Fantasy Baseball Winners & Losers: It's not always Sonny in Cincinnati

Oh, what a Tuesday night it was. We saw the returns of Zach Plesac and Michael Pineda, two teams scored at least 16 runs and a pair of triple dongs. One of those three-homer performances was by Giants outfielder Alex Dickerson, who is just 12% rostered in CBS leagues. He's an easy add, right? Maybe not. Even after the five hits Tuesday, Dickerson is batting just .261. It's not bad, but not great, either. He also doesn't play against left-handed pitching.

If you want to take a shot in a five-outfielder league, sure. The Giants do play seven games next week. With that being said, this just seems like one of those random Coors Field explosions.

We broke down two interesting prospects just promoted and much more on Wednesday's edition of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Follow all our podcasts and subscribe here.

On to the rest of Tuesday.

The latest in the world of Fantasy baseball

Elieser Hernandez exited Tuesday's start and has been diagnosed with right lat soreness, which does not sound good.
The Dodgers placed Justin Turner on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Aug. 29, with a left hamstring strain. It wouldn't be a baseball season without one Turner IL stint.
Sticking with the Dodgers, Cody Bellinger was not in the lineup because of lat soreness. Stop skipping pull downs in the gym, bro.
Walker Buehler, dealing with a blister, is set to return to the Dodgers starting rotation on Wednesday versus the Diamondbacks.
Trevor Story was out of the Rockies' starting lineup on Tuesday night against the Giants. This just seemed like a normal rest day for him.
The Twins activated Byron Buxton from the 10-day injured list. He batted seventh, had two hits and the go-ahead RBI.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Tuesday that Ozzie Albies should be heading to the team's alternate site by the end of the week. He's missed the past month or so with a bone contusion in his wrist.
Ronald Acuña was absent from the Braves lineup again Tuesday because of a hamstring issue.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Gleyber Torres could see at-bats at the team's alternate training site in the next few days. He's dealing with an issue to his quad/hamstring.
The Yankees activated Zach Britton off the IL.
Austin Meadows was back in the Rays' lineup. He finished 0-4 with a strikeout.
Reds manager David Bell said he expects to keep Raisel Iglesias in the closer's role. Archie Bradley pitched in the third inning on Tuesday after the Sonny Gray meltdown.
Starling Marte was in the lineup for the Marlins and batting second. He finished 1-for-4 with a home run.
Jacoby Jones was hit by a pitch on his hand Tuesday and was diagnosed with a fractured left hand.
Marlins prospect Jazz Chisholm was promoted Tuesday. He has a bit of pop and speed if you want to speculate in Roto leagues.
Ke'Bryan Hayes made his debut and had two hits, including a game-tying HR in the eighth inning. He's 14% rostered if you need a corner infielder in a deeper league.

Tuesday's biggest winners

The other to hit a triple dong Tuesday was Marcell Ozuna. He is proof that using analytics like Statcast data works. Last year Ozuna severely underperformed both his batting average and slugging percentage based on his quality of contact. This season, he's hitting the ball nearly identical to 2019 yet he's been much better to the tune of a .297 batting average and a .987 OPS. Kudos if you took advantage of his draft-day discount.
Let's stick with the Braves as rookie Ian Anderson dazzled once again. He allowed just two runs over six innings against the Red Sox, striking out eight. The eight strikeouts came on the back of 19 swinging strikes, including eight on the changeup and nine on the curve. I don't want to jinx him, but Anderson looks like the pitching prospect we've been waiting for.
Make that two starts in a row where Masahiro Tanaka has been pretty impressive. He limited the Rays to just two runs on Tuesday, striking out seven. What's interesting is that he's doing it with his slider this year, not his patented splitter -- 11 of his 15 swinging strike in this start came on the slider, which currently has a career-high 41.9% whiff rate. Tanaka is close to earning my trust again.

Tuesday's biggest losers

I hate to rain on his parade, but Tuesday was a reminder that it isn't always Sonny in Cincinnati. I'll see myself out. Sonny Gray got bombed against the Cardinals, allowing six runs and recording just two outs. Regression was inevitable as he wasn't going to maintain a sub-2.00 ERA all season. I just wish it didn't all come in one start.
After another 0-fer, Pete Alonso's batting average has dipped to .208 with his OPS down to .700. The two main issues for Alonso have been his batted ball data and his approach against fastballs. This season his ground ball rate is up about 6%, which does not bode well for a slugger of his make-up. Also, he's slugging just .343 against fastballs this year whereas that was .669 last season. If he can get back on track against fastballs, we could be looking at a big final month.
Ryan Pressly had been pitching much better recently and then he ran into… Elvis Andrus? Andrus led off the ninth inning Tuesday with a game-tying home run, causing Pressly's third blown save of the season. If Pressly were to continue struggling, it seems as if Enoli Paredes has cemented himself as the eighth-inning man.