| | | | Tuesday, August 17, 2021 | | Dan Schneier here checking in for Frank as he attends to the brand new (well now a few days old) CBS Sports Fantasy Football Today DFS show. If you're planning on playing and winning NFL DFS this season, it's a must listen, but now let's talk some baseball! Two of the best players in Fantasy Baseball on Monday evening were highly touted players way back in the preseason who haven't exactly lived up to the hype. Yankees SP Gerrit Cole made his long-awaited return from the COVID list and did not disappoint. Fantasy managers are hoping they get the 2019-2020 version of Cole the rest of the way. Luis Robert, who has been back from his extended absence on the IL since last week, has continued to be red hot with the bat. More on that below plus the players we're targeting in trades across all of our Dynasty leagues and some waiver wire options you'll want to get your hands on. | | Of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. | | | | Cole on point in return to the mound | | | | Yankees SP Gerrit Cole was back from the COVID list and looked a lot more like the dominant ace we grew accustomed to over the past two seasons prior to the MLB's crackdown on pitchers using sticky foreign substances. Cole struck out nine Angels batters in just 5 2/3 innings on Monday night and led the Yankees to a victory. | | Digging a bit deeper, you get to the really good stuff when it comes to Cole's return from the IL. For starters, his velocity looked great despite making his first appearance in 18 days. Cole even touched 100 mph on a pitch that resulted in a strikeout. After allowing a home run to Justin Upton in the first inning, Cole allowed just one more hit in the entire outing. | | Cole has lowered his season ERA to 3.04 and gets a nice matchup at home against the Twins this weekend. | | Robert stays red hot | | No one was quite sure what to make of White Sox OF Luis Robert when he finally made his long-awaited return from the IL last week. Would he be rusty? Would the injury lead to a wasted season? Apparently, the answer is no to both of those questions. In fact, if his first few games back in action are any sign of things to come, Robert is going to be a league winner. | | On Monday, Robert went 3 for 4 with a homer and three runs. It was a sock and shoe kind of night for the budding star who stole a base and tacked on three runs scored to help lead the White Sox to a 5-2 win over the Athletics. Since making his 2021 debut, Robert is 9 for 24 with two homers and two doubles -- and now he has a steal. | | No one would have complained much if Robert needed a little while to start hitting upon returning last week, but he's 9 for 24 with two homers and two doubles since coming off the IL. He also got his first steal since returning tonight. Robert is now up to a .328 batting average on 128 at bats this season, which is a bit surprising considering he batted .233 as a rookie in 2020 (in 227 plate appearances). | | | | Players to target in Dynasty leagues | | As the Fantasy Baseball season winds down, now is the best opportunity to increase your activity in Dynasty leagues. Other managers may have shifted their focus, and you can gain an edge by buying low on players whose values will be much higher come next April and beyond. On Monday, I asked Frank, Chris and Scott to give me the players at five key positions that they are sending offers out for right now and looking to acquire via trade. You can find that entire breakdown here and below I'll highlight some of my favorite targets and writeups: | | | | Scott: Cody Bellinger is a former rookie of the year and MVP, but he was a huge disappointment last year and looks just plain broken this year. Even going by the underlying numbers, there isn't much reason for optimism. The strikeout rate is way up and the hard-hit rate way down. Still, it's important to remember he's only 26. We know these struggles are to some degree self-inflicted (though injuries haven't helped) given his bizarre decision to change his mechanics after his MVP season. If he can tweak his way out of an MVP, he can tweak his way back into one, and we've in fact already seen him recover from a discouraging sophomore season (2018). Whoever has him in your Dynasty league may just be looking for a lifeline at this point, so it's possible you can get Bellinger for dirt cheap. Frank: While Brendan Rodgers has done some nice things this season, he still hasn't broken out yet. He's still just 25 years old and a former third overall pick from back in 2015. Like Hayes, Rodgers' ground ball rate is still a little high at 52% but he hits the ball hard. His 111.8 MPH max exit velocity ranks in the 83rd percentile and is usually a useful barometer for in-game power. If Rodgers can stay healthy with half his games in Coors Field, we could see something similar to Dansby Swanson's breakout. Chris: Nick Senzel. It might look like more of the same for Senzel, who continues to struggle with health and has hit just .246 across parts of three MLB seasons. However, at least before his most recent injury, he was showing signs of real progress, cutting his strikeout rate to just 12.9% and posting an expected batting average of .303 before undergoing knee surgery. He's going to be 27 next year, so time is running out, but Senzel has elite speed and finally showed something with the bat, and you can probably get him dirt cheap right now. Scott: MacKenzie Gore is probably the right answer. He was untouchable in Dynasty leagues last year, considered as safe as pitching prospects get, but his mechanics have gotten so out of whack since then that some major prospect publications barely have him inside their top 100 still. The drop seems like an overreaction to what may be only a detour. The Padres have been working with Gore on the side, and if they can get his mechanics right, it stands to reason everything else would click back into place. Still, there's genuine fear of losing everything on the investment now, so you may be able to get him for nickels on the dollar. | | | | | | | | Soccer Lives on Paramount+ | | We Need to Talk on CBSSN | Stream 2,000+ soccer matches a year from UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Serie A, NWSL, USMNT & USWNT in Concacaf qualifiers and much more. Start your free trial today!
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