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 changes here either!
José Ramírez has been rather lackluster lately, but it is entirely normal and not actionable.
Since June 1, Elly De La Cruz has a 12.5% walk rate and a 17.9% strikeout rate. Both the decision-making and contact abilities have trended upward. As you’ll see in the chart below, Elly’s decision-making and contact are really much better than average even after the gains, but as I’ve said in the past, they don’t need to be as his power and speed combo will make his star shine bright as long as he isn’t shooting himself in the foot.
Check out this great piece on James Wood by our own Adam Salorino!
Bobby Witt Jr. is finally starting to heat up, with 23 hits in his last 16 games, including 11 extra-base knocks and a pair of stolen bases. He’s slugging over .600 in this stretch, and there’s still hope he gives us a summer to remember like he did in 2024.
Tier 3
Cal Raleigh sneaks into the top 10 because how could I not?
Fernando Tatis Jr. is showing us great plate discipline of late, but the power is WAY down, though he did have two batted balls over 100 mph on Wednesday. In the 16 games before Wednesday night, that average exit velocity was under 88 mph, which is roughly five ticks below what it was in 2024 and four ticks below what it was so far this season.
Tier 4
Pete Crow-Armstrong has seen his ratios dip throughout the month of June, but we already expected that to happen. If all PCA does is repeat his June for the next three months, he’ll finish with a chance to hit 40 home runs and steal 50 bases. Of course, repeating his June is no small task, as the six home runs he hit were still two more than he had in any month back in 2024, and the eight steals would have been the second-highest. Still, even if the pace slows down yet another gear, he remains a fantastic fantasy contributor.
Riley Greene has carried the Tigers’ offense and will earn his first All-Star Game start as a reward. As I’ve been saying, the contact ability will fluctuate wildly due to his extreme uppercut swing that can be exploited by certain pitchers, but he’s going to close those holes up and be a star, just you wait. Oh, and the power has been incredible all season long and just keeps going up. This ranking is aggressive, sure, but he’s been the 12th-best hitter this season per the Fangraphs Player Rater, and the last time he had a negative week was back in April.
Rafael Devers has been uninspiring for a few weeks now, dating back to well before the trade to the Giants. It’s got the flavor of a normal slump at the moment, though, so I’m not terribly worried. The one nagging thought in my mind is that he continues to have these steep upticks in strikeout rate that we didn’t see in years past.
Tier 5
Gunnar Henderson has hit the ball much harder over the course of the last week, including two home runs and a double. There’s still a ways to go to be the top-10 hitter he was in 2024, but he looks closer to it right now than he did two weeks ago.
Junior Caminero’s ground ball rate is creeping back up, and an important test to his fantasy upside is how quickly he can reverse that trend and how long he can continue to sustain a rate below 50%. The 20-game rolling chart looks extremely promising and is exactly what I want to see, so long as the next spike is better than the previous ones.
Tier 6
I still have faith Jackson Merrill can turn it around, though part of that may be that he proved me consistently wrong for most of last season, and I want to get in on the ground floor this time.
Corey Seager now has five home runs in 11 games with 11 runs scored and 10 RBI, and it’s exactly the guy we’ve been waiting for.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. continues to take plenty of walks and hit a ton of balls in the air, and that’s a perfect combination when you play for these Yankees.
Another dismal week, and we might see a more aggressive tumble for Austin Riley.
Tier 7
There was a time in April when Andy Pages was on the verge of losing his job to make room for other promising youngsters, but here we are, looking at a guy who seems well on his way to a 30-home run season with a strong batting average and maybe even 100 RBI.
I told J.R., the fantastic designer behind the Hitter List graphic, that we need to feature Buxton while we can, so we’re doing it. If Buxton didn’t have his extensive injury history, he’d be inside the top-20, likely atop Tier 3 ahead of Greene and PCA. It’s awesome to see Buxton stealing bases at a pace we haven’t seen since 2019, and he’s only nine home runs away from his career high set back in 2022. Underlying batted ball metrics absolutely support the success Buxton is having, and to top it all off, he brought the strikeout rate WAY down in June (just 16.5%!). As great as this all is to watch, we’d be remiss if we did not remember that this is Byron Buxton, a player who has not appeared in more than 65% of his team’s games since 2017 (not even in 2020).I don’t believe Buxton is a good trade candidate due to the risk, and hey, it’s not as though he’s never played 140 games before. Sure, he hasn’t ever played in 141, but that’s beside the point. The point is that Buxton is a phenomenal player when healthy, and he’s healthy right now. Instead of trying to trade him for pennies on the dollar, my advice would be instead to be sure to acquire a backup plan now for your outfield. For example, if you are relying on the speed, perhaps throwing an offer out there for Dylan Crews would be prudent? Or, if we had ANY idea what was going on in Houston with Yordan Alvarez, you could make a pitch for his services to replace the power should Buxton go down. Wyatt Langford also stands out as a possible target due to his slumping performance prior to the injury. Just food for thought!
William Contreras isn’t hitting home runs yet, but the exit velocity is slowly rising as he seemingly recovers from that wrist issue.
I was not giving Eugenio Suárez the respect he deserves due to his extreme volatility, so I’ve corrected that.
Tier 8
Goodness gracious, Max Muncy. He’ll have dud weeks now and again due to his limited contact ability, but he makes consistently excellent decisions at the dish and the power, while slow to come around, has fully revealed itself.
Tier 9
Randy Arozarena is streaky, and that’s just something we need to be prepared for. It is easy enough to handle in roto leagues, but head-to-head players will find it frustrating, even though in the end you come out well ahead.
Nick Kurtz will keep hitting home runs and striking out a lot because he’s not that great at making contact. When he does, though, hoo boy.
Heliot Ramos is another example of a big power bat with good decision-making and bad contact ability. Hopefully, he breaks the slump quickly, though this archetype does not always do that as quickly as you’d hope. The lows can get painfully low, though the dizzying highs make it worth it.
Tier 10
I had been patient with Jose Altuve, but his continued low output forces me to drop him a few tiers. This offense badly needs Yordan Alvarez back, in my opinion, and yet the Astros can’t seem to remember how to deal with injured players.
George Springer has been hitting like a man possessed, and this kind of outburst will help a lot when he goes through his next slump, as we are able to freshly recall what Springer can still be when he’s on.
Jo Adell’s quick recovery from a mini-slump driven by strikeouts is more impressive to me than the home runs.
Bryan Reynolds and really the entire Pirate offense have looked very different this last week, and I don’t know what to make of it.
Tier 11
This tier has a net change of +14
Marcell Ozuna just ain’t getting it done. I thought the return of a star at the top of the order would give Ozuna more to hit and more to drive out of the park, but it’s just not there. This fall would be less severe in OBP formats, but still, we took Ozuna for power, and he doesn’t seem to have it right now.
Spencer Torkelson is a weak spot for me, but at least he isn’t making me look stupid yet.
Salvador Perez hasn’t been a complete waste of a roster spot, but catcher is as deep as ever, and without a power outburst soon, he may fall below the streaming line (though I understand that for many of you out there he already has, based on what options may have come available).
Marcus Semien was perhaps the worst regular in fantasy for April and May (and for the three or four months at the end of 2024), and has been one of the best in June. As much as I want to fully believe in what we saw in June, that was a LONG slump, and it’s not easily explained by injury or other circumstances.
Brendan Donovan had a yucky June, and if not for the fact that he leads off and is eligible at second base, he would have fallen further.
Tier 12
This tier has a net change of +13
Welcome back, Shea Langeliers! Langeliers has a bunch of power and all the streakiness you’d expect to come with it, but should be a locked-in catcher for you in 12-team formats.
I really hope we get more juice out of Luis Arraez in the leadoff spot. It has been a quietly disappointing campaign for him thus far.
It was a rough June for Austin Wells, and while I expect the batting average to stay below .230, the OPS should go back to safely above .700 in short order (.647 in June). A .700 OPS might not sound impressive, but for a catcher, it’s noteworthy.
Tier 13
This tier has a net change of +11
Adolis García is among the top risers this week as he’s been a top-50 hitter over the last 30 days after taking a huge drop when he was benched for poor performance. He responded to that event quite well and now deserves his old place back in the ranks.
Caleb Durbin has an 11-game on-base streak going with a ton of balls in play, and while the ceiling isn’t particularly high with his low power and slap-hitting approach, the floor is solid, especially in points and OBP formats.
Tommy Edman is still an everyday player for the Dodgers, but he continues to slide down the batting order, and if not for his second-base eligibility and the fact that he was so strong to start the year, he’d have fallen an additional tier.
Tier 14
This tier has a net change of +11
Jung Hoo Lee had a solid game on Wednesday night, but the fact remains that he’s been a sandbag in all formats for an entire month, and while we’ve seen flashes of his talent in the majors, we haven’t ever really seen him be successful for more than two months at a time (he was injured last season, which perhaps makes this state unfair but still true). If he can get back to the top third of the batting order, he can move back up in a hurry.
Chandler Simpson can move up one or two tiers for you if you need speed and be almost entirely disregarded if you don’t.
Is this finally the turning point for Cam Smith? We’ve said this a few times now, but eventually it’s gotta be true.
Welcome to the list, Otto Lopez! He has exploded over his last 11 games heading into Wednesday’s action with 17 hits, 25 combined runs and RBI, excellent plate discipline, and two home runs with a stolen base. Lopez’s talent starts and ends with his hit tool and speed, but those two tools can make quite a bit of fantasy success even when you’re a Marlin. As some mild words of caution, Lopez’s 35.3% infield hit rate during this stretch and his 15.4% home run to fly ball rate are highly unlikely to continue, but even as they regress to the mean, he can still be a productive, useful fantasy contributor at the keystone.
Trevor Story has horrible plate discipline, and that’s going to lead to bad ratios and high volatility, but he hits home runs and steals bases, so why not enjoy it just a little?
It looked like Lars Nootbaar might be turning a corner, but unfortunately, he wasn’t and still finds himself far from the top of the lineup and also on the bench against lefties. He’s trending to be removed from the list by next week.
Wilyer Abreu is getting a bit of playing time and is hot if you need a streamer in the outfield, as his hot streaks are quite productive. The slump will be coming, though, and for him, they can be long and painful enough that you’ll move on until he shows signs of life again.
Tier 15
No player fell further than Paul Goldschmidt, and that’s what happens when you have a 47 wRC+ in June and start sitting twice a week. The ratios have been strong, but the counting stats aren’t there, and they aren’t going to come while batting sixth on most of his starts. He’ll make a considerable jump if something were to happen to Rice or Stanton, but until then, they all hurt each other’s fantasy upside.
Jurickson Profar hit a home run in his return, so people will be very excited. I am not really one of them, as my memory looks back to many years as an underwhelming fantasy contributor for the vast majority of his long career. Still, he’s a decent streaming candidate in the event his 2024 was something more than a random career year (which happens a lot more than you’d think).
I never thought Gary Sánchez would be here again, but his hard-swinging ways have brought us back to this. He actually had a few of these hot streaks in 2024 before plummeting back to earth for equally as long. My guess is he falls off in a week or two, but he’s a fine streamer at catcher when hot, and this was a good opportunity to illustrate how charts can give perspective. Cue the rolling chart!
I will continue to assert that Austin Hays is a streaky, aggressive hitter with a floor too low to chase the ceiling over a full season, but he’s streamable at home.
You can cut Ben Rice and Tyler Soderstrom if you haven’t already. I symbolically rank Ben Rice ahead as I believe more in his talent, but the loss of playing time will likely continue, and his catcher eligibility isn’t really that useful for most managers in a 12-teamer who already have a better one.
Speaking of Tyler Soderstrom, his last extra-base hit was on June 5.
Spencer Horwitz has moved into the leadoff role and is a sneaky play for ratios, especially OBP leagues. He was quite interesting with the Blue Jays last season and could be almost as interesting in Pittsburgh.
Kyle Stowers will bounce on and off this list until he shows better zone contact or falls apart entirely.
Rank
Hitter
Position
Change
1Shohei OhtaniT1DH-2Aaron JudgeOF-3José RamírezT23B-4Elly De La CruzSS-5Kyle TuckerOF-6Juan SotoOF-7James WoodOF-8Bobby Witt Jr.SS-9Ronald Acuña Jr.T3OF-10Cal RaleighC+111Kyle SchwarberOF, DH-112Francisco LindorSS-13Pete Alonso1B-14Fernando Tatis Jr.OF-15Pete Crow-ArmstrongT4OF+116Riley GreeneOF+217Rafael Devers3B-218Vladimir Guerrero Jr.1B, 3B+319Jackson ChourioOF-20Ketel Marte2B-321Bryce Harper1B+UR22Trea TurnerSS+123Manny Machado3B-324Brent RookerT5OF, DH-25Will SmithC+226Seiya SuzukiOF-127Gunnar HendersonSS+528Josh Naylor1B-29Junior Caminero3B+130Freddie Freeman1B-831Julio RodríguezOF-532Oneil CruzT6SS, OF+133Christian YelichOF+534Matt Olson1B-335Jackson MerrillOF-636CJ AbramsSS+137Corey SeagerSS+1738Mike TroutOF+239Jazz Chisholm Jr.3B, OF+640Austin Riley3B-441Cody Bellinger1B, OF+642Mookie BettsT72B, SS, OF-343Teoscar HernándezOF+144Andy PagesOF+1145Byron BuxtonOF+2046Brice Turang2B+547William ContrerasC-1348Jarren DuranOF-749Willson ContrerasC-650Zach NetoSS-851Eugenio Suárez3B+2252Taylor WardT8OF+753Ian HappOF+554Steven KwanOF-255Jonathan Aranda1B+556Isaac Paredes1B, 3B-657Maikel Garcia2B, 3B+558Michael Busch1B+1259Hunter GoodmanC, OF+1560Max Muncy3B+2661Brandon NimmoT9OF+662Randy ArozarenaOF+1963Jacob WilsonSS-1064Lawrence ButlerOF-365Brandon Lowe1B, 2B+1966Nick Kurtz1B+1267Gleyber Torres2B+468Vinnie Pasquantino1B+469Yandy Díaz1B+670Heliot RamosOF-1471Dansby SwansonT10SS+572Jose Altuve2B-2473George SpringerOF+2674Jo AdellOF+2175Geraldo PerdomoSS+1376Bryan ReynoldsOF+777Nick CastellanosOF+1378Nico Hoerner2B, SS+1379Bo BichetteSS-1180Marcell OzunaT11DH-2381Spencer Torkelson1B-282Salvador PerezC, 1B-3683Marcus Semien2B+2484Jordan BeckOF+1485Yainer DiazC+286Victor Scott IIOF+687Masyn WinnSS+1488Nathaniel Lowe1B+1589Jackson Holliday2B-90Brendan Donovan2B, 3B, OF-2791Luis García Jr.T122B+1592Shea LangeliersC+UR93Luis Arraez1B, 2B-894Agustín RamírezC+1595Logan O’HoppeC-1396Austin WellsC-2797Gavin Sheets1B, OF+1398Addison Barger3B, OF+1399Lourdes Gurriel Jr.OF+14100Adolis GarcíaT13OF+43101Matt McLain2B, SS+18102Sal FrelickOF+18103Caleb Durbin2B, 3B+26104Tommy Edman2B, OF-27105Xander Bogaerts2B, SS+13106Willy AdamesSS+11107TJ FriedlOF-7108Jordan Westburg2B, 3B-14109Rhys Hoskins1B+6110Alec Bohm1B, 3B-17111Josh LoweT14OF+19112Jung Hoo LeeOF-32113Nolan Arenado3B-16114Alejandro KirkC+12115Chandler SimpsonOF+17116Colton CowserOF+22117Cam Smith3B, OF+25118Carlos CorreaSS-14119Bryson Stott2B+8120Otto Lopez2B+UR121Trevor LarnachOF-9122Ceddanne RafaelaSS, OF+13123Anthony VolpeSS-59124Trevor Story2B+UR125Wenceel PérezOF+9126Jasson DomínguezOF-2127Lars NootbaarOF-22128Nolan Schanuel1B-7129Matt Shaw3B+15130Wilyer AbreuOF+UR131Ernie Clement2B, 3B, SS, OF+17132Paul GoldschmidtT151B-66133J.P. CrawfordSS-5134Jurickson ProfarOF+UR135Gary SánchezC+UR136Spencer Steer1B, OF+UR137Ryan O’Hearn1B, OF-35138J.T. RealmutoC-16139Trent GrishamOF-14140Alec Burleson1B, OF-9141Giancarlo StantonDH-8142Austin HaysOF+UR143Ben RiceC, 1B-20144Tyler Soderstrom1B-48145Miguel Vargas1B, 3B, OF-37146Nick Gonzales2B-7147Spencer Horwitz1B, 2B+UR148Kyle StowersOF+UR149Dillon DinglerC-2150Jake Cronenworth1B, 2B-14
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) — Playing time is gone. Drop.
Dalton Rushing (C, LAD) — Dynasty only.
Carson Kelly (C, CHC) — Not exactly making great use of the extra playing time. Just a streamer.
Drake Baldwin (C, ATL) — Playing fine, but the playing time is frustrating.
Tyler Stephenson (C, CIN) — The strikeouts make him feel more like a streamer than a fantasy lineup regular in single-catcher leagues.
First Base
Carlos Santana (1B, CLE) — OBP streamer who somehow still has something in the tank. What a career.
Pavin Smith (1B/OF, ARI) — Streamer against soft righties.
Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE) — Has lost most of the playing time against lefties.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B/3B, CIN) — Couldn’t take advantage of a prime opportunity, unfortunately.
Michael Toglia (1B, COL) — Worth streaming at home but not interested away from Coors.
Jac Caglianone (1B, KCR) — Back luck has been a factor, but so has a high ground ball rate which could take time to correct.
Christian Walker (1B, ARI) — First base is too deep to keep holding.
Second Base
Hyeseong Kim (2B, LAD) — It will be very exciting when he has anything close to a regular role.
Jorge Polanco (2B/3B, SEA) — Streamer with a little pop.
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) — Speed streamer.
Andrés Giménez (2B, TOR) — Not batting ninth anymore, viable in points leagues.
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+.
Third Base
Joey Ortiz (3B/SS, MIL) — Does just enough in four of the five hitting categories to be relevant. If this list were for OBP, he might crack the end of it.
Connor Norby (3B, MIA) — Swings hard and misses often. Chasing the hot streaks is a dangerous game.
Dylan Moore (2B/3B/SS/OF, SEA) — Streaky utility man.
Willi Castro (2B/3B/SS/OF, MIN) — Streaky utility man.
Max Muncy (2B/3B/SS, OAK) — The hit tool is a big concern for me.
Abraham Toro (1B/3B, BOS) — Has playing time but not enough underlying skills for long-term intrigue.
Marcelo Mayer (3B/SS, BOS) — The long-term ceiling remains high, but inconsistent playing time and normal development curves make him a drop in most standard redraft leagues.
Mark Vientos (3B, NYM) — Played in all four games so far, but not particularly well.
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.
Josh Jung (3B, TEX) — Off to the minors he goes, and it wasn’t even the strikeouts this time.
Nolan Gorman (3B, STL) — Displaying improved zone contact (and contact in general), which might actually be interesting.
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).
Shortstop
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2B/3B/SS, PIT) — Hits for a decent average and might steal 20 bases.
Brooks Lee (2B/3B/SS, MIN) — Not enough production to consider as more than a streamer despite being eligible everywhere.
Zach McKinstry (2B/3B/SS/OF, DET) — Striking out a lot of late and not walking, which is not great for a player who has a very low ceiling.
Javier Báez (3B/SS/OF, DET) — He ain’t dead yet!
Josh Smith (1B/3B/SS/OF, TEX) — The return of Jake Burger likely pushes Smith to a platoon.
Outfield/DH
Evan Carter (OF, TEX) — Streamer until he cools off. Rank-worthy in points.
Isaac Collins (OF, MIL) — Still playing but cooling off.
Jesus Sanchez (OF, MIA) — Power streamer with a tough home park and poor supporting cast.
Emmanuel Rodriguez (OF, MIN) — Triple-A strikeout rates above 30% are extremely troubling, even if they come with an OBP well above .400.
Mike Yastrzemski (OF, SFG) — The definition of a replacement-level fantasy outfielder in 12-teamers.
Denzel Clarke (OF, ATH) — Trevor Hooth likes him, I guess. Very deep league streamer for now. Glove gets him playing time.
Lane Thomas (OF, CLE) —Playing fairly consistently, but still feels more like a short-term streamer in five outfield formats.
Cedric Mullins (OF, BAL) — Still playing almost every day, viable streamer.
Brenton Doyle (OF, COL) — Go ahead and hold as a streamer, as four of the next five series for the Rockies are at home.
Parker Meadows (OF, DET) — He’s lost the leadoff gig for now, but keep him on your radar in case he heats up and gets back to the top of the order.
Michael Harris II (OF, ATL) — There was a bit of a flash of production, but it continues to vanish as quickly as it appears.
Roman Anthony (OF, BOS) — He has star potential long term, but short term has playing time issues and will need more time to adapt to major league pitching.
IL Stashes
Players are listed by position and not by projected value.
Adley Rutschman (C, BAL) — Should be back right after the Break.
Iván Herrera (C, STL) — Should be back by the end of July, if not sooner.
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) — Droppable in redraft if your IL is full, as he’ll be out for at least a month.
Ryan Mountcastle (1B, BAL) — Not holding in 12-teamers.
Jake Burger (1B/3B, TEX) — He’s expected back Friday
Ha-Seong Kim (2B/SS, TBR) — Looks quite bad on rehab right now, and the EV is down over five ticks from 2024 (82.1 mph).
Jeremy Peña (SS, HOU) — Dealing with a small rib fracture, but Houston’s injury outcomes of late are HIGHLY suspect.
Alex Bregman (3B, BOS) — Hopefully, he’s back by August. Bummer.
Matt Chapman (3B, SFG) — They’re hoping this IL stint only lasts a month.
Ezequiel Tovar (SS, COL) — Yet another core injury on the left side. Mild oblique strains usually put guys on the IL for about four to six weeks.
Victor Robles (OF, SEA) —May be out until September. Drop.
Yordan Alvarez (OF, HOU) — A “setback” after taking swings? What are these people doing in Houston?
Dylan Crews (OF, WAS) — Went with the Nats on their road trip but wasn’t activated. Maybe during this homestand?
Daulton Varsho (OF, TOR) — Not holding in 12-teamers if my IL is already full of ranked players.
Jordan Walker (OF, STL) — Not holding in 12-teamers if my IL is already full of ranked players.
Anthony Santander (OF, TOR) — Hard to keep holding, but finally seems to be making some progress.
Corbin Carroll (OF, ARZ) — We won’t likely have a clear timeline for his return until the Break, but at least he avoided the worst possible outcomes.
Kerry Carpenter (OF, DET) — Just as he started to heat up, he hit the IL with a hammy issue.