There has been an issue with the transition between the List and the IL that was causing players to get missed after being activated. I believe I’ve put better controls in place, but if a player was recently activated and has all-of-a-sudden disappeared, that was likely the cause in the last few editions.
As you may have noticed, we no longer allow comments on the site. I’m grateful to have been able to engage with you all here, and if you have questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Twitter (@ifthechufits), BlueSky (scottchu.pitcherlist.com), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire).
- As a reminder, these rankings are geared toward a standard, daily, 12-team H2H redraft league, as that is typically the most popular fantasy baseball format. They will only factor in the five standard categories: Runs, RBI, Home Runs, Batting Average, and Stolen Bases.
- I would recommend not paying super close attention to the specific ranks of each player, and honing in more on the respective tiers that they’re in. Each tier represents a grouping of players that I think could arguably perform at a similar level, and/or carry similar levels of risk in terms of injury concerns or playing time obstacles. If Player X is ranked at No. 55 and Player Y is ranked at No. 65, but they’re in the same tier, it means that I personally prefer Player X, but think there’s a valid argument to be made for Player Y performing just as well.
- I take rankings like this as more of an art than a science. Every person’s rankings are influenced by their own biases, strategic philosophies, determinations of risk, and projections. It’s why no two rankings are ever exactly alike. My way of evaluating and ranking players has worked out well for me over the years, but it might not be a great fit for you. I can’t possibly predict your team’s specific needs, your league mates’ player evaluations, or your current waiver wire, and if I could, it’d be weird. In a bad way.
- This is a safe space for me where I answer to no one but myself…and you if you hit me up on Twitter (@ifthechufits), BlueSky (scottchu.pitcherlist.com), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire).
- I’m doing my best to use five starts or 10 appearances as the threshold for positional eligibility. I have not included presumed eligibilities based on likely new positions, but once those eligibilities are earned, I’ll add them in. This is just a maintenance thing, and we will update eligibility throughout the season. Feel free to let me know if I’m missing any!
Ranking Philosophy
To keep things in the same ilk, here are a couple of notes on how I generally evaluate hitters before we dive in:
- In 12-team formats, I just don’t see much value in guys who only provide stolen bases. It’s an important category, especially in Roto, but in shallower formats, there are too many other (and better) ways to get the steals you need without sacrificing production in the other categories.
- If I want to get some insight on whether what I’m seeing is new or if it’s just normal fluctuation, I’d use my favorite tool—the rolling chart, which I’ll also reference as appropriate. You can also get rolling charts from sources like FanGraphs or Baseball Savant. If you have any questions about how to do that or how to read these charts, reach out to me!
- No stat is an island, and they should all be taken in proper context. For ranking purposes, the primary starting points I use are plate discipline, wRC+, quality of contact metrics (also known as Statcast batted ball data), lineup context, and the skills we can measure using tools such as our PLV Hitter Attributes (available for PL Pro members). I also use various projections (some free, some I buy) and dollar value generators.
- Positional eligibility, and specifically multi-eligibility, is neat, but also isn’t a huge factor in many 10- and 12-team leagues anymore due to the prevalence of multi-eligible players. It’s of more value in deeper contests like the NFBC, or in leagues with limited roster moves (draft and hold leagues, transaction limits/costs, extremely short benches, etc.), but even then, the value is fairly situational and context-dependent.
- On a similar note, I don’t penalize players for only qualifying in the utility slot. At most, it is a mild inconvenience if a DH-only player is available at a great value and you already have filled your utility spots.
- Anyone talented enough to make it to the big leagues can be brilliant or putrid for 50 to 100 at-bats, regardless of true talent. Heck, it could even last over a month with no change in potential or skill. It also could be wildly meaningful. We can’t and don’t know which of these will be true until it’s over, though track record, scouting, and trends can give us hints.
- If you’d like input on a player or have any feedback, your best bet is to reach out to me on the website formerly known as Twitter (@ifthechufits) or BlueSky (scottchu.pitcherlist.com), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire).
Read The Notes
- These rankings talk about what I generally project for a player, but these rankings are not projections. They include projections but also take into account performance risk, injury risk, team context, ceiling, and floor.
Check out the Hacks & Jacks podcast featuring Scott Chu and Brett Ford, which also happened to be a finalist for Best Baseball Podcast of 2021 by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA)!
I also host an AMA in the r/fantasybaseball subreddit every Friday starting around noon ET that lasts through the rest of the day and into the weekend, so feel free to join the fun and ask questions or make comments.
Tier 1
- No changes here. These are the top two hitters in the game and they are incredible.
Tier 2
- No one in all of baseball has a better wRC+ since June 1 than Juan Soto (208). He also has the most runs scored in that stretch (34), the fifth highest slugging (.659), and unsurprisingly, the best OBP (.455). Hopefully all that negative chatter we heard about him from Mets media in April dies and stays dead.Fun Fact: We use Juan Soto as the default Process+ Rolling Chart player selection because it’s always insanely good. He was one of the benchmarks we used to validate that this stat captured what we were looking for because if Process+ didn’t think Soto was good, it was wrong.
- Kyle Tucker has dropped off in two key areas, the first being power, which is still strong and not really a concern, and also his contact ability, which is a bit more troubling as it went from excellent to average in a fairly short time. This should rebound given time, but until it does we might see some streakiness. Tucker’s consistently awesome decision-making keeps the floor incredibly high, thankfully, even during these slumps.
- Bobby Witt Jr.’s average exit velocity over his last 25 games is a whopping 94.5 mph with a robust 18.5% barrel rate, leading to a .974 OPS. Witt Jr. got off to a slow start compared to expectations, but he’s been a top-15 hitter so far this season (per the FanGraphs Player Rater) and he’s only just now finding his true groove.
Tier 3
- Ronald Acuña Jr.’s strikeout rate is spiking, and it’s all due to his contact ability, which has dropped off (strikeouts tend to be a decision-making problem, a contact problem, or both). I’m not worried about him long-term as his contact ability has been variable throughout his career, but that combined with his reduction in steals keeps him out of Tier 2 for the time being.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong will never be a good decision-maker according to our model due to his aggression, but the dramatic improvement in his power and contact ability (which went from the worst in the league to safely above average) makes me feel a lot more comfortable about him staying among the league’s top performers.
Tier 4
- Jackson Chourio entered the break on an 11-game hitting streak where he smacked three doubles and three home runs and piled up tons of runs and RBI. One thing to take note of is an improvement in his decision-making outside of the zone, which could have a big impact on his go-forward performance if Chourio can stay anywhere near league-average in that department.
- Francisco Lindor had slowly climbed into the top-15 of these ranks, largely because he’s been incredibly steady and resisted steep falls that those around him have been prone to. I believe this is the largest I’ve ever dropped him in any list this season, which is a huge testament to his consistency.
Tier 5
- Now this is the healthy Corey Seager we’ve been waiting for. The only reason he isn’t a tier higher is that he comes with a ton of injury risk and there’s a decent chance he misses another 10-15 games in 2025 for any number of reasons.
- Junior Caminero has continued to get the ball in the air at least 40% of the time (not including line drives), which is good. He’s also fallen into a strikeout rate trap, similar to the one we saw at the beginning of this season. With any luck, it is as temporary as the last one and the fly ball rate stays where it is. If that happens, I might jump Caminero up a tier even if the results aren’t explosive as making those kinds of adjustments multiple times in a season is an enormous milestone for a young player.
- Riley Greene is a frustrating player in head-to-head leagues because he’s so all or nothing in any given game, hitting a majestic bomb in one game with a lot of competitive at-bats to the next game where he’s whiffing every swing. That huge uppercut swing of his continues to leave holes in his plate coverage, and he’s been more aggressive in 2025 than he had been in prior seasons. The strikeout rate should improve eventually, though it may not get much better than 27-28% or so if he remains this aggressive. Still, Greene is an expert at punishing mistakes and his quality of contact is superb. If someone is sick of the roller coaster and is offput by that July strikeout rate that is above 40%, I’d be quick to take a shot at acquiring him.
- What a difference a series makes. Julio Rodriguez absolutely took it to the Tigers, hitting three home runs and stealing two bases. Power has been the main thing missing from Julio’s game in 2025, and it’s worth noting that in his career, J-Rod’s second-half slugging has been a robust .549 compared to his career first-half number of .418.
Tier 6
- Welcome back, Alex Bregman! Begman hit the ball hard last weekend in his return and I’m not currently concerned about any post-injury issues (though I do wonder why they didn’t just bring him back today?).
- Josh Naylor’s July numbers aren’t good, though his 20% walk rate so far is highly unusual. Since the start of 2021, Naylor has never posted a walk rate this high in a 15-game sample, and frankly, it’s not even that close. I don’t expect it to stick around, but it is a good illustration of how pitchers have changed their approach with Naylor, giving him far fewer pitches in the zone than they did to begin the year.
- I’m hoping this time off helps Freddie Freeman reverse his troubling strikeout rate of late and get back on track, but he could fall a tier or two if he looks the same after the Break as he did going into it.
Tier 7
- Jackson Merrill hit two home runs last weekend and that’s the first step to regaining our confidence that he deserves to be locked in as a top-50 hitter.
- Zach Neto was surging when we last saw him, with three home runs and four steals with a 1.051 OPS in the 11 games before the Break. Neto does a great job getting the ball in the air to the pull side, so despite missing over 20 games so far in 2025, I still think he has a good shot to exceed the 23 home runs he hit in his breakout 2024. Heck, he might steal 30 bases again, too.
- Speaking of career-high home run marks for players in their third MLB season, Michael Busch is just two home runs shy of the 21 he hit last season, though that’s less of a surprise than the huge gains in strikeout rate. I was a little worried that the declining strikeout rate trend from the second half of 2024 would reverse and that we were seeing the bottom of the curve, but as you can see, Busch had made last year’s low this season’s normal. Sure, he’ll continue to sit against some lefties, but at this point, who cares? I cared back when he was streakier and more prone to strikeouts, as it meant he was inconsistent in two ways (playing time and performance), but this version of Busch is really only prone to one type of inconsistency (sitting a few times during a lefty-heavy stretch), and it’s something we can plan for.
Tier 8
- Teoscar Hernández had a deep slump, but the strikeout rate is coming back down and I expect the power to take off any minute. Nothing about what we’ve seen is either concerning or surprising, as streakiness has been part of his game for his entire career. Last year was the first time he ever played a whole season without any month with a wRC+ below 100, but if you go back to 2021 (the second best season of his career), you’ll see a bad April and June before he finally kicked it into full gear.
- We say Andy Pages dip as low as seventh in the batting order in the final series before the Break, and until he gets his decision-making back on track (which really just means league average), he may struggle to find the consistency he had up to now.
- Hunter Goodman is finally taking some walks again, which can help with the consistency, and better yet, is about to head into a homestand in Coors. I’m not convinced he’ll be a top-three catcher in the second half as he was in the first, but he’s more than good enough to be a locked-in catcher even through inevitable slumps (because I don’t believe in carrying two catchers unless your bench is CRAZY deep). Speaking of, you should only really think of Goodman as a catcher at the moment, as he is sitting every third day like a normal catcher and hasn’t appeared at DH since June 15.
Tier 9
- Wyatt Langford is striking out a bit too much of late, but he was hitting .324/.425/.529 since returning to action on July 5 with two home runs and four steals, so I’m not going to complain. Plus, he’s taking tons of walks, too.
- Is Nick Kurtz making better decisions? No (and he doesn’t need to, he already makes very good decisions). Is Nick Kurtz getting better at making contact? Also no (though this would be nice). So why is the production exploding? Because he’s hitting the ball harder. Who needs to address weaknesses when you can just get even better at your strengths?!
- Sal Perez has seven home runs and 20 RBI in his last 24 games with a sub-20% strikeout rate, which is what a hot Sal looks like. As with Witt Jr., I think we might see some fun things happening in the Royals offense.
- Injuries and missed time are par for the course with Brandon Lowe, who has only played in 110 games once in his entire career (149 games 2021). Since then, he’s missed at least 50 games per year. This risk is the main reason he isn’t ranked higher, and by the time I get this published he might be on the IL.
- Brice Turang was pushed down in the order and has yet to steal a base in July, though everything under the hood looks mostly in line with expectations so for now let’s call this a normal slump.
Tier 10
- I’m sure you want me to rank Cedanne Rafaela higher than this, but it’s worth noting just how different these recent results are from everything we’ve seen in the past, all the way down to his stolen base success rates. It’s not that I don’t buy it, it’s that we don’t yet know how long he can keep this up. This makes him a poor target for trades but an excellent target to hold.
- Perdomo has nearly doubled his career-high in home runs (6, back in 2023), and while he will certainly hit a handful more by the time the season ends, I would expect a slugging south of .400 more often than not going forward. That said, he can be a fantastic fantasy contributor without the home runs.
Tier 11
- Jacob Wilson never hit the ball very hard, but since June 1 that average exit velocity is a mere 82.5 mph, which would be among the lowest in the league. He’s still hitting for a good average in that stretch because he slaps the ball around, but it makes his overall power prospects quite dim unless he finds that magic from earlier this season (which was only about 86-87 mph, but still).
- Welcome back, Iván Herrera! Please stay back this time.
- It’s a huge jump for Roman Anthony thanks to a beautiful 15-game stretch where he’s slashed .373/.439/.525 with a sub-20% strikeout rate and a fair number of walks. Anthony is now hitting in the heart of this order against righties and lefties, and while we are still waiting for the power to fully blossom from a home run perspective, he’s doing all the right things.
- Heliot Ramos is somewhat like a budget version of Teoscar Hernández in that he has a bunch of power and makes OK decisions but has some persistent contact issues. That’s where the streakiness comes from.
Tier 12
- It ain’t flashy, but Brendan Donovan’s stability at second base has been a saving grace for many a manager this season. Those sweet summer children haven’t had to spend much time navigating the wire for someone at the keystone and they have no idea how good they’ve got it.
- Alrighty, Tyler Soderstrom, you have my attention. Let’s see how long you can keep it. I already knew you could hit the ball hard and out of the yard, but I’ve yet to see you do it longer than a week or two at a time.
- Adolis García, like others I’ve covered today, is a power hitter with contact issues, though his recent success comes from improved decision-making that I am hoping sticks around for a bit.
- The rise of guys like Geraldo Perdomo and Nico Hoerner and Jacob Wilson have made Luis Arraez’s niche a bit less of a niche, and that hurts his value, as does his low .279 average (or you know, low for him and his career .317 average).
- Maikel Garcia hasn’t yet stolen a base or hit a home run in July. Ouch.
- Shea Langeliers isn’t getting DH at-bats and is slumping badly, plus the strikeout rate has jumped. I’m hoping he got what he needed over the Break to fix this.
Tier 13
- Luis García Jr. has sat against a few righties lately due to his lingering slump while also dropping a few spots in the order. Garcia Jr. is the type who puts a ton of balls in play and can be prone to bad BABIP luck, which does explain at least some of this current cold streak. Nothing in his batted ball profile jumps out to me as being overly concerning at the moment.
- Caleb Durbin’s decision-making and contact ability are still top-notch, but the power (which was already a weakness to begin with) has fallen even further, making his outlook more of a guy who can steal 15 bases with a not-harmful batting average who is best suited to points leagues. It’s sort of a poor man’s Maikel Garcia?
- Cam Smith’s decision-making has slightly improved (though is still decidedly worse than it was to begin the season) and his contact rates have fallen below average. The best version of Smith, based on what I’ve seen of him, sees the decision-making improve to early-season levels while the contact stays right around average.
- Xavier Edwards has a plus contact ability and plus decision-making skills, though he has very little power to speak of. That profile should lead to plenty of ratios and steals, though of late we’re only seeing the former and less of the latter.
- I’m hoping Jordan Beck shows us some magic during this upcoming homestand, but if he doesn’t, or if he sits two or three times, he’ll take a tumble.
- For a time, all of Ozuna’s metrics looked great, but they’ve steadily fallen over the season. At some point, the under-the-hood stuff matters less and the consistent poor results matter more. That’s what’s going on here. I’m not dropping him in 12-teamers yet unless my wire is exploding with talent, but it’s getting close.
Tier 14
- It’s hard to put too much stock into a single game for a player we already knew had tons of power and was extremely streaky. I mostly left him where he was as this game didn’t really tell me anything we didn’t already know about him. I’d be more interested in less loud but longer lasting results for Stowers.
- Anthony Volpe has cut the strikeout rate considerably, though the walk rate fell with it and the power has cratered. He’s probably droppable in shallower leagues right now (as I doubt anyone is dying to scoop him up) but in keeper and dynasty I would prefer to hold.
- They let Noelvi Marte out of the basement of the order for a game and it was tough to see him squander several opportunities with runners on base. Still, it was a great homestand overall and we’ll see if any caries over into the second half.
- It was a rough month or so for Paul Goldschmidt and I’m curious if he continues to lose playing time. It’s cool that he leads off occasionally, though I expect the Yankees would really love it if one of the younger players took that role over.
- Cedric Mullins would probably benefit from a trade, as another team might be more likely to let him lead off, and an added bonus would be a team who is more aggressive on the bases. Even if he stays in Baltimore, though, he’s a fine outfielder to stream.
- Jorge Polanco was hot about a month ago as a part-time player, and now he’s playing a lot more and is hot again. Might as well give it another go and see what happens, eh? Especially if this offense continues to heat up.
Taxi Squad
Players are listed in no particular order. This list is not every interesting guy out there, but a running list of players who either almost made the list or have been topics of interesting conversation.
NEW FEATURE: I will put blurbs in bold if they are new to the Taxi Squad or if there’s a significant update to their note.
Catcher
- Carlos Narváez (C, BOS) — Streaming catcher with a little bit of upside.
- Ryan Jeffers (C, MIN) — Hitting first or second lately, but sitting more.
- Sean Murphy (C, ATL) — Streamable catcher.
- Dalton Rushing (C, LAD) — Dynasty only.
- Carson Kelly (C, CHC) — Heating up a little but just a streamer.
- Drake Baldwin (C, ATL) — Pure timeshare makes him only viable in two-catcher leagues.
- Tyler Stephenson (C, CIN) — The strikeouts make him feel more like a streamer than a fantasy lineup regular in single-catcher leagues.
- Ben Rice (C/1B, NYY) — There’s a ton of power here, but he’s struggling to pull the ball and is popping out too often to keep Stanton from stealing his time.
- Dillon Dingler (C, DET) — He was previously #150 but got knocked out due to an unintentional omission of Wyatt Langford.
First Base
- Carlos Santana (1B, CLE) — OBP streamer who somehow still has something in the tank. What a career.
- Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE) — Has lost most of the playing time against lefties.
- Michael Toglia (1B, COL) — Can’t be used on the road, but fine to stream at home.
- Jac Caglianone (1B, KCR) — Strikeouts have improved, now needs to get the ball in the air (which is often a more difficult adjustment).
- Spencer Horwitz (1B/2B, PIT) — Went cold as soon as he moved to the leadoff spot.
- Ernie Clement (1B/2B/3B/SS, TOR) — Versatile and viable in points leagues, but the power, speed, and counting stats are just too light in category formats.
- Miguel Vargas (1B/3B/OF, CWS) — Has stayed cooled off for quite some time now.
- Ryan O’Hearn (1B/OF, BAL) — I’m sure he’ll heat up again at some point, but until then, he’s just a speculative stream against bad right-handed pitching.
- Romy González (1B/2B, BOS) — Sat several times against righties and playing time will only get tighter with Bregman’s return.
- Jake Cronenworth (1B/2B, SDP) — Replacement-level fill-in.
Second Base
- Hyeseong Kim (2B, LAD) — It will be very exciting when he has anything close to a regular role.
- Jonathan India (2B/3B/OF, KCR) — Deep points league only.
- Gavin Lux (2B/OF, CIN) — Points league streamer.
- José Caballero (2B/3B/SS/OF, TBR) —May sit a lot more with Kim’s return.
- Ronny Mauricio (2B/3B, NYM) — Likely loses some time with Vientos’s return.
- Brett Baty (2B/3B, NYM) — Vientos’s return comes at a terrible time as Baty continues to slump.
- Kristian Campbell (2B, BOS) — Still a promising player in dynasty, but no need to torture yourself in redraft.
- Ozzie Albies (2B, ATL) — Just two home runs since the start of May and a 67 wRC+.
- Davis Schneider (2B/OF, TOR) — He’ll get more playing time with Gimenez injured, but he’s just a streaky power-hitting lefty with contact issues.
- Zack Gelof (2B, OAK) — Demoted.
- Lenyn Sosa (2B/3B, CWS) — He doesn’t walk or run but he’s good at making contact with a smidge of pop and will go streaking now and again.
Third Base
- Joey Ortiz (3B/SS, MIL) — That little power outburst was fun but he can go back to the wire now.
- Abraham Toro (1B/3B, BOS) — Might have been ranked if this was for points with a strikeout penalty.
- Marcelo Mayer (3B/SS, BOS) — Nothing is clicking right now. Per our Hitter Ability metrics, Mayer is one of, if not the worst in-zone decision-maker in the league, and of late is one of the worst decision-makers overall despite an improvement when it comes to pitches out of the zone.
- Mark Vientos (3B, NYM) — Benched.
- Royce Lewis (3B, MIN) — A speculative play with high upside, though we haven’t actually seen him show any of it in quite some time.
- Nolan Gorman (3B, STL) — Zone contact rate spiked for a bit but has fallen back below 80%. Until he’s consistently above that mark, he’s nothing more than an extremely streaky power streamer.
- Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B, PIT) — Lack of power makes him more of a deep points streamer, but he’s also in several rumors to go to the Yankees (which still would be irrelevant in 12-teamers but at least it’s interesting).
- Yoán Moncada (3B, LAA) — Looked fine before the injury, but no thanks.
- Matt Shaw (3B, CHC) — He could be a decent source of stolen bases who hits double-digit home runs, but he just can’t find consistent production right now.
Shortstop
- Brooks Lee (2B/3B/SS, MIN) — Not enough production to consider as more than a streamer despite being eligible everywhere.
- Javier Báez (2B/3B/SS/OF, DET) — He ain’t dead yet! The production comes in waves, so don’t feel the need to hold on long term in shallower formats.
- Ha-Seong Kim (2B/3B/SS, TBR) — I don’t love that he already had some games off due to injury, and I don’t think he’ll hit the ball hard enough or play enough to be anything more than a speed flier.
- Casey Schmitt (1B/2B/3B/SS, SFG) — He was hot before the injury, though it appears mostly driven by a fortuitous number of line drives. The power is legit, but the ratios will likely take a deep dive.
- Carlos Correa (SS, MIN) — Everything remains down, and I’m not seeing the signs I need to keep holding out.
Outfield/DH
- Isaac Collins (OF, MIL) — Platooned.
- Jesus Sanchez (OF, MIA) — Power streamer with a tough home park and poor supporting cast.
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (OF, MIN) — Strikes out way too much because he’s far too passive, but if he cleans that up, watch out.
- Mike Yastrzemski (OF, SFG) — Platooned.
- Denzel Clarke (OF, ATH) — Speed streamer.
- Brenton Doyle (OF, COL) — Part-timer now.
- Parker Meadows (OF, DET) — Lost playing time and hits at the bottom of the order. Droppable.
- Michael Harris II (OF, ATL) — There was a bit of a flash of production, but it continues to vanish as quickly as it appears.
- Masataka Yoshida (DH, BOS) — In theory, Yoshida has a solid floor in points leagues if he plays, and he has hit .280 or better in his two seasons on this side of the Pacific. That said, the upside is limited even as a full-time player, which I don’t expect him to be.
- James Outman (OF, LAD) — Getting a chance to play some center due to the strong triple-A numbers, but that 30.3% strikeout rate down there will look decidedly worse in the majors.
- Jesse Winker (OF, NYM) — He’ll likely sit against lefties but is capable of getting hot and hitting for some average with a bit of pop and plenty of walks.
- Austin Hays (OF, CIN) — Streaky stream-worthy hitter, but the strikeout rate is spiking. An easy sell-high based on year-to-date results.
- Wenceel Pérez (OF, DET) — I was worried it was merely a hot streak, and that may just be the case.
- Tyler O’Neill (OF, BAL) — When he’s hot, he’s scorching. When he’s cold, he’s roster poison. In between those times, he’s hurt. Roll the dice at your own risk.
- Ramón Laureano (OF, BAL) — That was a fun little ride while it lasted, but I expect him to lose time with O’Neill’s return, plus I suspect it was just random heat to begin with.
- Tommy Pham (OF, PIT) — I thought for sure he was going to get released. This seems like a random stretch that I wouldn’t chase in mixed leagues.
- Jake McCarthy (OF, ARI) — Playing time will be harder to come by with Carroll back, but he can steal bases.
- Dane Myers (OF, MIA) — I don’t think there’s more than 12-15 home runs as a full-time player, but they’ve got him running a bunch.
- Jorge Soler (OF, LAA) — No thank you.
- Jake Mangum (OF, TBR) — Points league extraordinaire.
- Mike Tauchman (OF, CWS) — Leads off and slaps the ball around from time to time, but won’t play against most lefties.
- Angel Martínez (OF, CLE) — Points league streamer.
- Luis Robert Jr. (OF, CWS) — Tons of ability locked in an injury- and slump-prone vessel. I will re-rank him if he leaves the White Sox.
- Trevor Larnach (OF, MIN) — Strikeout rate is climbing, walk rate is falling, and outside of Buxton, no one in this offense has shown any consistency.
- Trent Grisham (OF, NYY) — The playing time has totally dried up.
- Chase DeLauter (OF, CLE) — Injuries keep popping up that have delayed his promotion, but he’ll get a look sometime this summer.
On the IL
Players are listed by position and not by projected value.
- Adley Rutschman (C, BAL) — Should be back right after the Break.
- Keibert Ruiz (C, WSN) — Not a hold unless your IL is wide open.
- Gabriel Moreno (C, ARZ) — Borderline hold in 12-teamers if your IL is full. Catcher is deep enough that you can probably stream.
- Miguel Amaya (C, CHC) — Cubs say he’s still a long ways off.
- Gary Sánchez (C, BAL) — Not a guy I’m holding if my IL is already full. He was just a streamer.
- Ryan Mountcastle (1B, BAL) — Expected back once eligible on July 30.
- Rhys Hoskins (1B, MIL) — He should be back by September, but one month of unsteady production isn’t worth holding in mixed leagues.
- Pavin Smith (1B/OF, ARI) — Not a player I’m holding.
- Jake Burger (1B/3B, TEX) — Between the unsteady performance and the missed time and being buried in the order when healthy, I’m out in 12-teamers.
- Andrés Giménez (2B, TOR) — Not a player I’m holding.
- Jeremy Peña (SS, HOU) — Won’t be activated Friday, but probably by next week.
- Austin Riley (3B, ATL) — Core injuries stink, but it seems like he won’t be gone long.
- Connor Norby (2B/3B, MIA) — Not a guy I’m holding if my IL is already full.
- Ezequiel Tovar (SS, COL) — On a rehab. Should return after the break.
- Victor Robles (OF, SEA) — Out until September, but keep an eye out just in case, as Robles is capable of dizzying highs when he’s grooving.
- Yordan Alvarez (OF, HOU) — Dealing with inflammation, apparently. I’m hoping we get a timeline over the break after seeing how he reacts to recent treatment by a specialist. Do not drop him.
- Dylan Crews (OF, WAS) — Hoping he’s back after the Break.
- Daulton Varsho (OF, TOR) — Should be back a little after the Break.
- Jordan Walker (OF, STL) — No apparent timetable.
- Anthony Santander (OF, TOR) — He’ll be back sometime in August.
- Kerry Carpenter (OF, DET) — Just as he started to heat up, he hit the IL with a hammy issue.
- Lane Thomas (OF, CLE) — Not a guy I’m holding.
- Lars Nootbaar (OF, STL) — This core injury comes at a bad time as he was getting pushed down in the order already and was hitting .183/.299/.321 since June 1. Not a required hold in standard 12-teamers (he’s more valuable in OBP), though he should be on your watch list if dropped in the event he somehow retakes that leadoff role.
