Happy Friday, everyone! We're nearing the end in the 2022 Fantasy Baseball season and this week features semifinals matchups in some leagues -- quarterfinals in others -- and tight races in Roto formats. Now that we're doing this every other day, we'll dip into some of the key action takeaways from the past two days -- Wednesday and Thursday in this one.
For those of you in the thick of a playoff matchup or battle for Roto spots, you're happy if you scooped up prospect Gunnar Henderson. He continues to have a much bigger impact than top prospects had been and on Wednesday he picked up another four RBI. Henderson is batting .320 with an .890 OPS since being called up and he's 69% rostered. He's a must-roster player if he's still available in your league. He's also a must-start player if you want to get aggressive -- and you should.
We'll dive into more of the action, but first, make sure you're all caught up on everything going on over at CBSSports.com/Fantasy with Scott White driving the content. Scott dropped his annual list of 12 no buzz sleepers to pick up, stash or trade for in your Dynasty leagues. This is one of my specific favorites of the year and a guide for me to get an edge on my Dynasty leagues by grinding the wire.
Here are a few of Scott's sleepers I've been either able to add or actively trying to trade for:
Matt Mervis, 1B, Cubs, From Scott: "Every week it seems I'm finding an excuse to write about Mervis, who continues to pile up home runs in a year that's taken him from A-ball to the precipice of the majors. The power combined with the low strikeout rate from a left handed-hitting first baseman has earned him comparisons to Anthony Rizzo, and if he's not the favorite for the Cubs' first base job entering next spring, it must mean that they made a big move in the offseason."
Aaron Zavala, OF, Rangers, From Scott: "Double-A is supposed to be a proving ground for questionable prospects, but Zavala is yet another who's only upped his game since arriving there, reaching base at better than a .450 clip. It's that superlative plate discipline that gives him a path to everyday duty even if he profiles best in left field and offers more like 20-homer power than 30-homer power."
Edouard Julien, 2B, Twins:, From Scott: "Julien has followed up a .434 on-base percentage last year with a .442 mark this year, making it pretty clearly not a fluke, and he's also turned the corner as a power hitter with all but one of his home runs coming since the start of June. I remember when Marcus Semien was a completely unheralded prospect putting up numbers similar to these, and well, look what he's turned out to be."
Jameson shuts down Padres
Drey Jameson tossed seven shutout frames with five strikeouts against the Padres in his major league debut. He allowed just two hits and one walk and was in complete command of this one. His pitch mix was excellent, he averaged 96.3 mph on his fastball and looked electric most of the night. He's on the waiver wire in almost any league you play in and worth the speculative scoop.
Shane O Mac is back
In his return off the IL, Shane McClanahan was himself. He tossed five shutout innings and only allowed three hits and one walk with five strikeouts. He drew 14 swinging strikes on just 69 pitches -- truly filthy stuff. His velocity was up and that was the best sign of the day -- up 2.4 mph on the slider. He brings his season-long ERA down to 2.13 with a whopping 16.3% swinging strike rate.
Who's hot
Lance Lynn has found his groove with the White Sox again. He made it seven straight outings allowing two earned runs or less on Thursday when he threw 6 1/3 of two-run ball. He struck out six and leaned heavy into his four-seam fastball. Lynn has a 1.43 ERA over his past seven starts with 51 strikeouts and just five walks in 44 innings pitched.
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Fantasy news, injuries and notes
For a complete recap of every injury, update and more, make sure you're locked into the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast where Frank, Scott and Chris dive deep into every player note. For the CliffsNotes version, we'll recap the biggest news and notes you need to know right here:
- Shane Baz will not return this season. He was shut down back in July due to a right elbow sprain.
- Stop me if you heard this before: Luis Robert was out of the lineup Thursday with left hand/wrist discomfort.
- Alejandro Kirk was out of the lineup Thursday due to a sore hip
- Rhys Hoskins was out of the lineup after getting hit by a pitch on his hand Wednesday.
- David Peterson will be moved to the Mets bullpen within a few days, as expected.
- Luis Arraez was not in the lineup Thursday due to hamstring tightness.
- Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach had his rehab assignment moved to Triple-A. He had core muscle surgery back in June.
- Reds pitcher Justin Dunn was placed on the IL with right shoulder tightness.
- Some rumblings that Rockies prospect Ezequiel Tovar could finish the season in the majors.