MLB Player News

Strasburg (10-7) allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven across six innings to earn the win against the Rockies on Saturday.

Strasburg surrendered solo home runs to Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez but otherwise kept the Rockies off the board across six innings. Since returning from the disabled list Aug. 22, Strasburg has allowed more than two earned runs in only one of his eight starts. He'll end the season with a 3.74 ERA and 1.20 WHIP while striking out 156 batters across 130 innings.

Gray (12-9) allowed five earned runs on seven hits while walking none and striking out one across two innings to take the loss Saturday against the Nationals.

Gray wasn't able to get anything going in a game with significant implications for the National League West title, allowing the first two batters he faced to reach base -- both of which came around to score. Things didn't improve in the second inning, with the big blow being a two-run homer by Trea Turner. This was the latest in what has been a mystifying 2018 campaign for Gray, as he's struck out 183 batters across 172.1 innings while also posting a 5.12 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.

Contrary to a previous report that said Buehler was the choice, the Dodgers may still be deciding on the starter for Sunday's regular-season finale, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Nationals' decision not to pitch Max Scherzer against the Rockies might've changed the Dodgers' minds. Rich Hill headed into Saturday night as the alternative to Buehler, who's been lined up for the assignment since earlier this week. This'll be an important development for the final regular-season day of action, notably for fantasy players relying on Buehler or Hill to help them win a fantasy title.

Buehler will start Sunday in San Francisco, Pedro Moura of The Athletic reports.

The Dodgers decided on the move based on Saturday's results. They defeated the Giants while the Rockies lost the Nationals, putting the NL West title in play Sunday. Instead of tabbing Rich Hill, Los Angeles will go big with its young budding ace, and he'll give fantasy players one last shot during their championship week to ride his brilliant 2.76 ERA, 10.2 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9, which he's accrued across 130.2 innings.

Nola (17-6) threw seven scoreless innings to pick up the win over the Braves on Saturday. He worked around two hits and four walks while striking out eight.

The right-hander will finish a superb 2018 season with a 2.37 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 9.5 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. If not for Jacob deGrom's ridiculous 1.70 ERA or Max Scherzer's 300 strikeouts, Nola would have garnered more Cy Young hype. Still, the 25-year-old will rank as a fantasy ace in nearly every eligible 2019 fantasy draft.

Anderson is set to start the Rockies' regular-season finale Sunday, Kyle Newman of The Denver Post reports.

The southpaw has been deemed healthy enough to work the important contest. The Rockies are tied for the NL West lead with the Dodgers, who've also clinched a postseason berth. They'll need to win Sunday to at least force a tiebreaker to decide who's the division winner and who's the wild card, but divergent results could settle things Sunday. Anderson holds a 4.52 ERA in 87.2 innings at Coors Field, and Nationals batters continue to get a boost for this road series to close out the season.

Nix (2-5) allowed four runs on five hits and three walks while striking out none across four innings to take the loss Saturday against the Diamondbacks.

The big blow against Nix came in the fourth inning, when he allowed a two-run homer to Ildemaro Vargas. He pitched fairly well otherwise, generating eight groundball outs and allowing only one other extra-base hit. However, the 22-year-old failed to show that he could pitch effectively at the major-league level this season, posting a 7.02 ERA and 1.54 WHIP across 42.1 innings.

Kershaw struck out four and allowed five runs and eight hits and zero walks over five innings in a no-decision against the Giants on Saturday.

Kershaw was unable to hold 2-0 and 5-3 leads as the Dodgers attempted to secure a playoff berth, but thankfully the offense exploded for four runs in the ninth inning to earn a 10-6 win. It's the first time in 2018 Kershaw allowed more than four runs in a start. The veteran left-hander finishes the regular season with a 2.73 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 155:29 K:BB over 161.1 innings.

Taillon (14-10) struck out seven but took the loss to the Reds on Saturday despite giving up three runs in six innings. He worked around seven hits and did not walk a batter.

The right-hander peppered the zone with 64 strikes in 89 pitches but allowed a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the third before a homer by Eugenio Suarez and an RBI single from opposing pitcher Michael Lorenzen in the fourth. All in all, Taillon was effective, but his offense failed to plate a run, which left him empty-handed in a quality start packed with strikeouts and sans a walk. He'll wrap up the 2018 season with a sparkling 3.20 ERA, 2.2 BB/9, and a solid 8.4 K/9 in 191 innings. Taillon already enters 2019 in top-25 territory among mixed-league starting pitchers, and given his impressive 10.5 percent swinging-strike rate from this year, he might reach another level in punchouts with more experience and a few tweaks to his approach.

Lorenzen (4-2) threw 5.2 scoreless innings Saturday to register the victory over Pittsburgh, working around five hits and two walks while striking out two. He also notched an RBI single.

The two-way player helped his cause by driving in Dilson Herrera in the fourth inning. Lorenzen has sandwiched a Sept. 23 loss with a combined 9.2 scoreless innings in two positive outings, finishing the 2018 season with a 3.11 ERA in 81 innings, but he probably overachieved, considering his 6.0 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 overall. He pitched well in relief (3.21 ERA in 67.1 innings) but might get a chance to compete for a rotation gig in 2019, making him an arm to watch for NL-only fantasy players.