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Speaker 1Lots of injury updates for the final week of the season. Up next on Fantasy Baseball Today Express. Welcome into FPT Express on Monday, September 21st. I am Frank Stample, joined by Scott White. And let's get you caught up on all the injuries from the weekend. Dylan Cease underwent an MRI on his shoulder Saturday and will not make his scheduled start this week. So, make sure to get Dylan Cease out of your lineups. We will talk about a few replacements. But Scott, 93.6 miles per hour on his fastball. By far the lowest of the season. This is pretty scary stuff for Dylan Cease, you know, heading into next year now.
Speaker 3Yeah, it is. And it's kind of unclear what the timeline was. He's been dealing with shoulder fatigue for a while. They said this was his third straight start with a season low velocity. The biggest drop of all. It was more than one mile per hour loss from the start of the previous one. But three in a row with season low. An 11 start stretch overall where his velocity had been diminished. And the first eight of those 11, it was like the best Dylan Cease we've ever seen. In those first eight starts, he had a 138 ERA, .83 whip, 11.4 K per nine. So, it almost looked intentional at the start of this for those first eight. But then the last three became a little bit clearer. Something was wrong. And now he's having an MRI. So, we'll see what the MRI turns up. Hopefully, it's nothing too serious. Because if it is, yeah, that could absolutely impact Dylan Cease for 2027.
Speaker 1And if you need replacements the final week, Scott's top five sleeper pitchers. We have Jared Jones, Tyler Malley, Walbert Arania, Ryan Johnson, and Peter Lambert. We also got an update on Aaron Judge. He was placed in the aisle Saturday with a right calf strain retroactive to Thursday. And Judge in the end. The Yankees are hopeful that he'll be back for the playoffs. But really, nobody knows as of now. Just been a brutal season for Judge with all the injuries. First, the rib. Now, the calf. Sleeper outfielders for this week. You've got Henry Bolte, Lawrence Butler, Javier Sanoja, A.J. Ewing, Jacob Marcy, Zach Geloff. And if you're in a deeper league, Brett Bateman could be an option for you. Shohei Otani said that there's a good chance that he'll be activated this week against the Padres. He is eligible to return on Wednesday. Scott, if you have Otani, the hitter, in a weekly lineup league, would you start or sit Shohei Otani?
Speaker 3So, in theory, you can play five games. You have to assume it's going to be less than that, fewer than that, because Dodgers have nothing more to gain this final week. It's really just about being prepared for the playoffs. They don't want to rest their hitters too much because they're, in all likelihood, going to have a bye-bye. I don't want to be too rusty going in, but considering Otani's coming off the I.L., I'd be surprised if he started all five games. And we don't know if he's going to look normal. He definitely didn't before going on the I.L. So, if you really don't have a great option otherwise to use at DH, I understand. Just hoping Otani comes back and does Otani things. But in most cases, I think... I would shy away from that.
Speaker 1Speaking of somebody who does not look normal, Alex Bregman hit in the face while he was in the on-deck circle here on Sunday. And he posted a picture on Instagram. I mean, it was very rough stuff. Looked like he, you know, was in a boxing match with Mike Tyson or something like that. His eye is completely swollen shut. So, if I had to guess, I don't think he's going to play at all this week, Scott. We might need third base for placements. You have Aaron Ott. You have Otto, Sonoha, and Gelof on your sleeper hitters. But it was a scary scene there for Alex Bregman.
Speaker 3Yeah. And other than that picture and a declaration that he'll be back, I don't have much information. So, I don't know how much this will impact him for the postseason. Obviously, the rest of this week is out as far as I'm concerned. And if those three options you mentioned... They're on my sleeper hitters list. Nolan Arenado, Javier Sonoha, and Zach Gelof. If they're already rostered in your league, you could look to Pablo Ramirez. Or, sorry, Pedro Ramirez, who would presumably be the one replacing Alex Bregman at third base. And the matchups do favor him this week. So, that's a deeper league option for you.
Speaker 1All right. Let's take a quick break. When we return, we'll talk about some other waivers. We'll cover names from the weekend. We'll do that right after this.
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Speaker 1Welcome back. FBT Express going over some waiver names from the weekend. And Dansby Swanson returned with a bang. He was activated on Friday. He went two for four with a home run on Saturday. Scott, I think there could be even some deeper leagues where people drop Dansby Swanson thinking that he was out for the year. Now, he does return for this final week. The pitchers on the schedule look pretty bad. I think it could turn out to be a pretty good setup here for Dansby Swanson.
Speaker 3Yep. Like I said, the matchups favor Pedro Ramirez. And they favor Dansby Swanson, too. Swanson, an even better hitter. And I like that he homered in his second game back. Sort of like I was saying for Otani, though. The Cubs really can't improve their situation over the final, their playoff situation over the final week of the season. So, I imagine there will be some amount of resting happening. But, if you need shortstop help, it's hard to imagine you'd find much better than Swanson. I guess Javier Sanoja would prioritize over him. But, that's about it.
Speaker 1Alright, some names in the mid-tier. Some medium-depth leagues here. Angel Martinez had a big weekend. He had a two-homer game on Saturday. And then, he started both Saturday and Sunday. He sat a couple games before that. But, he has crushed lefties this year. And the Guardians have four lefties. He's on the schedule this week. Angel Martinez is second and outfield eligible. And, Yainer Diaz has had himself a big September. He is hitting .357 with three home runs and .961 OPS. And, has six games this week. Four of those in Sacramento. So, Scott, on paper, I kind of like the matchups here for both Angel Martinez and Yainer Diaz. If you are in a slightly deeper league.
Speaker 3Yeah, I think that makes sense. Yainer Diaz, since returning from an oblique injury, that was... uh, missed like half of May or most, of June, like a six-week period around there. Since coming back, he's been about a .300 hitter with an .830 OPS, looked basically like Yiner Diaz, and regardless of matchups, I think, needs to be started in more leagues than he is. Catcher's obviously deep, but even so, I think he's a good play for this week. Angel Martinez was the other one, correct? Yep. Yeah, I think especially outfield or second base, he qualifies both. Don't love the matchups for the Guardians this week. They're actually the fifth worst, but with all those lefties, I could see using Angel Martinez if there was a positional need
Speaker 1there. Alright, on the pitching side, I have just one name I want to mention, a lower-end name, but Connor Prelip had a big start this weekend. Seven shutout innings, eight strikeouts. He is only 23% rostered. He has pitched very well in September, and he gets the Giants this week. Scott, I know he is someone you added to the back end of your sleeper pitchers.
Speaker 3Yeah, it looks like he is going to move up and face the Giants now. Originally, it was going to be the Rangers, but Bailey Obers, surprise, surprise, got a three inning save on Sunday. So, that kind of moved everybody else up. Not eager to start Prelip, to be clear. The seven-inning start was the first time he'd gone that deep. Generally, he's limited more to about five innings. But, it seems low risk at San Francisco with the kind of lineup they're running out there now, presumably without Bryce Eldridge, or at least potentially without Eldridge. If you're in a desperate spot for pitching help, I think Prelip is somebody you could consider.
Speaker 1Alright, for more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to our full-length podcast, Fantasy Baseball Today, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to FBT Express, and we will be back again later this week Bye-bye!
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