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| Friday, October 1, 2021 |
| Happy Friday, everyone! Dan Schneier here to wish an especially happy Friday to Atlanta Braves fans after their team clinched the NL East with a 5-3 win over the Phillies. Thursday's win was the sweep for Atlanta over Philadelphia, and it's their fourth straight NL East title. The Astros are back on top in the AL West and their win over the Rays clinched the division title as well. They're not the only happy fans in the West as the Mariners are now tied for a wild-card berth following wins. And on the flip side, the collapse continues for San Diego as the Dodgers swept the Padres on Thursday. |
| We'll dive into all of the action including big nights from red-hot hitters like Aaron Judge and Corey Seager. We'll also break down Shane Bieber's return to the mound and take a look at Scott White's early 2022 catcher rankings. |
| Let's dive into all the action. |
| Of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. |
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| Seager gearing up for another playoff domination? |
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| Dodgers SS Corey Seager was the hero of the postseason last year with one of the most dominant runs we've seen from a hitter in a long time. He was locked in at the plate and it's starting to look like he's got that mode engaged again. On Thursday, Seager went 3 for 4 and homered twice. It's the second two-homer game for the 2020 NLCS and World Series MVP. The breakout didn't happen for Seager in 2021 due to him missing so many games with a hand injury, but you should use that to your advantage in 2022 drafts and draft him at a discount. If he can stay healthy, he can be one of baseball's best hitters. |
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| All Rise for Judge |
| Yankees OF Aaron Judge put his stamp on the Yankees' impressive run to the end of this regular season to position themselves for the postseason in a win on Thursday night. Judge took the AL's breakout pitcher of the year Robbie Ray deep twice. These two homers give Judge 39 on the season. Judge has 10 homers in just 27 September games and looks in perfect form for the postseason. Speaking of the postseason, the Yankees are now in the driver's seat for the top wild-card spot. |
| Tatis caps off monster 2021 |
| Fernando Tatis might just be the consensus No. 1 pick in Fantasy this spring. In Scott White's exercise where he drafted the first two rounds, Tatis went first. On Thursday, he crushed his 42nd home run of the season. He finishes Thursday's action with an incredible Roto yearly stat line that includes a .281average with 42 long balls, 25 bags and 97 RBI. |
| Bieber makes his return to the mound |
| Cleveland SP Shane Bieber made his return to the mound for a short outing on Thursday. In a matchup with the Royals, Bieber gave up one run in three innings of work. He allowed four hits and struck out one. It was a planned abbreviated outing and Bieber ended up throwing 32 of his 50 total pitches for strikes. The former Tier 1 SP has missed three months this season with a right shoulder strain he suffered back in June. He'll close out his 2021 season with a 3.17 ERA and 1.21 WHIP to go along with an impressive 134 strikeouts across 96 2/3 innings. He should once again go in the early rounds of drafts next season. |
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| News and notes |
| DJ LeMahieu left Thursday's game early with right hip soreness.Yu Darvish was placed on the IL with a hip impingement, ending his season.Marcus Semien hit his 44th HR Wednesday, breaking the record for most homers by a second baseman.Zack Greinke allowed one hit and struck out two across two scoreless innings Thursday for Triple-A Sugar Land. Nolan Arenado announced Wednesday that he won't exercise his opt-out clause after the season and will remain with the Cardinals for 2022Wander Franco's on-base streak ends at 43 games. It ends in a tie with Frank Robinson for the longest streak by a player under 21 years old.Shohei Ohtani will not make another pitcher start this year.Edward Cabrera was removed from Thursday's game against the Mets with a blister on his right middle finger.Jesus Sanchez left early with right hamstring tightness.The Marlins hope to start Pablo Lopez in Sunday's season finale against the Phillies.Luke Voit landed on the IL with left knee inflammation.Daniel Lynch went to the IL with a right hand contusion.Nico Hoerner went to the IL with general soreness.Chris Paddack received an injection in his right elbow earlier this week and is expected to make a full recovery from a slight UCL sprain in 6-to-8 weeks.Adam Wainwright will start the NL wild-card game on Wednesday. |
| Early 2022 Catcher Rankings |
| Scott White got things started real early when he broke out the early 2022 Catcher Rankings. These are a few of the rankings that stood out the most. |
| No. 4 -- Diamondbacks C Daulton Varsho -- What a leap he made in 2021. From Scott: "Varsho has a chance to be something beyond the typical catcher. He spends half his time in center field, for goodness' sake, which means he can actually run and potentially play every day. A breakthrough second half hopefully kicked that door wide open." |
| No. 8 -- Nationals C Keibert Ruiz -- He will be a very popular breakout candidate at the position in 2022 drafts. From Scott: "Having unlocked his power at Triple-A and escaped Will Smith's shadow in Los Angeles, Ruiz is primed for a star turn with the Nationals. His late-season debut didn't set the world on fire, but his uncanny contact skills were just as evident as in the minors, which gives him the sort of floor that's especially valuable at a position full of craters." |
| No. 10 -- Yankees C Gary Sanchez -- A bit surprised to still see Sanchez in the top-10? From Scott: "The past couple seasons have rendered Sanchez sort of a lesser version of Zunino, offering empty power to go along with increasing threats to his playing time. I'm being a little generous here out of respect to his track record. His second half really was dreadful, and it's possible the Yankees decide to move on." |
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