The Yankees are back in the ALCS after missing the playoffs last year; David Fry played hero to keep Cleveland alive in the postseason; and after 40 years of ownership by the Pohlad family, the Twins are for sale.

Tigers Turn to Tarik Skubal

The Detroit Tigers have authored one of the most fun stories in baseball over the last few months, from their improbable and amazing run down the stretch to make the postseason, to their shockingly easy upset of a playoff-tested Houston squad.

And despite blowing a great chance to advance on Thursday, the Tigers remain one win away from moving onto the ALCS to meet the Yankees.

But through this great run, one thing has become certain: how uncertain betting on this team can be… unless ace Tarik Skubal is pitching, that is.

A graduate of our 2021 Top 100 Prospects list, he had a ridiculously good breakout season this year, posting a brilliant record, microscopic ERA and a crapload of Ks.

Skubal’s fortunes have improved each season, but this year’s leap came despite some slight regression in his control. In his two postseason starts, however, that hasn’t been an issue at all (one walk, seven hits and zero runs allowed, with 14 Ks in 13 IP). And judging by his reaction to a hostile Cleveland crowd, Skubal will not be intimidated by the big stage (see video below).

This kid has put up a hell of a lot of red ink this year as he cements his case as the Cy Young winner. How about the best won-loss record in the bigs? Or third with a 16.5 swinging strike rate? Skubal also led the majors in called strikes/whiffs percentage at 34.

Armed with a mid-90s hitter that can reach 97 mph, he really goes right after hitters with this pitch plus his arsenal of three other offerings that are all above average or better. If the Tigers don’t wrap this series up on Saturday with Skubal on the mound, it’s hard to envision that it will because he had a poor outing.

Could We Have Another Subway Series?

On Wednesday, the New York Mets closed out their NLDS series against the Phillies — the first time they clinched a postseason series at home in 24 years. The following night, the Yankees followed suit, giving the Big Apple two teams in the final four.

Could another Subway Series be in the offing? And who would win? If such an event transpires, FanDuel has the Mets as the underdog at +138 to beat the Yankees for the World Series.

One Met we’re playing close attention to right now is outfielder Brandon Nimmo. He got off to a great start in the postseason, delivering hits in each of the first five tilts before going hitless in the last couple of games (although he did draw three walks and score twice).

Heading into last year, we slotted Nimmo 30th in our Fantasy Outfield Rankings, suggested that we wanted to see more power from him. Well, he supplied it, smacking a career best 24 long bombs in 2023 while matching his high of 30 doubles.

So his ranking rose a smidge heading into this season, and the results were… well, mixed. Nimmo’s pop regressed a tad, but he made up for that by shattering his career high in RBI, thanks to not hitting exclusively at leadoff (he saw plenty of time batting second and third). He also swiped a career best 15 bags — without getting caught once.

Nimmo’s slash line suffered, but there were still some good things going on under the hood. One consideration for dynasty owners is that he was shifted from centre to left field full-time, so that’s something to track as he gets older (he’ll be 32 before next season begins).

Oakland Made Progress

The Oakland (Sacramento?) Athletics are watching the playoffs from home for the fourth straight season, but the final year in the Bay area brought reasons for optimism. This squad quietly enjoyed a 19-win improvement, more than anyone in baseball other than the Royals (+30).

These gains were mostly driven by an offense that improved from dead last in OPS to 20th; still not great, but a major jump up the rankings. And who was responsible for a large part of that improvement? Brent Rooker.

Two years ago, he looked like a Quad-A player, but in 2023, he finally broke through as a full-time MLBer and showed off his power with improved on-base skills. This year, Rooker took his game to a whole new level, staying healthy enough to play a career high 145 games (although he did need forearm surgery this offseason), and dramatically improving his hit tool while upping his power numbers and proving a major asset in OBP formats.

He was so good, in fact, that he’s among 10 AL finalists for the Hank Aaron Award, given to the top hitter in each league. So… how long until the A’s trade Rooker away?

RotoRob Tune of the Day

English trip hop legends Massive Attack have been at it since 1988. In 1998, they released their third album, Mezzanine, and the second single was “Teardrop,” featuring vocals from Elizabeth Fraser, former lead singer of Cocteau Twins.