

Minnesota Twins rookie starting pitcher David Festa improved to 2-2 in Monday's 3-0 win over the Cubs. Festa pitched five innings, allowing just two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. The 24-year-old has made five appearances with the Twins this season, four of them starts and owns a 5.55 ERA with an 11.10 K/9 rate and a 2.22 BB/9 rate in 24 1/3 IP. Festa is the Twins' top pitching prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and showed high strikeout potential with Triple-A St. Paul, although he did struggle a bit with home runs. Both his strikeout upside and HR issues have carried over in his limited big-league sample size. His next start is scheduled to be a tough one against the Guardians. Fantasy managers may want to consider sitting him if they can.


Tampa Bay Rays shortstop prospect Junior Caminero went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and two runs scored on Sunday for Triple-A Durham. It was the 12th home run of the season for MLB's third-ranked prospect and third multi-hit effort in his last four games. The 21-year-old owns a .267-12-31-30-1 line in 48 games for the Bulls and should be on the verge of a call-up to the majors. Whenever the overdue call-up does take place, the Dominican can be an impact bat for fantasy with big power potential. As such, he remains a must-stash in all leagues.


New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea turned in his second straight excellent start in Monday's 6-0 win over the Cardinals. Manaea pitched seven innings, allowing six hits and no walks with 10 strikeouts. It was the third time all season that Manaea has fanned at least 10 hitters and two of those outings were his most recent. The 32-year-old is having a surprisingly effective season, going 8-4 with a 3.30 ERA, a 9.15 K/9 rate, and a 3.45 BB/9 rate in 22 starts and 120 IP. He will have a decent chance to extend his strikeout streak in his next start at the Mariners, who have struck out the most of any team in baseball.


Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz had another electric game at the plate in Monday's 10-3 win over the Marlins. De La Cruz went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a solo home run, and a two-run HR. The 22-year-old got things started by driving a first-inning Roddery Munoz cutter over the right-field wall for a two-run shot and added an even deeper drive to right field in the eighth inning off of Shaun Anderson. He had gone hitless in August, so it was nice to see a big game. De La Cruz has provided everything fantasy managers were hoping for, slashing .261/.347/.496 with 20 HR, 73 runs scored, 48 RBI, and 57 stolen bases in 474 plate appearances.


The Colorado Rockies are promoting outfield prospect Yanquiel Fernandez to Triple-A Hartford. The 21-year-old has spent the entire season at Double-A Hartford, posting an up-and-down season to this point. The Cuban hit .224 in April, .307 in May, .247 in June, and finally .320 in July/August, prompting his promotion. Fernandez finished with a .283/.339/.439 slashline with 10 home runs in 88 games and lowered his K% year-over-year at Double-A from 32.9% to just 19.1%. The Rockies' No. 4 prospect (MLB No. 64) has big-time power and Coors Field should treat him well when he makes it there, which should be sometime next season.
