Adrian Beltre (3B, TEX) - Beltre suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain and is out at least four weeks. That will effectively end his season since we have now rolled into September, and because of September roster expansion the Rangers aren't likely to place him on the DL. That makes him a drop in redraft formats, which is a shame given his high level of production this season. At the ripe old age of 38, he managed to post the second highest OPS of his career at .946. That came over just 80 games however, as injuries took their toll. That's something we will have to bake into his value moving forward, considering how much production it sapped from his offensive numbers. Joey Gallo will move over to third base with Beltre gone, which opens up more playing time for speedster Delino DeShields in left field. The Rangers are also calling up retread Will Middlebrooks, who has hit 23 home runs in just 78 games with an .857 OPS for Triple-A Round Rock this season. He isn't likely to provide much fantasy consistency, however.
Joe Biagini (SP/RP, TOR) - Biagini was brilliant against the Orioles, shutting them out over seven innings with 10 strikeouts and one walk. It's safe to say no one saw a start of this caliber coming considering this was just his second straight start since transitioning back to starting from the bullpen. His last time out he allowed five runs over just 3.2 innings, so the fact that he tossed 103 pitches over seven innings is unexpected. He has bounced back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen all year, and showed earlier that he can be a decent starter over a stretch of time. He has a solid four pitch mix (FB/CH/CB/CT) that should allow him to start, and with a solid 3.09 BB/9 and 58% ground ball rate there are some reasons for the Jays to let him give it another shot down the stretch. While his ERA is 5.01 his FIP is 3.76 thanks in part to an extremely low 62.5% strand rate, so there is upside here for a look in deeper mixed leagues.
Kevin Gausman (SP, BAL) - Gausman has been one of the more vexing starting pitchers in all of fantasy for the past few years. Just this season alone he was considered a sleeper coming into the year, then an easy drop after a 5.85 first half ERA, then once again a man of intrigue coming into this game with a 3.46 second half ERA. He has got back to using his splitter more over recent months, which is his best pitch so, you know, that makes sense. He threw six shutout innings against the Jays with eight K's and one walk, continuing to suck us all back in. He threw 30% splitters in this one, his third highest percentage of the season, and all of which have come since July. As long as he is rolling like this he will get the nod from me in all formats, although you can't help but feel like the floor could drop out at any moment.
Jorge Polanco (SS, MIN) - Polanco seems to homer every night I do reports for the AL, but then again he has made a real habit of homering since August rolled around. He had a preposterous 1.099 OPS in August with six homers, 10 doubles, and two triples, and here in September he is kicking the month off with a 2-3 performance with a walk and his 10th home run of the year. It's crazy to think that a 24 year old shortstop who just put up a month like that and is batting third in the Twins lineup isn't getting any hype, but he seems to be flying under the radar in many leagues. While the power surge may not be sustainable, he did get back to the line drive stroke in August that made him a deep league sleeper heading into this season, hitting 29% line drives with a 30% hard contact rate. He's worth an add as a middle infield option while he's hot.
Shin Soo Choo (OF, TEX) - Choo clubbed his 18th homer and stole his 12th base, scoring twice and driving in another pair while also drawing a walk against the Angels. The 35 year old was a forgotten man in drafts this year but has put forth a fine season, slashing .264/.369/.417 with 84 runs scored. His hard contact is actually down from the 43% he posted over a short sample in 2016, but at 37% it's still plenty enough to support the power he has shown. He will continue to be a consistent and underrated outfield option down the stretch that should be owned in all but the shallowest of leagues, and especially useful in OBP and points formats.
This is just a small sample our our daily analysis, join our member area for over 80 player updates daily: http://www.fantistics.com/salesbaseball.php3
