Minnesota Twins first baseman slash DH slash every position slash nepo-baby slash heart throb Kody Clemens launched not one, not two, but three rockets to the moon Friday night going a perfect 4-for-4 along with five runs batted in to rally his Twinks to the dub! And because you all asked so nicely and his dad is likely reading this (hey, rog!) here’s number one, number two, and finally the numero tres in the ninth to spark the rally, come within just one run and complete the trifecta—holy trinity homer hat trick! The first 3-homer game for a Twin since Miguel Sano did it in 2021. Also, how about the fans in those seats! They’re absolutely here for this! Dad must be so proud. Despite a middling .213/.282/.458 slash for the year, the Baby Rocket is now hitting .294 in the past week with four homers, and his bat willed the Twinks to the win Friday. For fantasy, if you add him, he will almost certainly for 0-for his next 25, but AL Central Only leaguers take note, don’t sleep on Kody’s power! More than half his hits are of the extra base variety! The surface level stats are rough, but some of the underlying metrics show he hits the ball hard, and there could be some sleeper appeal here for 2026 if the Junior Rocket stays launching balls into orbit.
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Brandon Pfaadt – 4.2 IP, 9 hits, 5 ER, BB, 2 K, ERA at 5.31. If you told me he gave up all of Clemens’ home runs, I would have believed you. What kind of dirt does Pfaadt have on the DBacks that they keep trotting him out there week after week?
Andrew Saalfrank – 0.1 IP, BB, BS (2). He was the BUY in the Zona pen, and at least he wasn’t as bad as Jake Woodford (0.0 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER, BB). Who gets the next save chance is anyone’s guess, but I can’t recommend rostering either.
Cole Sands – 1.0 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER. And the well earned win!
Tanner Bibee – 9.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 10 K, 10th win. Be my, be my Bibee! Probably should have been your lede, but I dig long balls. Still, not a BB to be seen after walking 15 over his past five starts. This was Bibee’s day out! The shutout was the first for Cleveland in six years, and I know it was the White Sox, but Tanner looked dominant, throwing 74 of his 103 pitches for strikes, adding 35 called swinging strikes. What? Did you not expect the guy with the 4.69 ERA to put together a start like this? He lowered his ERA almost a full quarter to 4.44 with the performance. So is Bibee back? Unclear. But this is coming at the right time for the Guards who’ve won seven of eight and are within striking distance of the third and final wild card spot, and Tanner’s lined up for a juicy matchup with the Twins next week. Bibee, I need your loving more than ever right now, so hopefully this is the start of the turnaround we’ve been waiting all season for. If it’s not, I might be cry Bibee.
Matthew Boyd – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, K, 13th win. Boyd is that guy you think is only going to fill in for 2-3 starts and ends up becoming your most reliable pitcher. The 13 wins in a career high, and he’s made 29 starts to a 3.05 ERA and gets the Pirates next week. Flava Flav would say, Yeahhh, Boyd!
Shane Baz – 2.1 IP, 6 hits, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 12th L. Bazinga got Bazunged. It had been three straight decent outings since his last blow up. I will say he hasn’t allowed a home run in five starts. That’s something. I tried so hard to make Shane Baz a thing, and whether or not it was the matchups or the ballpark, one thing remained true: my team was not good when Baz was on it.
Andrew Kittredge – 1.0 IP, K, SV (4). He was a BUY and could be one of the most valuable adds down the stretch! What are you waiting for? Add him! I will wait here and doom scroll VMA edits while you do. Who is Tate McCrae, and why am I so impressed with her?
Ian Happ – 3-for-4, HR (21), 2 RBI. Ish Happ-pens! Ish like this. The 21st homer is not a career high but it’s close. 25 seems to be his sweet spot. Ian is one of the hottest beefs in Chicagoland, hitting .373 with five homers and 11 RBI (ELEVEN) over the past two weeks.
Bryce Harper – 2-for-4, HR (26), 2 RBI. It took him about four months, but he’s finally hot, like Bryce Harper hot. One of the best hitters in the game hot. That’s three homers in the past week as the Phillies look to clinch this weekend. Have I told you I think they’re a wagon? Cause I do.
Harrison Bader – 2-for-5, run, RBI as he led off. He was a BUY, and he’s kind of mid, but he’s also leading off for one of the highest scoring teams in the league, and that’s fairly valuable. Out of all the Bader’s, Harrison is the King. The number 1. The master Bader if you will.
Walker Buehler – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 3 K. After being waived by the Red Sox, a team so desperate for starters they traded a top prospect for two months of Dustin May, Buehler gets another chance with a real contender, and he looked…fine, I guess? He threw everything he had at this poor KC lineup and it worked. He lowered his ERA to a sparkling 5.29. He gets the DBacks next week. Pick him up if you hate yourself.
Mitch Keller – 5.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, BB, 4 K. Mitch, please! Often, you look quite solid, but also, you cannot be trusted!
Spencer Horwitz – 2-for-4, HR (9). If you’re considering adding Pirates at this point of the year, it could be rough waters ahead, matey, arrgh!
Dylan Crews – 1-for-4, HR (9), 2 RBI. The go-ahead shot in the seventh for DC in DC in baby blues! And he did it all from my bench!
Trevor Rogers – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, ERA at 1.43. Some team’s gonna give this guy $100+ million dollars this offseason. Trev struggled with his command a bit through this one, not because the BJays are good, but something much more disgusting sounding: “blood blisters under his big toe.” Suuure, blame the blood blisters! Can’t stress enough how my team that drafted Kodai Senga, Shane Baz, and Roki Sasaki still has a chance of winning it all, and it’s all because of Trevor Rogers. Get well soon, King.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 3-for-3, RBI. Vladdy daddy likes to party, reaching base in every at bat last night. The power is down sure but I’ll take the .900 OPS!
Agustin Ramirez – 1-for-4, HR (20). I told you to BUY him in April. And again in June. And now he’s a 20 home run hitter! That was pretty good advice I gave that one time!
Heriberto Hernandez – 2-for-3, 3 runs, HR (8). Took Skubal yard! Talk about a guy who does a lot with a little opportunity, or perhaps that’s why he’s been so successful.
Sandy Alcantara – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 8 K, 9th win. He’s completely fixed now. Next question!
Tarik Skubal – 3.1 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 2 K. Removed himself from the game with side tightness and will get imaging done. Uh oh. Skubal said he will remain optimistic, but he also removed himself, which doesn’t sound very optimistic to me. But maybe it’s because I’m a pessimist? Pray for Skubal.
Riley Greene – 2-for-4, HR (34). Greene light! If he hits 40 home runs, is he a top 10 player next year? Where you drafting him? Should we ignore his 200 strikeouts?
Luis Gil – 6.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 4th win. The walks are still scary (34/27 K/BB), but he hasn’t given up more than 2 ER in a start since coming off the IL early August, and gets the Twins next week. He’s solid if unspectacular–which is what my wife said about me in my vows. I kid! I don’t have a wife.
Lucas Giolito – 5.2 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 6 K, 4th L, ERA at 3.31. Solid season for Gio, but Yanks were on a mission in this one, and I’m not sure this Red Sox line up has the ammunition to keep up.
Aaron Judge – 1-for-3, 2 runs, HR (47). That’s number 362! Which puts him fourth passing Joe DiMaggio on the Yankee All Time home run list. Speaking of, as far as Top Five lists go, it doesn’t get much better than this: Babe, Mantle, Gehrig, Judge and DiMaggio (Yogi is sixth). Sweet sassy molassy! I mean, that’s gotta be an all time Top Five Top Five list. It’s good company, that’s all I’m saying! I mentioned earlier Bryce Harper hit his 362nd career homer Friday as well, except he needed ~3,000 more plate appearances to hit the mark.
Jacob deGrom – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 2 K, 12th win, ERA at 2.82. Big time homecoming for deGrom! Back in NYC City, and it wasn’t to see an elbow specialist. Mets hit him pretty hard (13 hard-hit balls) but the 7 innings is the deepest he’s pitched into a start since June. The crazy stat here is Jacob got 8 runs of support from his team in this one, more than he’d ever gotten in 110 starts with the New York Mets.
Jonah Tong – 0.2 IP, 4 hits, 6 ER, 3 BB, K. Welp. I guess he’s not the “new” deGrom. He should get another much easier matchup versus the Nats next week, and I could see considering the prospect of maybe thinking about mulling over the possibility of contemplating whether or not I should review the option of potentially picking him up. I still don’t know for sure though!
Michael Helman – 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 1.036 OPS. Coming for Will Levis’ Mayo King crown. He was a BUY and he’s hitting .375 in the past week with two homers and 9 RBI. Helman’s a miracle whip!
Francisco Alvarez – 2-for-3, HR (8). The first Met to ever homer off deGrom. Bittersweet but also impressive! My man’s playing with two broken fingers!
Zachary Cole – 3-for-4, HR (1), 4 RBI. Hot Cole fires up the Astros! Have a day, rook! Took the first pitch he saw in the majors 420+ feet. He went on to add a pair of singles along with some excellent defense. Called up to Triple-A just two weeks ago, Cole hit .353 with 3 HR, 16 RBI over 15 games with a .745, so the power is not coming out of nowhere. It remains to be seen how much playing time he’ll get, so outside the deepest leagues I’d suggest a wait-and-see approach here. Like, why play the rook when they can play Jake Meyers, Taylor Trammell, and Mauricio Dubon?
Ronald Acuna Jr – 2-for-4, HR (16). That’s how you bust out of a slump! If there’s one thing this season has been missing it’s Alt-164, the Tildaddy himself! He also made this insane play from right. MLB is not the same without Tildaddy raking. Some people drafted this dude in the second round! Still a better pick than Austin Riley. We need Tildaddy to tell us to eat our veggies, and sit us down and explain to us who Alex Cooper is. She’s daddy, too?
Quinn Priester – 5.1 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, BB, 5 K, 13th win. That’s 12 consecutive decisions won for Quinn and the Brewers have won an incredible 18 straight when he starts. The high Priester’s luck is holier than thou!
Christian Yelich – 1-for-4, HR (28). Speaking of Priests, how about this good Christian! He sent this ball to the Heavens!
Geraldo Perdomo – 1-for-2, 2 runs, HR (19), 2 RBI. MOST. UNDERRATED. PLAYER. IN. FANTASY.
Tanner Gordon – 6.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, BB, 9 K, 6th win, ERA at 6.14. The 9 Ks ties a career high. For the second straight Friday, the Padres were shut down by a Colorado Rockies starter. Tanner has shown some flashes in the past month (3.86 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 4 Ws), but this says more about San Diego to me.
Victor Vodnik – 1.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, BB, K, SV (8), ERA at 3.11. He’s the closer in Colorado, and he’s getting saves. What more do you want? Not to surrender runs every game? Oh, well he’s probably gonna do that.
Manny Machado – 2-for-3, HR (24). Macho Manny from the top turnbuckle!
Lawrence Butler – 2-for-4, HR (20). Five more homers and 10 more steals and we can still salvage this season.
Carlos Cortes – 2-for-3, 2 HR (3). After notching his first major league homer last week, CC gets it done again Friday with two more! And this time they didn’t come off a position player!
Sean Newcomb – 1.0 IP, 3 K, SV (2). He certainly looks like the closer, but that by no means makes him the closer. Mr. Manager would rather keep us on our toes.
Chase Burns – 2.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, K. Returned from the IL in a relief role, and it’s gonna be really hard for him to strike out 10 in two innings every week.
Luis Castillo – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 2 BB, 5 K. After limping through the end of August, Luis Luis has now put together back to back quality starts and gets a juicy match up in KC next week. He’s arrived just in time for the H2H playoffs, and we’re all here for it!
Yusei Kikuchi – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 3 K. Yusei I’m a madman for starting him after giving up 17 runs over his past three starts? How about next week in Milwaukee? Feeling lucky?
Yoshinobu Yamamoto – 7.0 IP, 1 hit, ER, BB, 10 K. Well, here’s one guy on the Dodgers that’s doing his job. Over his past three starts (22.2 IP) he’s allowed just 9 base runners and 3 ER with a 30/3 K/BB. He has exactly zero wins to show for it. He’s pitching his way in the Cy Young conversation! The convo could be interesting if Skenes hadn’t already won it over a month ago.
Justin Verlander – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 4 BB, 4 K. Speaking of Cy Youngs, JV has allowed just one run over his past three starts with a 20/8 K/BB. He also surrendered his first home run since early August. Good to know JV’s still got it, it just takes him four months to hit his stride now.
Tanner Scott – 0.0 IP, 1 hits, 3 runs, 2 BB. There isn’t a Dodgers fan from PCH to Jamboree all the way down the 405 that was confident Tanner Scott would not blow this game.
Patrick Bailey – 1-for-4, Walk Off Grand Slam HR (6). BUY. The Aura King Bailey strikes again! Let’s watch it here, if only to shame Tanner Scott. That bat flip, too, could feed rizz hungry families. Patrick and his .325 SLG% walks this one off in style in an extra innings rivalry game for a much-needed SF win. And the Giants are now just a half game back for the final wild card spot. He has four homers this month after hitting just two in the previous 4 months (183 at bats). He becomes the first player in history with a walk-off inside-the-park homer and a walk-off grand slam in the same year, and moments like this are what players dream about as a kid! I got goosies, y’all! This pennant race stuff is the best stretch the MLB season has to offer IMO, and I don’t think anyone’s, especially not Tanner Scott, enjoying it more than Patrick Bailey right now.
Thanks for reading! Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts, or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!
