IN THE LINEUP
Mitch Haniger hasn't been ruled out for the season yet with his back injury, but manager Scott Servais said Friday that the "clock is ticking." Haniger injured his back while on his rehab assignment from his reputed testicle and has yet to resume baseball activities. With Just two week left in the season I'd be surprised to see Haniger return to the team, but healthy next year he could end up a solid draft value....Kevin Kiermaier is still out of the Rays lineup as he's dealing with a neck injury. The injury is reportedly improving, but he's still not quite at the point to rejoin the team at this point. He's been undergoing chiropractic treatments on his neck to help reduce the pain, and even he described them as a "game-changer."... Yuli Gurriel hasn't started in a week since injuring his hamstring but was able to pinch-hit Thursday and he remained in the game after that. He likely returns to the lineup soon. ... Kyle Lewis has hit three homers over his first four games in the majors after hitting just 11 over 122 games in AA. Lewis has the draft pick/top prospect pedigree where he has this kind of talent, and he could definitely go on a tear over the last two weeks in the fantasy playoffs.... Gary Sanchez has been diagnosed with a strained groin and Aaron Boone is optimistic that he'll return to the end of the season, but it's not for certain that he will. Sanchez strained his groin earlier this year and it caused him to miss two and a half weeks, so he'll need to be significantly under that if he wants to make an impact in the fantasy playoffs.... Edwin Encarnacion has been diagnosed with a mild left oblique strain and there's no official timetable as to when he'll return to the lineup for the Yankees. It doesn't sound as of now though that it will end his season.... JP Crawford was close to returning to the Mariners lineup on Thursday but they wanted to give him one extra day to rest his injured hamstring. He returned to the lineup on Friday though and went 0-for-3 with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.... Shohei Ohtani will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his left patella. In a vacuum, this shouldn't affect Ohtani being ready for spring training, but the real dilemma comes with his rehab from Tommy John surgery and the effect that this surgery could have on that. Ohtani had an outstanding season with with a .286 average with 18 homers and 12 stolen bases.... Hunter Pence told reporters on Thursday that there's a chance he's not back by the end of the season. He's still dealing with discomfort in his back that caused him to go on the IL on August 24th and with just two weeks to go, and the Rangers out of the race, it's likely that we've seen the last of Pence this year. He does plan to continue playing next year and we'll see how he follows his .297/.358/.552 line with 18 homers and six steal over just 83 games.... Avisail Garcia dealt with a glute strain over the first half of the week but returned to the lineup on Thursday and Friday for the Rays.... Nomar Mazara returned to the lineup Wendesday after being held out for nine days with an oblique injury.... Domingo Santana could return to Mariners before their home stand ends, but he is expected to be activated before the season ends. Santana has struggled after his hot start with a .490 OPS in the second half.... Jake Fraley will miss the rest of the season with a thumb injury. Fraley's minor league success didn't carry over to the major in his brief time with the big league club, but he should be in contention for an outfield spot for 2020 even though the Mariners outfield is the most crowded position on the team.... Justin Upton underwent a MRI on Wednesday for his knee but we haven't heard any results of the injury, and he also hasn't been able to return to the lineup yet. Upton has struggled since missing most of the season with a toe injury, slashing just .215/.309/.416 over 63 games.... Joey Gallo is expected to be activated off the IL on September 20th. He's expect to begin playing simulated games on Sunday and Monday before progressing to real appearances on Tuesday and Wednesday and they will see how his wrist reacts to that. It's still to be seen though how much power he can produce right away as wrist injuries tend to zap power for the immediate future... Mike Trout returned to the lineup on Friday after being out since Sunday with a neuroma on his right foot. He was the DH for the Angels on Friday and we could see him back in the field this weekend.... Lourdes Gurriel is due back from the IL on Saturday from his quad injury and the Jays are planning to use him as the DH to ease him back into playing every day.... Logan Forsythe has been held out of the Rangers lineup with a rib injury.... Ramon Laureano returned to the lineup Wednesday after dealing with some cramping last weekend. He homers Friday and is showing no signs of the issue still causing him any problems.... Johnny Davis was called up by the Rays on Tuesday as a speed threat and primarily will be used only on the base paths. He did get an at-bat on Friday though and tripled. He could be interesting if he finds himself in full time at bats for a week or so because of how scarce steals are this season.... George Springer missed a handful of games with a concussion but he's back healthy against and has homered three times this week. He's up to a career high 35 homers while also posting a career high .296 batting average.... Carlos Correa played in a minor league game on Friday but now that Round Rock's season is over the option are varied for his next move as he is working his way back from his back injury. High-A has one more game but the team could opt to just have him play in some simulated games or get could go to the instructional league to get work... Byron Buxton underwent shoulder surgery on Tuesday, ending his season and he's unsure if he'll be ready for opening day. Buxton showed flashes while healthy this year but his aggressiveness on defense caused him to miss a lot of time... Mike Tauchman will miss the rest of the season with a calf strain. Tauchman did a fantastic job filling in for all the other injured Yankees players with an .865 OPS to go with 13 homers and six steals.... Niko Goodrum is likely done for the season according to Rod Gardenhire. He's been dealing with groin injury since last month and simply is just running out of time.... Giancarlo Stanton could be activated off the IL during the Yankees next homestand that starts next week. He could be a huge boost to Stanton owners who managed to stay in the mix of things.... Max Kepler has been dealing with a shoulder injury all week but returned to his usual leadoff spot on Friday. Kepler has a shot at 40 homers with a solid last two weeks.... Miguel Sano returned to the lineup on Friday as well with Kepler and also could end up with 30 homers this year in just over 100 games. He's been an outstanding source for HR and RBI since returning from his heel injury.... Stephen Piscotty may not make it back this season with his most recent ankle injury. Bob Melvin said that Piscotty is working hard to get back, but he just may run out of time with his rehab process.... Aaron Judge was held out of the lineup on Friday after crashing into the wall on Thursday. He's expected to be fine.... Jose Ramirez playing catch on Friday with no wrap on his right hand. With the injury, Ramirez's big step is going to be swinging a bat again but there are no indications that it is on the horizon.... Bradley Zimmer was recalled from AAA on Friday. Zimmer has missed most of the season due to shoulder surgery and then an oblique strain, but could get into the mix down the stretch against right handed pitching.... Ehire Adrianza is unlikely to return before the end of the season with his oblique strain.... Brandon Lowe might be able to return to the Rays before the end of the season it was previously though that he was out for the season... Miguel Cabrera was removed from Saturday's game with right knee soreness. Miggy's power was completely zapped this year but he's still been able to hit .287 for the year.
IN THE ROTATION
Blake Snell is returning to the Rays rotation on Tuesday, though you wish it were in a better matchup as he draws the Dodgers. His innings are going t to be limited initially so wins and quality starts might be hard to come by but the ratios for him should be great down the stretch.... Justin Dunn didn't make it out of the first inning in his MLB debut on Thursday against the Reds. He walked five batters and allowed two runs over 2/3 of an inning. He might get another start down the stretch but he should have a show at making the M's rotation starting in 2020.... Brendan McKay hasn't been throwing beyond the fourth inning in his starts lately as it appears that the Rays have placed him on a pitch count as the season winds down. McKay has struggled more lately than not, so he's not worth rostering at this point.... Jordan Montgomery is going to join the Yankees on Monday, but it's unclear on what his role is going to be with the team as of now.... Luis Severino is slated to start against the Angels on Tuesday. Severino has been out for the entire season to this point and he's worth adding if he's out there, even if he's going to be on limit when it comes to pitching count.... David Price is dealing with a cyst on his wrist and it's causing him tightness when he throws. He threw 20 pitches on Wednesday and he could throw another one within the upcoming days. There's a chance he still makes a couple starts down the stretch for Boston.... JA Happ received a cortisone injection in his left bicep and is hoping to rejoin the rotation next week. Happ has been pretty rough lately so I'm not worried about whether he'll return or not for fantasy purposes.... CC Sabathia could be used out of the bullpen down the stretch, depending on how Luis Severino looks in his return to the rotation on Tuesday.... Corey Kluber played catch on Friday but it's still a longshot for him to return by the end of the regular season.
IN THE BULLPEN
James Karinchak was called up from AAA by the Indians as they are dealing with some health issue on the back end of their bullpen. Karinchak has struck out a ridiculous 74 batters over just 30.1 innings this year, but likely won't be used in any high leverage spots right away. Still could be a sneaky K/9 guy over the last two weeks though.... Sam Dyson has been shut down indefinitely after pain in his bicep reemerged.... Dellin Betances is going to be activated by the Yankees on Sunday... Brad Hand has been dealing with arm fatigue and an MRI on his left arm came up negative, so there's nothing structurally to point to that's the issue. Adam Cimber is the guy to the roster in the Cleveland pen until Hand returns.... Jesus Luzardo is going to pitch out of the bullpen for the A's down the stretch with the off chance that he gets a start or two. He's a great pickup if you're looking for ratio help.... Cam Bedrosian is done for the remainder of the season with his forearm issue... Sergio Romo returned to the Twins this week after dealing with a knee issue.... Brad Peacock is slated to throw off a mound this weekend while he works back from a shoulder injury. This will be the first time he's thrown off a mound since going on the IL at the end of August.
PLAYERS TO ADD
Kyle Lewis, Seattle Mariners - Kyle Lewis' route to the majors was a tough one as he's overcome multiple knee surgeries, but now that he's made the majors he's making the most of it with three homers over his first 20 plate appearances. Lewis hit just 11 homers over 22 games in AA this year, but now that he's moved to the majors (and gets to hit the bouncy balls) his power is playing up. Lewis has the prospect pedigree to have this kind of talent and even though the luster has worn off a bit due to the injuries, he's a very exciting young player and can be very valuable over the next two weeks.
Sean Manaea, Oakland A's - Sean Manaea has looked dominant in his two starts since being activated from the IL with one earned run over 12 innings. He last start was the outing where he allowed the run, but he also struck out ten Tigers batters over seven innings while allowing just four baserunners, one being the homer that allowed the run. Manaea has shown us in the past that he's capable of absolutely dominating, and he's showing absolutely no signs of rust from his shoulder surgery.
Nick Solak, Texas Rangers - Solak continues to rake for the Rangers with a .333/.440/.548 triple slash and four homers over 100 plate appearances. He continues to get started every day and has done nothing but hit since being acquired from the Rays. Joey Gallo is dude back towards the end of next week so it'll be interesting to see how they go about keeping Solak in the lineup, but I have no doubts that they'll keep him in there the rest of the way.
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