Playing time is a fickle thing. It’s not uncommon to get excited when you uncover a player who looks to be taking hold of a starting job, only to have the injury bug bite or another player return from the IL and totally change the playing-time scenario.
Things move fast in fantasy baseball. It’s a lesson you learn quickly, especially if you’re playing in deep enough leagues where you’re rostering part-time players. Let’s take a look at recent roster moves and lineup changes that are driving value changes across the fantasy baseball landscape.
We’ve seen a week’s worth of lineups with Henry Bolte on the big league roster. Bolte’s settled into the middle of the lineup, hitting fifth or sixth. His presence in the outfield is hurting both Lawrence Butler and Carlos Cortes. They’ve each only started four of eight games since Bolte’s debut.
Drake Baldwin’s phenomenal sophomore season has been halted due to a right oblique strain. He joined fellow backstop Sean Murphy on the IL. Until Baldwin returns, Sandy León and Chadwick Tromp will split time behind the plate. Neither León or Tromp has exceeded 100 plate appearances in a season since 2021, so this is a very safe situation to fully ignore in all fantasy leagues.
The Braves activated Ronald Acuña Jr. from the IL, and he returned to the leadoff role on Tuesday. With Baldwin out, it opens up DH duties for Acuña if the Braves want to ease him back into things.
Jackson Holliday was activated from the IL and finally made his season debut on Tuesday. We’ve only seen him active for three games, but he’s already been on the bench twice when the team faced a lefty starter. This could be a trend moving forward, or just a factor of them easing Holliday back into regular action. It’s worth monitoring, because if Holliday is just a big-side-of-the-platoon player, that’ll certainly knock his fantasy value down a few notches.
Tyler O’Neill has started eight of the last nine games in right field with Dylan Beavers on the IL. O’Neill is only slashing .167/.293/.256 so far, but if you need power in an AL-only league, he’s worth a look as the weather heats up.
Andruw Monasterio is getting some run at shortstop with Trevor Story on the IL. Monasterio has started six straight, four at shortstop and two as the designated hitter.
The Red Sox called up Nick Sogard from Triple-A on Saturday, and he’s started three straight since then, taking two starts at third base away from the struggling Caleb Durbin.
I dismissed Mickey Gasper too fast last week. The 30-year-old DH has started eight straight games against righties and has been hitting second in the lineup. He’s at least an interesting short-term option if you want to ride out his hot streak — he’s slashing .355/.375/.419 through 32 plate appearances. He had a 147 wRC+ in Triple-A, so this is a continuation of a strong 2026 campaign.
With Gasper taking over most of the DH at-bats, Masataka Yoshida has been on the bench more often than not. He’s only started two of the last six games.
Moisés Ballesteros is slumping with just three hits in his last 54 trips to the plate. Accordingly, manager Craig Counsell has limited Ballesteros’ playing time, opting to plug in Michael Conforto’s hot hand.
Matt McLain is finally getting going at the plate, and has moved into the leadoff role for the last three straight games — two against righties, one against a lefty. If he can hold onto the promotion in the batting order, it’ll be a big boon to his fantasy value, moving from hitting in the bottom third to the top of the lineup.
JJ Bleday has settled into a middle-of-the-order role against both-handed pitchers. He’s quietly putting together a phenomenal season — .292/.402/.653 with six home runs.
Manager Stephen Vogt has made a change at the top of the batting order. Steven Kwan was hitting leadoff regardless of the opposing pitcher’s handedness, but with his .204 batting average, he’s moved to the six- or seven-hole. Daniel Schneemann has taken over the leadoff role against righties, and Angel Martínez has the gig versus lefties.
Jordan Beck hit the IL on Monday with a left hamstring injury, creating an opening to hit leadoff versus lefties. Willi Castro has stepped into that role with his .308/.325/.385 slash line against southpaws.
The left side of the Tigers’ infield is very messy right now. Kevin McGonigle is a constant at either third base or shortstop, but wherever the rookie phenom isn’t playing, the spot is split among Gage Workman, Zack Short, and Hao-Yu Lee.
Jeremy Peña was activated from IL on Monday and has hit leadoff since returning.
With Jose Altuve on the IL, Brice Matthews and Braden Shewmake have been splitting starts at second base. They’ve each started two games at the keystone since Altuve’s injury.
Jake Meyers has returned to the lineup after spending a little over a month on the IL. He had started 11 of the Astros’ 13 games before his injury and has started both games since returning, so it’s safe to say he has a starting job on lock. He’s worth a look in deep formats for the playing time alone, but there’s stolen base upside here as well. He swiped 16 bags in 381 plate appearances last year.
Zach Dezenzo has settled into being the everyday left fielder. He’s started six straight games there and eight of nine overall.
The Angels activated Logan O’Hoppe from the IL over the weekend. He’s started all five games since he’s been back, and is hitting eighth.
Vaughn Grissom is trending upwards in playing time. He was exclusively facing left-handed pitchers, but has recently started getting some playing time against righties, too. He’s been the starting second baseman in four out of the last six games in which the Angels faced a righty. There’s some post-hype sleeper appeal in his profile. Although he’s been on the MLB scene since 2022, we still haven’t seen him surpass 156 plate appearances in a season, so his upside is still somewhat unknown. He’s slashing .244/.323/.384.
Teoscar Hernández has moved down the batting order. The veteran left fielder was hitting in the middle of the lineup, but has hit seventh or eighth in four of the last five games. Despite the demotion, he’s still performing well at the plate — .263/.335/.406 with 5 home runs and a 110 wRC+.
James Outman has made seven straight starts in the outfield, largely in center field. He started getting playing time when Byron Buxton was banged up, but even with Buxton back, Outman has remained in the lineup. Matt Wallner was demoted last week, so Outman has an opening here to claim an everyday job if he shows there’s something left in his bat.
Speaking of demotions, the Twins also demoted Royce Lewis to Triple-A. Tristan Gray has started both games at third base since Lewis’ departure to the St. Paul Saints, but Ryan Kreidler might also get some chances at the hot corner as well.
Ryan Jeffers needs surgery to fix a fractured left hamate bone and will miss six to eight weeks of time on the IL. Victor Caratini is one of the better backup catchers in baseball and is worth a look in deep fantasy formats. Although he only has a 67 wRC+ this year, he posted a combined 108 wRC+ across 2024 and 2025, and he should see the bulk of the starts behind the plate.
While Francisco Alvarez is on the shelf after undergoing meniscus surgery, Luis Torrens is in line to take the bulk of the Mets’ catching work. Torrens is a career .225/.286/.350 hitter across nine big league seasons, so outside of the deepest of NL-only leagues, you can ignore the Mets’ catching situation until Alvarez returns.
The Mets designated Austin Slater for assignment and called up Nick Morabito to take his roster spot. Morabito made his MLB debut on Tuesday night, but it’s unclear how much runway he has to get playing time on a somewhat crowded Mets’ roster. He did steal 49 bases playing in Double-A last year, so if you’re hurting for steals in NL-only, you could prospectively add Morabito, but monitor his playing time situation closely.
Despite a poor performance at the plate (65 wRC+), Ryan McMahon has moved up a couple of spots in the batting order. He’s hit sixth in six of his last eight starts.
Alec Bohm is on an 11-game hitting streak and has moved up in the lineup. He’s hit third, fourth, or fifth in eight straight. Inversely, Adolis García has been bumped down a couple of spots. He’s now hitting sixth versus righties.
Konnor Griffin has been inching his way up the lineup. He’s moved up a couple of spots against righties, but has been promoted to the two-hole against lefties.
Jared Triolo should get a solid run of playing time with Ryan O’Hearn sidelined for around four weeks with a quadriceps strain. Triolo has started six straight games moving between first base, third base, and right field.
Joey Bart’s injury has paved the way for former number one overall draft pick Henry Davis to see more playing time behind the plate. He’s started six of the Pirates’ last eight games. Davis is only hitting .137/.241/.232, leaving the door open for former top prospect Endy Rodríguez to work his way into the lineup. Rodríguez has only started two games since being called up on May 12, but he may eventually find more playing time if Davis’ bat doesn’t get going and Bart misses a chunk of time.
Miguel Andujar is the Padres’ new number two hitter. He was already hitting there against lefties, but has now hit second against the last three righties the Padres have faced as well.
Jackson Merrill hasn’t bounced back the way many thought he would this season. He’s slashing .205/.275/.324 with four home runs and nine stolen bases on the year. Manager Craig Stammen has moved Merrill out of the leadoff role down to sixth.
A right quad strain sent Heliot Ramos to the IL, opening another spot in the Giants’ outfield mix for Drew Gilbert to keep seeing regular at-bats.
Jung Hoo Lee has missed two straight games with a back injury. He hasn’t been placed on the IL, but if he does miss additional time, it looks like Will Brennan is the next man up in the San Francisco outfield.
Colt Emerson made his much-anticipated MLB debut on Sunday and will likely be a regular for the Mariners moving forward. He’s split his four starts between third base and shortstop so far, but will likely mainly be playing at the hot corner until Brendan Donovan returns from the IL. After that, Emerson’s future position is up in the air, but teams don’t typically call up their top prospects just as an injury fill-in.
With Cal Raleigh on the IL, Mitch Garver and Jhonny Pereda are set to share time behind the plate.
Just when it looked like Victor Scott II was losing his starting role, he’s back to being a lineup regular. After sitting out three straight games last week, he’s now started seven straight.
With the Rays having faced righties in six of their last seven games, Richie Palacios is seeing his playing time tick up. He’s also moved up from the bottom of the order to hit fifth or sixth in recent contests.
Corey Seager was placed on the IL with lower-back inflammation. While Seager is sidelined, Ezequiel Duran will slide over to shortstop with Justin Foscue entering the lineup at second base. Foscue’s hitting well — .303/.333/.576 — and has already moved up to the two-hole versus lefties.
Yohendrick Piñango has found an everyday role in left field. He’s started there against all 14 righties the Blue Jays have faced since he was called up. His long-term outlook is foggy once Addison Barger returns from the IL, but in the meantime, Piñango is at least an interesting short-term add, especially in OBP and points leagues.
The Nationals made a few big roster moves to start the week. Somewhat surprisingly, they demoted Brady House to Triple-A. House wasn’t lighting the world on fire, but he was the team’s starting third baseman and was hitting ok in his second season in the big leagues — .227/.282/.399 with seven home runs. Curtis Mead and Jorbit Vivas have split the two starts at third base since House’s demotion.
Top prospect Dylan Crews was recalled from Triple-A after he was unexpectedly demoted at the end of Spring Training. Crews was just average at Triple-A this year with a 101 wRC+, and slashed .208/.280/.352 with 10 home runs and 17 steals in 322 MLB plate appearances last year. He’s an intriguing add in most formats, but especially so if your team needs stolen bases. Joey Wiemer was sent down in the corresponding move.
