Matt Olson's home run spree highlights Ben Verlander's team of the week
Braves slugger Matt Olson hit five homers in six days to retake the MLB lead. See who else made Ben Verlander's team of the week.SEPTEMBER 11, 2023
Dane Dunning - Returns to starting role MondayDunning is scheduled to start Monday's game in Toronto, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.
ImpactFor the first time since late April, Dunning worked out of the bullpen for his most recent appearance Sept. 5, covering 5.1 innings of long relief in a blowout loss to the Astros while giving up nine earned runs on 11 hits and two walks. Despite the rough showing, Dunning will step back into the rotation this week, taking the hill Monday for what would have been Andrew Heaney's turn. Heaney dazzled with six strikeouts over 3.2 scoreless innings in a relief appearance in Sunday's win over Oakland, but it's unclear if Heaney will continue to work out of the bullpen moving forward or if both he and Dunning will be included as part of a six-man rotation.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023•ROTOWIRE
Jordan Diaz - Multi-hit effort in lossDiaz went 2-for-5 with an RBI single and a double in a loss to the Rangers on Sunday.
ImpactDiaz produced his first multi-hit effort since Sept. 1, the last game before he fell into a 3-for-20, seven-game funk. The rookie snapped out of it to an extent Sunday with a performance that included his fourth extra-base hit and RBI of September. Diaz did whiff two more times, however, pushing his strikeout rate to 36.7 percent since the start of the month.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023•ROTOWIRE
Kyle Muller - Works in relief SaturdayMuller tossed two innings out of the bullpen in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Rangers, giving up two earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out one.
ImpactIn his previous outing Sept. 3 versus the Angels, Muller started and kept the Halos off the board through the first three innings, but he melted down in the fourth, giving up three runs before being pulled. Since Muller carried a 7.62 ERA and 1.93 WHIP over 15 appearances (13 starts) on the season heading into the weekend, the Athletics opted to move him to the bullpen and gave Sean Newcomb an audition as a starter. Newcomb delivered four scoreless frames Saturday before turning the game over to Muller, though neither pitcher was ultimately stuck with the loss. In any case, with Newcomb making the most of his opportunity, look for him to get at least one more start while Muller sticks in a relief role.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023•ROTOWIRE
Ryan Noda - On base thrice in lossNoda went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run in a loss to the Rangers on Sunday.
ImpactNoda extended his modest hitting streak to three games with Sunday's multi-hit effort, his first since Sept. 1. The rookie is heading into the final stretch of the regular season with some solid momentum, having posted a .273/.385/.839 slash line with six extra-base hits and 10 RBI across the 19 games he's played since returning from the injured list stint due to a jaw fracture. Noda has also encouragingly demonstrated an improvement in his ability to make consistent contact during that sample -- he posted a 32.5 percent strikeout rate in the first 100 games of the season, but he's cut that figure down to 24.4 percent since his IL return.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023•ROTOWIRE
MLB Playoff Watch: What is each contender's biggest weakness?
With 11 playoff bids still up for grabs, here's one question each MLB contender needs to answer by October.SEPTEMBER 11, 2023
