Weather Issues

The Angels/Red Sox game has some delay/postponement potential.

 

What’s Happening

Nelson Cruz returned to the Mariners lineup today and blasted a homerun in the process. In spite of dealing with nagging injuries throughout the season, Cruz is hitting .274/.360/.577 with 21 homers and a stolen base. He has the highest hard contact percentage of his career and it is not coming at the expense of his approach or strikeouts.

Clayton Kershaw pitched five innings, allowing only one run on four hits, while striking out six. Kershaw looked pretty good, but was pulled in favor of Walker Buehler , who was activated from the DL today. Buehler, who was supposed to do a rehab assignment today, was batted around by the Cubs offense, who dropped five runs on him in just one inning.  

Zack Greinke pitched seven scoreless innings and striking out six against the Marlins on Thursday. Greinke has dealt with lower velocity this season, but continues to pitch well in spite of it. He is one of the most cerebral pitchers in the game and has shown the ability to pitch well with diminished stuff. The lack of velocity may come back to haunt him at some point, but for now he is still a top 15 pitcher in the game.

According to manager Joe Maddon, Yu Darvish ’s bullpen start “did not go well” today and he will be sent back to Chicago for further testing. Darvish had said earlier in the week that his tricep injury was not 100% healed. This seems like it may turn into a longer term injury than anticipated.

Ronald Acuna has been reactivated from the disabled list. Acuna is the top prospect in baseball, but did not fare well in his first go around in the Majors prior to getting hurt. The Braves may ease him in towards the middle/back of the lineup for a bit, but his talent level will ultimately win out and he is the future #1 or #2 hitter for the Braves.

Carlos Correa has been placed on the DL with a back injury. Correa had been dealing with a strained back and missed a couple of games in hopes of avoiding a trip to the DL, but the Astros will play it safe with the star shortstop. He was hitting .268/.352/.480 with 13 home runs. Alex Bregman will likely slide over to shortstop in his absence which could give Bregman a realistic shot at regaining shortstop eligibility for next season, depending on how long Correa is out for.

Garrett Richards will begin a minor league rehab assignment tomorrow. Richards has been on the shelf for almost two weeks, so this is a good sign that the hamstring injury he suffered isn’t serious. He will likely need two rehab starts, so he should be back late next week or early the week after.

 

Quick hits

Nick Senzel underwent successful surgery on his injured finger. Senzel will miss the rest of this season, but will likely top a number of prospect and sleeper lists coming into next season.

Jorge Bonifacio has been reinstated by the Royals following the end of his 80-game suspension. Bonifacio was a trendy sleeper coming into the season and was crushing minor league pitching recently, so he is a sneaky add in deeper formats.

Yuli Gurriel has been placed on paternity leave and will miss the weekend series. AJ Reed has been recalled from the minor and will likely play some first base in his absence. Reed has a ton of pop and could be a cheap DFS play this weekend.

Travis Shaw is back in the Brewers lineup today after missing multiple games with a wrist injury.

Kyle Seager apparently hurt his toe in last night’s game and missed today’s game with the injury.

Chris Taylor returned to the Dodgers’ lineup today and went 1-for-5 after missing a few games with a hamstring injury.