IN THE FIELD
Byron Buxton (shoulder) is hoping to be able to return to the Twins this year but after a setback this week his timetable is extremely unclear. He played catch and did some fielding drills on Friday in his first action since the setback.... Ramon Laureano (shin) is nearing a return to the A's, but he's targeting a return to the team during the upcoming homestand which starts on the 3rd. Laureano has been out since the end of July with a stress reaction in his leg.... Marwin Gonzalez did some exercises in the training room Friday, which was the first activities that he's done since being sidelined with oblique discomfort on Tuesday. Gonzalez was confident at the time that he's not going to need to go on the IL, but we should have a clearer picture as the weekend goes on.... Yandy Diaz (foot) was moved from the 10-day to the 60-day IL. This move was made to clear a spot on the 40-man roster and doesn't affect his timetable either way. He'll be able to return to the Rays in late September but there's a definite chance we've seen the last of him this season.... Kevin Kiermaier (rib) has been held out of the lineup since last Sunday after crashing into the OF wall. Avisail Garcia has been getting the starts in CF this week in Kiermaier's absence.... Miguel Cabrera (bicep soreness) has been held out of the lineup since Tuesday. It's not expected to be anything severe and he should be back into the lineup soon.... Gio Urshela was placed on the 10-day IL with a groin strain. The move is retroactive to August 29th and they are hoping that he'll be back at the minimum 10 days. DJ LeMahieu will take over at third base while Urshela is out.... Luke Voit was activated from the IL as the corresponding move for Urshela being IL'd.... Matt Chapman missed a game on Thursday after being hit in the head on Wednesday, but was back in the lineup on Friday and went 1-for-4 with a single and stolen base. He should be fine headed forward.... Carlos Correa has yet to resume swinging a bat since injuring his back on August 20th. He's been running and doing rotational exercises, but swinging is the step he hasn't gotten to yet. The team isn't expecting Correa to need a rehab assignment so he could still be back in early September.... Max Kepler had missed a couple of games with a sore knee but he was able to return to the lineup on Friday.... Miguel Sano was hit by a pitch earlier this week and returned to the lineup on Friday. Sano is having a fantastic year with a .902 OPS.... Mike Trout returned to the lineup on Friday after missing Wednesday's game with a sore foot.... Tommy LaStella resumed baseball activities this week and took batting practice on Friday. He's been out since early July after fouling a ball off his leg and fracturing his tibia. LaStella has somehow become a major breakout this year with 16 homers to go with .300 average.... Kris Davis was placed on the paternity list on Wednesday. He should be back with the A's to start next week.... Andrew Benintendi was held out of the lineup early this week with side discomfort but returned to the lineup on Saturday and went 1-for-4 at the plate.... Giancarlo Stanton is getting close to facing live pitching according to the Aaron Boone. Stanton has played in just nine games this year with a ton of injuries, but he could be back for the fantasy playoffs for any teams that survived the regular season.... Didi Gregorius missed some time with a mild shoulder injury this week but pinch-hit for the Yankees on Wednesday, and then returned to the lineup on Friday.... Edwin Encarnacion hit in the cage on Tuesday and was doing some fielding and throwing drills on the field. He fractured his wrist in early August after being hit by a pitch, and if the initial 3-to-5 week timetable he could be activated by next weekend as he's currently in week four of the recovery.... Hunter Pence will miss some time with a lower back strain after being placed on the IL, retroactive to August 24th. The team has used rotation to fill in at DH this week with Willie Calhoun, Nick Solak, and Danny Santana getting the last three starts there.... Mark Trumbo are in Triple-A on his rehab assignment for his injured knee. The goal is for him to finish out Norfolk's schedule before rejoining the Orioles once the rosters expand. Maybe he can run into a couple of homers down the stretch, but outside of that, there's not much fantasy value here.... Niko Goodrum is going to be shut down for 10-14 days before getting back into baseball activities. Goodrum is dealing with a groin injury and there's a chance that it could end his season.... Devon Travis is going to miss the rest of the season as he's still dealing with issues from his March knee surgery. With Cavan Biggio doing some things that show promise at the major league level, Travis could find himself in another organization next year.... Lourdes Gurriel Jr is expected to start on a rehab assignment next week as he's nearing the end of a rehab process for his injured quad... Jose Ramirez is going to miss 5-to-7 weeks with a fractured bone in his right hand. He's going to miss the rest of the season and can safely be moved on from in redraft leagues. Yu Chang and Mike Freeman will fill in at third for the Indians down the stretch.... Stephen Piscotty is going to miss a few weeks with a right ankle sprain that he suffered on August 17th. There's no definitive timetable for him to return to the A's.... Aldaberto Mondesi is expected to be activated off the IL on Sunday. The Royals reportedly don't want Mondesi to dive for balls in the field, or dive into bases with running. This could impact his stolen bases down for the rest of the season, as long as it's still comfortable to him to slide feet first into bags. He has swiped a few bags on his rehab assignment though, so it may just be worrying over nothing.... Bradley Zimmer was activated from the 60-day IL but was optioned to AAA. He should rejoin the team at some point in September once the rosters expand.... Michael Chavis was closing in on a return to the Red Sox but he was scratched Friday with soreness in his side. He's going to be re-evaluated in Boston now on Monday... JP Crawford is dealing with some hamstring tightness and was unavailable on Saturday. It doesn't sound serious, but it'll be something to monitor if he doesn't return to the lineup on Sunday or Monday.... Keon Broxton's suspension was reduced to just one game and he'll serve it on Sunday.... Jake Bauers was recalled to the majors after Tyler Naquin was placed on the IL with a torn ACL. Bauers has shown a little bit of pop with 11 homers, but he isn't worth looking at.... Sean Murphy is expected to be promoted to the majors on Sunday when rosters expand and could end up catching a lot for the A's over the last month. He's missed the majority of the season with a knee injury but he has hit 10 homers in just 31 games. He's worth a look considering the disaster that catcher is.... Aaron Hicks has been cleared to start his throwing program and the team is hopeful that he'll be able to return to the team in September... Jason Kipnis was removed from the game Saturday with a sore wrist. Terry Francona said that the issue has been bothering him for a few days and that he'll be evaluated on Sunday.
IN THE ROTATION
Aaron Sanchez is still going to be shut down for another week and a half while he deals with his sore right pectoral muscle. It seems like a long shot that he'll be able to return to the team as a starter, but his still intriguing for 2020 if he can crack the Astros rotation.... David Price is going to start for the Red Sox on Sunday and the team is going to implement a bullpen game on Saturday. Price has missed around a month with a sore wrist after posting a solid season to that point with a 4.36 ERA.... Blake Snell threw a bullpen session on Friday and everything went fantastic according to those around the team. Snell told reporters Friday that he shouldn't need a rehab assignment and his goal is to join the Rays on the road trip that starts on the 10th... Sean Manaea is going to make his season debut against the Yankees on Sunday. Ideally, you'd like to see him get a start against a weaker opponent, but at least we'll get a look before FAAB bidding on Sunday night to see how he looks.... Carlos Carrasco is going to be activated by the Indians on Sunday. He's going to pitch out of the bullpen, but the biggest thing here is that he has returned to the majors just a few months after being diagnosed with Leukemia in May.... Luis Severino is going to make a rehab start on Sunday after he threw a two-inning simulated game on Tuesday. Severino should be able to return to the Yankees in mid-September but his role is still in question... Danny Duffy was activated off the IL on Saturday to pitch against the Orioles.... CC Sabathia was placed on the IL Saturday with knee inflammation. He left Friday's start in the third inning and it swelled up overnight, causing it to need to be drained on Saturday. He's hoping to return this season but if not that will have been CC's last start as he's retiring after the season.
IN THE BULLPEN
Joshua James is slated to return to the Astros bullpen this weekend.... Tyler Glasnow make his first rehab appearance, completing an eight-pitch inning before throwing another 15 pitches in the bullpen. The reports from the team were great with him hitting 98 on the gun, and he felt great after the outing. He's going to return to the Rays in a bullpen role, but he could be valued on some rosters thanks to his strikeout potential... Brad Peacock has been shut down again with shoulder discomfort, just 10 days after they activated him from the IL with shoulder issues. It's unlikely that we'll be able to count on anything from Peacock down the stretch.... Danny Salazar is going to begin his rehab assignment on Monday, starting in AA Akron. Salazar had finally made it back to the majors before straining his groin in his first appearance back with the team.... Cam Bedrosian was placed on the IL retroactive to August 29th... Emmanuel Clase picked up the save for the Rangers on Friday, the first of his career. Jose Leclerc has done well in the Rangers pen since returning to the role, but it now seems like the hard-throwing righty could be the #2 guy in the pen. He's known for his 100 MPH cutters, but he doesn't have strikeout numbers you'd expect with 10 in 12.1 innings thus far.
PLAYERS TO ADD
Willie Calhoun, Texas Rangers - Willie Calhoun has finally gotten steady playing time for a while now and had a strong month of August with a .260/.299/.570 triple slash with nine homers. He's running a .310 ISO and is only striking out 14% of the time, an outstanding rate for a guy with this kind of power. Calhoun has been a guy we've been waiting for to get consistent at-bats for a while now and now that he has he hasn't disappointed.
Andrew Heaney, Los Angeles Angels - Andrew Heaney has been outstanding for the Angels over his last three starts with 21 innings pitched and just four runs allowed over that span. He's striking out almost 40% of batters for this same stretch and running a sub-4.0% walk rate. The two things to point out with Heaney right now are the 42% hard-hit rate against him right now and the 92.6% left on the base rate over this span. The hard-hit rate will likely lead to an increase in the .214 BABIP but the whiff rates are still going to keep him throwing at elite levels.
Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners - Seager has played out of his mind since the All-Star Break with a .303/.376/.625 triple slash with 12 homers (though three came in the same game). Seager has rejuvenated his career/season and is once again extremely fantasy relevant for the first time in a few years. Seager is combining a 40% hard-hit rate, a 45% pull rate, and a 41% fly-ball rate to help fuel to breakout. His BABIP is sustainable at .315 and while his HR/FB rate is at 24.5%, it's not completely unrealistic when you look at the prior cited batted ball stats.
Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins - Miguel Sano is crushing baseballs despite the swing and miss issues that have plagued his career are still very prevalent. Over the last month, he's running a 60% hard-hit rate while having a barrel rate that's among the top in all of baseball. The strikeout issues will keep a cap on his ceiling, especially in today's league where homers are easy to find, but he's hitting the homers at a rate that only few can touch.
