With the Brewers up 6-4 in St. Louis, Corey Knebel took the ball in a save situation for the first time since mid-August. Knebel has been lights out since returning from triple-A on September 2nd. The Brewers’ righty has racked up 24 strikeouts while allowing only 2 hits and 0 runs in 12.1 innings. Knebel struck out the side (around a hit batter) to earn his sixteenth save of the season.

Jeremy Jeffress was not sitting in the bullpen last night and was unavailable due to neck spasms. Jeffress is considered day-to-day right now and Knebel could be in line for saves this week if Jeffress misses more than just tonight. Joakim Soria pitched the eighth inning with a one-run lead.

The Yankees continue to run a firm committee in the ninth inning. With three left-handed hitters due up, Aaron Boone turned to Zach Britton to hold a 4-1 lead against the Rays. Britton ended up facing two right-handed pinch hitters (Carlos Gomez and C.J. Cron) but struck out all three. Cron however, reached on a passed ball and Britton induced a Jake Bauers pop up to end it.

Aroldis Chapman, who continues to work his way back from a knee injury, struck out two and walked one while pitching the seventh inning. Dellin Betances, who collected the save on Saturday night, pitched a clean eighth.

Amongst a chorus of (well deserved) boos before every pitch, Roberto Osuna earned a save against his former team on Monday night. After running a committee with Hector Rendon when Osuna was first reinstated from the suspended list, A.J. Hinch has used Osuna as the primary closer since the beginning of September. Osuna has collected 7 saves while allowing 4 hits (1HR) in 8.2 September innings.

With Keone Kela shut down for the season in order to manage his workload, Richard Rodriguez pitched the eighth inning with the Pirates up 4-1 against the Cubs. Rodriguez, who surrendered an infield hit and struck out two batters, hasn’t allowed a run since August 14th and has enjoyed a strong 2018 campaign. Rodriguez has posted a 31.8 percent strikeout rate against only a 6.7 percent walk rate to go along with a 2.43 ERA (2.61 FIP). He might not be the first pitcher in line for saves either this year or next, but he could be the source of elite rate stats with top-10 closer potential if he is able to secure an opportunity.

Cody Allen made his first appearance since September 15th when he pitched a clean ninth inning against the White Sox on Monday night. Allen has been throwing outside of game situations in an effort to work on mechanical tweaks and manage his workload, something he’s done in years past as well. Allen collected two strikeouts and Andrew Miller pitched the eighth.

Ty Buttrey blew his second save in four days on Monday night. Ronald Guzman hit a double off the top of the center field wall and Elvis Andrus singled him home. Given Mike Scioscia’s bullpen management, Blake Parker or Justin Anderson could get the next save chance.

Quick Hits: Several closers pitched in non-save situations on Monday. Blake Treinen extended his scoreless appearance streak on Monday when he pitched a clean ninth against the Mariners. Jose Leclerc faced the heart of the Angels’ order in the bottom of the tenth (0H, 1BB) in Anaheim with the Angels and Rangers tied 4-4.

Kirby Yates got the last out of the game after Bryan Mitchell pitched 8.2 innings of shutout ball against the Giants and collected the save for his efforts. Felipe Vazquez closed out a 5-1 Pirates victory.

Robert Gsellman allowed one run on two hits in the ninth inning Friday night against Washington but held on to pick up his twelfth save of the season. Mickey Callaway and the Mets are still running a firm committee as Paul Sewald earned the save in Thursday’s series opener against Nationals. Stay out of this pen unless you are desperate for every last save.

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With the season coming to a close, now is a good time to look back to see which MLB teams provided fantasy owners with the most valuable offensive resources this season.

This chart looks at players currently ranked in the top twelve at each offensive position (and top fifty at outfield) in both CBS (points) and ESPN (roto) rankings, broken down by team. If you’re curious about which players where ranked where, a more detailed breakdown of the ranks are found here. If a player was eligible at more than one position, they were only included once, and if a player was ranked in the top twelve in one format, but not the other they were not included. If a player was traded, the team which they played the majority of their games with was given credit.

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As your fantasy team marches into the playoffs, weekly matchups and playing time considerations become more important. Players fighting for playing time or battling nagging injuries can hurt you chances of taking home a title if they are giving you nothing or only playing three times per week. Especially leagues with weekly lineup locks.

While some players are easy to let go, the pedigree and past performance of others can make fantasy owners hesitant to cut or bench players of a certain caliber, but given the time of year, here are some top-150 players that you might consider cutting or benching to give you the best shot at winning in 2018.

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It’s been a banner year for rookie players in 2018. This season we’ve seen the graduation of the minor leagues best all-around prospect (after the obligatory service time manipulation), a two-way phenom contribute on the mound and in the batter’s box, a 19-year-old that began the year in A-ball, and the Yankees continue to profit from their embarrassment of riches.

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Jesse Winker and Jake Bauers haven’t set the fantasy world on fire since arriving in the big leagues. Winker, who debuted in 2017, and Bauers, who debuted this season, have been solid contributors to their real life baseball teams, but their inability to hit for power has limited their fantasy value.

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One month into the regular season, Randal Grichuk’s tenure with the Blue Jays is off to a horrendous start. At the same time that Grichuk has struggled, Teoscar Hernandez has picked up where he left off last September, slugging .632 through sixteen games since his mid-April call up.

It doesn’t take a genius to point out that Grichuk (who was just sent to the DL) isn’t this bad and Hernandez isn’t this good. Or that Grichuk and Hernandez are actually very similar players. Both players lack plate discipline – they walk infrequently (although Hernandez has walked in the minor leagues and so far this season) and both players have been striking out around 30 percent of the time to this point in there careers.

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