| | | | Friday, August 23, 2024 | | A few weeks ago, the trio of young Jacksons (Chourio, Marrill, and Holliday) were the talk of baseball. On Thursday, it was another duo who share a name that made headlines, as pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Arrighetti both showed out. | | In Schwellenbach's case, it was in keeping with what he's accomplished for a while, while Arrighetti bounced back from a poor showing to give us some reason to think he might be a must-roster pitcher the rest of the way, at least. Before we get to the rest of Thursday's standouts, news and notes, and some waiver-wire targets, let's get to what you need to know about the Spencers and their excellent performances: | | Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves vs. PHI: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K – I don't want to get ahead of myself, but Schwellenbach just keeps showing the kind of skill set that is really worth getting excited about. He obviously has elite control, with a George Kirby-esque 4.5% walk rate in his rookie season, but where Schwellenbach also stands out is with the swinging strikes he's able to generate. He got 20 of them Thursday and has a 14.5% swinging strike rate for the season, essentially tied with Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal. Read that again: "Essentially tied with Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale ." He has a 3.35 ERA with 53 strikeouts and five walks in 37.2 innings over six starts since the All-Star break, and I think we may be talking about him as a top-24 starting pitcher next season. If there's one concern, it's this: Schwellenbach has never thrown more than 65 innings in a season before this one, and he's already up to 127.1 this season. That's a big jump, and it's fair to wonder how he'll hold up down the stretch. | | Spencer Arrighetti, SP, Astros @BAL: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – Pitchers are funny creatures. Arrighetti had one of the best two-start runs of any pitcher in the league when he struck out 25 against the Rays and Red Sox earlier in August, and then followed that up with four earned runs over 5.2 innings against a historically inept White Sox lineup. So, of course, he went out and shut the Orioles out over six innings Thursday, striking out six with one walk and only three hits allowed. The Orioles, who are averaging nearly two more runs than the White Sox this season. Sure. The upshot is, it's another reminder of the upside Arrighetti brings to the table every time he steps to the mound. Is he someone you can trust in your lineup? Not quite yet, but he's absolutely someone who could be a difference-maker down the stretch if he finds that consistency, and he should be rostered in all leagues just in case. | | | | Friday's waiver targets | | Jack Leiter, SP, Rangers (14%) – Alright, so I know Leiter's first stint in the majors went poorly. Okay, that might be underselling it: Leiter gave up 17 earned runs in 9.1 innings over three starts earlier in the season, which is about as poorly as you can do. But the former No. 2 overall pick has continued his solid bounceback season at Triple-A since going back in May, and he's especially been flashing some outrageous upside lately, striking out 20 batters in just 9.1 innings over the past two outings. He certainly has the stuff to thrive in the majors, with both his slider and four-seamer rating out well – with the latter sitting at 97.8 mph in his most recent outing. Skepticism is warranted, certainly, but Leiter wouldn't be the first pitcher to struggle at first only to figure it out in the majors. There's been a bit of a shortage of interesting pitchers on the waiver wire of late, so if you have a roster spot to play with in a deeper league, Leiter is an interesting stash now that it looks like he's on the verge of returning to the majors. | | Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Tigers (43%) – Torkelson hit his first homer since coming back from Triple-A Thursday, and he's now 7 for 17 in his first five games back, with four extra-base hits. Perhaps most importantly, he has struck out just three times in his first 20 plate appearances, a big deal for a guy who struck out 29 times in his final 105 plate appearances before being sent down. Strikeouts are always going to be part of Torkelson's game, but if he can just keep them to a manageable level, that should be enough to let the power play. If you need a CI or 1B in a Roto league, I'm looking his way. | | Alejandro Kirk, C, Blue Jays (14%) – When the Blue Jays traded Danny Jansen at the deadline, it felt like a put-up-or-shut-up moment for the former All-Star Kirk. And he's responded well. After going 2 for 4 with a couple of doubles Thursday against the Angels, he's now hitting .259/.359/.426 in the month of August. He's been hitting the ball pretty hard all season and remains a standout in plate discipline, but it wasn't really until July when he started to show much with the bat. He has an xwOBA over .360 over the past two months and is a viable No. 2 catcher as long as he can keep this up. | | Thursday News and Notes | | Jacob deGrom struck out three, hit 100 mph, and allowed one run over two innings in his first rehab start. He's expected to be back around Sept. 10-12 after three more rehab outings, and has significant upside if he can get there healthy. | | Max Scherzer was scratched from his rehab start Friday. It doesn't sound like there's a setback here or anything, but they want to give him some extra time. I'm very skeptical Scherzer is going to make much of an impact given how tough this season has been for him. | | Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters Jazz Chisholm (elbow) is "real close to a return" after he hit on the field without issue Wednesday. Oswald Peraza was optioned to Triple-A Thursday, so Chisholm could be back from the IL as soon as this weekend, amazingly. | | Alex Bregman's ability to play third base the rest of the way remains up in the air. That could keep Shay Whitcomb relevant for a while, and Bregman could see some time at first base as soon as this weekend. | | Fernando Tatis was able to sprint on the field Thursday as he recovers from his fibula stress fracture. He is still expected to return sometime in September. | | Bo Bichette has been able to run without limitations, and he could be able to go out on a rehab assignment in the coming days. | | | | The Orioles had a disaster of a trade deadline. They optioned Trevor Rogers back to Triple-A Thursday after he posted a 7.11 ERA in his first four starts with the team. Seems to lock Cole Irvin and Cade Povich into the rotation for the time being. Povich has some upside, but he needs to show us something before he's worth adding in most leagues. | | Andrew Abbott will not start for the Reds Friday. Buck Farmer is replacing him, and as of Thursday evening, I haven't seen any details as to why. | | The Dodgers designated Jason Heyward for assignment to open up a roster spot for Chris Taylor's return from the IL. Seems to suggest we'll see Andy Pages (and maybe James Outman?) when rosters expand, something Dave Roberts hinted at when they sent Pages down. One name to keep an eye on is Dalton Rushing , the team's top catcher prospect who has been playing the outfield in Triple-A recently. Scott White wrote about Rushing in his Prospects Report column Thursday, so check that out here! | | Welp. Matt Waldron was sent back to Triple-A Thursday after allowing 22 runs over his previous three starts. So yeah, I think we can drop him. | | Travis d'Arnaud has missed the past four games since being hit by a pitch on the wrist during last Saturday's game. | | The Astros are signing the recently released Hector Neris. He will not factor into the closer picture there. | | The Reds are signing Dominic Smith to an MLB contract. He was decent for the Red Sox but has very limited upside for Fantasy. He went 0 for 3 against the Pirates Thursday. | | Mickey Moniack was removed from Thursday's game with a left elbow injury after being hit by a pitch. | | The Angels gave GM Perry Minasian an extension. Sure. | | The Mariners fired Scott Servais. That one makes more sense. | | | | Thursday's Standouts | | Corbin Burnes , SP, Orioles: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – All of a sudden, Burnes' impending free agency looks like one of the most interesting stories in baseball. He's been a diminished version of himself all season, but up until the past few starts, it hadn't really impacted him. However, with an 8.71 ERA and just one quality start in four tries in August, it caught up to him in a big way. I do expect Burnes to bounce back from this, but it's pretty clear he's no longer on the short list for best pitcher in baseball, and how that's going to impact the soon-to-be 30-year-old's free agency is going to be fascinating to watch. | | Gerrit Cole, Yankees vs. CLE: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 2 K – Cole just seems. .. fine. Like Burnes, he's no longer one of the three or four best pitchers in baseball, though at least with Cole I do have some hope for him rediscovering that upside if he can get through the rest of the season healthy and has a normal offseason. But he had just six whiffs in this one and may not have the stuff these days to overcome the starts when he doesn't have his command. I'm probably just starting him moving forward, but I'm not expecting dominance anymore. | | Paul Skenes , Pirates vs. CIN: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K – This was a nice little bounceback for Skenes, who had 11 BB in his previous four starts. There were some signs of him slowing down, but his velocity remains elite, and he had 12 whiffs on 87 pitches in this one. The Pirates may look for ways to limit Skenes' workload a bit down the stretch, especially as their playoff hopes continue to fade, and that might be enough to drop him from, say, top-five among SPs to more like the 10-15 range, but I'd be surprised if there was any point where we aren't viewing Skenes as a must-start pitcher the rest of the way. | | Justin Steele, Cubs vs. DET: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 K – He's just awesome. I don't really have much to add beyond that. He had a 1.66 ERA with 27 K in 21.2 IP in the month of July, then had a little bump in the road after the All-Star break, but might end up having a better season than his breakout 2023 anyway. It does feel like Steele's margin for error might be slimmer than many other high-end pitchers because of his limited repertoire, but the upshot of that is, I'd bet he's going to be a bit undervalued in Fantasy drafts in 2025 again, too. | | Freddy Peralta, Brewers @STL: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – Peralta has always been a pretty hit-or-miss pitcher, but what's been weird lately is the lack of strikeouts. His strikeout rate is down to 20.9% since the All-Star break after this one, though it's worth noting that it has come with a 3.20 ERA in that same stretch. When you look under the hood, the lack of strikeouts looks to stem mostly from his four-seam fastball, which has had a whiff rate under 20% in July and August – last season, it was nearly 30%. Peralta should have a good enough slider and changeup combo to overcome that, but it hasn't been enough lately. It's been a frustrating season, especially since so many drafted Peralta as a high-end No. 2 SP, but I'm probably still rolling him out there against every matchup the rest of the way. | | Christopher Sanchez, Phillies @ATL: 6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K – Sanchez followed up his second complete game with a quality start in this one, which was good to see, even if he wasn't quite as dominant. He hit a bit of a wall right after the All-Star break, allowing 6 or more runs in two of four starts, but he bounced back in a big way. I suppose there may be some concerns about how Sanchez will hold up down the stretch, as he's nearly at last season's innings total, but I don't see any reason to think he'll be anything less than a must-start pitcher. | | Jeffrey Springs, SP, Rays @OAK: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K: Springs' velocity is still down, and the changeup got just three whiffs on 13 swings in this one, which kind of highlights the problem here: If he doesn't have the changeup, he might just not be very useful for Fantasy. The previous two starts were very good, so I'm certainly not giving up on Springs, but consistency might just be an issue the rest of the way. | | Nick Lodolo, SP, Reds @PIT: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 9 K – Weird start, and probably had some bad luck to see all five runs on five combined walks and hits. And he did generate 17 whiffs, and the curveball worked well in this one, something that has been a problem for Lodolo recently. Still, we're going on four months of poor production here, so the best you can say here is that Lodolo might have given you some small reasons to not drop him … yet. If you haven't by now. | | | | | | | | NFL Preseason | | WNBA | The NFL Preseason comes to a close this Sunday. Watch as the Cardinals take on the Broncos for one last game before the regular season kicks off this Sunday at 4:30 PM ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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