We’re in the final days of the 2026 fantasy baseball season, and MLB managers are still making lineup and roster decisions with big fantasy implications. Like your real-life managerial counterparts, you should also still be tinkering with your fantasy team’s lineup, assuming your waiver wire is still open.
One final time, let’s take a team-by-team look at recent playing-time changes to see how we can put the finishing touches on what was hopefully a successful, and more importantly, fun, 2026 fantasy baseball season.
The Diamondbacks added Jesús Sánchez via waivers last week, and he’s started five straight games as the DH since joining his new club. He’s hit seventh or eighth in each start. He should continue to see the starting lineup as long as Arizona is lining up against a right-handed starting pitcher. Sánchez won’t reach free agency until 2028, so he’ll factor into the Diamondbacks’ 2027 plans, too.
Shortstop duties are being split pretty evenly between Mauricio Dubón and Ha-Seong Kim. In the Braves’ last 10 games, Kim has started six games at short compared to Dubón’s four, but Dubón is getting regular work at other positions, too, adding up to a full workload.
Jackson Holliday’s season was ended prematurely with a wrist injury. Without his steady presence at second base, Jeremiah Jackson has taken over the bulk of the work at the keystone. He’s started five of the six games that Holliday has missed.
As of this writing, Willson Contreras has missed four straight games with a bruised hand. The Red Sox have little incentive to push him back with their playoff position almost surely set. As long as he stays out, Nick Sogard should continue to man first base.
Alex Bregman was struck in the face by a check-swing foul ball off the bat of Michael Busch. With a facial fracture, Bregman almost certainly won’t play again during the regular season, even though neither Bregman nor the team will rule it out. Without his steady presence at third base Pedro Ramírez and Matt Shaw will man the hot corner for the Cubs. Ramírez got the first start without Bregman, but both have good offensive upside and are worth a stream in deep fantasy leagues this week.
Brenton Doyle has been getting consistent starts in center field over the last week. He’s started seven straight games, largely because the Sox have lined up against five lefties in their last seven games, but also because Tristan Peters is dealing with a bruised left shoulder. As long as Peters stays on the bench, Doyle is a solid stolen-base streaming option.
Tommy Pham convinced general manager Chris Getz to activate him from the IL last week and has served as the starting DH against all four lefties the team has faced since his activation. He’s hit second or fourth in those games.
The Reds claimed Oswaldo Cabrera on waivers from the Yankees. They added him to the active roster over the weekend and demoted TJ Friedl. Cabrera will see some time in left field against lefties.
Travis Bazzana’s lineup placement versus lefties has been fluctuating. After originally sitting against southpaws, he’s now started six straight against them. He hit fourth and fifth in his first four starts, but has moved down to the seventh spot in his two most recent opportunities against lefties.
Connor Norby has gained a firm grip on the team’s two-hole role. He’s hit second in 11 of the Rockies’ last 13 games. He’s done it while moving positions and against both left- and right-handed pitching, so he’s cemented as a lineup regular for the rest of the way.
Adael Amador looked like a solid deep-league play after starting 13 of 14 games since being called up on September 1, but has now started just two of the most recent five games. Norby has gotten those second base starts instead.
The Tigers placed Colt Keith on the IL on Monday and recalled Jace Jung to fill the roster spot. Without Keith in the lineup during the season’s final week, Spencer Torkelson has a clearer path to every day playing time at first base. Keith’s DH starts will likely be shared among multiple players.
Eduardo Valencia has been playing more often recently, starting four of the last five games, three at catcher and one at DH. Despite limited prospect hype, Valencia has crushed the ball at most minor league stops. In 119 big league plate appearances, he’s hitting .354/.381/.628 with six home runs. That’s largely built off of an unsustainable .425 BABIP, but with just a week left, he’s not a bad catcher streaming option in AL-only or deep mixed leagues.
Daulton Varsho has struggled mightily since joining the Astros at the trade deadline (.172/.224/.311; 48 wRC+), and he’s been on the bench for two of the three games since Brice Matthews returned from the IL on Saturday. Matthews hasn’t been much better at the plate (.198/.250/.330; 62 wRC+), so this seems more like some much-needed days off for Varsho than a pivot to Matthews as the starting center fielder.
John Rave has been in the starting nine frequently over the last few weeks. He’s started six of the last seven games, and 12 of 15. With six homers and a .441 SLG, Rave is a solid streaming option versus righties if you’re looking for power in the season’s final week.
Mike Trout was hit in the hand by a pitch on Saturday. He’s been able to stay in the lineup as the DH, but hasn’t been playing center field, opening the door for more playing time for Jose Siri. He’s started five straight games.
The Angels called up Bryce Teodosio, and he’ll take both Kyren Paris’s roster spot and his starting corner outfield versus lefties role.
The Dodgers activated Shohei Ohtani from the IL on Wednesday, so they’ll be forced to make a decision on how to handle hot-hitting rookie Josue De Paula, who has convincingly taken over the team’s DH duties with a .286/.474/.500 slash line. It seems unlikely De Paula will steal much playing time from Teoscar Hernández or Kyle Tucker in an outfield corner, but taking his bat out of the lineup isn’t ideal either.
Andy Pages returned from the IL on Tuesday. He hit eighth in his first game back, but could quickly move back up to the three-hole where he was hitting before his injury.
With Pages back in center field, Tommy Edman moved to second base on Tuesday. He should start at the keystone most days, cutting heavily into both Miguel Rojas’s and Alex Freeland’s time in the starting nine.
Manager Pat Murphy has been playing around with the top of the lineup. Garrett Mitchell has hit leadoff in three of his last six starts, up from his usual bottom-third-of-the-order lineup spot.
Luis Lara has emerged victorious in his playing time battle with Sal Frelick. Since September 1st, Lara has started 13 games compared to Frelick’s six.
Ryan Jeffers has been getting more days off than usual lately. The Twins’ backstop has seen his playing time share dip in the season’s waning days, starting just seven of the last 13 contests.
With both Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez playing every day, Austin Martin’s playing time has tumbled. He’s started just one of the team’s last six games. It looks like he’ll exclusively start against lefties.
A scary collision at first base ended Jared Young’s season. The open playing time at first base has been split between Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. Baty will draw starts versus righties while Vientos steps in against lefties.
Aaron Judge landed back on the IL with a calf injury. His regular season is over, though he could return in the postseason if the Yankees make it out of the AL Wild Card round. Heliot Ramos has taken all five starts that Judge has missed, and is a great pickup for the final week if you need outfield help. He opened his tenure as a Yankee incredibly poorly, but has already hit two home runs while filling in for Judge.
José Caballero has taken some of Ryan McMahon’s playing time at third base. In the last six games against righties, Caballero and McMahon have split the starts evenly.
With Esmerlyn Valdez on the IL, manager Don Kelly has been regularly plugging Ronny Simon in as the right field starter. He’s started five of the last six games, against both left- and right-handed pitching. The 26-year-old minor league journeyman has performed well for Pittsburgh, hitting .294/.333/.412 with one homer and three steals in 55 plate appearances. If you’re desperate for stolen bases, Simon is a solid target. He swiped 35 bags in 115 Triple-A games this year.
Dustin Harris has emerged as the Padres’ number two hitter against right-handed starting pitchers. He’s hit second against the last eight righties that San Diego has faced. In his 23 games in San Diego, Harris is slashing .338/.368/.437 with five stolen bases. His .393 BABIP should give you some pause, but feel free to ride the hot hand with just a few games remaining.
The Giants just can’t keep the injury bug at bay. Both Bryce Eldridge and Jung Hoo Lee had their season’s end prematurely thanks to injury. Eldridge due to a concussion and Lee a groin contusion.
To replace, Lee on the active roster, the Giants called up Bo Davidson to make his big-league debut. He had a great year in Triple-A, hitting .290/.361/.527 with 29 homers and 20 stolen bases. He’s started two straight games and hit fifth. If you’re desperate for outfield help, keep him in consideration.
Without Eldridge at first base, the Giants have turned to Brett Harris. He’s started four of five games since Eldridge went down.
In a rare bit of good news on the injury front, the Giants activated both Victor Bericoto and trade deadline acquisition Marcelo Mayer from the IL in recent days. Bericoto has started three of five games since returning, and Mayer has started one of two.
Free-swinging Lazaro Montes is getting enough time in the starting lineup to justify some late-season pickups. He’s started five of the last six games, and with nothing to play for, the Mariners should be very interested in seeing what they have in the hard-hitting youngster. If you need power, he’s an option, but you’ll have to stomach his almost unbelievable 45.7% strikeout rate.
Brock Rodden has taken most of the third base reps from Weston Wilson. Rodden has started four of the last six games compared to Wilson’s two starts.
Joshua Báez’s rookie season ended with an oblique strain that sent him to the IL. Without him in the lineup most days, Bryan Torres has a clear path to playing time in left field.
Last week, I noted that with both JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn healthy, Thomas Saggese wouldn’t start many games the rest of the way. That turned out to be wrong, as the Cardinals have been able to keep Saggese in the lineup while moving him around the infield. He’s started six straight games without appearing at the same position on two consecutive days. He’s also started 20 straight games overall.
Nolan Gorman is out of favor. He’s started just one of the last six games, with Saggese and José Fermín taking over most of the time at the hot corner.
The Rays activated Ben Williamson from the IL on Sunday. He should slot back into the middle infield picture against left-handed starters. He’s started two of three games since returning, hitting sixth both times.
After initially trying to play through the fracture in his hand, Joc Pederson landed on the IL on Tuesday. Without Pederson hitting leadoff, Wyatt Langford and Ezequiel Duran have been splitting time at the top of the lineup.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.. missed Monday’s game with lower back tightness. With the Blue Jays playoff hopes nearly on ice, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him shut down. If that happens, Sean Keys will likely move into the starting first baseman role. Keys hasn’t done much with his inconsistent big-league opportunities, but he crushed both Double-A and Triple-A pitching this year, to the tune of a combined .294/.417/.602 slash line.
Daylen Lile has moved up the order against righties. He’s hit second in his last five starts against right-handers.
