by Ray Kuhn

As the pennant races heat up, both on the diamond and in your fantasy leagues, things are getting a little more challenging for the last few weeks of the season. With the expanding rosters and teams  clearly out of contention, playing time is being handled a little differently than it was over the first five months of the season, and fantasy owners are often left scrambling for at bats. These conflicting agendas do make things more difficult, but everyone is dealing with the same issues.

With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the performances that stood out on the field from a busy Tuesday night around the league:

1) Another Solid Outing for Musgrove

No, Joe Musgrove is not Gerrit Cole and he likely won’t ever get confused for him, but the young right-hander is getting off to a solid start as a Pirate. Musgrove has moved past the early season DL stint, and he has become a reliable member of the Pirates’ rotation. On Tuesday, he picked up his sixth victory of the year with 6.1 innings of two run ball. The right-hander struck out eight batters while allowing five hits and lowering his ERA for the season to 3.75. Through 17 starts so far this season, Musgrove has struck out 88 batters in 103.1 innings of work while compiling a respectable 1.18 WHIP. With a 3.77 FIP and just 1.83 walks per nine innings, Musgrove is starting pitcher to keep an eye on for the rest of the season and also going into 2019. Read more

Are you following @Rotoprofessor on Twitter? If not you should be, as we Tweet out all the important bullpen notes every morning from the previous day’s games. Who is in jeopardy of losing their job? Who is worth the speculative add? Here are this morning tweets (Please note we won’t be posting these on the website every day, so make sure you follow @Rotoprofessor to ensure you don’t miss a thing):

BAL: We keep saying Givens is locked into role, but is he really? He took 4th BSV yesterday (and is 0-7) allowing 2 R/1 H/1 BB/0.1 IP. Fry has been pitching well (2.84) & worked 8th for 7th HLD. Don't be shocked if he gets chance at job #MLB #FantasyBaseball #closers

— Rotoprofessor (@Rotoprofessor) September 2, 2018

Read more

by Ray Kuhn

We had another typical Wednesday yesterday across the league, as there was action from early afternoon until well into the evening. With a full slate of continuous action, fantasy owners had the ability to be locked in all day, and the games on the field didn’t disappoint. Let’s take a look at some of the performances that stood out:

1) Pannone Comes Close

Thomas Pannone really came close to making history yesterday as he took a no-hitter into the middle innings in search of his first career victory. He did eventually give up a hit, but all Baltimore managed off the southpaw was the one hit and two walks as he struck out three for win over seven innings of work. It was the first start of his major league career for Pannone whose ERA now sits at 1.59 after 11.1 innings with Toronto. For his career, the left-hander has a 3.38 minor league ERA which includes a 2.36 mark last season in 25 starts at Double-A. With more than a strikeout per inning (526 in 505.1 innings) and a 1.16 WHIP, Pannone has carved out a solid minor league career, but with a 4.91 ERA in 36.1 innings at Triple-A, he has struggled prior to his promotion. For now, I’m not ready to full invest in Pannone since he did take advantage of Baltimore yesterday, but he should be on your radar. Read more

by Ray Kuhn

Entering last night, weather had the potential to cause issues at quite a few games around the league. Ultimately, there were no rain-outs, and everything was played to completion. The problem though, is that thanks to the rain, we only got to see two innings from Michael Kopech in his debut. We also had some player movement as Daniel Murphy now heads to the Cubs, with Matt Adams joining the Cardinals and Bryce Harper remaining in Washington after the Nationals pulled back his waiver status.

We also went from Buster Posey potentially having season ending hip surgery, to now planning to be in the lineup today. Jose Abreu is in fact having surgery, so now fantasy owners have to deal with replacing him, potentially for the remainder of the season. Then there is Justin Upton hitting the disabled list for a lacerated finger, Aroldis Chapman having an MRI on his knee, and more.

So yes, it was a busy day around the league to say the least. Let’s take a look at some of the fantasy performances that stood out:

1) An Abbreviated Debut

Did you really think we would make you wait to talk about Michael Kopech? Despite only making it through two innings of work before the weather took over, the right-hander certainly impressed in his major league debut. After putting up a 3.70 ERA in 126.1 innings at Triple-A this season, with 170 strikeouts, Kopech faced the Twins on Tuesday. In flashing his explosive arsenal, the right-hander worked around three hits to not allow a run while striking out four. After walking just about a batter every other inning earlier this season, it was a good sign that Kopech didn’t walk a batter. However, control will be something to monitor, as we know that the strikeouts will be there. Read more

by Ray Kuhn

We had a busy day on the field to start the week, so let’s not waste any time in looking at some of the performances that stood out from a fantasy perspective:

1) A Nice Way to Make a Debut

Over the past year or so, Bryse Wilson has risen in the pecking order of Atlanta pitching prospects, and considering how many they have, it’s not exactly an easy task. After posting a 2.50 ERA and 1.04 in Single-A last season, Wilson began the 2018 season in High-A, but that wasn’t for long (five starts. He soon made stops in Double-A (15 starts and a 3.97 ERA) and Triple-A (4.50 ERA in three starts) before getting the call to the major leagues last night. The 20 year old certainly wasted no time in making his presence felt as he threw five shutout innings to pick up the victory. Wilson limited Pittsburgh to three hits and three walks while striking out five, and he is a prospect who should be on your radar.  Read more

Are you following @Rotoprofessor on Twitter? If not you should be, as we Tweet out all the important bullpen notes every morning from the previous day’s games. Who is in jeopardy of losing their job? Who is worth the speculative add? Here are this morning tweets (Please note we won’t be posting these on the website every day, so make sure you follow @Rotoprofessor to ensure you don’t miss a thing):

CHC: Strop picks up SV… Why not Morrow? There's still no word, but it doesn't appear to be a usage issue (threw 19 pitches on 07/01). Fresh off the DL, fantasy owners have to be concerned #MLB #FantasyBaseball #closers

— Rotoprofessor (@Rotoprofessor) July 4, 2018

Read more