |
| Of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. |
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| Captain Kirk is heating up! |
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| It feels like every month of the season a different catcher who wasn't originally touted as a top-10 option is heating up. This was a great season for streaming catchers! Blue Jays C Alejandro Kirk is up now and he delivered a double dong on Tuesday evening. These were his sixth and seventh home runs of the season. Tonight he got the start at DH, but he has been playing catcher lately. It was his second consecutive three-hit game. One of Tuesday's homers came against Gerrit Cole. |
| Kirk had an 11.7% strikeout rate on the year entering Tuesday. If he qualified with enough at bats, he'd have the sixth-best strikeout rate in baseball. And now he's hitting with power. Seven home runs in 124 at bats with a high hard-hit rate and exit velocity. This is somebody whose bat we were excited about in spring training but he got washed in the mix due to Toronto's catcher depth and injuries. Now, he's getting the playing time and performing up to expectations. He has a .296 xBA and a .527xSLUG -- the under the hood numbers are great. |
| He has a pretty strong profile and now it's time to add him in your league. Kirk is just 19% rostered and that needs to change fast. This is getting cheap exposure to one of the best lineups in baseball. |
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| Odorizzi continues to be a contributor |
| Astros SP Jake Odorizzi has long been a Scott White favorite and while he wasn't exactly dominant on Tuesday (five innings, five hits, two earned, zero walks, three strikeouts), he has now allowed two earned runs in four straight starts. He has also totaled 23 strikeouts over 20 2/3 innings during that span. But why is Jake noteworthy? |
| It's Fantasy Baseball playoff time and he has an incredible two-start slate coming up from a matchup standpoint. If you're in the Fantasy playoffs, you can claim Odorizzi (who is still just 68% rostered) and get matchups against the Diamondbacks at home and the Rangers on the road. |
| Scott says if he lines up for two starts, he's an excellent add. It's time to stop prioritizing the future with waiver adds and put the now first. This is an example of that. Scoop him up for next week's matchups. |
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| More news and notes |
| Gerrit Cole left Tuesday's start with hamstring tightness. Per Jon Heyman: Early word is the Yankees played it safe to get Cole out before the hamstring worsened, and the hope and even belief is that it's not too severe.The Mets revealed that Jacob deGrom had been battling a partial tear of his right UCL. General manager Sandy Alderson expressed more optimism Tuesday, noting that the issue resolved itself and the ligament is still intact.Hyun Jin Ryu apparently left Monday's start with left forearm tightness after six scoreless innings against the Yankees. There's no word yet on whether he'll make his second start later this week against the Orioles.Lucas Giolito threw Tuesday at max effort and felt no issues with his hamstring. He'll have two bullpens to throw before he's back.Lance Lynn is throwing a bullpen on Friday.There is hope that Carlos Rodón can pitch this weekend against the Red Sox. He was skipped into the rotation due to fatigue. There is currently no timeline for Tim Anderson who is on the IL with a hamstring injury. Clayton Kershaw made a rehab start at Triple-A Tuesday: 3 IP, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.Well this is a surprise: Fernando Tatis said Tuesday that he does not anticipate undergoing shoulder surgery after the season. Angels manager Joe Maddon had no update Tuesday on when or if Mike Trout might be able to return.George Springer was out of the lineup after fouling a ball off his knee Monday.Trey Mancini was out of the lineup due to oblique soreness.Tony Gonsolin could be activated Thursday or Friday. 45% rostered, add anywhere?Tyler Clippard went on the COVID IL with COVID-like symptoms yet there's no news of a positive test.Even with Spencer Howard and Dane Dunning back with the Rangers, Glenn Otto is expected to start Friday against the A's. Nick Pivetta has tested positive for COVID and went to the IL.Kwang Hyun Kim will move back to the bullpen with Jake Woodford expected to start Thursday.Keibert Ruiz has sat out three straight games with a knee injury, though he did pinch-hit Tuesday.Kyle Lewis has a bone bruise in his right knee and is being shut down for the rest of the 2021 seasonJon Gray is set to return Wednesday against the Giants. Connor Joe recently received a PRP injection. He landed on the IL over the weekend with a mild hamstring strain.Charlie Morton agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Braves, which means we'll have him in Fantasy for at least one more seasonLuis Gil will make his return to the Yankees and start Wednesday |
| League-winning SPs keep on keeping on |
| Max Fried has been dominant in the second half and that continued against the Nationals when he pitched six innings of one-run ball and allowed six hits and four walks. Fried struck out five with 12 swinging strikes on 96 pitches. He wasn't as sharp in this outing, but he now has eight straight quality starts and a 1.76 ERA with 51 strikeouts to nine walks over that 52-inning span.Blake Snell's magnificent turnaround season with the Padres continued and he pitched 13 2/3 hitless innings over his last two starts before giving up a two-run single to Jo Adell in the seventh on Tuesday. Snell still finished seven strong innings of one-hit ball allowing two earned and two walks with 11 strikeouts and 19 induced swinging strikes on 100 pitches. His past seven starts have been filthy to the tune of a 1.88 ERA and 65 strikeouts over 43 2/3 innings pitched. Logan Webb pitched his ninth straight quality start on Tuesday. It wasn't his recent dominant self, but he still went seven strong and didn't walk a single batter while allowing nine hits and three earned runs. Webb once again nearly average a strikeout per inning, topping out at six. |
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