Fantasy baseball news: Rookies to enter playoff chase for Toronto and San Francisco

Everything that happens in and around MLB has some additional context when viewed from a fantasy baseball perspective. From lineup changes to minor league call-ups to injuries and so much more, the news cycle will constantly affect player values in fantasy baseball.

Our fantasy baseball buzz file, with contributions from our ESPN fantasy writers, aims to provide fantasy managers with the intel they need as news breaks around MLB.

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Sept. 15: What you need to know for Monday

Todd Zola: The first day of the two-week championship round in ESPN head-to-head leagues features nine evening affairs, getting underway at 6:40 p.m. ET. Good luck to everyone in the finals and, for those in year-long formats, keep grinding!

• Seiya Suzuki accompanied the Chicago Cubs for tonight's road date with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he's still expected to miss his fourth straight game due to illness. Moises Ballesteros has served as the DH in Suzuki's absence and is expected to remain in that capacity tonight. The rookie backstop hit .500/.583/1.000 over the weekend, including his first major league home run on Saturday.

• The Toronto Blue Jays will send Trey Yesavage to the hill for tonight's road affair with the Tampa Bay Rays. The rookie will make his debut in the throes of a pennant race. The Blue Jays sport the American League's best record and currently hold a four-game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees. Yesavage was a first-round pick for the Blue Jays in the 2024 draft. The 22-year-old right-hander scaled four minor league levels this season, posting a combined 3.12 ERA and 0.97 WHIP with 160 strikeouts over 98 innings. Yesavage spent most of the season as a starter, but he's worked as a reliever in his last two outings at Triple-A. Even so, he'll be pitching without any workload restrictions, both tonight and for the rest of the season.

• The Rays are expected to counter with Joe Boyle, who had been scratched from his scheduled Saturday start over the weekend, likely due to the fact that Tampa Bay has this opening in their rotation. A 25-year-old right-hander, Boyle dominated at Triple-A Durham, posting a 1.78 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP with 114 punchouts over 86 frames. Control is his chief issue as evidenced by his having walked 21 batters in 36 2/3 innings with the Rays earlier this season.

• Anthony Volpe missed his fifth straight game last night, again ceding shortstop to Jose Caballero. Volpe has been playing with a torn labrum since May. He received a cortisone injection last Wednesday and hasn't played since. It's unclear how much of Volpe's absence is due to needing to recover from the shot and how much is his effectiveness. After taking two of three from the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park over the weekend, the Yankees hold a 1.5 game lead for the top wild card spot.

• The St. Louis Cardinals expect to have Nolan Arenado in the lineup tonight for the opener of a three-game visit with the Cincinnati Reds. Arenado has been out since late July due to a shoulder strain. He'll try to salvage the worst season of his career as his .660 OPS is the first time he's been below .700 for a season. However, Arenado was only 1-for-13 in four rehab games with Double-A Springfield.

• Adolis Garcia returned for the Texas Rangers yesterday. He had missed 10 games due to a quad injury. He went hitless on Sunday but had been on a .368/.400/.632 roll in his last nine games before getting hurt. The Rangers remain within striking distance of both the AL West crown and the final wild card spot.

• Bryce Eldridge is slated to make his MLB debut tonight for the San Francisco Giants. The 20-year-old is one of the club's top prospects, batting .249/.322./.514 in 66 games with Triple-A Sacramento. Dominic Smith was placed on the IL, so Eldridge will handle first base against right-handed pitching, beginning tonight in the desert against Zac Gallen and the Arizona Diamondbacks.