Phillies in flight

Major League Baseball is in great shape for the future, not that anyone was questioning it. You lose icons like Derek Jeter and David Ortiz, or even fantasy regulars and fan favorites who have nice careers like Ryan Howard, Kenny Lofton, Magglio Ordonez and Jorge Posada, and it's hard to move on. Who is going to replace them? Well, baseball is in tremendous hands for the future, and those future fantasy regulars, fantasy favorites and potential icons were on display on Wednesday night.

The Philadelphia Phillies have struggled for the past few years, but the future appears to be very bright in the City of Brotherly Love. Aaron Altherr, Maikel Franco, Freddy Galvis, Odubel Herrera, Tommy Joseph, and, of course, Rhys Hoskins, make up a tremendous young nucleus on offense. If the Phillies are able to get anyone to join Aaron Nola in the rotation, this team doesn't appear to be terribly far from making some noise in the National League East. Despite the fact they're well out of contention in the season's final weeks, they're competing hard and showing that they're going to be a force to be reckoned with sooner rather than later.

Altherr finished 3-for-4 with a two-run home run, three runs scored and four RBI to push his average to .281. He has managed 21 doubles, four triples and 19 home runs with a stellar .890 OPS, and that's after missing five weeks due to a hamstring injury in August and the first week of September. He is likely to be projected as a 30-100 guy in 2018, and he makes for an outstanding keeper prospect. That certainly didn't look like the case at the end of 2016, as he barely hit above the Mendoza line at .202 while hitting just four homers across 198 at-bats in a 57-game trial. Altherr has definitely arrived.

Hoskins was hitless in Wednesday's game against the Dodgers, and the former Sacramento State Hornets standout is experiencing his first real adversity as a major league after a charmed first month in the majors. Even though he is mired in a 3-for-18 (.167) skid, he still has 18 RBI in 18 games in September, and a whopping 18 homers with 43 RBI across just 136 at-bats since being promoted to the big club on Aug. 10. While the power of Hoskins gets all of the headlines, it's his discerning eye and plate discipline that should be making news. He has already drawn 31 walks while striking out just 34 times, which is quite amazing for a power hitter.

All of the pieces are in place for Philadelphia down on the farm, too, such as Scott Kingery, J.P. Crawford and Mickey Moniak are also progressing nicely, and Jorge Alfaro joined Hoskies on the short ride down from Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia to arrive early. Alfaro has blasted three homers and has the potential to be the next decent power-hitting backstop for many years to come. It's an exciting time to be a baseball fan, as the talent just keeps on developing and the young stars are brighter than ever.

Price hasn't appeared in relief during the regular season since the 2010 season when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays, so it would be a big change. It's a change fantasy owners hope they do not see.

Come Sale Away
Boston's Chris Sale certainly didn't have any difficulty fitting in with his new team after an off season deal from the Chicago White Sox. Sale struck out 13 batters across eight innings in Wednesday's rout of the Orioles to reach 300. He is the first pitcher to reach the magical plateau since Clayton Kershaw accomplished the feat in 2015, while also becoming the first American League hurler since 1999 to reach 300. And in the long and storied history of the Red Sox franchise he is just the second pitcher to turn the trick.

Sale was a very good pitcher for many years in Chicago, but he has taken it to a new level in Boston. He might not reach 20 victories this season, and he has just one complete game after going the distance six times in Chicago in 2016, but his homers are down, he entered Wednesday's outing with a career-best 0.96 WHIP and he is on pace for just his third-ever season with a single-digit loss total. And, more importantly, he'll get a taste of the postseason against the rest of the league's best.

Ball Park Frank
Speaking of young, budding superstars, how about Cleveland's Francisco Lindor? He crushed his 31st homer of the season in Anaheim, and he now has the most homers ever in a single season by a switch-hitting shortstop. It speaks to his amazing focus, too, as his hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico was being raked by major Hurricane Maria. In fact, Caguas and Bayamon were among the hardest hit areas, and the two cities had hospitals which lost their roofs.

Lindor entered the season with 27 homers across 994 at-bats over 257 games in his first two major league seasons, so not many talking heads envisioned this power surge. While his average has decreased in each of his past two seasons since his debut in 2015 with a .313 mark, fantasy owners will gladly take the overall trade off in average for power. His average isn't hurting anyone in September, however, as he is hitting .329 for his best month of the season. In fact, he is hitting .312 after the All-Star break, and he looks primed and ready for another magical run in the postseason.




National League Quick Hits: Jon Lester was bounced around for seven runs, eight hits and three walks while recording zero strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings in a loss at Tampa Bay. Since flipping the calendar from July to August, Lester has posted a 6.81 ERA over his past eight starts, allowing 30 earned runs across just 39 2/3 innings. … Giancarlo Stanton swatted his major-league best 56th homer in a rout of the Mets. He has eight homers and 20 RBI against the Mets, most against any team this season. … Adam Frazier finished 2-for-5 with a triple, home run and four RBI in a win against the Brewers. Both the triple and homer were his sixth of the season. … Joe Panik is finishing up strong, raising his average from .267 to .291 just since Sept. 1. He had three hits in Wednesday's game, posting his seventh multi-hit game over the past 14 outings. … Luke Weaver improved to 7-1 in a rout of the Reds. He allowed just two runs and five hits with seven strikeouts over five innings, winning his sixth straight start and seven consecutive decision dating back to Aug. 2. … Hunter Renfroe belted three home runs in a 13-7 loss against the Diamondbacks, giving him 24 homers. … Rocky Gale and Christian Villanueva each posted the first homers of their careers. … The Diamondbacks won the sixth consecutive start with Robbie Ray on the hill, but it took a Herculean effort from their offense to make it happen. He was crushed for five earned runs, five hits and five walks over 4 1/3 innings, pushing his ERA up from 2.74 to 2.95. His three home runs allowed were his most of the season.

American League Quick Hits: Nicholas Castellanos finished 1-for-4 to extend the longest active hitting streak in the majors to 17 games. He is hitting .418 (28-for-67) with seven runs scored, five homers and 18 RBI during the impressive span. … Daniel Mengden is showing signs of life down the stretch. He scattered seven hits with no walks over seven scoreless innings in a win in Detroit, improving to 2-1 while lowering his ERA to 3.30. … Aaron Judge launched his 45th homer, and the two-run shot pushed him over the century mark for RBI. He drove in a total of three runs, giving him 101 RBI on the season. … Didi Gregorius swatted his 25th homer, pushing aside Jeter for the record of most homers in a single season by a Yankees shortstop. … Mookie Betts belted his 23rd homer to back Sale, and he added a triple while finishing with a walk and three runs scored. … Whit Merrifield continues to set the table nicely in K.C. He was 3-for-5 with a solo home run, three runs scored, two RBI and two more stolen bases, giving him 32 thefts on the season. … Mike Moustakas crushed his 37th home run in Toronto, moving past Steve Balboni for the most homers in a single season in Kansas City. The record had stood since the 1985 season. … Brad Peacock allowed just two runs, one hit and two walks with six strikeouts over six innings to improve to 12-2 while lowering his ERA to 2.98. … Rougned Odor has struggled with a .209 batting average, 62 points less than his 2016 total. While his strikeouts are way up, his power has remained. He reached 30 homers for the second straight season, and he is just three short of his career best. … Like Odor, Steven Souza reached the 30-homer mark in a rout of the Cubs.