IN THE LINEUP
Kurt Suzuki was hit by a pitch on the elbow on August 21st and has been held out of the lineup since with Tyler Flowers playing every day. Luckily tests on the 22nd showed no fractures in the elbow and so he's been day-to-day. Brian Snitker said on Friday that he would have been the next bat up off the bench in Friday's game and that he'll likely start on Saturday against the Marlins.... Marcell Ozuna was placed on the DL August 22nd with right shoulder inflammation and there's no timetable yet for his return. Yairo Munoz played LF on Wednesday and Tyler O'Neill on Friday. O'Neill definitely is the player with more fantasy appeal..... We have an update on Kris Bryant's as he's going to play in a simulated game on Sunday the 26th followed by a rehab assignment starting on Monday (assuming there are no setbacks in the sim game). David Bote will continue to play the most at third base, though Ian Happ spelled him on Friday, until Bryant can return..... Addison Russell is dealing with right shoulder inflammation and a sprained left middle finger, and was placed on the DL on the 22nd (retroactive to the 20th). Javy Baez has started at shortstop in his absence. Russell owns just a 86 wRC+ on the year, but has played terrific defense at the position according to the Fangraphs' metrics..... Daniel Murphy was acquired by the Cubs on a wavier trade this week. With Russell out of the lineup and Baez playing shortstop, Murphy has been able to play every day for the Cubs at second and is hitting leadoff for the team. When Russell returns the team could decide that they will keep the Baez/Murphy combo up the middle and let Russell spell the two for days off.... Chase Utley is still progressing slowly with his wrist injury, but it does feel well enough to catch the first pitch from his sons on his bobblehead night earlier this week. Still no timetable for his return, and even then it's still just a bench role for the Dodgers...... Lewis Brinson has struggled to get going on his rehab assignment starting just 1-for-17 as before picking up two hits on the 23rd. Don Mattingly said that they aren't going to rush Brinson back so it doesn't sound like he'll be back too soon despite moving up to AAA on Saturday. He's an intriguing add when he comes back just off the hope he can get on a hot streak for a week....Martin PradoMartin Prado is going to likely be back within the early part of September and there have been some talks from Mattingly that he may get some work at first base when he is activated..... Brandon Nimmo was placed on the DL on the 20th with a left index finger injury but he's expected to be able to return to the Mets shortly after his stint on the DL. Being originally listed as day-to-day before being placed on the DL makes it sounds like it was going to be a week or so and they just did the move to save the roster spot..... Wil Myers has been playing third base for the last week for the Padres but had a scare when he was hit in the face by a grounder during pre-game warmups on Wednesday. He missed Wednesday and Thursday but returned to the lineup at third base on Friday..... Justin Bour was placed on the DL with a left oblique strain on the 23rd. Bour had been getting a few starts here and there at first base but has been primarily a bench bat since being acquired by the Phillies..... Wilson Ramos had been out of the lineup since Monday with a sore wrist, but returned to the lineup on Friday and hit cleanup. Ramos had a pair of three-hit games to begin his time with the Phillies and has eight hits overall in his first five games with the team...... Josh Harrison has been held of the lineup as of late with a hamstring injury. Harrison hasn't started a game for the Pirates since the 19th..... Joey Votto is eyeing a return on Sunday the 26th for the Reds. He's been on the DL since being hit with a pitch in the lower leg..... Jay Bruce was activated from the DL prior to Friday's game and started in RF for the Mets. The Mets are currently looking at using Bruce primarily at first base once Brandon Nimmo is activated from the DL as Mickey Callaway essentially said that they aren't going to let either Domonic Smith or Peter Alonso simply get at-bats at the big league level..... The Buster Posey rumors that began to swirl recently about his hip surgery came to fruition on Saturday as the catcher is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery on Monday. He's expected to miss 6-to-8 months, which puts him around somewhere in the first month of the season that he should be back to 100%..... <Devin Mesoraco left early on August 23rd with neck stiffness and he's been out of the lineup each of the last two games..... Christian Villanueva could miss the rest of the season with a fractured right middle finger..... Matt Holliday is apparently a big leaguer now and is playing for the Rockies yet again. He's started one game for the Rockies and has pinch hit in the other two and homered on Saturday.
IN THE ROTATION
Max Fried is going to make a rehab start Saturday for AAA Gwinnett. The Braves rotation has somehow become crowded with options after seeing great debuts from Touki Toussaint and Bryse Wilson and the rest of the rotation throwing extremely well at the moment..... Mike Soroka has still yet to begin throwing in his rehab process and it seems more and more likely like he's going to miss the rest of the season.... Anibal Sanchez left his start on Saturday with tightness in his hamstring...... Michael Wacha seems all set to return to the Cardinals rotation at some point this coming week. He's already back with the team but it's uncertain exactly where they will slot him back into the rotation..... Tyler Chatwood was placed on the DL on the 23rd with hip tightness. There's no timetable on his return. Reliever Dillon Maples was called up to replace him on the 25 man roster.... Yu Darvish's disastrous first season in Chicago is coming to a close after he was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right elbow. He should be good to go for next spring where it's very likely he's going to be a later round flier on a bounce-back season...... Jeff Samardzija, unfortunately, had another setback with his shoulder after his rehab starts in AA Friday. Bruce Bochy says that there is some concern with the shoulder regarding the soreness and that he's still a ways away from returning to the team..... Chris Archer tweaked his ankle swinging against the Braves this week but he's not expected to miss any starts. Stephen Nesbitt from the Post-Gazette talked with Archer this week and Archer told him he's adding a curveball and a two-seam fastball to his pitch mix.
IN THE BULLPEN
AJ Minter has been dealing with a back injury lately that has kept him from being available out of the Braves bullpen for portions of the week. Daniel Winkler has gotten a save opportunity this week and might be the handcuff right now for the closing role in Atlanta..... Carlos Martinez was activated from the DL earlier this week and has started working out of the bullpen. He's pitched twice this week and has thrown more than an inning in each of the outings..... Dave Roberts said on Saturday that lefty Julio Urias will be a September call-up for the Dodgers. Urias is going to pitch out of the bullpen and could be a solid ratio arm down the stretch.... Kyle Barraclough was activated from the DL and pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Marlins against Atlanta..... Kelvin Herrera is back with the Nats after an extended absence. He should get put back in the closing role while Sean Doolittle is still working his way back from his injury.... Corey Knebel was sent to AAA earlier this week.....
PLAYERS TO ADD
Dansby Swanson to this point in his career has been an extremely hot and cold fantasy option and he's currently on one of those hot streaks. Over the last two weeks, Swanson is hitting .313 with a 154 wRC+ and his home run on Saturday gives him three this week and 13 overall for the season. If you need just a hot bat right now Swanson can fit the bill and he's widely available given how bad he's been this season.
Owned in 19% of ESPN Leagues
With the Cardinals outfield seemingly falling apart, Harrison Bader is getting a ton of playing time and he's making the most of it with a .319/.390/.556 triple slash and a 153 wRC+ in the month of August. He also has three homers and three steals in August. Even with the extremely hot stretch, he's on he's still hitting in the lower third of the lineup which does hurt the run potential a bit.
Owned in 42.6% of ESPN Leagues
Jeff McNeil has been tearing the cover off the ball for the Mets hitting .337/.395/.481 this season after hitting near .340 in the minors across two stops. The .337 isn't just completely empty average either as it's coming with a .144 ISO and three stolen bases in four attempts. McNeil had hit 19 homers in 88 minor league games this year so there's even more power in his bat than he's shown so far, and his ISO in AA was higher than AAA so it wasn't just a Las Vegas fueled batting line.
Owned in 11.6% of ESPN Leagues
Since Josh Hader is likely already owned, Jeremy Jeffress is a reliever worth snagging off the waiver wire as he and Hader are going to share the closer duties for the rest of the season. Jeffress even might be the reliever to own between the two as Craig Counsell loves using Hader however and whenever which could leave Jeffress in line for more traditional usage opportunities. Jeffress is boasting a career-high 28.7% K% this year and if he finds his way into the majority share of saves in Milwaukee he could be a huge addition down the stretch.
Owned in 32.3% of ESPN Leagues
