Morning Java - 09/13: Lindor's Leadoff Homer and Slam Bury Cole, Luzardo's MRI Comes Back Clean, Seymour Fans 10
TL;DRSkim
The five fastest-moving roster calls of the morning, in priority order:
- WATCH — Jesús Luzardo (98.6% owned) cleared structurally — inflammation only, no injection needed; targeting a return next week.
- HOLD — Gerrit Cole has allowed seven home runs across his last two starts, the worst two-start stretch of his career, and lasted 4⅓ innings in a 12-2 loss to the Mets.
- ADD — Brody Hopkins (RP, TB) called up from Triple-A Durham; Alex Cook optioned and Michael Grove designated to clear the 40-man.
- HOLD — Ranger Suarez went 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K against Kansas City — back-to-back seven-inning starts.
- HOLD — Ian Seymour struck out 10 over six innings in Tampa Bay's 3-2 win over Houston, though he's allowed 22 homers in 116.1 innings.
Luzardo's MRI Clean, Targeting Next Week
WATCH · PHI · SP
Jesús Luzardo (98.6% owned) had an MRI after being scratched from Saturday's start with shoulder stiffness, and the results came back about as well as they could: inflammation only, no structural damage, no injection required. He's on anti-inflammatories and said he expects to pitch "sometime next week."
This is the best-case outcome for a mid-September shoulder scare on a pitcher who's been Philadelphia's best arm — he threw a two-hit, 12-strikeout complete-game shutout against Atlanta just six days ago and sits at 14-5 with a 2.87 ERA and 221 strikeouts.
Action: HOLD in every format and keep the roster spot. If your playoffs run two more weeks, he should give you at least one start, possibly two. Confirm the return date before planning a must-win week around him.
Cole Tagged for Three More Homers in Subway Series Rout
HOLD · NYY · SP
Gerrit Cole allowed five runs on nine hits — three of them home runs — over 4⅓ innings as the Mets routed the Yankees 12-2 at Yankee Stadium. He struck out four without a walk and fell to 8-9 in his second-shortest outing since returning from Tommy John surgery on May 22.
The two-start picture is the problem. Cole gave up four solo homers last Sunday in San Diego, including back-to-back-to-back blasts to open the game, and three more Saturday. Seven homers across two starts is the worst such stretch of his career. For the second consecutive start he surrendered a home run to the game's first batter.
The Mets have been a specific problem: 17 homers allowed in 10 career starts against them, and over his last three Subway Series starts he's 0-3 with a 10.92 ERA and 10 homers.
Action: HOLD — he's too widely owned to find on waivers and too talented to cut with two weeks left. But bench him in a must-win fantasy week until he shows a fix. If someone in your league wants the name, this is a reasonable sell window.
Rays Call Up Hopkins
ADD · TB · RP
Tampa Bay made official the call-up of Brody Hopkins from Triple-A Durham, optioning Alex Cook and designating Michael Grove for assignment to open 40-man space. Hopkins has been dominant in a relief role at Durham.
Action: ADD in deep leagues as a lottery ticket only. Bryan Baker has 40 saves and 29 straight conversions, so there's no path to the ninth here — this is a holds-and-ratios speculation.
Suarez Goes Seven Again
HOLD · BOS · SP
Ranger Suarez threw seven innings against Kansas City, allowing five hits and one earned run with no walks and eight strikeouts. It's his second consecutive seven-inning start. Garrett Whitlock (15% owned) handled the eighth.
Action: HOLD and start him. Two straight seven-inning, walk-free outings heading into the final two weeks is exactly the profile you want in a fantasy playoff rotation.
Seymour Strikes Out 10 in Rays Win
HOLD · TB · SP
Ian Seymour struck out 10 over six innings on four hits as Tampa Bay beat Houston 3-2. Isaac Paredes took him deep on his second pitch of the game, but he settled in and left with the score tied 2-2.
The split in his profile is stark. Seymour is 9-6 with a 4.33 ERA, 140 strikeouts in 116.1 innings and a 10.83 K/9 — but he's allowed 22 home runs, nine of them in his last five outings. He's worked as a swingman all year, with 13 starts among 43 appearances.
Tampa Bay clinched a playoff berth Friday on a Junior Caminero walk-off and sits 89-59, four games up in the AL East with 14 to play. Bryan Baker closed this one for his major-league-leading 40th save.
Action: HOLD in 12-team and deeper leagues. The strikeout rate plays anywhere; the home-run rate makes him a park-and-matchup start rather than an automatic one.
Lindor Homers Twice, Including a Grand Slam
HOLD · NYM · SS
Francisco Lindor led off the game with a home run off Cole and added a grand slam in the eighth off Bradley Hanner, finishing with two homers and five RBI in a 12-2 win. It was his fifth leadoff homer of the season and 36th of his career, his eighth career grand slam, his 20th home run of the year, and his 24th career multi-homer game. He has seven homers in his last 12 games.
He also joined Mike Piazza (2000) and Carlos Delgado (2008) as the only Mets to hit a grand slam in the Bronx. New York hit six homers against the Yankees for the first time, with Luis Torrens, Carson Benge, Juan Soto and Jared Young also going deep.
Action: HOLD — universally rostered. The 12-game power run is worth noting if you're weighing him in a trade; he's peaking at the right time.
Thornton Goes Seven in Subway Series Debut
ADD · NYM · SP
Zac Thornton allowed two runs on five hits over a career-high-tying seven innings to beat the Yankees, striking out four with one walk and throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of 26 hitters. He ended his outing by getting a double-play grounder from Anthony Volpe. The left-hander improved to 4-5.
He also showed a velocity spike, throwing six pitches at 95-plus mph after having thrown just six such pitches all season entering the day.
Action: ADD in 12-team and deeper leagues. Seven innings against a playoff lineup plus a genuine velocity jump is a real signal — though a mid-September velocity spike is worth monitoring for effort or fatigue as much as for breakout.
Singer Torched for Eight Runs
DROP · CIN · SP
Brady Singer allowed three home runs and eight earned runs against Milwaukee, tying a career high. The Brewers jumped on him for four in the first. He's now surrendered 29 homers in 29 starts this season.
Action: DROP in 12-team leagues. Twenty-nine homers allowed in 29 starts with no sign of a command fix means you cannot use him in a fantasy playoff week.
Alvarez Sits a Second Straight Night
WATCH · HOU · DH
Yordan Alvarez (100% owned) was out of the lineup again against Tampa Bay with right ankle soreness, though the club's hope is that he plays today. No IL placement.
Action: WATCH — Do not drop. But if he sits a third straight game, treat it as a real injury rather than maintenance and make sure your bench is covered.
Locklear to the 60-Day IL With Fractured Thumb
DROP · ARI · 1B
Tyler Locklear was placed on the 60-day injured list with a fractured right thumb. In mid-September, that ends his season.
Action: DROP in all formats. Note the 60-day designation is a roster mechanism, not a 60-day timeline — either way there's no return this year.
Justin Martinez's Splitter Is Untouchable
WATCH · ARI · RP
Justin Martinez has thrown 422 splitters in his career, and hitters are batting .076 against the pitch with a .101 slugging percentage and a 54.4% whiff rate. He's one of only two pitchers throwing a splitter that averages 90-plus mph with under 1,000 RPM — 694 for Martinez, 911 for Roki Sasaki.
Action: WATCH — Holds leagues and dynasty. The stuff is genuinely elite, but Arizona hasn't given him the ninth inning, so there's no saves case yet.
Minter Closes as Twins Set Club Record
WATCH · MIN · RP
A.J. Minter (1% owned) struck out two in a scoreless ninth to save Minnesota's 4-3 win over Cleveland. He became the 13th different Twins pitcher to record a save this season, a club record — the clearest possible illustration of a bullpen with no defined closer. Emmanuel Rodriguez homered in his first at-bat.
Action: WATCH — Do not chase saves here. Thirteen different pitchers recording saves is the definition of a committee, and Minnesota is playing out the string.
Devers Homers 11 Times in 18 Games
HOLD · SF · DH
Rafael Devers has hit 11 home runs over his last 18 games, an enormous power run heading into the final weeks.
Action: HOLD and start him everywhere. This is as hot as any bat in baseball right now.
Goldschmidt Crushing Lefties Since the Deadline
HOLD · NYY · 1B
Paul Goldschmidt has posted a 206 wRC+ with a .436 xwOBA against left-handed pitching since the trade deadline, above his already-strong 180 wRC+ against lefties on the season.
Action: HOLD, and start him aggressively against left-handed starters in daily-lineup leagues. This is a platoon edge worth actively managing rather than setting and forgetting.
Red Sox Set Arlington Rotation, Bello to the Bullpen
WATCH · BOS · SP
Boston will start Patrick Sandoval, Jake Bennett and Grayson Rodriguez in Arlington next week, which means Brayan Bello does not get another turn and moves to long relief.
Action: DROP Bello in 12-team leagues. A starter losing his rotation spot with two weeks left has no path to fantasy value.
Flaherty Reports Clean Two-Inning Sim Game
WATCH · DET · SP
Jack Flaherty (30% owned) threw a two-inning simulated game and said "everything felt damn good today," adding that his stuff held up and he's "in a really good spot." A rehab assignment is expected to follow.
Action: IL-stash in deep leagues. Two simulated innings to a big-league start is still two or three steps, which likely means one start this season at most.
Oviedo Set for Worcester Rehab Start Thursday
WATCH · BOS · SP
Johan Oviedo was at Fenway for the first time in months and will make a rehab start at Triple-A Worcester on Thursday.
Action: STASH in dynasty only. A Thursday rehab start puts any activation in the season's final week.
Caglianone Still Out With Flexor Strain
WATCH · KC · 1B/OF
Jac Caglianone remains out of the Royals' lineup at Fenway with the Grade 1 flexor strain in his left elbow. Matt Quatraro had hoped he might play Friday, but he still felt it and the club is going day-to-day.
Action: WATCH — Three-plus consecutive games missed on a "Grade 1" strain suggests it's worse than the label. Line up a replacement now.
Harper's Record-Slow Home Run Trot
HOLD · PHI · 1B
Bryce Harper took 34.27 seconds to circle the bases on a home run, his slowest trot on an undisputed homer in the Statcast era. His season average is 26.91.
Action: HOLD — Trivia. No roster implication.
Athletics Keep Running Out Position Players
WATCH · OAK · TEAM
Carlos Cortes has pitched nine times this season for Oakland, more than any position player on any team.
Action: No action. It's a marker of how lopsided the A's losses have been, not a waiver signal.
Padres Leading the NL Wild-Card Pace
HOLD · SD · TEAM
Since the All-Star break the Padres are 32-20, a 100-win pace, ahead of Arizona (30-23), the Cubs (30-24) and Philadelphia (28-23) among wild-card contenders.
Action: HOLD San Diego's rotation arms and high-leverage relievers. A team playing this well generates wins and save chances, which is what you want from pitching in the final two weeks.