The Red Sox called up Ceddanne Rafaela (OF-BOS) from Triple-A Worcester on Monday. With the Astros in town for the start of a three-game series, Boston needed reinforcements and called up its No. 3 prospect. Pablo Reyes was placed on the IL and Wilyer Abreu was placed on the paternity list in corresponding roster moves, clearing the way for Rafaela. The 22-year-old outfielder was setting Triple-A on fire prior to his promotion, batting .312/.370/.618 with 14 homers and 42 RBIs in 48 games. With rosters expanding on Sept. 1, there's a good chance he'll stay in the majors for the rest of the season as long as he doesn't totally flop. He's a must-add in all fantasy formats for the stretch run if he's still available and make sure to plug him into your lineups ASAP, as he has a high fantasy floor in Boston's potent lineup and with his home games at Fenway Park.
The Rangers finally had some good news for their fans on Monday night as they announced that they'll be promoting top prospect Evan Carter (OF-TEX) from Double-A to Triple-A on Tuesday, which also happens to be Turner's 21st birthday. The hard-hitting outfielder will move one step closer to the majors after tearing up Double-A, where he slashed .284/.411/.451 with 12 homers, 62 RBIs, 22 steals and 74 walks in 97 games this season. Carter currently rates as the top prospect in the Rangers organization and the No. 8 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. With his promotion to Triple-A, he remains on track to debut in the majors in 2024, barring any major injuries or setbacks. This move doesn't affect his fantasy outlook for 2023, but it's an important development for fantasy managers who have him in dynasty leagues. He looks like a future star with his combination of speed, power and plate discipline, but be sure to monitor his progress at Triple-A in the meantime.
Luis Severino (SP-NYY) turned in one of his best outings of the season on Monday, firing seven scoreless innings in a win over the Tigers. He scattered five hits and no walks while striking out eight. The seven frames and eight whiffs were both season highs for Severino, who improved to 4-8 with a 6.64 ERA. While those numbers are still terrible, Severino has benefitted from soft matchups in each of his last two outings with 13 2/3 scoreless frames during that time. It's unclear whether he's truly turned the corner or if he's just taking advantage of easy lineups, but either way it's too little, too late for both fantasy GMs and the Yankees after a season of underwhelming performances. He's managed to bring his ERA down nearly a run and a half from its high-water mark of 8.06 a few weeks ago, so at least he's trending in the right direction. He has a much tougher matchup against the Astros looming this weekend, so be careful about deploying him there.
Reese Olson (SP-DET) took the loss on Monday despite holding the Yankees to one run on three hits and four walks with 10 strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings. Olson kept New York off the board until the fifth, when Gleyber Torres finally broke through with an RBI double. The 10 whiffs were a career-high for the 24-year-old rookie, who now has 78 punchouts in 72 1/3 innings this year. The 14 walks plus strikeouts limited him to just 13 outs on Monday, however, as he quickly got up to 100 pitches on the evening. He's battled control issues in August with 14 walks in 22 2/3 innings this month, accounting for more than half of his season total (24). The strikeouts make Olson a tantalizing fantasy option, but his 2-6 record, 5.10 ERA and ballooning walk rate make him a risky arm to rely on at this crucial stage of the season. He'll be an appealing streaming option this weekend against the cratering White Sox.
Trea Turner (SS-PHI) continued his torrid August on Monday, going 2-for-3 with two homers, three runs, three RBIs and a walk against the Angels. Turner led the Phillies to a 6-4 win with his second multi-homer game of the month and third of the season, belting a game-tying solo shot in the first and a go-ahead two-run shot in the fifth -- both off Lucas Giolito. The pair of bombs extended Turner's hitting streak to nine games, and he's now hit safely in 20 of his last 22 since Phillies fans gave him a standing ovation. It took Turner four months, but he's finally playing at an MVP level and has started to salvage his fantasy season in the process. He's now up to 17 homers, a .255 average and a .727 OPS on the year. Still disappointing numbers overall, but much better than they looked a few weeks ago, plus he still has over a month to keep adding to them. He's only three homers away from his third straight 20/20 season, so ride him while he's hot as he keeps doing his best to push the Phillies into a playoff spot.
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