8 Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers - Gavin Sheets, Chase Burns, Ramon Laureano, More

May 25, 2026

Kipp's fantasy baseball risers, fallers, breakouts for Week 9 of 2026. He analyzes hitters and pitchers performing well and poorly to determine future values.

Welcome, everyone, to another edition of RotoBaller’s Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers article series for Week 9 of the 2026 season! Today, I'll look at players like Gavin Sheets, Chase Burns, Ramon Laureano, and more.

Keeping up with the latest hitter and pitcher trends is a key component of a successful season, and RotoBaller is here to help fantasy managers! Each week, I will select a few players who have performed well recently and a few who have not, and I will analyze their performances to determine how their future outcomes may be affected.

Following along here every week will give you an edge over your league mates and keep you up to date on who is firing on all cylinders and who is struggling to make ends meet. Every game makes an impact, and there is no time to wait for regression. Let's get into some Fantasy Risers and Fallers who may force some tough decisions.

Fantasy Baseball Hitter Risers

Gavin Sheets, 1B/OF, San Diego Padres

Gavin Sheets has been rolling lately, slashing .371/.511/.743 with four HR, 10 RBI, seven R, and 10 BB over the previous two weeks. This outburst has been good enough to rank him sixth overall in Yahoo! fantasy leagues after beginning the season ranked 419th.

The metrics behind these stats also look very solid. Overall, he ranks in the 70th percentile or better in xwOBA, xSLG, bat speed, and whiff rate. He is especially potent against right-handed pitching, as noted by his .916 OPS against them.

He is still rostered in just 24% of Yahoo! leagues, and makes for a nice addition for anyone needing help at first base or the outfield. If adding him, he makes the most sense as a platoon to deploy only against right-handed pitching.

Randy Arozarena, OF, Seattle Mariners

Randy Arozarena is another outfielder who has been hot recently, slashing .349/.463/.581 with two HR, nine RBI, 10 R, and six BB over the previous two weeks. He ranks fourth in Yahoo! leagues over this span and is really helping out fantasy managers who spent an early-round draft selection on him.

He began the season ranked 54th in Yahoo! leagues, so he was certainly expected to perform; however, although he is a riser on this list, I would have expected to see better metrics.

Overall, he ranks above the 50th percentile in a limited number of categories, including xwOBA, average exit velocity, and walk rate. I would enjoy the ride while it lasts with Arozarena, as he may fall off a cliff this season if he does not turn these metrics around.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Risers

Chase Burns, Cincinnati Reds

Chase Burns is a flashy young talent who is going to have some ups and downs over the course of the next couple of seasons, but he is running hot right now and is worthy of inclusion as a riser this week.

Over the previous two weeks, he has posted a 0.75 ERA, 0.58 WHIP, and 16 K across 12 IP while also racking up two wins. This is good enough to rank him 18th overall in Yahoo! leagues.

His strikeout upside is immense, and the metrics reinforce this, as he ranks in the 94th percentile for whiff rate and 86th percentile for K rate. He is a talent worth following for the foreseeable future.

Max Meyer, Miami Marlins

Max Meyer is another young talent on the rise and has really shown what he is capable of recently. Over the previous two weeks, he has posted a 1.93 ERA, .96 WHIP, and 23 K across 18 2/3 IP. He has also collected three wins and is ranked 20th overall in Yahoo! leagues.

Meyer is also rostered in just 63% of leagues and should be added if he is still available in yours, as the metrics are also pretty solid. Overall, he ranks in the 79th percentile or better in K rate, whiff rate, and chase rate.

This should come as no surprise, given he has racked up 68 punchouts across his 60 2/3 IP. He also has the benefit of pitching in a very friendly ballpark for pitchers, and should continue to see many successes throughout the remainder of the season.

Fantasy Baseball Hitter Fallers

Ramon Laureano, OF, San Diego Padres

Ramon Laureano started the season hot and was an early waiver add for me in my high-stakes league, but he has since fallen off drastically. Over the previous two weeks, he has been slashing just .200/.273/.333 with one HR, one RBI, two R, one BB, and one SB.

This stat line is bad enough to rank him 563rd overall in Yahoo! leagues and makes him an easy drop if he is still on your roster. The metrics tell us that he ranks below the 50th percentile in xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG. Additionally, he is posting a 31.3% K rate, which ranks him in the seventh percentile.

Quite frankly, Laureano peaked early in the season, and we should not expect much more from this season. He may get on a hot stretch again, but it is not exactly predictable, which makes him an avoid for me.

Mookie Betts, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers

Mookie Betts unfortunately finds himself on the fallers list this week after slashing .163/.217/.326 with two HR, two RBI, three R, and three BB over the previous two weeks. This ranks him 615th in Yahoo! leagues, which is nowhere close to the pre-season 74th ranking he began the season with.

Honestly, the season as a whole has looked pretty miserable for Betts, which is rather concerning; however, given the time he has missed due to injury, we do not need to be in panic mode just yet.

He has garnered just 76 PA this season, and the two-week ranking above could be a little misleading, as it only encompasses 46 PA. He should rebound here pretty quickly as long as he stays healthy. He is too important to this Dodgers' lineup, and this Dodgers' lineup is too good for him not to produce in moving forward.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Fallers

Freddy Peralta, New York Mets

Freddy Peralta has not been performing well recently, as he has posted a 4.50 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and 20 K across 18 IP over the previous two weeks. This ranks him 504th in Yahoo! leagues after beginning the season ranked 36th.

The metrics are not all that great either, as he ranks north of the 70th percentile in only whiff rate. I was not that high on Peralta coming into the 2026 campaign, and nothing I have seen thus far would turn me in a different direction.

He should be a steady pitcher moving forward, but the high-strikeout upside he had in Milwaukee seems to be dwindling in New York.

Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins

Sandy Alcantara started the season pitching dominantly, going seven or more innings pitched in each of his first three starts, but he has started to fade a bit recently. Over his previous four starts, he has allowed a total of 15 earned runs, which is obviously not ideal.

Over the previous two weeks, his ERA is 4.00, and he ranks 599th in Yahoo! leagues, as he has garnered zero wins and has only struck out 12 batters across 18 IP. The strikeouts in 2026 are way down, and that is part of the reason he has lost value to fantasy managers.

On the season, he has racked up just 48 punchouts across 69 2/3 IP, and he has achieved six or more strikeouts in just three of his 11 starts.  This is a bit surprising, given his fastball velocity ranks in the 89th percentile, but he appears to be pitching to contact.

The metrics overall are actually pretty solid, however, and while the strikeout upside may be gone, he should still be able to pitch well and keep his ERA low for the remainder of the season. The past couple of weeks will likely just be a blip on the radar come season's end.

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