Daily Dose: Wright On
Welcome back, captain.
David Wright made an emphatic return to the Mets’ lineup on Monday, smacking a mammoth home run in his first at-bat and later adding a single and a walk while scoring three runs. It was part of an eight-homer, 16-run, 20-hit barrage by the Mets in their comeback win over the Phillies. Wilmer Flores hit two dingers for the Mets, and Juan Lagares, Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Cuddyer, Daniel Murphy, and Yoenis Cespedes also went deep. The club set franchise records with the eight longballs, as well as their 15 extra-base hits.
It wasn’t all good for Wright, as he made a couple errors in the field, but it’s safe to say the Mets were quite pleased overall with the third baseman’s first game in four months. Wright hit fourth in the batting order and should remain there against lefties. The plan is to hit him lower against right-handers, and manager Terry Collins has said that Wright won’t be an everyday player initially. Still, Monday’s showing was a good sign for Wright’s fantasy potential down the stretch.
The Mets stretched their National League East lead over the Nationals to 5 ½ games with Monday’s victory and they’re now a season-best 12 games over .500.
Span To Return
The Nationals haven’t had their projected Opening Day lineup in place all season, but that’s about to change.
Denard Span is set to be activated from the disabled list on Tuesday after missing the last seven weeks with a nagging back injury. It’s an ailment that Span has actually be dealing with since early June and had him so down after a setback earlier this month that he admitted he wasn’t sure he’d return this season. But, the outfielder has come along nicely over the last couple weeks and went 7-for-17 (.412) with a home run in six rehab games to show the Nats he was ready to go.
Span’s return should provide a much-needed boost to the Nationals’ lineup and help balance out a batting order that’s been very right-handed heavy in his absence. The veteran outfielder also got a late start to the season while working his way back from core muscle surgery, but he’s been terrific when on the field with a .304/.367/.430 batting line, five homers and 11 steals in 59 games. There’s no guarantee the back ailment doesn’t pop up again, but he needs to be in fantasy lineups while he’s out there.
The unfortunate loser for fantasy purposes with Span’s return is Michael Taylor. The 24-year-old has been a fine power/speed option this season with 13 home runs and 15 stolen bases, but he’ll now shift to a fourth outfielder role, spelling Span and Jayson Werth. Taylor has played in every one of Washington’s games since June 6, but it’s doubtful he’ll have much mixed league value the rest of the way unless another injury strikes.
Closing Thoughts
-- Junichi Tazawa had an ugly blown save on Sunday, allowing six hits, a walk and four runs to the Royals. Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo said Monday that the righty will remain the club’s closer, however.
"I think we're going to stay with Taz, for sure," Lovullo said. "He's probably going to get a day off (Monday). He threw 30-31 pitches. We want to give him the ball in the ninth inning, just because you might have a situation where you don't get the job done and don't execute, it wouldn't help him right now to just pull it away from him. That's not what we're about. We want to be consistent with what’s happening every day, and Taz is our closer and we like him in that situation."
Jean Machi closed out a shaky save Monday with Tazawa unavailable and is next in line should Tazawa falter again.
-- Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon used Tom Wilhelmsen to close out Sunday’s win over the White Sox and said it would have been Wilhelmsen getting the ball had a save opportunity arisen on Monday. The skipper said he’ll continue to evaluate the closer situation, so Wilhelmsen hasn’t officially been anointed the new ninth-inning man yet. However, it does appear he’s passed Carson Smith on the totem pole for now. Smith, who recorded the four outs prior to Wilhelmsen entering Sunday, holds a 5.40 ERA since July 1.
-- It was Wade Davis, not Greg Holland, who closed out Sunday’s win over the Red Sox, and on Monday we found out why. Royals manager Ned Yost said that Holland’s pitching arm is “cranky” with stiffness and he likely wouldn’t have been available Monday, either. Yost downplayed the issue, so it sounds like Holland should be ready to pitch in short order. Davis will continue to hold down the ninth inning in the meantime.
-- Aroldis Chapman returned to action for the Reds on Monday after battling some shoulder soreness over the past week. He should be fine moving forward, but those mining for saves might want to scoop up J.J. Hoover just in case.
-- Glen Perkins returned to action on Sunday after a brief absence due to bulging disk in his neck. The left-hander holds an ugly 7.36 ERA and has blown two of five save chances since the All-Star break but is a good bet to bounce back if he’s healthy again.
National League Quick Hits: Jorge Soler is expected to miss the next month of action with a strained left oblique ... After receiving a favorable second opinion, Lucas Duda (back) is expected to be activated from the disabled list when first eligible on September 6 ... The Cardinals are targeting around September 1 as the date to activate Matt Adams (quad) from the disabled list ... Christian Yelich (knee) is hopeful of being activated from the disabled list on Tuesday, the first day he's eligible. ... Carlos Gonzalez is day-to-day after leaving Monday’s game with right knee soreness ... Jon Lester fell one out shy of a shutout Monday, allowing one run over 8 2/3 frames in a victory over the Indians ... Kris Bryant socked a walk-off homer in Monday’s win over the Indians ... Brandon Phillips had a two-run triple and a two-run home run in Monday’s win over the Tigers ... An MRI has ruled out structural damage in Andrelton Simmons' left knee and he’s expected back in the lineup Tuesday ... Jason Motte will miss the next 3-4 weeks with a strained right shoulder ... Derek Norris (wrist) is aiming to return Tuesday ... Ryan Howard singled and belted a three-run homer in Monday’s loss to the Mets ... J.A. Happ held the Marlins scoreless in six innings of work Monday ...
American League Quick Hits: Mark Teixeira (shin) took batting practice Monday but missed a seventh straight game ... Corey Kluber struck out 11 over 7 2/3 frames of one-run ball in a loss to the Cubs ... Nathan Eovaldi pitched eight shutout innings in Monday’s win over the Astros ... Rusney Castillo went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBI in Monday’s victory over the White Sox ... An MRI on J.J. Hardy's ailing groin came back negative and he could need just a minimum stay on the disabled list ... CC Sabathia (knee) could be done for the season ... Marcus Stroman (knee) had a successful 40-pitch simulated game on Monday ... Scott Feldman spun eight shutout frames Monday in a loss to the Yankees ... J.D. Martinez doubled and hit a three-run home run on Monday against the Reds ... Kendall Graveman (oblique) landed on the disabled list Monday and might miss the rest of the season ... The Rangers have signed Drew Stubbs to a minor league contract ... The Orioles designated Nolan Reimold for assignment ... The Astros and Dallas Keuchel’s agent have been discussing a contract extension ... FOX Sports' Jon Morosi has reported that Austin Jackson has cleared revocable waivers and is being discussed in trade talks ...
