Alex Cobb (SP, TB): Cobb made his highly anticipated return from Tommy John surgery, and it was a resounding success. He tossed 84 pitches, making it through five innings and yielding two runs on four hits and one walk, striking out seven Jays. His velocity was not only back where it was before his surgery, it was actually higher than his 91.7 from when he last pitched in 2014, sitting at 92.1 and maxing out at 94.1 MPH. That's the good news. The bad news is that on his 30 changeups and 17 curveballs thrown, he got only a combined three whiffs on those pitches. He has never been a strikeout per inning pitcher, but this really does not bode well for his future K rates. You don't want to take too much away from one start of course, and he should still be a solid add in all but shallow mixed leagues, but don't be surprised if he blows up once or twice, and he probably won't go too deep into games either as the Rays keep close tabs on his pitch count. As it lines up right now, his next starts would be at the Yankees and at the Blue Jays.
Carlos Rodon (SP, CHW): Rodon turned in a quality start, his sixth in a row, against the Twins. He needed only 79 pitches to cruise through seven innings, giving up three earned runs. He only walked one but struck out only four, and that's been more of his MO in the second half; his strikeouts are down by about a batter per inning (below eight), but his walks are also down by a batter per inning, and his home run rate has been nearly cut in half as well. This makes sense when you look into his pitch deployment; his slider usage has fallen each month since peaking in May, falling from 32% down to 20%. Meanwhile, his changeup usage has risen from 4% to 20%, and in fact he threw the change more than the slider in this one, utilizing the changeup nearly a quarter of the time. He doesn't get nearly the whiffs on the change as he does on the slider, leading to a reduction in strikeouts. In time the changeup could turn into a strikeout pitch, but right now he's just going to use it to help neutralize righties, whom he's struggled mightily against this season. Overall, the development of the changeup is paramount to his success, and if it can be at least an average offering for him, he can approach the frontline potential the White Sox saw in him when they drafted him third overall in 2014. His next two starts currently line up as home matchups with the Royals and then the Indians.
Carlos Carrasco (SP, Cle): Carrasco dazzled against the Marlins, striking out 11 in 7.1 shutout innings, walking only one batter. He's had his bad moments this year and missed time with injury (as usual), but his year-to-date numbers look pretty good after this start: 10-7, 143 strikeouts in 135.1 IP, 9.51 K/9, 2.13 BB/9, 3.06 ERA. Those are the ace numbers you were hoping for at the outset of the season, but he hasn't delivered the ace caliber workload, which was the biggest question about his value on draft day. He has been fortunate this year, with a .277 BABIP facilitating his ERA, but his FIP of 3.63 regresses that to the norm and say he could backtrack over the final month. His owners can't worry about that though, and he should be started in all leagues while he's healthy. He's slated to take on the Astros at home and the White Sox on the road in his next two starts, neither of which should scare off those who are counting on him.
Miguel Sano (OF, Min): Sano continued to look absolutely lost at the dish, going 0-3 with a strikeout batting cleanup for the Twins. He was saved from a near demotion only a few weeks ago by a hot streak where he blasted five homers in eight games, but since then it's been a lot of 0-fors and essentially hot garbage. Not only has he been whiffing a ton, be he's also not drawing walks at an elite clip like he has been to this point in his career; he's got a 66:10 K:BB ratio over his last 41 games. His 35% strikeout rate is every bit as bad as it was last year as a rookie, but he's seen his walk rate dip to 11% and is now slashing .225/.273/.411 in the second half. The Twins have their work cut out for them if they're going to right this ship, but Sano is still just 23 and his light tower power isn't going anywhere any time soon. He's got the potential to be a fantasy superstar, but it might take a little longer than some expected before he makes enough contact to get there. In deeper leagues you probably have to continue to trot him out there and hope for the best, but in shallow mixed leagues you can find hot streaks to ride rather than sit through this slump, which could last through the end of the season.
Jarrod Dyson (OF, KC): Dyson swiped two bags as part of a 2-4 effort, also scoring a run. Dyson is basically known as a steals specialist in fantasy and not much else, and this year he's done little to alter that notion. He has seen some time at the top of the Royals lineup however, and on those occasions he should certainly be in consideration to be rostered in DFS. He also needs to be owned in roto leagues while he's up there and seeing pretty regular playing time, as his steal appeal (did I just coin a new phrase?) is tremendous. Since he started leading off (most games) on August 17th, he's stolen eight bases in the nine games he's started, including seven in his last five. September means you need to pull out all the stops in your race to take home the hardware, and if it's steals you need, it's looking like Dyson should get some September "run" at the top of the Royals lineup.
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