Dream11 Fantasy Baseball: Mets at Yankees

New York Mets (15-17) at New York Yankees (17-13)

Sunday, August 30th, 1:05 PM EDT

Projected Starters

RHP Rick Porcello (1-4, 6.43 ERA) vs TBD (either Deivi Garcia or Michael King)

Game Preview

The Mets are enduring another inconsistent season, and it seems they might not have enough in them to mount a run at a postseason berth, especially since they're in one of the tightest divisions in the National League. As for the Yankees, they have cooled off a bit following an impressive start, but injuries are a big reason for that – the majority of the top hitters in the team are in the injured list. In terms of the starting pitching, Yankees' manager Aaron Boone said Saturday that Garcia and Michael King will be the starting pitchers for Sunday's twin bill, although it's unclear which game each pitcher will start. Meanwhile, the Mets will start Rick Porcello, who owns a 6.43 ERA after losing three straight decisions.

Injuries

New York Mets

Yoenis Cespedes - Out - Opt Out

8/4 11:18 AM EST - The Mets placed Cespedes on the restricted list Sunday after he informed the team he was opting out of the 2020 season. The transaction opened up spots on the Mets' 30-man active roster, 40-man roster and 60-man roster pool. Before opting out, Cespedes appeared in eight games for the Mets and went 5-for-31 with two home runs and four RBI.

J.T. Ginn - Out - Elbow

6/11 2:52 PM EST - The Mets have selected Ginn (elbow) with the 52nd overall pick in the 2020 first-year player draft. The Dodgers were unable to meet Ginn's asking price when they selected him out of high school with the 30th overall pick in 2018, so he enrolled at Mississippi State. He logged a 3.13 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 105:19 K:BB in 86.1 innings as a freshman and was on track to go in the middle of the first round this year as a draft-eligible sophomore before needing Tommy John surgery in March. When healthy, the 6-foot-2, 192-pound righty works with a mid-90s sinking fastball and a wipeout slider, which is his best pitch. The biggest change for Ginn since his prep days is that his changeup is now a legitimate third pitch, projecting as at least an average offering with a chance to get to plus. He is athletic and projects for at least average command. While he has plus velocity, his fastball is geared more toward inducing weak contact than whiffs in the zone. However, he should still be able to hover around a strikeout per inning via his slider and improving changeup. Ginn should be ready to return to game action in the first half of the 2021 season.

Jed Lowrie - 60-Day IL - Knee

8/12 1:03 PM EST - Lowrie will receive a series of platelet-rich plasma injections on his sore left knee, Tim Healey of Newsday reports. Lowrie remains on the injured list, where he's spent the vast majority of his time since signing a two-year, $20 million contract with the Mets in January 2019. He appeared in just nine games last year and doesn't appear to be close to making his season debut, as he's on the 45-day injured list. However, he could potentially return late in the year if the injections serve their intended purpose.

Steven Matz - Out - Shoulder

8/29 1:39 PM EST - Matz reportedly experienced some left shoulder discomfort during the first game of Saturday's doubleheader with the Yankees and is probably headed to the injured list, Tim Healey of Newsday reports. Matz relieved Robert Gsellman in the bottom half of the fifth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning while striking out two batters. Mets manager Luis Rojas claims Matz "didn't feel right" despite an efficient outing. Matz will most likely officially move to the injured list either Saturday or Sunday.

Tomas Nido - Covid-19 - Illness

8/25 10:54 AM EST - Nido was placed on the injured list Tuesday for an undisclosed reason, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. The team is not specifying which IL Nido is being placed on; reading between the lines, it seems his absence could be COVID-19 related. Pat Mazeika was recalled to take his spot on the active roster.

Eduardo Nunez - 10-Day IL - Knee

7/30 12:46 PM EST - Nunez (knee) was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports. Nunez originally hurt his left knee while running out a play at first base over the weekend, and he was sent to the shelf after showing little improvement over the past few days. Brian Dozier was summoned from the team's satellite camp to take Nunez's place on the roster.

Corey Oswalt - 10-Day IL - Biceps

8/28 10:16 AM EST - Oswalt was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday with right bicep tendinitis, Justin Toscano of The Bergen Record reports. He had a 5.11 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 10 strikeouts in 12.1 innings this season across three appearances. Oswalt is without a timetable to return.

Rene Rivera - 60-Day IL - Elbow

8/17 2:35 PM EST - Rivera will undergo surgery Wednesday to remove a bone spur from his left elbow, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. Rivera was transferred to the 45-day injured list Monday, and he should miss the rest of the season since the procedure usually carries a 6-to-8 week recovery timetable. The 37-year-old appeared in just two major-league games this season, going 1-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Marcus Stroman - Out - Opt Out

8/10 12:06 PM EST - Stroman (calf) elected to opt out of the season Monday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. Stroman had been working his way back from a strained calf, but he evidently changed his plans and won't be returning until next season. He called his opt out a "collective family decision," per Tim Healey of Newsday, related purely to the COVID-19 pandemic. His calf is reportedly fully healthy, but he'll still enter free agency having spent an entire year without pitching in a game, which could certainly suppress his value on the open market. The Mets will place Stroman on the restricted list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Noah Syndergaard - 60-Day IL - Elbow

6/28 10:00 AM EST - Syndergaard (elbow) was placed on the 45-day injured list Sunday, Andersen Pickard of MLBDailyDish.com reports. Thor underwent Tommy John surgery in late March, but until now he remained on the 40-man roster given the shutdown and transaction freeze. Syndergaard will clearly miss the 2020 season, and he'll likely be unavailable for the start of next season as well. Offseason signees Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha are set to round out the starting rotation for the Mets.

New York Yankees

Zack Britton - 10-Day IL - Hamstring

8/29 9:54 AM EST - Britton (hamstring) tossed a bullpen Friday and is set to throw another Sunday before the team makes any final decisions about activating him, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports. Britton was also reported to have run sprints Thursday, so it appears as though he's making daily progress. There has not been an official timeline as to when Britton is expected to return, but the indication is that one may be given as soon he completes his second bullpen session Sunday.

Domingo German - Suspension - Suspension

7/18 4:22 PM EST - German (suspension) will not be retiring, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports. German announced in a somewhat cryptic Instagram post Friday that he was stepping away from baseball. He's since deleted that post and provided another one, in which he apologized for the "unsettling post," explaining that he let his emotions get the best of him after being forced to watch his teammates get ready for the season from afar. German will miss the entirety of the season as well as the first three games of next year while serving a domestic-violence suspension.

Kyle Higashioka - 10-Day IL - Oblique

8/27 10:51 PM EST - Higashioka (oblique) took at-bats and caught in a simulated game at the Yankees' alternate training site Thursday, Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune reports. Higashioka has been out since Aug. 8 with a strained right oblique. Manager Aaron Boone indicated Aug. 19 that the backstop wasn't close to returning, but an additional week of recovery seems to have pushed Higashioka to the brink of rejoining the team. Assuming Thursday's session went off without a hitch, Higashioka should come off the injured list in the near future. He would presumably resume his backup role to Gary Sanchez upon his return.

Kyle Holder - Day-To-Day - Hip

7/19 11:55 AM EST - Holder (hip/stomach) was assigned to the Yankees' alternate training site Saturday. Holder's reassignment came on the same day that he underwent a series of tests due to discomfort in his hip and stomach area. The 26-year-old was not expected to make the Yankees' initial 30-man active roster, though a callup this year is not out of the question if he's able to overcome the injury concern.

Aaron Judge - 10-Day IL - Calf

8/28 7:52 AM EST - Judge (calf) is heading back to the injured list, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports. General manager Brian Cashman told fans on a Zoom call Thursday that the team will have to give Judge twice as long as the first time he was on the IL. He missed 11 days the first time around, so he may only return with a week left in the season, if he is able to return at all. There were reports the last time he was on the IL that he was feeling 100 percent, but this Grade 1 calf strain is clearly something that he has trouble playing through.

Tommy Kahnle - 60-Day IL - Elbow

8/6 11:17 AM EST - Kahnle (elbow) was transferred to the 45-day injured list Thursday. He opted for Tommy John surgery earlier this week. Given the timing of the injury, it will take a very smooth recovery for Kahnle to return in 2021. Next year is his final year under club control, so it's possible the Yankees will non-tender him at some point in the next year.

Dan Otero - Out - Undisclosed

7/21 3:49 PM EST - Otero was placed on the restricted list Tuesday. The reasoning behind the move is unclear, but Otero won't be available for the start of the shortened season and has no official timeline for his return. The 35-year-old joined the Yankees on a minor-league deal with offseason after posting a 4.85 ERA and 1.52 WHIP with the Indians in 2019.

James Paxton - 10-Day IL - Forearm

8/28 8:11 AM EST - Paxton (forearm) is "a little far away" from returning, according to general manager Brian Cashman, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports. This makes it seem like Paxton could be done for the season, and at the very least is weeks and not days away from returning. The Yankees are set to play 18 games in the next 15 days and they only have four healthy members of the rotation. Top prospect Clarke Schmidt was ruled out by manager Aaron Boone as an option to come up this weekend, so there could be some bullpen games on tap for the Yankees in the coming weeks. They will also likely be active prior to Monday's trade deadline.

Luis Severino - 60-Day IL - Elbow

6/28 3:17 PM EST - Severino (elbow) was placed on the 45-day injured list Sunday. This was inevitable after Severino underwent Tommy John surgery in February. He has been progressing well in his rehab and is optimistic that he will be able to pitch for the Yankees at some point in 2021.

Giancarlo Stanton - 10-Day IL - Hamstring

8/28 8:07 AM EST - Stanton (hamstring) is at least a week away from returning, according to general manager Brian Cashman, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports. It was just reported that Aaron Judge (calf) will be out another three weeks, so Stanton figures to beat him back into the Yankees lineup. That said, it could be more than a week for Stanton, so an early September return seems like the best-case scenario.

Gleyber Torres - 10-Day IL - Hamstring

8/28 8:00 AM EST - Torres (hamstring/quad) will be sidelined for "anywhere from 3-6 weeks," according to general manager Brian Cashman, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports. If it's the long end of that timeline, Torres' regular season is over, and even if it's the short end, he will return with a little over a week left in the regular season. DJ LeMahieu (thumb) could return this weekend to work with Tyler Wade as the Yankees' double-play duo going forward.

Gio Urshela - Day-To-Day - Elbow

8/29 9:06 AM EST - Urshela (elbow) is not in Saturday's lineup against the Mets but manager Aaron Boone said he could be back in the lineup Sunday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports. Urshela was held out for both games of Friday's doubleheader against the Mets due to a bone spur in his elbow and is set to miss his third straight game as a result.

Yankees Expected Lineup

SP - Michael King

1. DJ LeMahieu

2. Luke Voit

3. Aaron Hicks

4. Mike Tauchman

5. Clint Frazier

6. Brett Gardner

7. Jordy Mercer

8. Erik Kratz

9. Tyler Wade

Mets Expected Lineup

SP - Rick Porcello

1. Brandon Nimmo

2. Jeff McNeil

3. J.D. Davis

4. Michael Conforto

5. Robinson Cano

6. Pete Alonso

7. Dominic Smith

8. Wilson Ramos

9. Amed Rosario

Top Picks From Each Team

Clint Frazier, Yankees: Frazier has stepped his game considerably in recent weeks, and he has emerged as a reliable offensive threat for the Yankees now that both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are in the injured list. In a depleted Yankees offense, he is the top player to target and the numbers back him up – he is hitting .297 with a 1.071 OPS.

Michael Conforto, Mets: Conforto might have gone hitless in Saturday's game, but the star outfielder continues to be the Mets' biggest threat on offense. He is hitting .319 with a .934 OPS, and he has a .294 average with two homers and 10 runs scored in his last 10 contests.

Captaincy Options

1. Clint Frazier
2. Michael Conforto
3. Gary Sanchez
4. Pete Alonso

Dream11 Team

P – Rick Porcello

C – Gary Sanchez

IF – DJ LeMahieu

IF – Dominic Smith

IF – Pete Alonso

OF – Brandon Nimmo

OF – Michael Conforto (VC)

OF – Clint Frazier (C)

OF – Aaron Hicks