As of today, exactly five weeks have passed since the Yankees shut out the Giants to kick off the 2026 regular season and ABS Challenge era. Depending on how much your real-life and fantasy teams have put you through since then, Opening Day either feels like a distant memory or as if it was just yesterday. Regardless of how your teams are doing, there’s still so much time to move up and down the standings, with sample sizes continuing to grow but still small in the grand scheme of things. That also means that some players enjoying hot streaks right now will end up as one-month wonders.
While you should always be churning the back end of your fantasy rosters, the end of April can be a good time to take a harder look at some of your most disappointing mid-round players and consider some more difficult sit/start, cut/keep, and trade decisions. In shallower formats, the guys I cover today might be players you are considering adding to replace some of your slackers, so let’s see how much faith they deserve from us. As a reminder, each player I examine will be sorted into one of the following categories: “not legit,” “probably not legit,” “too early to tell,” “possibly legit,” and “legit.” All stats are through the games of Monday, April 27.
Josh Jung, 3B, TEX
2026: 104 PA, .312/.375/.559 (157 wRC+), 12 R, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 1 SB
Once a consensus top-50 prospect, Jung has largely failed to perform to his potential outside of a strong 2023 in which he hit 23 homers across 122 games. In the two seasons that followed, he hit just above .250 with 21 homers and eight steals across roughly 700 plate appearances, a serviceable profile made less appealing by his inability to stay on the field. Jung is turning over a new leaf in 2026, posting numerous would-be career bests across the board, including in BB% (8.7%), K% (16.3%), hard hit rate (53.2%), line drive rate (28.6%), and ideal contact rate (49.4%). Aside from the walk rate, all of those are comfortably above average, with the line drive and ideal contact rates bordering on elite. Jung’s .342 BABIP is high, but it’s not much higher than his career rate of .324, and Baseball Savant, as well as our xwOBA, believe he’s been slightly fortunate but not way out over his skis (.405 wOBA, .386 PL xwOBA, .366 Baseball Savant xwOBA).
Verdict: Possibly legit. Aside from assuaging concerns about his ability to stay healthy, which is something no player can do in one month, Jung is ticking virtually all the boxes right now. He’s swinging the bat a bit harder (70.3 MPH in 2025, 71.2 MPH in 2026), whiffing less often, making harder contact, and has earned an everyday role along with a premium lineup spot. Even in a weaker offense, that’s enough to deliver good value at a shallow third base position. The only things missing here are a better lineup and more pulled fly balls. When healthy, Jung’s production could look similar to Matt Chapman, though I expect Jung to have a better batting average and slightly less power/speed production. Given that Chapman was drafted inside the top 200 overall and top 12 at the hot corner, that would be a big win for Jung owners. I am happily locking Jung into my starting third base or corner infield slot for the foreseeable future.
Bryce Elder, SP, ATL
2026: 6 GS, 37 IP, 31 Ks, 3 W, 1.95 ERA, 0.97 WHIP
A spate of injuries this spring to Atlanta’s rotation opened up a spot for Elder, who jumped at the opportunity and has not looked back. Elder ranks in the top 10 among qualified starters in both innings pitched and ERA, something nobody would have expected just a few weeks ago. In terms of his approach, Elder’s four-pitch mix (four-seamer, sinker, slider, changeup) has now become five. He continues to lead the way with his slider (32.9% usage, 4.88 PLV) to hitters from both sides of the plate, but the added wrinkle is a cutter (11.6% usage, 5.20 PLV) that he’s throwing exclusively to lefties. While the pitch has been effective so far and grades out well from a PLV perspective, it’s not missing any bats (6.1% whiff rate) and has a .520 xSLG against it. Despite the arsenal changes, a .238 BABIP and HR/FB% of less than half of Elder’s career mark appear to be doing the heavy lifting here. To his credit, Elder continues to generate more grounders than average and has held hitters to a minuscule 2.9% barrel rate thus far.
Verdict: Probably not legit. We’ve seen extended heaters from Elder before, such as when he allowed just 14 earned runs across his first 11 starts of the 2023 season. He’s a guy who can string together good outings when his command is pinpoint, but there isn’t enough strikeout upside or WHIP stability in the profile to provide cushion for the eventual ERA damage. In his final 20 starts of 2023, Elder slowly unraveled, averaging three earned runs and just 3.6 strikeouts per start, including four outings with one or fewer strikeouts. The cutter is a nice addition to the arsenal because having three fastballs will always help keep hitters off balance. But other than that, I’m not seeing anything different from a guy with a career 4.37 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. As a result, my interest in Elder has only mildly increased. He goes from a guy whom I will never roster to someone whom I will consider streaming when I’m desperate for a win in a daily league.
