AUGUST 19•AZCENTRAL.COM
Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Dodgers odds, picks and predictionsThe Seattle Mariners (64-61) and Los Angeles Dodgers (73-52) play the opener of a 3-game set at Dodger Stadium Monday at 10:10 p.m. ET. Let'...
Luke Raley - Multi-hit effort in Sunday's winRaley went 2-for-3 with an RBI sacrifice fly and a run in a win over the Pirates on Sunday.
ImpactRaley's multi-hit effort was his third in the last eight games, a stretch where he boasts a .350 average and 1.167 OPS across 29 plate appearances. The offseason addition's .236/.307/.434 slash line on the season is below the standard he set last season with the Rays, but with 15 home runs and 39 RBI, Raley is closing in on surpassing the career bests of 19 homers and 49 RBI he generated in 2023.
AUGUST 19•ROTOWIRE
Dominic Canzone - Belts eighth homer SundayCanzone went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in a win over the Pirates on Sunday.
ImpactCanzone snapped 17-game home-run drought with his 416-foot shot to center field in the fifth inning, which extended the Mariners' lead to 8-0 at the time. In the process, Canzone also snapped an 0-for-8 slump that had encompassed his previous four games, and Sunday's homer served as only his third hit in the 18 plate appearances he's logged since coming off the injured list Aug. 9.
AUGUST 19•ROTOWIRE
Leonardo Rivas - Productive out No. 9 spotRivas went 2-for-4 with an RBI single, a walk and two runs in a win over the Pirates on Sunday.
ImpactRivas once again provided useful contributions out of the bottom of the order, and he maximized both of his trips on the basepaths by eventually crossing the plate each time. The rookie infielder, who continues to see regular playing time at shortstop in the absence of J.P. Crawford (finger), has reached safely in six of his last seven games, a span in which he owns a .400 OBP thanks in part to a 15.4 percent walk rate.
AUGUST 19•ROTOWIRE
Josh Rojas - Belts seventh homerRojas went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and an additional run in a win over the Pirates on Sunday.
ImpactRojas delivered his first home run of August in the fourth inning to extend the Mariners' lead to 5-0 at the time. The multi-hit effort was Rojas' first since the last time he'd left the yard, July 31, and it snapped an 0-for-12 slump that had encompassed his previous four games. Despite the productive day Sunday, Rojas' bat has lost almost all of its early-season sizzle, as he's carrying a .198 average and .599 OPS over the 62 games he's played since June 1.
AUGUST 19•ROTOWIRE
Paul Skenes - Outings could be shortenedThe Pirates currently have no plans to shut Skenes down but are considering shortening his starts, Ken Rosenthal, Stephen J. Nesbitt and Zack Meisel of The Athletic report.
ImpactSkenes has thrown 125.1 innings this season between the majors and minors, which is just a few innings shy of how many he threw in 2023 between college and the minors. With the Pirates' playoff odds looking remote, it could make sense to tap the brakes a bit on Skenes' workload. When/if the team implements Skenes' innings restrictions and whether it would announce it beforehand isn't clear, creating some potential headaches for fantasy managers. While a full shutdown currently looks unlikely, the report notes that the Pirates have a possible incentive to shut Skenes down, as the pitcher would earn an additional year of service time if he finishes first or second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, resulting in him reaching free agency a year earlier.
AUGUST 19•ROTOWIRE
Ke'Bryan Hayes - Playing through herniated discHayes has played with a herniated disc in his back for much of the season, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
ImpactHayes missed most of May with the issue, and while he's stayed off the injured list since then, it sounds like the discomfort hasn't really gone away. It could at least partly explain the 27-year-old's dreadful .233/.283/.290 batting line this season. There doesn't seem to be any talk at this point of surgery and/or shutting Hayes down, but perhaps that changes when/if the Pirates decide they don't have a realistic chance of making the postseason. Hayes has five more years left on the eight-year, $70 million contract extension he signed in April of 2022.
AUGUST 19•ROTOWIRE
