

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani continued his extraordinary 2024 campaign on Friday, going 4-for-5 with his 54th home run of the season and stealing his 57th bag in an 11-4 win over the Rockies. The 30-year-old also doubled, drove in four runs, and scored twice. The Japanese star is scorching-hot at the plate right now, currently riding a 10-game hit streak during which time he's gone 26-for-44 (.591) with six doubles, seven home runs, 22 RBI, 15 runs scored, and nine stolen bases. There aren't many superlatives left to describe Ohtani's season, as he's amassed a .309-54-130-133-57 line with a .432 wOBA and 182 wRC+, making him the top-scoring fantasy asset this year.


Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon tossed seven innings of shutout ball in Friday's 1-0 victory over the Reds, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out two. The outing was his fifth consecutive quality start and caps off an outstanding month of September for the 32-year-old, going 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 0.84 WHIP. It was a solid season overall for the veteran, going 12-8 with a 3.27 ERA (4.29 SIERA), 1.13 WHIP, and a 13.6% K-BB%. The underwhelming strikeout totals depress his fantasy stock a bit, but he should be a decent back-end rotation piece for fantasy next season.


Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Taj Bradley tossed six innings of shutout ball in Friday's 2-1 victory over the Red Sox, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out seven on the way to earning his eighth win of the season. It caps off an up-and-down season for the righty, as he had a nine-game stretch where he pitched to a 0.82 ERA in the middle of the season, but allowed four runs or more on eight other occasions. Still, his final 4.11 ERA and 1.22 WHIP were improvements over 2023, and his 3.69 SIERA might offer a ray of hope for next season's fantasy prospects as the 10.04 K/9 ability should remain intact.


Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang went 3-for-4 in Friday's 8-4 win over the Mets, including a double, an RBI, three runs scored, and three stolen bases. The 24-year-old had a strong start to the season, slashing .277/.341/.390 but faded in the second half, slashing .219/.277/.288. His penchant for stealing bases kept his fantasy value afloat, finishing with 50 on the year, good for third-most in all of baseball. With a first-round draft pick pedigree and an 88.0% contact rate, there could be even more productive seasons ahead, but for now the Brewers will hope he can make an impact during the postseason.


Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder/designated hitter Andrew McCutchen is out of the starting lineup on Saturday against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. With McCutchen out, Bryan Reynolds is serving as the DH and batting second, while Billy Cook makes the start in left field and is hitting in the nine-hole against Yankees right-hander Luis Gil. McCutchen could use a day off with the season about to wrap up, as he's gone hitless in his last 11 at-bats with four strikeouts in three games played. The five-time All-Star and former MVP is batting only .232 (104-for-448) in his 16th year in the league, but he has reached the 20-homer mark for the first time since 2021 and has provided 50 RBI in his 120 games played for the Bucs. Reynolds clubbed two homers at Yankee Stadium on Friday night and will be a popular DFS pick against Gil, even though he has never faced him in his career. Cook has gone 9-for-41 (.220) with two homers in his first 14 MLB games this year.
