Apologies for missing last week – needed to focus all my attention on some personal matters.
- 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
- Aaron Judges moves ahead of Shohei Ohtani because it was already EXTREMELY close and Ohtani is getting the day off from hitting when he pitches. No change on outlook for either guy, really. It’s still 1a and 1b. In daily H2H leagues where Ohtani can pitch or hit, he’s still #1.
Tier 2
- Maybe Julio Rodríguez isn’t going to wait until July to remember he’s a superstar? That’d be wonderful.
- Corbin Carroll is hitting everything on the ground lately and that feels more like a fluke than something I need to act on.
- The 29.4% strikeout rate and super low walk rate for Yordan Alvarez over his last eight games is definitely weird, but he has at least one hard-hit ball in all eight of those games (plus seven straight with a batted ball at least 102 mph) and also seems to be the victim of some terrible luck. I’m still all-in.
Tier 3
- Matt Olson is setting the world on fire right now and it’s hard to resist the urge to think this is going to be like 2023 all over again. I doubt he’s quite as prolific as he was in that year, as it took both a surge in fly balls and home run to fly ball rate to really make all those home runs happen, but 40 homers with excellent ratios and over 100 runs and RBI are certainly in reach. That’s something closer to his 2021 season, and is what I’m thinking is the more attainable goal.
- Ben Rice and Drake Baldwin just won’t stop. They’re elite hitters hitting in prime spots in excellent lineups and until they slow down they’ll sit right here. I think Ben Rice is the one with the skills to stay close to this level of production the longest, but don’t freak out if both have a bad month at some point this season.
Tier 4
- It might be time to readjust our floor projections for Fernando Tatis Jr.. On one hand, this current slump is something we’ve seen multiple times before, and isn’t really any worse than the ones that came before. On the other, going back to May 7, 2025 (156 games), Tatis is hitting a pedestrian .250/.351/.388, albeit with 17 home runs and 33 steals. I think there’s still a 25 home run guy in there somewhere, but the prolonged droughts are tough to ignore., especially when it’s been so long since he really went off in the way he has in years past.
- Pete Alonso never really took much of a fall in these rankings because I believed that his slow start was just part of his normal ebb and flow and that a blistering hot streak was on the horizon. Now that’s here, Alonso gets to stay right where he is in the rankings. This is the guy we’ve come to expect. He’ll get his 40 homers and 100+ RBI. Don’t you worry.
- I don’t have a lot of answers regarding Gunnar Henderson, but our own Anthony Licciardi just wrote up a piece on him today that’s worth your time.
- James Wood is striking out a lot again (38.8% in his last 49 plate appearances), but he’s also walking a ton (18.4%) and hitting the ball hard, so let’s just hope for the best right now.
- Welcome back, Jackson Chourio! He already has six hits in his two games back with three doubles, so it’s fair to see he’s good to go as a locked-in part of your lineup.
Tier 5
- Shea Langeliers worried me at the start of the season because the plate discipline was atrocious despite all the home runs. Nowadays, it’s a different story. In his last 16 games, Langeliers has seven walks to nine strikeouts to go with his five home runs, and that was the kind of performance that made his second half last season so exciting. The longer he keeps this up, the more likely I am to buy Langeliers as a top-20 hitter long-term.
- Cal Raleigh’s drop in the ranks is less about long-term concerns with him and more about how fantastic the second tier of draft-day catchers have been. Even if Raleigh goes bonkers (and at some point, he will), it’ll be hard to really differentiate himself from the other catchers who are already going bonkers.
- Josh Naylor is the feature here, but not because he flew up or down the rankings. Quite the opposite, actually: it’s because we stayed the course. Naylor’s long track record of being a solid hitter plus how consistently aggressive he was on the basepaths as a Mariner in 2025 gave us good reason to believe he’d turn this thing around, and sure enough, he’s back on pace for about 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases. The ratios should turn around soon (he’s hitting .333 in his last 20 games), and all will be right with the world. The moral of the story? Don’t panic, folks. Just don’t panic.Oh, and kudos to all who made trades to acquire Naylor as I suggested both in this article and on the Hacks & Jacks podcast, such as my cohost who flipped Cam Smith for him right before that two home run game on April 13.
- Welcome back, Brent Rooker! Rooker is a guy I like as a buy-low candidate based on the questions I saw regarding him prior to his injury. I still think he can get to 30 or more home runs, even having missed some time, and even clear 90 RBI.
Tier 6
- Sal Stewart finally slowed down a bit, but he’s headed back to Great American Ball Park and could very well put on a show during that homestand.
- Byron Buxton got off to a slow start and then exploded. That’s why he never fell that far in these ranks, and why he’s not flying up them now.
- Ditto Jazz Chisholm Jr., who has always been remarkably streaky. As it turns out, Statcast sliders are going to look very blue when you’re struggling to start the season, and track record is important to determine if this is still within his normal range of outcomes for this size of a sample. Don’t just see blue sliders and panic, folks. Don’t be that shallow.
- Andy Pages just had a monster game, which does a lot to help offset the incredibly average 20-game stretch he had been on that featured a line of .250/.300/.306 with zero home runs, four steals, and just 17 combined runs and RBI. That one game slid him into the top-50, and the overall performance solidifies my belief that he can either repeat or even build upon his 2025 numbers.
- CJ Abrams had an ugly two-week stretch where he posted a .143 batting average and slugged just .238, but has sharply reversed that course in the last seven games. Multiple extended slumps have hurt Abrams in each of the last few seasons, so seeing him bounce back so quickly is an exciting development.
- Munetaka Murakami is an awesome story but don’t ignore the red flags entirely. While more than a few have done what he is doing for a month or two (namely, a 37.8% home run to fly ball rate), virtually no one has done it for a full season. Barry Bonds posted a rate that high one time (2001, of course), but even he didn’t routinely have a HR/FB rate over 30%. The question isn’t whether he will slow down, but what he will look like when he does and how quickly does he rebound. For a player with Murakami’s profile, those slumps can be soul-crushing in batting average leagues, though if the peaks continue to look like this for a few weeks at a time, it’s more than worth it.
- Austin Riley is showing just enough signs of life to stay in this tier for another week.
Tier 7
- “What do I do with Rafael Devers?” The answer to that questions, in the vast majority of cases, nothing. He can’t really be traded, since trading guys who are ice cold generally draws little interest, and the upside is too high to let him go. Devers has been this bad before and rebounded well (see below), and that rebounding version is better than anything on the wire or that you’d get on the market. It’s hard to do nothing, but yet again, track record matters. It is the top informer of every projection system, and the reason why is because it’s the most predictive thing we have for veteran players.
- Maikel Garcia is doing something, finally, though it’s not as much as we’d hope. The stuff under the hood looks similar to years past, and he did log three steals in his last 12 games. Perhaps he never will truly unlock his power upside and his speed upside in the same same season (which would look like a 20 home run, 40 steal guy with solid ratios and 100 runs scored), but even a guy who hits 15 homers and steals 25 bases is well worth the price we paid on draft day considering the versatility.
- The strikeouts combined with the lack of walks makes Oneil Cruz an incredibly risky player who still looks prone to extended slumps that crush all of the good things he is doing, but while he remains a leadoff guy who is putting up stats we just hold our nose and watch the highlights.
- You’d never know it from the year after year of remarkably consistent stat lines, but Ian Happ is surprisingly streaky. And I don’t mean in a week-to-week kind of way, I mean in extended stretches. He will have 4-6 week stretches in any given season where he hits barely over .200 and/or slugs well below .350 only to end up with something like a .240/.340/.440 line. There’s not a ton of upside here, but the theme of this article should be clear: trust the track record. Enjoy these high moments from Happ, as they’ll come with painfully low moments, but in the end he’ll do his thing and you’ll be glad you stuck it out.
- Whoa Ozzie Albies, I see ya. The craziest thing about Albies is that even when he’s on an absolutely scorching hot streak, Statcast is relatively unimpressed. Over his last 18 games, Albies has an astonishing 1.098 OPS with four home runs, seven doubles, and more walks than strikeouts…but just four barrels and a 30.2% hard-hit rate. While Baseball Savant’s expected stats believe he’s overperforming his xwOBA by a whopping 79 points (the second-highest mark in the league), while our Pitcher List xwOBA, which factors in ball direction, believes he’s overperforming his xwOBA by only 36 points (which is still a lot, but doesn’t scream a massive correction is coming). Albies’ strong plate discipline and his move to the second spot in the lineup give him significant counting stat upside even if the power falls off a bit, and while he doesn’t run like he used to, Albies could find himself finishing safely inside the top-40 hitters for the first time since 2023.
- Don’t look now but Pete Crow-Armstrong is heating up. PCA is a much harder player to hold since he doesn’t have nearly the track record of the guys I’ve discussed earlier, but three homers and three steals with 19 combined runs and RBI with a .904 OPS in his last 15 games is more than enough to string me along for a few more weeks.
- Ivan Herrera should get to the full 20 games at catcher by the end of the month, and he has top-40 hitter upside. The main thing holding him back right now is the elevated injury risk (his 115 games between triple-A and MLB were the highest of his career at any level by a wide margin).
- Salvador Perez is piling up hits and looks fine. Track record.
Tier 8
- Taylor Ward is taking oodles of walks and I expect some better stats in the future, but he drops a bit here because one home run through 36 games makes the path to 30+ homers extremely difficult to see.
- Jo Adell hasn’t been close to the power provider we hoped for so far this season, but the strikeout rate isn’t scary at all. He is long overdue for a home run bender and once we see how that turns out we can reassess what to think of him, as I just don’t see any major red flags right now under the hood apart from his quality of contact being just a bit off.
- Seeing Jordan Walker stop his slump before he hit the basement was a big step compared to prior seasons. He’s still hitting a lot of grounders (47.4% over his last 15 games), but he’s cut down the strikeouts in a big way in his last five and is taking some walks, so there’s plenty of bright light at the end of the tunnel. I know many of you want to see him in the top 50 or higher, but for now he’s more of a solid hold and a guy to be excited about. It will take more than one month for me to believe in him at that level after so many games of frustrating ground ball rates and slumps.
- There you are, Konnor Griffin! We’re finally seeing the extra-base pop and he’s slashing a robust .395/.458/.651 since his bounce house birthday. He’s also started to get the ball in the air a but more too, though at the moment he’s hitting a lot of balls right to dead center, which is a tough place to hit a ball out of the yard at PNC Park. The upside is very visible, though, and that’s all we can ask for right now.
- Jose Altuve is not looking great right now and eventually his age will catch up with him. That said, he had some low points like this last season and rebounded, plus he looked solid for the first 20 games of 2026, so I don’t want to panic too much. Yes, I dropped him over 20 spots, but he’s still quite a distance from the line where you start thinking about dropping him or something.
- Welcome back, George Springer! He’s back in at leadoff, which entices me to give him a shot, but it may not be long before I ponder a steep drop in the ranks. There’s only so long I can wait for an outfielder, and while Springer does have a long track record, most of it is more above-average than great.
- Vinnie Pasquantino is stringing some hits together and that’s good news. I’m not ready to move him back up after that fall a few weeks ago, but signs are at least pointing up instead of down.
Tier 9
- Bo Bichette looks a lot like he did before the start of second half last season, and that’s not a good thing at all. I had hoped the prolonged stretch of fantastic results were a sign that Bichette had shaken whatever dogged his power from really the second half of 2023 to the end of the first half last season, but maybe that was a bit premature. The only reason I didn’t drop him further is that this might just be a random ground ball spike that corrects itself and turns him back into a high-average 20 homer guy, but I’m officially concerned.
- Willy Adames’s track record suggests he’s going to explode as soon as enough of you cut him and be a top-five shortstop for the rest of the season. Hey, I don’t make the rules. More seriously, this early slump is, in terms of wOBA, as bad as the worst 20-game stretch he had in 2025, and the overall shape of the rolling chart is eerily similar to his 2025 so far. I’m going so far as to say he’s a buy-low candidate (mostly because he’s a buy-free candidate as many are dropping him), but if you have the room for some temporary dead weight, this is not a bad bet.
- I was extremely worried about Jarren Duran, and rightfully so as he was getting platooned and all kinds of scary stuff, but it seems he found whatever he needed to turn things back around. There’s not a high ceiling here, but Duran should be able to get back to a pace of something like 16-18 home runs, 25 steals, 85 runs scored, and a batting average that doesn’t hurt you.
- Isaac Paredes will be a full-time bat this season, though not quite the way anyone would have liked. Still, he’s been finding his groove at the plate and I still think he could threaten 30 homers with his friendly home park.
- Kazuma Okamoto looked utterly dreadful with all of those strikeouts, then apparently decided he would rather hit bombs instead. Far more importantly, though, is that he finally stopped striking out constantly. While the power will definitely fade (I see more of a 25-30 home run bat here, when you account for the fact he already has 10), the improved discipline and contact should level out to a solid third baseman, assuming he holds on to it.
- Chase DeLauter’s plate discipline is exciting, and he’d be ranked higher if not for the insane injury history he suffered in the minors.
- It appears that Roman Anthony will avoid the IL after scans showed a sprained wrist and not something worse. Hopefully this time off helps him find whatever it is Duran found so that he can turn things back around. Anthony’s upside is higher than Duran’s if he can find the 20-25 home run power we all think could be in his bat, but if he doesn’t, he’ll at least need to keep hitting third to pile up counting stats and hopefully pump his ratios up using his plus-plus plate discipline.
- Geraldo Perdomo is still a useful fantasy contributor but he continues to looks nothing like the guy he was last season, at least from a stat line perspective.
- I don’t think you can cut Matt Chapman yet due to the low replacement level at third, but I see why you want to. Track record, right? RIGHT?!
Tier 10
At this point, you can start to consider players expendable in 10-12 team leagues based on your needs and what’s on your wire. I’m not excited about cutting any of these guys and wouldn’t do it for a guy like , but if there’s upside you want to chase and one of these guys isn’t providing what you need, you can consider moving on.
- I don’t pretend to understand what is happening with Carlos Cortes, but I do know one thing: players who are above average at all three Process+ metrics are exciting, and that’s what Cortes is doing. A guy who is nearly 29 completely changing his plate discipline and becoming basically a totally new hitter isn’t impossible, though it is extremely rare, especially over a longer period. Still, it’s worth an extended stream at the very least. There’s no way to use stats to distinguish between hot and good, as they look exactly the same in the moment. We won’t know until we have a longer track record, especially one that includes slumps and rebounds. Until then, though, I’d hold and see if there’s something special here, despite the historical record telling us that the odds are low.
- Miguel Vargas showed flashes at time last season but still spent most of his days as a guy with a sub-.700 OPS. Still, he’s eligible at third and some guys around him are hitting.
- Ramón Laureano might just be in a regular slump, but I still struggle to understand exactly how he was so good last year so my willingness to be patient is limited, especially at a position as deep as outfield.
- Adley Rutschman has been up-and-down the last few seasons, and while he won’t play as many games as he used to with the emergence of Basallo, he could absolutely still be a catcher who threatens 20 home runs and 75 RBI.
- Dillon Dingler doesn’t DH like some of the catchers at the top of the pool, but he continues to get hits. He should be just good enough at everything else enough to stay relevant as a set-and-forget catcher.
- Brandon Marsh doesn’t have a high ceiling, but a guy who can hit .280-.290 with 15 homers has value, especially if he can continue to hit fifth for the Phillies and keep the strikeouts down.
- Chandler Simpson is either very useful to you or not really useful at all, which makes ranking him an odd exercise. He’s going to hit .300 and swipe 50 bases, but also sit against lefties when he’s cold and hit zero home runs with fewer than 35 RBI.
- José Caballero gets a big boost with Volpe hitting the minors. He’s also an odd fit on some teams, as he has very limited power and doesn’t get many counting stats, but he does steal a bunch of bases and can play most positions. His overall value is very similar to Simpson, though a lot of that is because he helps you less in average and runs while also hurting you less in power being available at positions that are a lot harder to replace than OF.
- Trevor Story is streaky, but this is getting ridiculous. I suppose if he wasn’t also an injury risk I’d be more patient here, but he’s hitting for really no power at all and things are getting worse. In the case of Adames, I can point to success in each of the last several seasons, but with Story, 2025 was his first season with at least 140 games, 17 home runs, 60 runs scored, 70 RBI, or 15 steals since 2021 (yes, mostly because of injury, but still). The track record from 2022 to 2024 is as depressing as it gets, and it is enough for me to consider moving on if there’s something on the wire.
Tier 11
- Casey Schmitt flashed for a month or so last season before turning back into a pumpkin, and his overall body of work in the majors is uninspiring to say the least (even when you factor in his strong start). Still, he’s eligible at second and third, and he’s one of the few players actually hitting by the Bay. Go ahead and stream away, though I’m more skeptical than optimistic in the long term outlook.
- Do you know what to do with Kyle Stowers? I sure don’t. There’s a lot of power upside here, enough to be a top-75 hitter or better, but I haven’t decided how long I’d wait for it. I suppose it depends on how deep the wire is! If multiple outfielders from Tier 10 and 11 are there, I may not wait all that long.
- Colt Keith gets to hit third and should play quite a bit with the injuries in Detroit, so might as well keep holding him if you have him. He has a fairly high floor compared to some of the other bats in this tier at second and third.
- Bryson Stott is known for looking like an elite hitter for three or four weeks at a time and then like a platoon guy for two or three months at a time. It balances out pretty well considering the lack of talent at second base for fantasy, especially because he runs.
- No, I’m not much of a believer in Ildemaro Vargas, but that doesn’t really matter in terms of actions. If you have him, keep holding. If he’s on the wire, go ahead. If he’s on someone else’s team, leave it be.
- Jakob Marsee can steal a lot of bases, but if he’s going to hit this poorly I don’t really care. I’ll change my mind if he stops hitting so many fly balls to the middle of the outfield grass.
- Mickey Moniak is a streamer, that’s it. He just also happens to be really hot right now. It all balances out into something kind of decent, but the reality is a lot of high highs and devastating lows.
- Mauricio Dubón is getting hits again and the offense is blazing hot. It may get complicated when Kim returns, but for now he can keep filling in at whatever infield spot you’ve plugged him into.
- Brooks Lee probably isn’t going to stay ranked, but a hot-hitting middle infielder on an overperforming offense is usually worth a stream to at least a couple of teams in each league.
Tier 12
- This is just a tier of either guys who have taken a huge fall in the rankings or guys who I think are short-term streams that I’d prioritize over the rest of the Taxi Squad.
- Jake Burger has power and nothing else.
- I’m really concerned about Luke Keaschall’s upside. The power was never great, but I thought he’d at least rope some doubles with a bit of regularity. If second base wasn’t a wasteland, he’d hit the Taxi Squad.
- J.P. Crawford, Ernie Clement, and Jung Hoo Lee would be a tier higher in points.
- JJ Bleday would be a tier higher in OBP.
- Nathaniel Lowe got cut by some real bad teams last year, so the floor is the basement, but he’s kind of hot and worth a look at home.
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 the order they’d likely appear on the list if activated.
Catcher
- Alejandro Kirk (C, TOR) — Should be back by the end of the month and is a suitable backend catcher.
First Base
- None
Second Base
- Jackson Holliday (2B, BAL) — Very scared now. Hamate bone injuries aren’t a big deal UNLESS there are setbacks. When we see setbacks, the outcomes get a lot worse.
- Jorge Polanco (2B/3B, NYM) — He can be dropped in most 10-12 teamers, though keep him on your watch list as he could get hot eventually.
- Gleyber Torres (2B, DET) — Not doing much besides padding ratios but at second base that might be enough to stay on the back of the list, assuming the Tigers offense doesn’t fall apart. Needs to be at the top of the order, though.
- Ha-Seong Kim (2B/SS, ATL) — Getting close to the end of his rehab, and if given a starting role he could do enough to be a backend second baseman thanks to the speed. Certainly not a given, though.
Third Base
- Eugenio Suárez (3B, CIN) — Oblique issues can be a little scary but he seems to have avoided any major issue. Easy hold despite the slow start, as streakiness is just part of the package.
- Jordan Westburg (2B/3B, BAL) — Won’t be back until at least June.
- Brendan Donovan (2B/3B/SS/OF, SEA) — Worried about the shifting return dates, so keeping an eye on the rehab.
- Jordan Lawlar (3B/OF, ARI) — Finally gets an opportunity only to have injury snatch it away. He’s on the 60-day IL and I’m not holding in mixed redraft leagues.
Shortstop
- Francisco Lindor (SS, NYM) — It’s his first trip to the IL since August of 2021. Amazing. No long term concerns here, he just has a bum calf.
- Mookie Betts (SS, LAD) — Smooth sailing so far with this oblique issue.
- Jeremy Peña (SS, HOU) — A mild hammy injury will keep him out for a bit longer, but nothing long-term to worry about.
Outfield/DH
- Ronald Acuña Jr. (OF, ATL) — A Grade 1 strain is the best kind, so hopefully this is just a few weeks.
- Christian Yelich (OF, MIL) — He’ll miss at least a month, but hey, at least it’s not his back!
- Wyatt Langford (OF, TEX) — One of the most frustrating young players I can think of. As soon as he starts to get rolling, he either gets hurt or the season ends. Some of you in 10- or 12-teamers with three outfield spots, very limited IL spots, and some injured players with more priority have a tough decision to make. Unless your IL is very small or you’re very unlucky, I’d try to hold.
- Luis Robert Jr. (OF, NYM) — Shouldn’t be on the shelf too much longer. I like that the strikeouts have stayed down, but there’s not much else to get excited about at the moment.
- Giancarlo Stanton (OF, NYY) — If you only have two IL spots, he’s not a must-keep.
Taxi Squad
Players are listed by position and in no particular order.
Catcher
- Austin Wells (C, NYY) — Love the walks and he’s been unlucky with batted balls. Viable second catcher.
- Gabriel Moreno (C, ARI) — Points league catcher.
- Dalton Rushing (C, LAD) — Hard to find playing time, hard to stay hot when you don’t play.
First Base
- Andrew Vaughn (1B, MIL) — He’s back and just outside the list.
- Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Spencer Horwitz (1B, PIT) — Replacement-level first baseman in points and OBP leagues.
- Gavin Sheets (1B/OF, SDP) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Coby Mayo (1B/3B, BAL) — Not looking good.
- Jake Bauers (1B/OF, MIL) — Still showing decent value by scoring a boatload of runs lately but definitely someone I’d be trying to replace (especially in standard leagues)
- Dominic Smith (1B, ATL) — Not playing enough to hold.
- Bryce Eldridge (1B, SFG) — Huge power here, but contact issues have been a consistent issue in the big leagues (and minors, frankly).
- Spencer Steer (1B/OF, CIN) — Not a huge fan of the overall skill set but can be streamed at home.
- Mark Vientos (1B, NYM) — Nice little hot streak if you need a streamer, but that’s all this is.
- Nolan Schanuel (1B, LAA) — Points league streamer.
Second Base
- Brett Baty (2B/3B, NYM) — This was his opportunity to win a job and it has been squandered.
- Andrés Giménez (2B/SS, TOR) — Bats last, but has a little bit of speed. Not the worst short-term replacement in 12-teamers.
- Luisangel Acuña (2B, CHW) — Drop.
- Cole Young (2B, SEA) — The plate discipline has improved, but there’s just not that much category juice in this bat.
- Nick Gonzales (2B/3B, PIT) — He should be eligible at third on most sites now (10 appearances), and he’s knocking on the door to shortstop eligibility too. This really only matters in very deep leagues, though, as the upside is too low to make an impact in 10-12-teamers.
- David Hamilton (2B/SS, MIL) — Middle infielder who plays most of the time and steals bases. Might be slightly more interesting if he keeps walking.
- Edouard Julien (1B/2B, COL) — Streamer at home.
- Willi Castro (2B/3B/OF, COL) — Not enough upside to hold him while he’s both cold and on the road.
- Matt McLain (2B/SS, CIN) — If you still roster him I guess you can hold on for this homestand just to see if he can do anything, but he’s been dropped to the bottom of the order and done little outside of those five steals.
- Jeff McNeil (2B/OF, ATH) — He sits against a lot of lefties and there’s little overall upside to speak of, but can be streamed for a short time in points or if you’re desperate for ratios.
- Luis García Jr. (2B, WAS) — Platooned, somewhat injured, and not performing.
- Jeremiah Jackson (2B/OF, BAL) — He fell off hard like this in 2025 and never recovered, which is concerning.
- Brice Matthews (2B/OF, HOU) — Just a hot streak, but he’s eligible at second base so why not.
Third Base
- Alec Bohm (3B, PHI) — Deep leaguers have to hold him for the volume and lineup spot but I’m moving on in 12-teamers. He’ll likely have one or two good months during the season, but it’s not worth waiting for in shallow leagues.
- Caleb Durbin (2B/3B, BOS) — No need to keep holding.
Shortstop
- Colt Emerson (SS, SEA) — He’ll need to get fully healthy from his foot injury, but with a contract, there aren’t many other reasons to keep him down.
- Nasim Nuñez (SS, WSN) — Speed streamer.
- Hyeseong Kim (2B/SS, LAD) — Mostly a speed streamer, though I like the improved walk rate so far.
- Ezequiel Tovar (SS, COL) — Can’t keep waiting for something to happen. What a bummer.
- Anthony Volpe (SS, NYY) — I certainly did not expect this outcome, where he was activated then demoted. I guess if he shows signs that he can hit above .200, then he could be interesting again.
Outfield/DH
- Cedric Mullins (OF, TBR) — This rough start is not the path to being more than a platoon guy in Tampa.
- TJ Friedl (OF, CIN) — He’s not much of a hitter, but he leads off for a decent offense with a fantastic home park.
- Mike Yastrzemski (OF, ATL) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Matt Wallner (OF, MIN) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Josh Lowe (OF, LAA) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Luke Raley (1B/OF, SEA) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Dominic Canzone (OF, SEA) — Streaky lefty platoon guy.
- Jake McCarthy (OF, COL) — I am certain he cannot hit, but he can run.
- Brenton Doyle (OF, COL) — He’ll be a streamer at home unless something changes.
- Jordan Beck (OF, COL) — He’ll be a streamer at home unless something changes.
- Kyle Isbel (OF, KCR) — Batting ninth for the Royals is bad for fantasy.
- Owen Caissie (OF, MIA) — The strikeouts are untenable at the moment.
- Christian Yelich (OF, MIL) — He’ll miss at least a month, but hey, at least it’s not his back!
- Noelvi Marte (OF, CIN) — Hot in the minors but that doesn’t really change my mind much. Need to see it in the bigs.
- Tyler O’Neill (OF, BAL) — He’s back and still just an extremely streaky and injury-prone streamer.
- Sal Frelick (OF, MIL) — Not leading off or playing every day, so I’ll pass.
- Jacob Young (OF, WAS) — Young has been just a slap-and-run type of player so far in his career, but an interesting article by Anthony Licciardi shows that there might be a little more to his profile. I’m not huge on buying into swing changes for long-term growth, but his speed gives him a chance to be someone who provides a plus average with plenty of speed, and the glove keeps him in the lineup.
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (OF, ARI) — Streaky as heck, but hits in the middle of the order for the Diamondbacks. Deep leaguers will appreciate him a lot more than you will in a 10-12 teamer as he’s mostly just a replacement-level volume guy.
- Adolis García (OF, PHI) — At some point he probably has a hot streak that gets him back on the list, but I’m not waiting for it.
- Carson Benge (OF, NYM) — It would have been cool if he kept leading off, but it was not to be. The limited upside compared to other rookies makes Benge a tough hold outside of dynasty and NL-only.
- Justin Crawford (OF, PHI) — It’s hard to hold on to a guy who is only giving you ratios while batting ninth. Without the steals, there’s nothing here to chase.
- Marcell Ozuna (UT, PIT) — He’s still got a little left in the tank but he’s hard to roster unless you have two UT spots and no one else demanding them.
- Jesús Sánchez (OF, TOR) — Streamer who hits in a good spot in the lineup with middling results.
- Lawrence Butler (OF, ATH) — Fully platooned now. No thanks.
- Yohendrick Piñango (OF, TOR) — Leading off against righties for an offense that should be better than this has my attention, though the profile itself is, as the kids would say, mid.
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