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The 2015 MLB season has had no shortage of breakout stars.

Whether it’s Kyle Schwarber mashing home runs, Carlos Martinez and Hector Santiago developing into dependable starters or Joe Panik and Matt Duffy solidifying the San Francisco Giants lineup, plenty of players have become important contributors out of relative obscurity. 

With just over a month to go in the season, here we identify Bleacher Report’s 2015 MLB All-Breakout Team. The criteria for this list aren’t cut and dried, but we made the selections with these two things in mind:

• 2015 is the first time any of these players have produced at a high level.
• We tried to stay away from top prospects like Carlos Correa and Kris Bryant, who always figured to make an immediate impact.

With so many worthy players to choose from, there are bound to be disagreements. Let us know who you think should have made this list in the comments section below. 

Who will join Schwarber, Martinez, Santiago, Panik and Duffy on our All-Breakout Team? Read on to find out!

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Play between the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees was overshadowed by a scary incident Saturday night when a fan fell from the upper deck at Turner Field and landed on the concrete behind home plate, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.

The Braves offered their condolences after confirming the fan died:

“Lt. Charles Hampton of the Atlanta Police Department homicide unit said police don’t suspect foul play at this point,” according to ESPN’s Wallace Matthews. “He said no fans were hurt in the lower-level seats where the man fell.”

Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution added more details on the tragedy:

The fall occurred in the top of the seventh inning, as the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez was walking to the plate amid a chorus of boos. The man apparently fell off the upper deck, the 400 level of the stadium, behind the home-plate area and landed between the second and third row of seats on the first level in section 202. Fans seated in that area immediately scattered, and paramedics rushed in to try to revive him.

A similar incident occurred in 2011 when a Texas Rangers fan died after reaching for a ball thrown by Josh Hamilton and falling from the outfield stands at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

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Addison Reed is on the move to his third team in as many years, as the New York Mets acquired the volatile reliever off waivers on Saturday from the Arizona Diamondbacks:

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported that the Mets put in claims on a lot of relievers, but Reed was their primary target. DiComo added that another move is not expected before Sept. 1.

The D-Backs acquired Reed from the Chicago White Sox in 2013 in the hopes that he would develop into one of the league’s best stoppers. The 26-year-old native of California has shown flashes of elite form, but inconsistency has been his Achilles’ heel.

Reed posted a career-high 40 saves in 2013 with the White Sox and followed that up with 32 more in his first season with Arizona, but the issues were obvious as he went 1-7 with a 4.25 ERA in 2014.

The Diamondbacks decided to give him another crack at the closer’s job at the start of the 2015 season, but he was quickly supplanted by Brad Ziegler, who has been dominant ever since.

The talented righty’s 2015 performance was so poor, in fact, that the team sent him down to Triple-A in June. Prior to that decision, he was 2-2 with a 5.92 ERA and just two saves.

Following the demotion, Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale expressed hope that Reed would return in much better form, according to Nick Piecoro of AZCentral Sports:

We expect him to be back here. What I told him was that we need him. We need him to be Addison Reed, the good pitcher that we had. If we don’t get that, then we’re not going to be as successful as we want to be. He needs to go get it straight. He was very professional about it. He understood he has not been doing what he needs to do. He’s going to go down there and get better.

That ultimately came true as Reed’s ERA has since improved to 4.20, and that figure is a bit deceiving as he boasts a 3.12 FIP, per Baseball-Reference.com.

Even with that improvement, Reed still cleared waivers earlier in the month.

Reed’s name came up in trade talks during the 2014 campaign as well, when ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reported that the D-Backs informed teams they would be willing to move Reed if the right deal came along.

The Diamondbacks couldn’t find an enticing enough offer prior to the trade deadline. However, they were able to get something done by waiting out the market, although the return was likely much smaller than it would have been previously.

Arizona’s bullpen has largely done a nice job since Reed’s demotion, and with no open spots for him in the pen, it is tough to blame the D-Backs for deciding to move on without him.

There is no question that the Diamondbacks are taking a risk since Reed has excellent stuff and has shown the ability to be a strong closer in the past, but he simply never seemed to be a good fit in the desert.

Meanwhile, he’ll provide another arm to the Mets’ bullpen. This stat from FanGraphs’ Brandon Warne will offer hope to Mets fans that Reed’s numbers will turn around since he won’t be playing the majority of his games in Phoenix anymore:

With Jenrry Mejia suspended for the remainder of the year and Bobby Parnell boasting a 5.59 ERA, you can understand why the team felt Reed is a necessary addition.

Reed won’t put New York over the top in the race for a World Series title, but he should further strengthen the Mets in the late innings.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn was forced to leave Saturday’s game against the San Francisco Giants after rolling his right ankle while fielding a ground ball, according to Bay Area News Group’s Andrew Baggarly. 

Continue for updates. 

Lynn Walks Off on His Own Power

Saturday, August 29

The St. Louis hurler headed for the dugout in the eighth inning and was replaced by relief pitcher Randy Choate, but it was quite encouraging that he was able to walk off the field after crumbling to the ground, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Derrick Goold observed: 

MLB.com provided video here showing how the injury occurred.

Per Baggarly, Lynn’s ankle sprain is being described as mild. Jennifer Langosch of MLB.com reported Lynn is optimistic he’ll be able to make his next start due to very little swelling in his ankle and being able to walk without a limp.

Prior to departing the National League clash, Lynn was pitching a six-hit shutout. Had he held the Giants scoreless, it would have been his first shutout of the season and the second of his career, per Goold.

Entering Saturday afternoon, Lynn was 10-8 with a 2.94 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. But after going 3-1 in July, Lynn’s August has been a mixed bag. Prior to going down with the ankle injury, the 28-year-old was 2-3 in August with a 4.07 ERA that ranked as his worst in any month this season. 

While Lynn isn’t regarded as a full-fledged ace just yet, the Cardinals (82-46) will need him healthy as they seek to capture a third straight NL Central crown and make yet another deep postseason run. 

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The hottest hitter on the planet has been massively overlooked.

But he did all he could to change that Saturday afternoon, breaking through the star power of his teammates to shine as bright as any player has this season.

Edwin Encarnacion was already on a tear during August when he went into Saturday’s game, and he put everyone who might have been sleeping on him this month on high alert that, at the moment, he might be the best of Toronto’s vaunted bunch.

Encarnacion hit three home runs, prompting his Canadian fans to throw their hats onto the field, and drove in nine runs in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 15-1 stomping of the Detroit Tigers at Rogers Centre, furthering his candidacy as the American League’s best player in August. Before Saturday’s barrage, the designated hitter led the Junior Circuit this month with a 227 wRC+, a .500 wOBA, a .797 slugging percentage and a 1.234 OPS, and he was second in isolated power (.419), according to Fangraphs.

“He was hot,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told reporters. “He was hot before we got here, and he certainly hasn’t cooled off.”

.@Encadwin all smiles after his #HatTrick today! 💪 pic.twitter.com/1zMRCpjbu7

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 29, 2015

On Saturday, he also extended his hitting streak to 24 games, the longest in Major League Baseball this season. He is hitting .400 (36-90) with 10 home runs and 34 RBI in that stretch to go with a .462 OBP, an .856 slugging percentage and a 1.318 OPS.

Since the All-Star break, Encarnacion went into Saturday hitting .351/.434/.684 with a 1.118 OPS. He knew not to press for power. He knew it would come, and when it finally did, he stole the show by making history as the only player in franchise history to have a three-homer, nine-RBI game.

“That’s going to come, I just have to keep taking good swings and making good contact and the power is going to come back,” Encarnacion told Shi Davidi of SportsNet earlier this month. “I don’t worry about that, I still have my power, just keep trying to hit the ball in the right spot.”

The thing is not many people knew exactly how hot Encarnacion was before he smoked a grand slam, a three-run homer and a two-run shot Saturday, making him the second Toronto player to ever record nine RBI in a single game.

The reason for the anonymity is because the Blue Jays are now loaded, and offensive outbursts like the one they had against Detroit are becoming commonplace for this team. Since Aug. 2, the Blue Jays have outscored their competition 153-70. That is an 83-run differential, and the club is a ridiculous 20-4 in that time to help them to the top spot in the AL East.

Further burying Encarnacion in the headlines is that he looks up in the lineup and there are three superstar players hitting in front of him—Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista. And on every fifth game, he can look on the mound and see David Price, yet another established star to attract attention from Encarnacion.

Encarnacion credits the All-Star break with rejuvenating his season. He was dealing with nagging injuries before that, and in the 14 games before the break he hit .163 (8-for-49).

“Those four days were very good for me because I wasn’t 100 per cent with injuries in my groin and shoulder,” Encarnacion told Davidi. “Now I feel ready; I feel good and I can let it go.”

He certainly did that Saturday, as he has for the entire second half. While Price, Tulowitzki, Donaldson and Bautista get most of the publicity on this team, much of the production belongs to Encarnacion. As did this day that brought on a newly learned custom for the 32-year-old native Dominican.

“[Dioner Navarro] told me when they score three goals, I think, they do that,” Encarnacion told reporters of the fans throwing hats on the field, a tradition normally designated for hockey hat tricks. “It made me feel happy.”

It’s also making the Blue Jays ecstatic. His blazing bat allows those other three in front of him to see at least the occasional hittable pitch, because no one wants guys on base for the cleanup hitter, Encarnacion. And while the trades for Price and Tulowitzki and the MVP candidacy of Donaldson are what people focus on when discussing this team, Encarnacion has just forced his way into the international discussion about the Blue Jays. 

If that continues to be the case, he won’t be overlooked any longer, and he will help make the Blue Jays difficult to pick against come October.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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If you’re a fan of the invisible parrot Edwin Encarnacion takes for a stroll as he rounds the bases after home runs, you were in luck Saturday.

The Toronto Blue Jays slugger went 3-for-5, mashing three home runs and driving in nine runs in a 15-1 win over the Detroit Tigers at Rogers Centre. According to Ryan Field of Fox Sports, only one other player in Blue Jays history has attained nine RBI in a game:

Encarnacion’s first dinger of the game, a three-run shot for Toronto’s first runs of the day, came against Buck Farmer in the first inning. The home run also extended Encarnacion’s hit streak to 24 games:

It’s safe to say Encarnacion has been the most dangerous hitter in baseball during this stretch, as the Canadian Press’ Stephen Whyno noted:

Guido Knudson was the next pitcher to suffer at the hands of Encarnacion, who belted a two-run home run in the sixth that left the building in a hurry. With the Blue Jays already holding a 7-1 lead, Encarnacion scorched Knudson’s offering, delivering a rocket that cleared the left field wall in a little over three seconds.

Encarnacion put the cherry on top of his big day in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and the game out of sight, he whipped the Toronto crowd into a frenzy by hitting an opposite-field grand slam that just cleared the right-center field wall.

Rounding the bases, fans threw their caps on the field, celebrating Encarnacion’s hat-trick of home runs on Saturday. The hero of the day took to Twitter and Instagram after the game:

Things have been going swell for the team north of the border, as the Blue Jays are now two games clear of the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East.

Toronto is the hottest team in baseball, posting a 23-5 record since July 29 while pouring in runs as the majors’ most explosive team. A lot of that is thanks to Encarnacion, who represents a nightmare for any opposing pitcher.

Videos courtesy of MLB.com.

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There are moments rare enough that you try everything in your power to keep them etched in your memory—like when Jonny Gomes pitches an inning of relief for the Atlanta Braves.

Yes, Jonny Gomes, the left fielder.

Down 10 runs to the New York Yankees after burning through five pitchers in the first eight innings of Friday’s eventual 15-4 loss, the Braves called Gomes out of the bullpen for his major league pitching debut.

The right-hander’s reaction to giving up a home run to the first batter he faced, Chris Young, was priceless—tipping his hat as the outfielder rounded the bases.

He surrendered back-to-back doubles, while another run crossed the plate on a sac fly. But he ended his appearance on a high note by striking out pitcher Bryan Mitchell.

He pitched steadily in the mid-to-high 60s, grazing as high as 76 mph on one fastball, and even channeled his inner Luis Tiant during the amusing outing.

Gomes was the first position player to pitch for Atlanta since then-catcher Josh Russell did in 1989.

[MLB, h/t Hardball Talk]

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Though impact trades are generally few and far between after the July 31 non-waiver deadline passes, teams are by no means done adding pieces when the calendar turns over to August.

Teams can continue to make trades the rest of the season, but a player must be acquired before Sept. 1 in order to be eligible for inclusion on the postseason roster.

Mike Napoli, Chase Utley, Marlon Byrd, Oliver Perez and Neal Cotts are among the notable players who have already been traded this month, but more could be on the move in the next few days as teams look to make one last move.

So with that in mind, here’s a quick look at the latest news from around the league regarding potential additions here at the end of August.

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A cameraman got hit with a home run ball during the Baltimore Orioles-Texas Rangers game Friday night. But don’t worry, he was not fazed. 

During the bottom of the fifth inning, Rangers catcher Chris Gimenez cranked a solo shot to center field to break a 1-1 tie, hitting the poor cameraman right in the arm. The warrior flinched, and then he graced us with a flex. 

That absolutely had to sting, but this cameraman knows he has a job to do and won’t let anything get in his way. Give this man a medal…and probably an ice pack.

Follow @ArmanWalia on Twitter.

[MLB]

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With few afternoon games available, daily fantasy baseball competitors might as well wait for the night session to create a lineup Saturday. The good news is there will still be plenty of options on the board even with a smaller slate of games.

Considering how inconsistent the top options like Corey Kluber and Jon Lester have been this year, you might be better off saving money with some balance across the board. Here is a look at some of the best bargain picks for August 29.

J.A. Happ, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates ($7,700)

He has only made four starts for Pittsburgh since coming over from the Seattle Mariners, but J.A. Happ has a 2.08 ERA with 22 strikeouts and just six walks in this stretch. This includes back-to-back games of six shutout innings leading up to Saturday’s start.

The visiting Colorado Rockies have always struggled to hit away from home, and this year hasn’t been any different. If the left-handed Happ can neutralize lefties Carlos Gonzalez and Charlie Blackmon, he could have a very good game.

Martin Perez, SP, Texas Rangers ($4,600)

A miserable start against the New York Yankees (eight runs allowed in one inning) destroyed Martin Perez’s ERA, but he has been much better as of late. The 24-year-old starter hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his last four starts and has averaged about 15 fantasy points in this stretch.

Against a sliding Baltimore Orioles team, Perez could provide some adequate value for dirt cheap.

Francisco Lindor, SS, Cleveland Indians ($3,900)

Although overshadowed by some other rookies around the league, Francisco Lindor has been extremely exciting to watch this season. It has been even better over the past week with the shortstop displaying power, speed and an excellent approach at the plate.

After his three-stolen-base game last Wednesday, it’s clear the upside is fantastic for this player.

Anthony Rendon, 2B/3B, Washington Nationals ($3,600)

It took a few weeks for Anthony Rendon to get back up to speed after missing much of the season with a quad injury. However, the talented batter is finally coming around and hitting the ball hard. 

With Rendon‘s price slowly climbing as he gets back into form, you want to jump on the opportunity to get him for cheap before the price gets out of control.

Domonic Brown, OF, Philadelphia Phillies ($2,900)

This is clearly a long-shot bet, but if you are looking for a high-upside player for very cheap, you could do worse than Domonic Brown. The Phillies are giving the one-time prospect another chance to show what he can do, and he has come through with a few home runs this month. 

San Diego Padres starter Colin Rea has just a 5.52 ERA in three career games, so the entire Philadelphia lineup has a chance to do damage. However, a cheap outfielder with power (he did hit 27 home runs in 2013) could represent a good bet in tournament play.

Note: All prices and fantasy score info courtesy of DraftKings. Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for daily fantasy advice and nonstop sports.

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