Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya will start Friday's contest on the bench at Wrigley Field against the Washington Nationals in the second game of a four-game series. Christian Bethancourt will do the catching for right-hander Jameson Taillon and will bat out of the nine-hole versus Nationals right-hander Trevor Williams. In his first full big-league season, Amaya has slashed .227/.286/.347 with a below-average .633 OPS, seven home runs, 43 RBI, 29 runs scored, 22 walks and 60 strikeouts in 111 games played and 341 trips to the plate. The long season has apparently worn him down, too, as he's gone 5-for-37 (.135) with a double, triple, six RBI and five strikeouts in 15 games in the final month of the regular season. DFS gamers should be able to find better sleeper options at catcher than Bethancourt, who has hit .203 (26-for-128) on the year with five homers and 22 RBI.

Oakland Athletics right-hander Ross Stripling (back) felt his back "lock up" during the team's 4-3 win over the Houston Astros back on Sept. 10. Stripling threw a 25-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday, which mostly consisted of fastballs while also mixing in each of his offspeed pitches. He said afterward that he felt good and that he's scheduled to throw a longer bullpen on Saturday. With Stripling's injured-list placement retroactive to Sept. 9, he's hopeful of making his return when first eligible to come off the IL on Sept. 24. It looks like the 34-year-old veteran will be able to return to the big-league roster before the end of the 2024 season, but Stripling is well off the fantasy radar already. In his 21 outings (14 starts) in Oakland in 2024, Stripling has gone 2-11 with a career-worst 6.08 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 84 1/3 innings. He also has a career-worst 13% strikeout rate.

Washington Nationals right-hander Trevor Williams (elbow) was activated from the 60-day injured list on Friday and is starting at Wrigley Field against the hosting Chicago Cubs. Williams was looking excellent earlier this year before suffering a flexor strain in his right elbow and missing the last four months. Because of all the time away, the 32-year-old veteran will be a pretty risky fantasy streamer on the road on Friday. He was able to get up to 73 pitches in his last minor-league rehab start, though, so he should be pretty stretched out in his return to Washington's starting rotation. In his first 11 starts in 2024 before getting hurt, Williams had gone 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA (2.82 FIP) and a 1.08 WHIP with 47 strikeouts and 16 walks over his 56 2/3 innings thrown. Williams' last start for the Nats came all the way back on May 30.

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (back) is still absent from the team's starting lineup for Friday's contest at Citi Field against the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies. Rookie infielder Luisangel Acuna will make another start at short and bat ninth against Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez. Lindor is missing his fifth straight game while he works his way through a nagging back injury. The good news is that he resumed baseball activities on Wednesday and should have a chance to rejoin the starting lineup by the end of the weekend. Although the Mets offense has busted out of late with Lindor on the bench, they definitely want him active down the stretch as they try to secure one of the last two wild-card spots in the National League. The 22-year-old Acuna has looked great in his first 19 MLB at-bats, recording eight hits (two homers) while driving in five and scoring five runs for the Mets.UPDATE: Lindor is attempting to go through a full slate of baseball activities on Friday, and if all goes well, manager Carlos Mendoza indicated Lindor will have a chance to return on Saturday.

Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said that two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani (elbow) is "very unlikely" to be an option to pitch for the Dodgers in the postseason in October. Ohtani has been throwing off a mound in his recovery from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and is expected to start facing live hitters soon. However, it appears the Dodgers aren't going to risk bringing the 30-year-old Japanese All-Star back for his first big-league appearance on the mound until 2025, even with a glaring need for pitching depth heading into postseason play. Even though he hasn't contributed on the mound in 2024, he's the MVP front-runner in the National League. Ohtani had a historical day on Thursday against the Miami Marlins to become the first player in the history of the sport to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.