Mike Trout was removed from Friday’s game, pinch-hit on Saturday and was removed after being walked, and he sat both Sunday and Monday. Trout reportedly underwent a minor procedure on Monday to address pain in his right foot. Trout may require offseason surgery for the issue, but supposedly he could be back in the lineup as early as Wednesday. Hopefully, that’s true since we’re in fantasy baseball playoff season.

 

 

Pitching Performance of the Day

Easy choice here today. Jacob deGrom allowed one run and five baserunners over seven innings earning the W against the Diamondbacks. DeGrom’s 11 strikeouts and 20 swinging strikes generated led all starters on Monday. We’ll quickly note that he got the win because Pete Alonso hit two home runs, which puts him alone on the leaderboard in that category. The Mets hurler ranked seventh in both ERA and xFIP entering Monday’s start, but he’ll jump up to fifth in ERA and sixth in xFIP when leaderboards update on Tuesday.

 

 

Other pitchers of note came from the Yankees-Red Sox game. Eduardo Rodríguez allowed one run and struck out nine in six innings. His ERA is down to 3.73 which would be a career-best if it holds. However, his strikeout and walk rates are going the wrong way from where they were the last two years. James Paxton defeated Rodriguez by tossing 6.2 scoreless innings while allowing seven baserunners and striking out seven. Paxton has a 1.42 ERA in his last four starts, earning the win in each start.

Hitting Performance of the Day

A day after hanging 21 on the Mariners, the Astros dropped 15 on the A’s today.

 

 

 

Per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are the fourth team since 1900 to outscore their opponents by 35 or more runs in a two-game span.

Jose Altuve led the team in wOBA for the day as he reached base in all three of his trips to the plate while homering, scoring twice and driving in two. His home run was his 26th of the season, and he is now two clear of his single-season high in homers. Robinson Chirinos had the biggest fantasy day from the Houston lineup with two home runs and six RBI. The 35-year-old Chirinos now has a 112 wRC+ on the season. When a catcher in his mid-30’s can give you 400-plus PA with above-average production at the plate, you might end up with an extremely deep lineup.

The best non-Houston hitter of the day was arguably another catcher, New York’s Austin Romine . Romine reached base in all four plate appearances, twice via a walk along with a home run and a double. Romine has come alive offensively in the second half with a 128 wRC+ over 89 PA, and that was prior to Monday’s action.

What to Watch for Today

The divisional races are largely over as the Cardinals are the only current division leader with less than a 95-percent chance to win their division per Fangraphs’ MLB Playoff Odds. The Cards are a little over 80-percent to win the division with a 4.5-game lead over the Cubs. Speaking of the Cubs, they’re in the lead for the second NL Wild Card spot, three behind the Nationals with four teams within 3.5 games of Chicago. The Nats are 95-percent to take a wild card spot, but the Cubs are only 45-percent. The Brewers, Mets, and D’Backs are all between 10- and 25-percent to get a wild card spot.

Over in the American League, things are simpler. The division winners are set while Tampa, Oakland, and Cleveland are within 2.5 games of each other fighting for the two Wild Card spots. The Dodgers have home field in the NL pretty much in hand, though the Braves are three games back and making a push. But in the AL the Yankees and Astros are in a dead heat for home field. Houston is 39 games over .500 at home and New York is 31 games over. When these two teams met in the ALCS two years ago, the home team won every single game. You could say it’s an important race.