1 week agoHouston Astros manager Joe Espada said on Thursday that outfielder
Kyle Tucker (shin) should play right field in Friday's series opener against the Los Angeles Angels on the road for the first time since coming off the 60-day injured list last Friday. Tucker has been serving as the team's designated hitter since returning last week and has struggled at the plate, going 2-for-11 with two RBI, two walks and four strikeouts in his first four games back. It's good news that he'll be moving back to a defensive role this weekend, as it shows he hasn't had any setbacks after recovering from a fractured shin that kept him out since early June. While the 27-year-old left-handed slugger has looked a bit rusty offensively, he still has time to be a difference-maker for both the Astros and fantasy managers down the stretch in the final few weeks of the regular season.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Brian McTaggart
1 week agoNew York Yankees left-hander
Nestor Cortes will make the start on Thursday in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium for the series opener against the division-rival Boston Red Sox. Cortes' last appearance came as a piggyback to starter
Clarke Schmidt last Saturday against the Chicago Cubs, when he went 4 1/3 shutout innings to pick up his ninth win while walking one and striking out three. His last start came on Sept. 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals, when he allowed five earned runs and nine hits in four innings. Outside of that outing, though, Cortes has a 1.86 ERA with 23 K's and only four walks in his last five outings (four starts) covering 29 innings. In his two starts against Boston this year, Cortes has allowed five earned runs on 12 hits while walking three and striking out 13 in 10 2/3 innings. The 29-year-old southpaw has pitched much better of late, but Boston ranks sixth in team OPS (.754) in 2024.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: New York Daily News - Gary Phillips
1
week
agoOakland
Athletics
outfielder
Seth
Brown,
infielder
Max
Schuemann
and
first
baseman
Ryan
Noda
are
all
out
of
the
starting
lineup
for
Thursday's
series
finale
against
the
division-rival
Houston
Astros
at
Minute
Maid
Park.
read more...
1 week agoHouston Astros second baseman
Jose Altuve (side) is not in the team's starting lineup on Thursday at Minute Maid Park for the series finale against the division-rival Oakland Athletics. Altuve's absence shouldn't come as a surprise after he was forced from Wednesday night's win over Oakland due to right-side tightness. Manager Joe Espada said after the game that he's not really concerned about Altuve's injury, with the team calling him day-to-day for now. Fantasy managers need to get the 34-year-old All-Star out of their lineups on Thursday and check back on Friday to see if he's available for the series opener in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels.
Mauricio Dubon is at the keystone and batting ninth on Thursday against A's right-hander
Mitch Spence. If Altuve misses additional time, Dubon will likely see most of the starts at second in his place for Houston.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Houston Chronicle - Matt Kawahara
1 week agoSt. Louis Cardinals rookie catcher
Pedro Pages is getting a breather on Thursday in the series finale at Busch Stadium against the division-rival Cincinnati Reds in a day game after a night contest.
Ivan Herrera is doing the catching for right-hander
Sonny Gray and will bat sixth against Reds right-hander
Jakob Junis. Pages has been splitting time behind the dish with Herrera with
Willson Contreras (finger) on the shelf due to a fractured right middle finger. In his first 57 major-league games in 2024, Pages has been respectable with the bat, slashing .244/.284/.390 with six home runs, 22 RBI and 17 runs scored in 177 trips to the plate. Herrera, meanwhile, has a much better .280 average (56-for-200), but it has come with only three long balls while adding 22 RBI and five stolen bases for the Cards. It remains to be seen if Contreras will be able to return in 2024.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: St. Louis Cardinals
1 week agoDetroit Tigers infielder/outfielder
Matt Vierling is getting a day off on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies at Comerica Park. With Vierling starting on the bench,
Zach McKinstry will start in right field for the Tigers and will bat seventh against Rockies right-hander
Ryan Feltner. McKinstry has faced Feltner three times in his career and has gone hitless. Vierling has seen regular playing time the last two seasons while in Detroit with a rebuilding franchise. In 129 games so far in 2024, he's hitting .261/.308/.438 with a .746 OPS, career-high 16 home runs, career-high 54 RBI and five steals in 513 plate appearances. He's currently riding a modest four-game hitting streak in which he's gone 5-for-14 with a double and three RBI. McKinstry brings little upside as a deep DFS sleeper near the bottom of Detroit's batting order. The 29-year-old has a .226 average with four homers, 22 RBI and 14 steals in 270 at-bats.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
1 week agoNew York Mets shortstop
Francisco Lindor smacked his 31st home run of the season in the ninth inning on Wednesday, breaking up
Bowden Francis' no-hit bid after eight hitless frames. The Mets would go on to score six runs in the ninth and win the ballgame 6-2 over the Blue Jays. With the home run, the switch-hitter is just 2-for-18 (.111) over his last five games but is having an MVP-worthy season with a .268-31-85-102-27 line along with a .358 wOBA and 135 wRC+. The 30-year-old will look to finish strong and reward fantasy managers with a Top-10 finish amongst all offensive players.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 week agoPhiladelphia Phillies outfielder
Nick Castellanos went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run, a walk, was hit by a pitch, and scored twice in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Rays. It was the 20th home run of the season for the 32-year-old and the two RBI brought him to 80 on the year. The HBP comes a day after Castellanos was plunked in Tuesday's game leading to both benches clearing and Rays pitcher
Edwin Uceta being suspended two games. For the season, Castellanos owns a solid .245-20-80-69-5 line with a .311 wOBA and 99 wRC+. It's somewhat of a down year for the veteran after the stats he put up last season, although he's increased his contact rate by more than six percent year-over-year and drastically cut down on his strikeout rate, so he could still finish strong.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 week agoNew York Yankees outfielder
Juan Soto hit a go-ahead two-run home run in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Royals in a 1-for-5 day at the plate. The blast came in the sixth inning of a tight 1-0 ballgame and in a tough matchup against All-Star left-hander
Cole Ragans, sending Yankee Stadium into a frenzy. Soto is in the midst of another fantastic season, although the home run comes during an uncharacteristic cold spell for the superstar, having gone 3-for-21 (.143) over the last six games with eight strikeouts. For the year, the 4x All-Star owns a robust .289-39-100-115-5 line with more walks (117) than strikeouts (105), leading to an elite .418 OBP.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 week agoNew York Yankees third baseman
Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 1-for-4 at the plate in Wednesday's 4-3 extra-innings win over the Royals. The lone hit came in the bottom of the 11th inning when the left-handed hitter shot a ball to the left side of the infield, but with speedy
Jon Berti running from third, Royals shortstop
Bobby Witt Jr. rushed his throw and the inaccurate attempt at home allowed Berti to score, resulting in a wild walk-off win for the Yankees. The 26-year-old has hit well overall between Miami and New York, but is just 4-for-27 (.148) over his last seven games and his last home run came back on August 28. Perhaps the electricity from the walk-off win will ignite a hot streak for the multi-category contributor, who has authored a .261-22-66-69-35 line on the season with a .332 wOBA and 112 wRC+.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 week agoBoston Red Sox outfielder
Tyler O'Neill logged his only hit of the ball game when it mattered most, blasting a three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, securing a 5-3 win over the Orioles on Wednesday in walk-off fashion. The Orioles had taken a one-run lead in the top of the 10th and the Red Sox were down to their final two outs before O'Neill walked to the plate. It was the 29-year-old's fifth home run in his last five games and 30th of the season in 372 at-bats. That's a 44-homer pace if he could muster even 550 at-bats, but staying on the field has kept him from reaching his ceiling on a seemingly annual basis. Even still, the slugger has a .258/.349/.546 slashline with a .377 wOBA and 142 wRC+ on the season and will look to finish the campaign strong and healthy.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 week agoMinnesota Twins outfielder
Matt Wallner homered for the second straight game in Wednesday's 6-4 win over the Angels. It was his only hit of the day, going 1-for-4 at the plate, but it was his 13th home run of the season in just 184 at-bats and he's slashing .289/.396/.623 since his return from the minors in July. He also bashed 19 home runs at Triple-A, giving him 32 home runs on the season overall, but the problem is that the left-handed hitter doesn't play much against left-handed pitching which makes him frustrating for season-long fantasy. Nevertheless, with a 20.0% barrel rate, there are surely more to come before the season is out, so managers in need of pop during the fantasy playoffs could consider him and he's usually going to be in play against right-handed pitching for DFS.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
2 weeks agoHouston Astros outfielder
Chas McCormick (hand) will land on the 10-day injured list after being diagnosed with a fractured right hand, according to manager Joe Espada. McCormick suffered the hand injured when he crashed into the outfield wall during Tuesday's game against the division-rival Oakland Athletics. With only several weeks left in the 2024 regular season, the 29-year-old will miss the rest of September and can only hope he can recover in time if the Astros make a deep run in the playoffs.
Ben Gamel and
Jason Heyward stand to benefit the most, especially as the Astros ease
Kyle Tucker back in at DH following a lengthy IL stint. McCormick is having his worst big-league season, slashing only .211/.271/.306 with five homers, 27 RBI and eight steals in a career-low 94 games as a bench outfielder for Houston in 2024.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Athletic - Chandler Rome
2 weeks agoHouston Astros second baseman
Jose Altuve (side) left Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the division-rival Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park early after he appeared to be in pain after taking a swing in the fifth inning. Altuve stayed in the game, bunted foul with two strikes to end his at-bat and then immediately went into the team's clubhouse. He was replaced at second by
Mauricio Dubon. The All-Star second baseman is getting treatment on his right side, and manager Joe Espada said he is "not really concerned" about the severity and Altuve is day-to-day. The 34-year-old went 0-for-3 with a strikeout before leaving. It's good news, but fantasy managers should expect Altuve to miss at least a game or two. The Astros finish their series against the A's on Thursday before a series opener on Friday at the Los Angeles Angels. Houston can ill-afford to lose Altuve for any stretch of time as October nears.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Houston Chronicle - Matt Kawahara
2 weeks agoThe Minnesota Twins will activate outfielder
Byron Buxton (hip) from the 10-day injured list on Friday, with outfielder
Austin Martin being optioned to Triple-A St. Paul in a corresponding move. Buxton has been on the shelf since the middle of August due to hip inflammation and had a setback that prevented him from returning sooner. Expect the Twins to ease him back into the fold in center field so that they can have him fully healthy if they clinch a playoff spot heading into October. When fully healthy, the 30-year-old oft-injured outfielder will return to everyday center field duties for the Twins. Although Buxton rarely runs these days (only six steals), he's played a big part offensively by hitting .275 (84-for-305) with 16 home runs and 49 RBI in 90 games. However, he hasn't been as good in the second half of the season before getting hurt in August.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Minneapolis Star Tribune - Phil Miller
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