The rankings are fixed! Apologies about that. Also, it’s really tough to gauge how much of the recent hitting from the Athletics can be believed. Six games in arguably the most hitter-friendly park in the most hitter-friendly triple-A division and then three more in Sacramento? Wish I had been more on top of that for streaming.
- As a reminder, these rankings are geared toward a standard, daily, 12-team H2H redraft league, which 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.
- These are not best ball or draft and hold rankings. The 12-team redraft format with daily moves is the fundamental opposite of that. Pure volume plays are not valued as much here as in those no-move formats.
- I take rankings like this more as art than science. Every person’s rankings are influenced by their biases, strategic philosophies, risk assessments, and projections. It’s why no two rankings are ever exactly alike. My way of evaluating and ranking players has worked well for me, but it might not be an excellent fit for you. I can’t possibly predict your team’s specific needs, your leaguemates’ 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 leave a comment.
- 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 I’ll add them once those eligibilities are earned. 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 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.
- 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, specifically multi-eligibility, is neat but 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.). Still, the value is fairly situational and context-dependent.
- Similarly, 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.
- Regardless of true talent, anyone talented enough to make it to the big leagues can be brilliant or putrid for 50 to 100 at-bats. 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 will be valid until it’s over, though track record, scouting, and trends can give us hints.
- One of the most difficult things to account for in these rankings is the dynamic between low-ceiling players who have clear roles and players who could have higher ceilings but are without a clear path to playing time. I try to note this in the blurbs as much as I can.
- THIS IS NOT A TRADE CHART. Trade charts need to account for “market” value, which is largely perception-based.
Read The Notes
If you’d like input on a player or have any feedback, your best bet is to contact me on Bluesky (@scottchu.pitcherlist.com), X (@ifthechufits), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire)
I also host an AMA in the r/fantasybaseball subreddit every Friday (starting sometime in late March) with Nate Schwartz, 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.
For additional insight, also check out the Hacks & Jacks podcast! This is a hitter-focused pod with myself, Brett Ford, and occasional special guests.
Tier 1
- No changes here.
Tier 2
- While a lot of the A’s production this last week comes from the extremely friendly confines they’ve been, the stuff off of Nick Kurtz’s bat would have done damage in any ballpark on this planet. In his last 18 games, Kurtz’s barrel rate is a whopping 21.7% , and he’s done well to keep the strikeout rate below 30%. While a higher strikeout rate wouldn’t spell any kind of doom for Kurtz, the more he can avoid the whiffs, the more consistent the production can be.
- Welcome back, Drake Baldwin! Some of you might have him over Ben Rice, but to me, it’s splitting very fine hairs.
Tier 3
- No changes here, but not because nothing interesting happened. Jackson Chourio has been one of the hottest hitters on the third rock from the sun, and while some of the action came in that crazy ballpark in Vegas, Chourio has four home runs in his last four games since returning to Milwaukee as well (making it six home runs in his last seven starts). I suppose we could gripe about the lack of stolen bases, but when over half of your hits in the last seven games have been homers, you don’t get many opportunities.
- I’m happy to see Jordan Walker quickly address that little grounder spike he had to start the month, though his current slump (relative to what he’s done all season) is mostly driven by plate discipline issues. Walker has zero walks in June with a strikeout rate approaching 30%, though we’ve seen him make adjustments during a strikeout binge once already and he did so promptly, so no concerns at the moment. It’s exceedingly rare to see a player fix two huge problems (strikeouts and grounders) in the same offseason, but here we are.
Tier 4
- Miguel Vargas hasn’t had great fantasy results in June, but I’m doubling down anyway because the skills are as good as ever. Per Statcast, Vargas’s expected batting average for June is .355 and his expected slugging is .650, plus his plate discipline is as strong as ever with as many walks as strikeouts. The White Sox lineup isn’t all that scary outside of Vargas right now, but since late April few players have shown such a potent combination of power and decision-making, and at times he’s also shown plus contact ability. I think Vargas is a great bet to clear 30 home runs, possibly even 35, and I also think he can hit .260 or better the rest of the way. Vargas is running more as well (his 10 this season is more than he had in all of 2024 and 2025 combined), and finishing with 15-20 steals seems like a gimme. The counting stats are a little bit shakier, as it depends on the rest of the White Sox lineup looking like they did to start the season, but make no mistake – we could be looking at a top-15 hitter by the time next draft season rolls around.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong is burning as hot as he did to start last season, but now the question is how long it can last. He could feasibly finish the season as anything between a top-10 hitter and a top-60 hitter, which is a much wider range of healthy outcomes than most players in this tier.
- Welcome back, Cal Raleigh! I’m still a believer in this bat and while it doesn’t mean much, it was good to see him hit five home runs in five rehab games.
Tier 5
- Junior Caminero has been disappointing relative to his draft value due to a rough path over the last 30 days or so, though I am encouraged by the improved walk rate and exit velocity numbers. Caminero is going to comfortably clear 30 home runs and should even skirt by 35, though the counting stats may fall short of last season. He’s actually hitting the ball harder overall than he did last season and swinging the bat considerably harder, though he’s hitting quite a few more balls on the ground which is capping his power at the moment.
- Andy Pages has slumped since moving to the two-spot in the order, though bad luck has played a role. Even if you are concerned about his recent performance, there’s no action to take right now because there’s no way I’m letting go of a guy hitting near the heart of this lineup.
- Bryan Reynolds keeps hitting home runs, and there’s nothing lucky or cheap about what he’s doing. Reynolds has been a top-30 to top-40 hitter in the past, so getting back to this level isn’t a huge stretch despite his disappointing 2025, especially considering the improved supporting cast around him.
Tier 6
- I’m not surprised that Alec Burleson is hitting .285, but the continued growth in power has turned my head a little. An enormous jump in pull rate on fly balls (24.5% in 2025 to 45.5% in 2026) is a big reason why the home runs are up, and it’s hard to gauge exactly how permanent this can be. Burleson has performed like a top-30 hitter so far, but with the possible regression (not a big one, mind you) in pulled fly balls as a threat, I’m being slightly conservative in my ranking here.
- Yandy Díaz’s slumps usually correlate strong with his groundball rate, but that’s not really the case at the moment, which leads me to believe it’s just a normal blip.
- The production is down across the board for Yelich so far this season, and the strikeout rate has been climbing over the last month or so to the point where his rolling strikeout rate is up over 30%. I don’t think the bottom is dropping out on the 34-year-old Yelich quite yet, but the ceiling and floor seem to be lower than in the past.
- C’mon, Vladimir Guerrero. Do something. Please?
Tier 7
- Congrats to those who weathered the Jazz Chisholm Jr. storm early on and are getting to reap the rewards of the last month. It’s a roller coaster, but one well worth the ride. It’s likely Jazz falls a bit short of the career-high 31 homers he set in 2025, but he’ll make up for some of that with about 10 more steals than he has last year.
- Still a JJ Bleday believer. Keep holding.
- I don’t have concerns about Riley Greene, really, and think he’s due for another hot stretch that pulls him safely back in the top-50, though I am concerned about how much the Tigers offense can muster around him, which lowers his ceiling a bit.
- It’s nice to move Kyle Tucker up a little, even if it’s just three spots.
- Things are trending down slightly for Casey Schmitt in our Process+ charts, but not alarmingly so. I’m exercising patience here and hoping it’s something he can recover from.
- Josh Jung isn’t a great decision-maker in the zone, and lately he’s been abysmal, but I have hope he can clean that up a little and get back on track.
Tier 8
- Jo Adell and Seiya Suzuki have shown signs of life, finally, and it’s easy to move them both in chunks up the list because I trust their underlying abilities.
- Carson Benge hasn’t been terrible, with as well as Soto and Bichette are hitting, he should be putting up a lot better numbers. I don’t want to drop him anywhere yet because I love him in that leadoff spot, so go scoop him if someone else has gotten impatient. In the vast majority of 10-teamers and deeper, Benge is as good a bet to go off as any of the guys at the top of the “last 14 days” leaderboard on your waiver wire.
- June has not been kind to Samuel Basallo, as he’s slashing just .186/.239/.279 since the calendar flipped. On the bright side, the power has some bad luck baked in, as his expected slugging is over .400 for the month (which isn’t great but a lot better than what he’s got), and he’s still playing every day. I would not be looking to make an upgrade at catcher quite yet, despite the frustrating start to the summer, because the power upside is just too high, and he’s still showing decent plate discipline. This has the look of a regular slump stemming from his highly aggressive approach, not an exposed exploitable weakness being attacked.
- I’m holding off on moving up Tyler Soderstrom because he’s out-performing his June xwOBA by over 100 points (.431 wOBA to .323 xwOBA). Four of his five home runs this month were in Vegas, and they aren’t going back there this season. I do like the improved plate discipline, though.
- Carter Jensen has worked his way into the leadoff spot in Kansas City, and since doing so back on May 30, he’s got a .890 OPS and a run scored in eight of his last eleven games.
Tier 9
- If you’re in an extremely shallow league (like 10-teamer with no MI/CI and short benches), I can see an argument to cut Willy Adames or Trea Turner and just stream. The replacement level is high (though a number of strong shortstops are out so your wire might be more barren than usual). I wouldn’t do it yet unless that name is at least in Tier 10, but I can see a presentable argument.
- Spencer Steer was rocking out in Process+ as recently as a few weeks ago, though the contact ability has fallen dramatically and the power, while still high, has also taken a drop.
- Paul Goldschmidt’s xwOBA in June is .317, and his actual wOBA is .433. He’s outperforming his expected batting average by nearly 100 points and his expected slugging by nearly 200 points. He’s also got an excellent spot in a potent lineup. I think eventually he becomes more average than good, but even if Statcast and I don’t believe Goldy’s results right now, I do believe the opportunity.
Tier 10
- Bryce Eldridge cracks the top-100 with yet another solid week of production. The power, decision-making, and contact are all tending up right now, and as long as the contact and decision-making stay near average (or better), the higher he can climb.
- Matt Chapman is having a great June, slashing .340/.438/.740 with an equal number of walks and strikeouts. This spike is similar to one he had last season right around this time of year, and while it’s fun, the overall value comes from being able to come back to it, at least to some extent. These are the first good moments we’ve seen from Chapman in 2026, and we’re still a ways from undoing the damage of his disastrous run from mid-April to the start of June.
- Bo Bichette has been a demon at the dish over his last seven games, smacking three homers with 19 combined runs and RBI. This pace is quite ridiculous, and a lot of those RBI comes from a massive game on the 12th where he hit two home runs and drove in six, but he does have a six-game multi-hit streak going, so let’s see where this goes. Oddly, he’s not hitting the ball particularly hard on average over this stretch (just 86.5 mph average exit velocity in these seven games with two just barrels), so I’m curious to see how this plays out.
- Still a Curtis Mead believer. See chart for explanation. All three colors above the line = gold.
Tier 11
If you’re in a 10-team league, these are the best players I’d consider letting go for a hot streamer (ideally one from Tier 13) in most circumstances.
- Alex Bregman had a solid road trip (three games in Colorado helped), but apart from that there are still very few signs of a breakout. Ditto Manny Machado. If this continues, they’ll drop another tier by next week.
- Jake Burger is a streaky power hitter from the right side due to his highly aggressive nature and willingness to chase. It will kill your ratios most of the time, but he’s on pace to hit over 25 home runs and could touch 30 if he gets hot here and there as summer heats up. He should throw in about 75 runs and 85 RBI too, though it will come in waves.
- As I suspected, Colton Cowser will get the vast majority of playing time against righties. He hasn’t done much with it over the last week, and he has a tendency to be streaky, but there’s plenty of pop his bat and he’s barreling up the ball plenty in June. More results should come.
Tier 12
If you’re in a 12-team league, these are the best players I’d consider letting go for a hot streamer (ideally one from Tier 13 or higher) in most circumstances.
- I’ve picked on several A’s already for overperforming their expected stats while on this home stretch, and Zack Gelof will be no exception. On this homestand, Zack Gelof had an xwOBA of .282. His actual wOBA was .535. I’ve seen a lot of big gaps, but never anything like this, even in a seven-game sample. His expected slugging (.396) was less than half of his actual slugging (.865). Now, Gelof does get more games in Sacramento, but he won’t be able to return to that field in Vegas unless he gets demoted. With awful plate discipline and a worse track record over the last two seasons, I’m not a huge believer. That said, his versatility and speed are fairly useful, and maybe he makes up for some of the gap here via opportunity. If you roster him, I’d be throwing offers to every owner including him to see if their eyes light up enough to net a slightly slumping hitter in my top-80.
- OK, Jackson Merrill, that’s a start. Now can you do it for another week? As the ranking suggests, I am intrigued by the possibility, but not terribly confident we get enough of a spark to catch a fire.
- Jac Caglianone is striking out in bunches lately, but he’s also smoking line drives all over the place to balance it the ratios. I’m hoping he start getting the ball in the air a bit more so we can see more hits leave the yard, and that in doing so, he doesn’t crater out with the strikeouts. He’s been bumped to third in the order, so this is a huge moment for Cags.
Tier 13
If you’re in a 12-team league, these are the best players I’d consider letting go for a hot streamer in most circumstances.
- I’ve called Dominic Canzone a streaky lefty platoon bat all season, and I do think that’s fundamentally true. What I am changing my mind about, though, where he ranks among them. Canzone might be one of the premier versions of this platooning archetype if he continues to reach back and find this level of production more consistently. I don’t mind a guy who alternates between good and mediocre on a monthly basis if the good times are this good.
- Apparently George Springer still had some 2025 magic after all? Let’s see how much of it is left.
- Cam Smith is hitting the ball awfully hard lately with great ratios, and the lack of runs and RBI aren’t his fault.
- Cole Carrigg swings the bat really hard, but his average exit velocity in this small MLB sample is shockingly bad, and his barrel rates in the minors were uninspiring. I think there’s more than enough upside to give him a look during this homestand, but the quality of contact issue is worth noting, as it makes his bat speed much less relevant (no matter how hard you swing, if you miss the barrel, your outcomes are not going to be awesome).
- TJ Rumfield is not hitting the ball well at all (his average exit velocity this month is 81.3 mph, which is nearly two full ticks below the lowest qualified EV on the season) but the results are great because he’s been in Coors or Vegas for most of the month. While normally this would give me pause, the reality is that he’s spending yet another week in Coors, so you might as well let it ride.
- Welcome back, J.P. Crawford! With all the injuries in Seattle, it appears Crawford will take over leadoff duties, so he’s a solid source of runs, assuming J-Rod, Naylor, and Cal can get rolling.
Tier 14
Many players in this tier could be swapped out with guys on the Taxi Squad based on your specific needs.
- Kody Clemens has useful position eligibility and is swinging a hot bat in a hot lineup. We saw a surge like this from him in the middle of last season also, and it all evaporated about as quickly as it came about, but you might as well stream it while you can.
- Jacob Young drops closer to replacement level, and while he hasn’t been awful, the 31.0% strikeout rate this month is more than double what it was in May, and he’s sitting every three or four games. If he fixes the strikeout rate he could be interesting again.
- Nico Hoerner has been the worst fantasy contributor of the last two weeks. He’s actually been worse than an empty lineup spot in 12-teamers in category leagues because he’s given you 50 plate appearances of a .128 average with just one run, one RBI, and no steals. This is the same guy who in April hit .291/.370/.449 with four homers and 26 RBI. I have no idea what has fallen apart here, and while the luck has been bad, the underlying numbers are not good (I mean, they aren’t worse than an empty spot, but they’re bad). I hate the idea of dropping him, but in shallow leagues you might need to, especially if you’re all set on speed (not that he’s running right now anyway, since he’s never on base).
- Nasim Nuñez is a speed streamer who has a hot bat, which means even more speed.
- Kyle Stowers is a streaky power hitter who doesn’t get platooned because the Marlins don’t have other options. The injury history is also scary, but when he’s hot, he can carry a team for weeks.
- Josh Bell has surprisingly good numbers on the season, considering he had a 50 wRC+ in May and was one of the worst regulars in the league. June has been much friendlier to him, though, and he’s a solid streamer while the players around him are also hot.
- Not a huge Noelvi Marte believer, but the favorable home park and the fact he’s getting a bit more playing time than I expected makes him streamable.
- Willi Castro and Kyle Karros aren’t really all that special for fantasy, but they’re hitting well right now and headed home for a week.
- Colt Emerson is hitting for some pop, and I said if he did I would get him on the back end of the list. I’m occasionally a man of my word.
UPDATE: I’ve separated the Taxi Squad and Injured List for my own organization. The Injured List will only focus on players who might actually get ranked on return.
Injured List
Listed by position in no particular order.
Catcher
- Ryan Jeffers (C, MIN) — If your IL is full, it’s OK to toss him back on the wire.
- Will Smith (C, LAD) — Hopefully some time on the IL helps him recover and find his old form.
First Base
- Munetaka Murakami (1B/3B, CWS) — He should be back between the end of the month and the All-Star Break.
- Vinnie Pasquantino (1B, KCR) — Just as he starts to show something, he hits the IL. Downright cruel. Hard to hold if you have a shallow IL.
Second Base
- Jorge Polanco (2B/3B, NYM) — Just kidding, drop him.
- Brendan Donovan (2B/3B/OF) — This is the way it goes with Donovan. None of the injuries are terribly serious, but he’ll be on and off the IL fairly often. He’s not a must-hold if you’ve only got two or three IL spots, especially if you don’t have a CI/MI spot in your lineup.
- Gleyber Torres (2B, DET) — Gleyber was raking at the top of the order (though good luck was playing a big role). He’s a fringe top-100 type when healthy.
Third Base
- José Ramírez (3B, CLE) — Hamate bone injury, again. Hoping he’s back around the end of July or in early August, and as long as there are no setbacks, there shouldn’t be any lingering problems.
Shortstop
- Francisco Lindor (SS, NYM) — Started running, but still no timeline.
- Trevor Story (SS, BOS) — Surgery means he could be out for nearly three months. That’s a drop in most formats.
- Konnor Griffin (SS/OF, PIT) — He could be back within a week or two, and definitely before the end of the month.
- Elly De La Cruz (SS, CIN) — I’d expect him back sometime in July, but whether it’s early July or mid/late July is totally up in the air.
- Oneil Cruz (SS, PIT) — Cruz hurt his hand and will be back by the end of July. No long-term concerns, though, at least not related to the injury.
- Corey Seager (SS, TEX) — Had two home runs in five games, and then hit the IL again. Wildly frustrating season, but it’s not a lost season quite yet.
Outfield/DH
- Aaron Judge (OF, NYY) — What a bummer. I’d be surprised to see Judge by the All-Star Break. Go pick up Bryce Eldridge to try and claw back some of that power.
- Luis Robert Jr. (OF, NYM) — The move to the 60-Day IL doesn’t really change much here. He’s out for the foreseeable future.
- Giancarlo Stanton (OF, NYY) — If you only have two IL spots, he’s not a must-keep.
- Heliot Ramos (OF, SFG) — Droppable in most leagues.
- Teoscar Hernández (OF, LAD) — Holding unless it’s a shallow league with a tiny IL and you’re doing well in RBI and there’s someone really interesting out on the wire.
- Mickey Moniak (OF, COL) — Still not doing anything baseball-related. I’d be dropping if I needed the IL spot.
- Daulton Varsho (OF, TOR) — He’s streaky and could get ranked again, but between the poor performance and injury risk, I’d be looking elsewhere instead of waiting it out.
- Brent Rooker (OF, ATH) — It’s a bone bruise and there shouldn’t be long-term issues, but the timing stinks as he was really starting to get going.
- Ronald Acuña Jr. (OF, ATL) — The language from the team is not great. He might be gone until the Break.
- Oneil Cruz (OF, PIT) — It’s a few broken digits. Hard to predict if it saps any power, though he could lose some and still be a monster. Should be back around the Break.
- Chase DeLauter (OF, CLE) — Fractured ribs can be an issue because unlike other broken bones, you can’t really put them in a cast or immobilize them. I wouldn’t expect him back until August.
- Randy Arozarena (OF, SEA) — Hamstring strains can be tricky, but this appears to be a mild one and he should be back within two or three weeks.
Taxi Squad
Players are listed by position in no particular order.
Catcher
- Austin Wells (C, NYY) — Love the walks, and he’s been unlucky with batted balls. Viable second catcher.
- Brandon Valenzuela (C, TOR) — Not playing nearly as much with Kirk back.
- Tyler Stephenson (C, CIN) — Boring-but-safe streamer when he’s at home.
- Edgar Quero (C, CWS) — Making the most of very limited playing time.
- J.T. Realmuto (C, PHI) — Not the hitter he once was, but plays often and doesn’t strike out a ton.
- Francisco Alvarez (C, NYM) — Let’s see if he finds the magic he was creating prior to hitting the IL.
- Joe Mack (C, MIA) — Swinging a hot bat so if you need a streamer, go ahead.
- Endy Rodríguez (C, PIT) — He was once a top catching prospect, but nowadays he’s just a semi-viable streamer if you need a short-term fill-in.
First Base
- Nolan Schanuel (1B, LAA) — Points league streamer.
- Spencer Torkelson (1B, DET) — A few signs of life, but I can’t rank him quite yet.
- Mark Vientos (1B/3B, NYM) — Swinging at everything lately, which means a ton of poor contact and zero walks.
- Nathaniel Lowe (1B, CIN) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Coby Mayo (1B/3B, BAL) — The strikeout issues just keep popping up.
- Andrew Vaughn (1B, MIL) — Just not enough playing time right now.
- Jared Young (1B, NYM) — He can get some RBI hitting behind Soto and a smoking-hot Bichette, but eventually he won’t be hitting fourth.
Second Base
- Cole Young (2B, SEA) — The plate discipline has improved, but there’s just not that much category juice in this bat.
- Jeff McNeil (2B/OF, ATH) — Points league streamer.
- Marcus Semien (2B, NYM) — Boring plug-in when you are desperate.
- Angel Martínez (2B/OF, CLE) — Not worth holding on your IL unless it’s unlimited.
- Luke Keaschall (2B, MIN) — He hit another home run, but he’s at the bottom of the order and not stealing bases.
- Caleb Durbin (2B/3B, BOS) — Looks somewhat serviceable at the moment. Almost ranked him.
- Tommy Edman (2B/OF, LAD) — He led off against a lefty, but sat against a righty.
- David Hamilton (2B/3B/SS, MIL) — Speed streamer.
- Jackson Holliday (2B, BAL) — The strikeouts are spiking and he’s batting at the bottom of the order.
- Ezequiel Duran (2B/3B/SS/OF, TEX) — He’s more versatile than he is useful.
Third Base
- Blaze Alexander (2B/3B/SS/OF, BAL) — Racking up some hits against lefties of late, but may not play as much when the Orioles see more right-handers.
- Nolan Arenado (3B, ARI) — The power isn’t there anymore but can still provide ratios and RBI at a slightly above-average clip.
- Jordan Lawlar (3B/OF, ARI) — He should get playing time, but can he find some of the heat that was generating before the hit the IL?
- Blaze Jordan (3B, STL) — There’s some pop here and he puts a ton of balls in play, but grounders were an issue in the minors and I suspect they’ll be worse in the majors.
- Donovan Walton (3B, LAA) — Swinging a hot bat against righties and has great plate discipline, but not much more than a short-term points streamer in deeper leagues.
- Austin Riley (3B, ATL) — Now that I’ve finally done it, he’s going to turn it on.
Shortstop
- Anthony Volpe (SS, NYY) — He’s back up for a little. Might steal some bags, but I’m not interested outside of dynasty.
- Ha-Seong Kim (2B/SS, ATL) — Looks like a starter, now the question is whether I care. Injuries and limited effectiveness have made him mostly unworthy of a roster spot in 12-teamers since 2021.
- Masyn Winn (SS, STL) — Had two fun weeks but has quieted down to a below-replacement option.
- Tristan Gray (SS, MIN) — Some random RBI from the bottom of the Twins’ batting order is cool but not something I’d keep counting on.
- Dansby Swanson (SS, CHC) — Bumped off due to O’Hearn needing to be added in. The slumps have been worse than ever and the position is deep enough that you can move on.
- Brayan Rocchio (SS, CLE) — He’s moved to the heart of the order, but without J-Ram, it’s not much of a batting order.
- Ezequiel Tovar (SS, COL) — Streamer at home.
- Xander Bogaerts (SS, SDP) — I was probably too slow to do this, but he was just so strong to start the season.
Outfield/DH
- Kerry Carpenter (OF, DET) — The premier streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Mike Yastrzemski (OF, ATL) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Owen Caissie (OF, MIA) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Gavin Sheets (1B/OF, SDP) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Luke Raley (OF, SEA) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Jesús Sánchez (OF, TOR) — Streamer who hits in a good spot in the lineup with middling results.
- Henry Bolte (OF, ATH) — Batted ball luck is driving up that batting average. The speed is real, and the early strikeout rate is encouraging, but more of a lottery ticket than a sure-fire contributor outside of the steals.
- Jorge Soler (OF, LAA) — Streaky power streamer.
- Garrett Mitchell (OF, MIL) — Takes walks and has a power-speed blend, but the strikeouts are maddening.
- Steven Kwan (OF, CLE) — There is no path to success with an average exit velocity under 82 mph.
- Dylan Crews (OF, WAS) — A little bit of heat here but still don’t trust it.
- Justin Crawford (OF, PHI) — Lost interest until the walk rate is closer to 10%.
- Joc Pederson (DH, TEX) — The ride is over.
- Leody Taveras (OF, BAL) — A second hot streak in the same half of a season? Weird. I’d feel a lot better about his chances of staying an everyday guy if he could hit lefties (career 73 wRC+ against them).
- Jacob Gonzalez (OF, CWS) — Hit more HR in his first 52 games in triple-A this season then he had in almost 300 games from 2023-2025. Go ahead and stream if you have an open spot and want to roll the dice, but when a player’s HR/FB% was previously below 5% and now it’s above 30%, I’m going to have some healthy skepticism.
- Joshua Baez (OF, STL) — The strikeout rate has mildly improved in June, but this team already carries five guys who can play the corner outfield, and I worry that Baez still has too many holes in his swing to stash (unless you have an open minor league slot).
- Ryan Waldschmidt (OF, ARI) — Demoted. What a bummer. If he cleans up the strikeouts in triple-A, he could be interesting again.
- Ryan Ward (OF, LAD) — The power is legit but I think the hit tool will be an issue.
- Chandler Simpson (OF, TBR) — His last successful stolen base was on May 11, and he hasn’t attempted one since May 25.
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (OF, ARI) — I never know what to expect from him, and in a shallow league I would just avoid the headache entirely.
- Jakob Marsee (OF, MIA) — If you’re desperate for speed, you should consider him part of the last tier.
- Wade Meckler (OF, LAA) — Points league play with limited pop or speed.
- Lawrence Butler (OF, ATH) — Feels like a flash from the favorable environment more than anything else.
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