Alex Young takes home spotlight honors with a lights-out performance against the Reds. He tossed eight shutout innings in a win. He gave up just two hits, but the biggest surprise of this outing was his 12 strikeouts. It was a new career high and his first time reaching double-digits. In fact, it was only his second time going above five strikeouts (12 starts). While he hasn’t been great in the strikeout department, he’s done a solid job of limiting offenses, as this was his eighth time of giving up two or fewer runs. He led all players in DFS scoring on both DraftKings and Fanduel. He will carry a 7-3 record and 3.38 ERA into his next outing.

Strong Outings

  • Luis Castillo fired 7.2 innings of two-run ball in a hard-luck loss to the Dbacks. He only gave up three hits while striking out 10, but he was out-dueled by Young. It was his fifth start of the year with double-digit punch-outs and his 14th start with at least eight. He will carry a 14-6 record and 3.21 ERA into his next start.
  • J.A. Happ pitched 6.1 shutout innings in a win over the Red Sox. He gave up just two hits while striking out seven. Through two September starts, Happ has given up just three hits and zero runs across 12.1 innings pitched. He will carry a 12-8 record and 5.10 ERA into his next start.
  • Caleb Smith snapped out of his recent funk, tossing six shutout innings in a no-decision against the Royals. He gave up four hits while striking out eight. It snapped a string of three straight outings with at least five earned runs against. It was also his first outing with at least eight strikeouts since July 29. He will carry an 8-9 record and 4.11 ERA into his next outing.
  • Danny Duffy hurled six innings of one-run ball in a win over the Marlins. He gave up just two hits while striking out five. It was his twelfth start with at least five strikeouts (20 starts this year). He will carry a 6-6 record and 4.71 ERA into his next outing.
  • Chris Bassitt tossed six innings of two-run ball in a win over the Tigers. He gave up eight hits, but worked around them with 11 strikeouts. The 11 strikeouts were a new season high and it was his first time reaching double-digits (previous high of nine). He will carry a 10-5 record and 3.64 ERA into his next outing.
  • Joey Lucchesi fired six shutout innings in a win over the Rockies. He gave up just two hits while striking out eight. He is on a bit of a roll right now, giving up a total of four runs over his last four starts (23.0 innings pitched). He will carry a 10-7 record and 3.84 ERA into his next outing.
  • Drew Smyly pitched a gem in a win over the Mets, holding them scoreless across seven innings of work. He only gave up four hits while striking out six. A second straight strong outing for Smyly, who has given up just eight hits and one run over his last two starts (12.1 innings), while striking out 14. He will carry a 4-6 record and 6.20 ERA into his next outing.
  • Justin Verlander held the Meriners to one run across seven innings in a win. He gave up four hits while striking out seven. Not quite the no-hit, 14 strikeout game that he had his last time out, but a very strong outing nonetheless. He will carry an 18-5 record and 2.52 ERA into his next outing.

Hitter Highlights

Shohei Ohtani was the top hitter of the night, going 3-5 with a home run, a double, a steal, and five RBI. He is now hitting .293 with 17 home runs, 50 runs, 60 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. He has proven that he can hit very well at the MLB level, as he has a career .289 average with 39 home runs and 22 steals across his first 206 games played.

Mitch Garver swatted a pair of home runs, walked once, and drove in four runs in the Twins 5-3 win over the Indians. It’s been a strong breakout season for Garver as he is now hitting .275 with 28 home runs and 61 RBI across 81 games played.

Christian Yelich went a perfect 2-2 with a double, three walks, a RBI, a run scored, and three stolen bases. Yelich looks well on his way to a second straight MVP as he is now hitting .329 with 44 home runs, 98 runs, 97 RBI, and has stolen 30 bags. Somehow, he has managed to be way better this year than he was last year.

Matt Olson went a perfect 4-4 with a home run, a walk, three RBI, and a pair of runs scored. It has been a breakout year for Olson, who is now hitting .275 and has matched his career high in home runs with 29. His previous best average was .259 and the 29 home runs he has matched with 54 less games.

Edwin Encarnación had a good night at dish, going 2-5 with a home run, a double, and three RBI. He is now up to 32 home runs, 78 runs, and 81 RBI through 105 games played. His .239 batting average isn’t the best, but it’s only slightly lower than Fantasy Baseball owners should have expected.

Harrison Bader went 2-4 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, and a pair of RBI. He is still only hitting .209 for the year, but he is up to eight steals and seven home runs across just 277 at-bats, which is what makes him so intriguing. He will be a very solid fantasy asset next year if he plays every day and hits .250, because he would easily reach the 15-15 mark.

What to Watch for Today

Tyler Glasnow (6-1, 1.86 ERA) will make his return to action after a lengthy IL stint. Glasnow was off to a very dominant start and was the early leader in the AL Cy Young department, so it will be worth monitoring how he looks in his return. Hopefully he avoids any setbacks.

Max Scherzer (9-5, 2.60 ERA) vs. Mike Soroka (11-3, 2.53 ERA) is our top pitching matchup of the day. Mad Max hasn’t quite been his dominant self since coming off IL and he will have his hands full with the Braves lineup. Soroka will look to bounce back from a subpar outing his last time out in which he gave up three runs over five innings of work.

Jack Flaherty (9-7, 3.14 ERA) will look to keep his impressive run going when he takes on the Pirates in Pittsburgh. He has compiled a 0.90 ERA over his last 11 starts and has struck out 85 batters across 70.1 innings pitched in that span.