As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
I mean really, this is getting ridiculous. With Logan Allen's eight scoreless innings against the Twins, the Guardians blanked Minnesota for both games of the double header, something they've not done since 1964. Allen was terrific in this one, utilizing his cutter/changeup combo expertly to right-handed batters, leading to a 44% whiff rate between the two offerings. The Guardians pitching staff has been lights out for the month of September, and across this 16-2 stretch, their starters have accounted for 114.2 innings with a 1.26 ERA(!!!). They are now just 1.0 games back of Detroit for the AL Central, and they're tied with Houston for the third AL Wild Card spot, and with Cleveland owning the tiebreaker, they are essentially a game up on the Astros. An historically good month for the Guards.
I'm sorry, another outing where a Cleveland starter didn't allow a run? The run that the white hot Guardians are on right now is unparalleled, and as I've mentioned before in our Daily Sheets, the starting pitching drives it all. Cecconi has now allowed just two runs over his last 20.2 innings, and he had the strikeout stuff going today. While Cecconi's stuff isn't blow-away level stuff, when he's locating, his sequencing is very good, and he finds a way to get swings and misses on his fastball/curveball combo. That pairing generated 10 whiffs on 22 swings and six of Cecconi's eight strikeouts on the day.
Unc still got it! The 35 year-old had one of his best outings of the season against the lowly Rockies. Hendricks topped out at 88.1 mph on the day, and he only induced seven swings and misses, but when just 5 of the 19 balls put in play are hard hit, and they're all groundballs, that's a recipe for success that Hendricks has made a career out of.
Noah Cameron played spoiler to Toronto clinching a spot in the Postseason, out-dueling Shane Bieber with 6.2 innings of one-run ball. Cameron has quietly put together a really solid season for the Royals with over 130 innings of sub-3.00 ERA ball. Cameron had just five hard hit balls against him in this one, and his changeup had Toronto's star-studded lineup out in front all outing long.
George Kirby continued his recent string of success, striking out seven Astros in six strong innings of work. Although the whiffs weren't there (24%) as they had been lately, Kirby surrendered just one hard hit ball in the air out of 14 balls put in play, a key to success when you're pitching in Houston. Seattle will need Kirby to keep up this consistent level of performance as we near October.
Cal Raleigh made history Saturday night, hitting his 57th home run, breaking a tie with Ken Griffey Jr.'s 56 home run campaigns in both 1997 and 1998. Raleigh's miracle season is coinciding with Seattle being the second hottest team in the AL as they now own sole ownership of the AL West.
The two-headed lefty monster atop the Yankees' rotation is peaking at the right time. Rodon has set a career high in innings pitched this season, and his eight strikeouts against Baltimore have inched him closer to his second 200 strikeout season. Rodon's changeup has been the unlocked weapon of choice this season, and he went to it often, generating 12 whiffs (57%) on the day. Rodon has now stacked nine straight starts of 5+ innings with two or fewer earned runs.
Bubba Chandler has now stacked consecutive strong starts after a rough start to his big league career. Chandler blanked the A's across five one-hit innings, generating a 37% whiff rate with 11 coming on his fastball/changeup combo that had Athletic batters off balance all day long. Chandler was working from in front consistently, and that was the same recipe as last outing. If he can get to counts where he can let his stuff eat, he's incredibly tough to hit.
If Detroit never saw Nacho Alvarez again, it'd still be too soon. Alvarez had strung together some decent play lately, but it had been void of any kind of power. That all changed in this game. The Tigers appeared to be getting off the schnide after taking the lead in the 8th. Alvarez had different plans. Out of the 9-hole, Alvarez pounded a pair of home runs, including a blast that brought Atlanta back to within a run in the 8th, and then he singled to tie the game with two outs in the ninth.
Game 1: 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI, K Game 2: 1-for-3, R, BB, K
Jose Ramirez hit home run number 30 in game one of Cleveland's double header sweep of Minnesota, giving him his second straight 30/30 season. Ramirez is a superstar, but soon, we're going to be calling him a Hall of Famer. In hitting his 30th homer, Ramirez became the first player ever with consecutive seasons with 30+ home runs and 40+ stolen bases. He's now just the second player ever with multiple 30+ HR/30+ 2B/40+ SB seasons, joining Alfonso Soriano. In fact, only Soriano and the father-son duo of Barry and Bobby Bonds have more 30/30 seasons than Ramirez's. He's been breaking records in Cleveland's books all season, and now he's making some MLB history.
When you're on a streak like Cleveland is, it's going to take more than Jose Ramirez to get there. Enter Bo Naylor. Entering September, Naylor had been on an elongated slump bad enough that Austin Hedges had temporarily taken the lead in fWAR despite having over 200 fewer plate appearances. However, September has turned into SeptemBO as the young backstop has taken off during Cleveland's winning streak. Naylor mashed two homers in the game one win over Minnesota in their double-header, and he's now riding an eight game hitting streak with multiple games where he's been all the offense Cleveland needed. In the month of September, Naylor is slashing .326/.367/.652 with 3 home runs and 5 doubles. Doing this on top of being the everyday catcher for MLB's hottest rotation has made this a banner month for Naylor.
This was not only a level debut, but a professional debut for the Athletics 5th round pick. The UNC Wilmington product held his own against the Angels Triple-A affiliate. This is either the A's really needed a starter for this level or this shows that they have a lot of confidence in Taylor. Either way, the decision proved to be a good one. Taylor was the 191st ranked prospect for us heading into the draft. The college senior was old for the class, but can get into the upper-90's with his fastball.
In limited chances at the big league level things have not gone well for Justin Foscue, but he continues to hit well in Triple-A. This is his 19th home run on the season while hitting .261. Foscue has played first base and second base this season in the minors. I've long been a fan of his hitting ability, but without a regular role it's impossible to tell if it'll eventually translate. Hopefully he's not just a quad-A player, his bat should give him plenty of ability to be at least a solid bench piece.
The most shocking thing here is that Emmanuel Rodriguez swung his bat at least three times in one game. He has good power and all, but he just doesn't swing the bat. That puts a lot of pressure on the outcomes when he does swing. There's a lot of talent to be had, it's just that his approach seems like it's going to hold back the profile at the big league level. We should see how things play out next season, but I've long had my reservations. Bare minimum there's a lot of risk involved.
Performance aside, this is an incredible moment for Daniel Espino. It's been such a long road for him to work back to pitching in games. Before this he hadn't thrown in a game since 2022. Espino was once a top prospect, but those injuries have derailed his career. Still just 24-years-old, he hit upper-90's in the start. He'd been in triple digits during bullpens. There is still a long road, which will go through the Arizona Fall League, and he threw 21 pitches in this outing. The Guardians are likely to be careful. Still, congratulations to Espino for making it back to competitive action.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Dynasty player of 10+ years. Helping you find the building blocks of your championship rosters as a co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023, joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
A Giants fan living in San Diego, been playing fantasy baseball since 2005 and dynasty since 2021. Started the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast in June 2023 and joined Prospects Live in March of 2024.
Dynasty player of 10+ years. Helping you find the building blocks of your championship rosters as a co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023, joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
A Giants fan living in San Diego, been playing fantasy baseball since 2005 and dynasty since 2021. Started the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast in June 2023 and joined Prospects Live in March of 2024.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
