IN THE LINEUP
Chris Iannetta was released by the Rockies Friday morning. Iannetta was hitting just .222 with the club in part-time duty, he could end up latching on somewhere else as a backup....Rhys Hoskins was hit by a pitch on his hand in the ninth inning Thursday but stayed in the game to ultimately trot home on Bryce Harper's walk-off grand slam. He underwent x-rays on the hand after the game but is expected to be back in the lineup on Saturday.... Joey Votto was scratched from Thursday's game with lower back tightness, but it doesn't sounds serious and he's just listed as day-to-day. Josh VanMeter has been playing first base in Votto's absence.... Dansby Swanson is making extremely slow progress in his rehab with his bruised heel, but he took some fielding drills on Thursday on his knees. He's been cleared to hit but hasn't yet been cleared to run by team doctors. Johan Camargo will continue to get the primary reps at SS until another move is made.... Javy Baez was scratched Thursday with flu-like symptoms but should be good to go for the weekend.... Chris Taylor has been out since mid-July with a forearm fracture but he's been sent on his rehab assignment starting in High-A. The Dodgers are estimating that the assignment will last for around a week... Jason Heyward has been dealing with some knee inflammation this week but is still available off the bench, which gives some relief as it doesn't sound like something that's going to require an IL stint.... Dylan Carlson has been promoted to AAA for the Cardinals. Carlson is posting an outstanding season with 21 homers and 18 stolen bases.... AJ Pollock left Tuesday's game with groin discomfort but he returned to the lineup on Thursday.... Fernando Tatis Jr was expected to just be placed on the IL after suffering back spasms, but that took a turn for the worst on Friday as it was revealed through a MRI that Tatis has a back strain and is going to miss the rest of the season. Luis Urias should be the primary SS for the Padres while he's out with Ty France being recalled from AAA to man second base. Ian Kinsler was placed on the IL Friday as well so playing time for Urias and France is locked in.... Aristedes Aquino continues to mash with eleven homers in his first 17 career major league games.... Logan Morrison was called up from AAA for the Phillies and likely will just be a bat off the bench.... Ryan Zimmerman is going to begin a rehab assignment with AA Richmond on Friday. The team isn't expecting him to be on the assignment for long.... The Cardinals' outfield is going to get a boost soon are expecting Jose Martinez to be back before the end of the month after him having progress in his shoulder.... Tyler O'Neill was expected to go out on his rehab assignment soon but the team is tabling it for now as his wrist is healing slower than they were hoping.... Jung Ho Kang is working out with the Brewers in hopes of landing a minor league deal.... Jeff McNeil placed on the 10-Day IL with a hamstring strain. The strain was described as being mild and he isn't expected to miss more than the minimum 10 days. Ruben Tejada was called up to AAA to replace his spot on the roster..... Brandon Nimmo is around a week away from beginning a rehab assignment. He's been out since May with a bulging disc in his neck.... Austin Riley is dealing with a strained LCL and is expected to be ready for game action in around two weeks. Riley should be able to work himself into the outfield mix among Ronald Acuña Jr.... Juan Soto rolled his ankle on Sunday but he returned to the lineup on Tuesday.... JD Davis left Friday's game with calf tightness and is day-to-day. He was held out of the lineup on Sunday but he was available off the bench.... Eugenio Suarez suffered a sprained thumb on Friday and is being listed as day-to-day for the Reds.... Roman Quinn left Friday's game after hurting himself running the bases. He's currently still just day-to-day.... Ender Inciarte left Friday's game after hurting his hamstring while running the bases. This is brutal news for Inciarte after he worked to get back from his back injury and had been excellent for the last two weeks. Adam Duvall was sent to AAA on Friday but he should come back up once Inciarte is placed on the IL.... Neil Walker was activated from the IL and Devin Marrero was DFA'd as a corresponding move.... Addison Russell was called up from AAA and Albert Almora was sent down. This should help get Ian Happ some more consistent playing time with CF needing to be filled now.... Cole Tucker was called up from AAA on Friday.... The Braves signed Adeiny Hechavarria to a one year deal to be the primary shortstop while Dansby Swanson continues his rehab for his heel. Johan Camargo and Charlie Culberson were very poor defensively while filling in at short, and neither was hitting well enough to warrant the bad play at defense. Camargo was sent to AAA to get full-time at-bats.... Randy Arozarena was called up for the Cardinals to fill in while the outfield is recovering from injuries. He's put up some gaudy AAA numbers with 10 homer and 16 stolen bases while posting a .982 OPS. He's worth some interest in deeper leagues.... JT Riddle has started his rehab assignment for his forearm strain.... Ketel Marte was scratched on Saturday with lower back tightness but he was available off the bench and Torey Louvullo said that he's expected to be back in the lineup on Sunday.
IN THE ROTATION
Johnny Cueto allowed four hits over 2.2 innings in his last rehab start with his fastball topping out at 93 MPH. He's expected to make a few more starts before possibly returning to the Giants next month and his next one will be on Tuesday.... Max Scherzer was potentially going to be activated from the IL to start this weekend, but now he's going to throw a simulated game on Saturday will the hope to return next week.... Tyler Beede has struggled lately for the Giants and the team is debating on whether he's going to make his next start. There's speculation too that Beede gets bumped from the rotation anyway once Cueto is ready to return.... Logan Webb is likely going to start Saturday for the Giants against the Diamondbacks. Webb was suspended for the first 80 games of the season due to a PED suspension but he has dominated since returning.... Rich Hill is going to resume throwing off a mound next week after through from 120 feet on Thursday. With the minor league season wrapping up shortly, it doesn't sound like Hill is going to get a rehab assignment this time around but Andrew Friedman is said that he should still be able to get back to a 90 pitch workload... Robbie Ray was placed on the 10-day IL with back spasms. Taylor Clarke was recalled from AAA and is going to start Sunday for Arizona. He's not worth adding at this point.... Dustin May is going to pitch out of the bullpen on Sunday for the Dodgers as it sounds like they are going to use some sort of a bullpen game to wrap up the series in Atlanta.... Jeff Samardzija is starting on Friday instead of Thursday as the team wanted to give him an extra day of rest.... Jameson Tallion underwent successful Tommy John Surgery this week and he'll likely miss all of 2020. Tallion has been trying to rehab his elbow issue all season to avoid surgery, but ultimately had to undergo the knife.... This felt inevitable, but Jake Arrieta was finally placed on the IL with his elbow that's given him issues for a chunk of the season. Zach Eflin should fill his spot in the rotation.... Mitch Keller picked up his first major league victory on Tuesday. He allowed one earned run over five innings while striking out four against the Angels.... Zach Davies is set to return to the Brewers on Monday after landing on the IL with back spasms last week.... Tony Gonsolin is already with the Dodgers in Atlanta, but he'll officially be recalled on Sunday to start against the Braves.
IN THE BULLPEN
Kyle Barraclough was designated for assignment by the Giants and it's the second time he's been DFA'd this month....Brandon Morrow has been throwing lie batting practice in a hope to return to the Cubs next month. He's battled multiple setbacks on his attempt to get back to the majors after being out since midway through last season.... Mark Melancon struggled for the Braves on Wednesday and that led to Jerry Blevins getting the save. This bullpen is a mess right now with someone new seemingly imploding every day and then there's no way to gauge who will get the save chance.... Craig Kimbrel felt no issues in his knee after throwing his bullpen sessions this week, and he's expected to be activated. Kimbrel has struggled this year, but he's still the best candidate in the bullpen for Chicago.... Edwin Diaz struggled again for the Mets after coming in with the bases loaded, allowing two of those runners to score.... Julio Urias recorded a three-inning save against the Braves on Friday and on Saturday it was reported that he's going to serve a 20 game suspension for his role in a domestic violence incident over the summer that had the charges dropped. Because the Dodgers deactivated him for five games immediately after the incident happened, Urias will only have to sit or 15 games to finish off the 20 games.... Bryse Wilson was called up from AAA on Friday and likely will pitch out of the bullpen for the time being.... Scott Oberg has struggled in his work as the closer for the Rockies... Carl Edwards Jr was placed on the IL with a shoulder strain.... Greg Holland signed a minor league deal with the Nationals this week.
PLAYERS TO ADD :
Mark Melancon, Atlanta Braves - The Braves bullpen is struggling right now, but it's looking like Mark Melancon is the man in the 9th inning for the Braves. Melancon struggled earlier this week, but Brian Snitker trusted him to go out and face the top of the Dodgers lineup on Saturday and he picked up the save. Entering Saturday, Melancon owned an awful 10.13 ERA but all six of his runs he allowed came in two outings and he is striking out 28% of the batters that he's faced while walking just 3.6% of batters. Shane Greene has had a strong week for the Braves and we could see him back in the role at some point, but I feel safe in saying Melancon is the guy for now.
Ty France, San Diego Padres - France struggled mightily in his first call-up this season and he's hitting .229 over 114 plate appearances, but he's about to get a long stretch of work with the season-ending injury to Fernando Tatis Jr and the injury to Ian Kinsler. Luis Urias is worth a look as well but there's a decent chance he was scooped up in league upon his return to the majors. France has belted 27 homers in 76 games in AAA with a .399/.477/.770 triple slash in AAA and it's 100% worth a gamble to see if he could even post half of that kind of potential in the majors.
Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs - Ian Happ should get a boost in playing time after Albert Almora was sent to AAA this week. Happ is having a strong showing with the Cubs over 68 plate appearances with a 138 wRC+. Happ has dropped his K% by 10% from last season and he's posting an ISO over 100 points higher than last season. Happ should be able to pull off some regular playing time between the OF an IF and could turn into a strong piece down the stretch for the Cubs.
Archie Bradley, Arizona Diamondbacks - Bradley has been the primary 9th inning arm for the Diamondbacks and has allowed just two runs since July 5th, he's locked into that role pretty firmly. Over this stretch, he's striking out 30% of the batters that he's facing, but the earned run streak is coming on the heels of a 95% strand rate. Bradley has shown the ability to be an elite late-inning reliever in the past and he should be a strong pen option for teams.
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