IN THE LINEUP
Eloy Jimenez returned to the White Sox as a DH after missing two games following hitting a foul ball off his knee... Byron Buxton homered on Friday but has struggled since coming off of the IL with just a .130 average... Jake Fraley started his rehab assignment on Saturday and it's not expected to be a long one as there's a chance that he could rejoin the team on Monday... Kevin Kiemaier sat out of Wednesday's game with a sore hamstring but returned to the lineup Friday and went 2-4 with a triple... Wander Franco left Friday's game with a hamstring injury and was placed on the IL. Taylor Walls was called up from AAA and will be the primary shortstop for the team the rest of the way. There's no note yet as to whether Franco will be back for the end of the season... JD Martinez was a late scratch on Friday and Saturday due to back spasms... More Red Sox players have been placed on the COVID-19 IL. Jonathan Arauz hasn't tested positive for the virus but has continued to show symptoms for it. Danny Santana also has tested positive for COVID-19 as the Red Sox outbreak continues... Kevin Smith was optioned to AAA Buffalo on Friday... Jorge Mateo was held out of the lineup for a few games this week but returned to the lineup on Saturday... Michael Brantley left Saturday's game with a leg injury. There's no real update yet as to his status going forward... Matt Chapman left the game Saturday after fouling a ball off his lower leg. X-rays came back negative on the third baseman and he's unlikely to play Sunday, but it sounds like he's just day-to-day for the A's... Andrew Vaughn is day-to-day with leg soreness... Randy Arozarena is back with the team after being on the paternity list. Josh Lowe was sent back to AAA... Xander Bogaerts returned to the Red Sox from the COVID-19 list on Friday and was back in his normal shortstop spot... Ji-Man Choi was activated from the IL on Wednesday and went 0-4 in his return to the lineup... George Springer has been dealing with some knee soreness that has been keeping him out of the lineup... Tim Anderson took groundballs on Thursday after participating in batting practice on Wednesday. He's currently on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain but baseball activities are a promising step in his potential return to the team... It sounds like we can finally put a call on Mike Trout that he will not return this season. He's still working out with his injured calf but considering the Angels' position in the standings it doesn't make a ton of sense to bring him back at this point... Kyle Lewis has been shutdown for the season as he's now dealing with a bone bruise in his right knee during his rehab process... Adam Engel is out on his rehab assignment for his injured shoulder... Mitch Garver played catch on Tuesday. Garver has been out with a back strain since late August and there's no timetable set yet for his potential return... Trey Mancini has been dealing with oblique soreness this week that has keep him out of the lineup at times... Brett Phillips is back with the Rays and could be activated off the IL any day now... Willie Calhoun is currently out on his rehab assignment for his forearm injury.
IN THE ROTATION
Dane Dunning tossed an inning in relief on Friday after being reinstated from the COVID-19 list. He's still expected to rejoin the rotation and they are going to slowly work him up to around 90 pitches and will get a few more starts down the stretch... Zack Greinke tossed a bullpen session on Friday and is going to start for the Astros on Tuesday... Carlos Rodon picked up a win in his first start since September first. He was out with a minor shoulder surgery but it's nothing that will affect him long term... Nick Pivetta has been cleared to start for the Red Sox on Sunday. Pivetta has been on the COVID-19 IL but since he is vaccinated he's eligible to return to the team as soon as he clears protocols, rather than have to wait the minimum 10 days... Alex Cobb tossed a successful sim game on Friday. He's throw multiple bullpen sessions and now a sim game with no issues in wrist so it sounds like he'll be activated for his next turn through the rotation... Randy Dobnak returned to the Twins on Thursday but then had a full ligament tear in his finger that will cost him the rest of the season. The injury is basically a more severe injury of the finger sprain that caused him to miss most of the season... Shane McClanahan is hoping that he'll miss just one start as he deals with back stiffness... Lance Lynn was activated off the IL Friday and will start for the White Sox against Boston... Conor Seabold could start for the Red Sox on Saturday after Chris Sale was placed on the COVID-19 IL... Gerrit Cole is trending towards making his scheduled start on Tuesday. He left his last start after dealing with some hamstring tightness but is no longer feeling any discomfort with it. He's set to throw a bullpen session Saturday and hopefully return to action Tuesday against the Orioles... Ross Stripling was reinstated from the IL on Friday. His role hasn't been clearly defined as he could start for the Jays or appear out of the bullpen... The Orioles haven't ruled out the chance that Bruce Zimmerman could return to the team this season. He was nearly back from his biceps injury in late August but then sprained his ankle. At best it sounds like he could return with around two weeks left in the season if all goes well with his ankle rehab... Martin Perez is scheduled to throw a bullpen session in the coming days and could rejoin the Red Sox after a rehab appearance on Sunday... Matt Harvey's season will come to an end after undergoing additional testing on his injured knee. Harvey's overall stat line was ugly but did pitch well at times in the second half of the season... Chris Archer left Saturday's start in the fourth inning with hip discomfort. His next turn through the rotation comes on Thursday so we'll have to see how he rebounds before seeing if he'll be able to make it out for that start... Chris Rodriguez has officially been ruled out for the season... The White Sox are going to use a six man rotation over the rest of the season and Reynaldo Lopez is going to be the sixth man in the role. This will get him a few more starts over the rest of the year... Matthew Boyd is headed to see an orthopedic surgeon for an opinion on his elbow. It doesn't sound like he's going to pitch again this year, and with the nature of the surgeon he's visiting it sounds like Tommy John could be on the table... Chris Bassitt could return to the A's and make multiple starts down the stretch run for the team... Kolby Allard was scratched from his start on Saturday with an illness... Luis Patino was pushed back to Sunday from his scheduled start on Saturday... Daniel Lynch got the start for Kansas City on Friday and allowed four runs... Tyler Anderson was placed on the bereavement list but is still expected to be back with the team by Tuesday for his next scheduled start... Jameson Taillon was placed on the IL with a right ankle injury. He's received a PRP injection in his ankle and we'll have a better sense of his return timetable once we see how he responds to that... Dylan Bundy tossed a bullpen session on Wednesday and is still hopeful to return this season. He's only thrown fastballs though in his sessions so there's still a ways to go before he's ready for game action... Reid Detmers threw a bullpen session on Wednesday as he's currently on the IL for a COVID-19 positive test. He's now looking to rebuild his pitch count but he may not be able to return to the rotation for the team... Domingo German is close to facing hitters as he rehabs his shoulder injury. He threw all of his pitches in his most recent bullpen session so the next step for him is to face hitters before potentially rejoining the team... Mike Foltynewicz has been cleared to begin working out following his COVID-19 IL stint.
IN THE BULLPEN
Matt Wisler is dealing with a finger issue and will be shut down for at least 10 days. He's slated to see a specialist to see the extent of the injury... Justin Dunn threw a simulated game on Friday and is expected to set out on a rehab assignment soon. He's going to return to the Mariners as a member of the bullpen assuming that everything goes well on the rehab assignment... Hirokazu Sawamura could return to the Red Sox bullpen as soon as this weekend... Matt Barnes threw a bullpen session on Friday and he's been cleared to rejoin the team. He's going to go out on a short rehab assignment starting next week and could rejoin the team next weekend... Nick Anderson is with the team in Detroit and could be activated this weekend... Taylor Rogers has officially been ruled out for the season... Demarcus Evans was optioned to AAA... Joe Barlow earned his fifth save for the Rangers... Greg Holland was activated off the IL by the Royals and will rejoin the bullpen... Matt Manning has x-rays on his knee after getting hit by a line drive while pitching. X-rays confirmed that was just dealing with a knee bruise and it's unclear as to when he will be able to make his next appearance... Julian Merryweather is back with the Jays after missing a significant amount of time this year with his oblique strain... Luis Severino was scheduled for a bullpen session on Tuesday. He's still working his way back to the Yankees from a variety of injuries this year and could possibly join the team as a member of the bullpen.
PLAYERS TO ADD
Bobby Dalbec, Boston Red Sox - Dalbec has had a tough 2021 season as a whole but he's really turned things around in the month of September with a .303/.361/.697 slash line and already has three homers this month. Strikeouts area always going to be a part of Dalbec's game but we've seen a slight dip in his swing and miss rate this month and he's currently running a sub-30% strikeout rate for the season straight month. He's currently also running a hard-hit rate over 50% for the second straight month and easily has the highest barrel rate of the season this month as well.
Taylor Walls, Tampa Bay Rays - Walls is more of an opportunity play more than anything as he's going to get extended playing time at shortstop while Wander Franco is on the IL. Walls went 2-3 at the plate on Saturday. Walls' season numbers have been pretty ugly with a .626 OPS but he does have a solid 12% walk rate this year which helps allow him to use his above average speed on the bases, where he has four stolen bases for the season. He's going to have an extended run of playing time for the what could be the rest of the season and those are valuable at bats on a team as good as the Rays are.
Joe Adell, Los Angeles Angels - Adell is on a bit of a hot stretch again with a 1.038 OPS over 33 at bats her here in the month of September. He's currently in the midst of a eight game hit streak and in that span he has three homers and a stolen base. A big issue for Adell this year has been strikeouts, across both the majors and minor leagues, but this month he's running a 16% strikeout rate which would be huge if he's able to sustain it. I'm always going to be in on Adell as I'm a big believer in the talent, and it's worth a shot over the last three weeks of the season.
