September is here, and reinforcements have arrived.
Of course, these days rosters only expand by two, with most teams opting to fill one of those spots with an additional reliever. That's not of much help to us.
But if nothing else, three young players who once set our hearts aflutter are back, and while they'll need to go further to prove themselves to us this time around, all three made good impression Sunday.
- Brooks Lee started at shortstop for the Twins and went 1 for 4.
- Coby Mayo started at third base for the Orioles and went 1 for 2
- Kyle Manzardo started at DH for the Guardians and ... well, he hit two home runs.
OK, so I may have blindsided you with that last one. Here's what the second of those two home runs looked like, with the first being almost identical:
Manzardo was pretty useless in Fantasy the first time around, going 17 for 82 (.207) without a single home run, and between that and his limited defensive utility, I'm not sure we're rushing to pick him up outside of deeper leagues. But the profile remains interesting in a Vinnie Pasquantino sort of way. Manzardo slashed .267/.398/.548 at Triple-A Columbus this year, homering 20 times in 83 games and walking nearly as often (61) as he struck out (67).
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He could matter down the stretch, but I would guess the higher-priority pickups for most Fantasy Baseballers would be as follows ...
Possible waiver wire pickups
When the Cardinals sent Jordan Walker back to Triple-A only a week into his triumphant return to the majors in mid-August, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said it was because the big-league club didn't have enough at-bats for him. He then set about freeing up those at-bats, ultimately by designating Tommy Pham for assignment, and sure enough, when the Cardinals brought back Walker Friday, manager Oliver Marmol said it was to play every day. Walker's numbers at Triple-A Memphis this year won't blow you away, but he's still only 22 and incredibly strong. Perhaps more significantly, a mechanical change intended to speed up his hands saw him hit .344 (31 for 90) with five homers in his final 26 games there. He stands more open now with a little more tension in his setup, no longer looking quite so relaxed. We saw it pay dividends Sunday, when he went 5 for 5 with a homer and a steal, making him an attractive pickup again in five-outfielder leagues.
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I see Lawrence Butler's numbers since July 1, spanning 51 games in all, and wonder how he could still be available in more than a quarter of CBS Sports leagues, but there does seem to be considerable skepticism over the performance, even among Fantasy Baseball insiders. Well, the profile looks pretty robust to me. He's a power/speed threat, clearly, and the underlying data points to him being a genuine talent, with his average exit velocity ranking in the 88th percentile and his max in the 87th percentile. It's true there are contact issues in his past, as is the case for many athletic marvels still in their early 20s, but Butler's 18 percent strikeout rate during that 51-game stretch is a vast improvement. Even during the quietest part of it, when he homered just twice during a 22-game stretch, he still struck out at only a 20 percent rate. Nothing quiet about what he's done over his past six games, going 14 for 28 with six homers and two steals.
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Jacob deGrom isn't ready to return from his 18-month recovery from Tommy John surgery just yet, but he may be only a week away. A report Friday said he needed just two more rehab starts, and he made the first of those Sunday, looking characteristically dominant with five strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock. In all, he's made three minor-league rehab starts, and while he has yet to reach three innings in any of them, he has built up to 43 pitches. Give him 60-65 next time, and he should be ready to go 80-plus in his following start for the big club. And deGrom can do a lot of damage with 80 pitches. Need I remind you he has a 2.03 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, and 14.1 K/9 over the past three seasons, even through all the injuries? It'll be a tight-rope walk for sure, but he could be the pickup who puts you over the top.
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It hasn't gotten much attention in Fantasy or otherwise, but Cody Bradford has emerged as an incredibly stable starting option for the Rangers after missing an extended stretch earlier this season with a lower back strain. His latest gem Saturday against the Athletics was just par for the course. Over his past five starts, four lasting six innings or more, the left-hander has a 2.61 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 8.1 K/9. His tendency to put the ball in the air, which has led to a low batting average against, will backfire from time to time, but his elite control (only 1.3 BB/9) should keep the damage on the long balls to a minimum. Add some decent strikeout numbers, and he deserves to be picked up most everywhere, especially with the Angels on the schedule next.
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To be honest, I've never been the biggest Alex Cobb guy, but after he began his return from the IL (cracked fingernail) Sunday with six perfect innings, only being removed after allowing a couple hits in the seventh, I figured he deserved some attention here. The 36-year-old seemed to have a better feel for his trademark splitter than in his two starts prior to the injury. The pitch was responsible for seven of his 11 swinging strikes Sunday. Cobb also has a respectable enough track record with a 3.75 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 8.5 K/9 since the start of 2021. Those aren't amazing numbers, but at a time when the waiver wire isn't offering much in the way of pitching, Cobb may be among your better choices.
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David Bednar has allowed at least one earned run in more than half of his 16 appearances in the second half, but it took a five-run outing against the Cubs Wednesday for manager Derek Shelton to pull the plug on the right-hander as the closer finally. The demotion is meant to be only temporary, but Shelton's alternative is one of the all-time great closers in Aroldis Chapman, who handled the Pirates' latest save chance with ease Saturday. The left-hander still misses bats with the best of them, and while his ERA and WHIP may not blow you away, note that he had some pronounced control problems early in the year. Over his past 19 appearances, Chapman has a 2.37 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and 14.2 K/9, walking just four batters. His return to the closer role has been a long time coming, and I'd rather take a shot at him keeping it than settle for whatever Calvin Faucher or Ben Joyce give me.
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If a retread closer handed a job temporarily isn't your preferred route for saves, how about a rookie heading up a closing committee? Armed with a wipeout slider, Porter Hodge has been a standout reliever since getting called to the big leagues in late May. The Cubs are on the lookout for a new closer after kicking Hector Neris to the curb, and Jorge Lopez seemed like the more logical choice at first, given his closing experience. But Hodge handled the Cubs' latest save chance Saturday, with Lopez setting up for him in the eighth. I still think the most likely scenario is some back and forth between the two, but if Counsell is opening the door even just a crack for Hodge, the right-hander is likely to barrel through it.
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All Will Wagner has done since joining the Blue Jays roster is the same thing he did at Triple-A: hit. The coup de grace came Saturday, when the 26-year-old went 5 for 6 with a home run and a double. He hit four balls more than 100 mph (including the home run, which traveled 419 feet), and as impressive as the exit velocity readings are, they're basically right in line with what he was doing in the minors. Despite the big performance Saturday, he was then out of the lineup Sunday, continuing the two-on, one-off pattern that thus far has overshadowed his production, but he did come off the bench for two at-bats. The Blue Jays have been auditioning several young infielders in the second half, but Wagner is the one to ace that audition so far and could be a batting average standout even as the at-bats increase.
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