Happy Monday, everyone! This past weekend in baseball was all about history -- and we chased it with two of the best sluggers -- one of all time and the other eventually will be discussed in the same light. Albert Pujols entered Friday chasing immortality -- looking to rack up his 700th home run. He needed two and he got there right away on Friday with a double dong! Pujols became just the fourth player in MLB history to rack up 700 home runs or more. And it was truly awesome to see the crowd erupt -- and opposing manager Dave Roberts try to contain his excitement for what will go down as one of the most memorable moments in baseball history.
Aaron Judge, who is also chasing a historic season, remains stuck at home run No. 60. He has now gone four games without one including Sunday's rain out. Is he pressing a little? Maybe. But Judge remains one home run away from that Yankees record and he'll get there -- it's just a matter of when.
We'll dive into some more action from this weekend, but first, make sure you're all caught up with everything going on over at CBSSports.com/Fantasy. Scott White is still cooking up the weekly content you need as we roll into the final days of the season. You can find his sleeper hitters for the coming week here. And these hitters stood out:
Gunnar Henderson: "Henderson's roster rate has finally begun to climb to more appropriate levels, but we're to the point now where the rookie is basically must-start, particularly with the Orioles being one of just eight teams with 10 games in the final scoring period."
Luis Rengifo: "Rengifo has had a couple of two-homer games recently and is batting .299 for the month of September, so just as a hot-hand play, he's advisable. But the Angels also have the second-best matchups this week, including four vs. left-handers, against whom he's batting .333 with a .954 OPS."
And you can also find Scott's sleeper pitchers here. And here are some of the standouts:
Hunter Greene: "Greene has been straight fire in his first two starts back from a shoulder strain, and now he lines up to face the Pirates and Cubs in the season's final week. He's a a particularly fine choice if you're looking to play catch-up in strikeouts."
Cody Morris: "The Guardians made the curious decision to have Morris' introduction to the majors basically serve as a rehab assignment for a shoulder strain, but it's gone well so far, even seeing him stretch out to five-plus innings in his past two starts. The Rays and Royals make for some inviting matchups to close out the year, especially given Morris' wide availability."
Wisdom ripping down the stretch run
Patrick Wisdom grabbed a sock and a shoe on Sunday as he collected his 25th home run and his eighth stolen base. He now has three homers in his last five games. Wisdom has nine games remaining and is 70% rostered.
Waiver wire pitchers to consider
Jose Quintana has allowed just two earned runs total over his last four starts. He delivered 6 2/3 shutout innings with six strikeouts and just five hits (no walks) allowed in his most recent start. He now has a 2.14 ERA in his 10 starts with the Cardinals to go along with the following numbers: 1.13 WHIP, 3.58 xFIP, 50% groundball rate, 9.3% swinging strike rate.
Quintana is 67% rostered with starts against the Pirates in his last two outings.
Jon Gray allowed just one hit against the Guardians and finished with five innings of one-run ball (unearned). He walked one batter, struck another out and brings his ERA down to 3.64 with a 1.11 WHIP. He also has 126 strikeouts of 116 1/3 innings. Gray is 65% rostered heading into his final two starts.
Fantasy news, injuries and notes
For a complete recap of every injury, update and more, make sure you're locked into the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast where Frank, Scott and Chris dive deep into every player note. For the CliffsNotes version, we'll recap the biggest news and notes you need to know right here:
- First the good news for Tampa: Tyler Glasnow is scheduled to start Wednesday in Cleveland but will be limited to about 45 pitches.
- The bad news: Shane Baz will undergo Tommy John surgery and won't pitch during the 2023 season.
- Spencer Strider went on the IL with a left oblique strain.
- Julio Rodriguez went on the IL with a lower-back strain.
- Luis Robert went on the IL with a left wrist sprain. He won't play again in 2022, such a disappointing season.
- Dustin May went on the IL with lower-back tightness.
- Craig Kimbrel was removed from the closer role Friday. Chris Martin, Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol could factor into the mix.
- Byron Buxton will undergo season-ending arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday.
- Luis Castillo signed a five-year, $108 million extension with the Mariners Saturday. He has a 3.35 ERA in 10 starts with Seattle. Oddly enough, he's gotten touched up by the Royals and A's in his last two outings.
- DJ LeMahieu remains unable to play because of his toe injury and it's unclear when or if he'll be able to return this season.
- Nick Castellanos will not need a rehab assignment and is expected to return some time between Tuesday and Thursday. I'm assuming we stay away?
- Jorge Polanco is still feeling issues with his left knee and may not return this season.
- Drew Smyly will not start this upcoming series against the Phillies. He's dealing with left shoulder fatigue.
- Kris Bryant confirmed Saturday that he won't return this season. He played just 42 games in his first season with the Rockies.
- Brandon Lowe has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with back inflammation.
- Jesse Winker was moved Sunday with a bruised left wrist.
- Edward Cabrera left Sunday's start with a low-grade ankle strain. He would only have one start left anyway so I think he can be dropped.
- Tyler Mahle is officially out for the rest of the season with that shoulder injury.
- MacKenzie Gore will make another rehab start at Triple-A Monday. He got up to 65 pitches in his previous outing but it sounds like he won't have value anymore this season.
- Dane Dunning will undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his hip.
- Madison Bumgarner won't pitch again for the Dbacks this season.
