8 Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers - Ryan O'Hearn, Zack Wheeler, Will Warren, More

July 9, 2026

Jeremy analyzes 8 fantasy baseball risers, fallers, breakouts for hitters and pitchers in Week 15 of 2026. He discusses buy/sell candidates for fantasy baseball.

Welcome to another midweek edition of Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers for Week 15 of the 2026 season! In this piece, I’ll take a look at Ryan O'Hearn, Zack Wheeler, Will Warren, and more. 

Staying up to date on the most recent hot and cold streaks is important to have a successful fantasy baseball season. Each week, we'll take a look at four risers and four fallers who are moving up and down the rankings. This article should give you the insights you need, whether you're looking to make an add, drop, or trade.

Keeping up on recent performances will give you an edge over your league mates, allowing you to buy or sell the right players at the right time to propel your team to a fantasy championship. Without further ado, let's get into it.

Fantasy Baseball Hitter Risers

Ryan O'Hearn, 1B/OF, Pittsburgh Pirates

Ryan O'Hearn had his best game of the season on Tuesday, going 4-for-5 with three home runs and 10 RBI. Not only was that a performance worth getting excited about, but it came just a little over a week after he launched two home runs in a game on June 28th. He's been one of the bright spots of Pittsburgh's new and improved lineup this season, and it's worth buying in.

3 HOMER 10 RBI NIGHT FOR RYAN O'HEARN 🤯

He's the first Pirates player with 10 RBIs in a game‼️ pic.twitter.com/j0MucKI7oE

— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) July 8, 2026

The slugger is now slashing .293/.350/.497 with 16 home runs, 61 RBI, and 47 runs in 78 games this season, and he's only one homer away from exceeding his previous career high of 17 that he set last year. The 61 RBI put him in a tie for 11th place in all of baseball, as he has become a staple in the center of that lineup.

It's worth mentioning that his xBA is less impressive than his actual batting average, sitting at just .264, and his 7.2% barrel rate ranks in just the 40th percentile. However, he is hitting the ball hard more often, at a rate of 44.6%, and most importantly, his pull air rate has risen from 14.4% last season to 19.4% this year.

The skill of pulling the ball in the air is something that doesn't typically get reflected in expected stats and quality of contact metrics, so that is definitely one of the biggest contributors to his newfound power boost and makes the poor barrel rate less concerning. O'Hearn has proven himself to be a must-roster caliber player that should be started in nearly all leagues, and I wouldn't bet on a significant collapse anytime soon.

Cole Carrigg, OF, Colorado Rockies

Cole Carrigg hasn’t been in many headlines since being promoted on June 9th, but he has quietly been one of the better hitters in baseball over the past month. He’s slashing .307/.385/.580 with four homers and two steals in the first 27 games of his career and is only getting better. 

He’s tallied 10 hits in his past 24 at-bats to go along with 10 runs and 10 RBI, as he’s been racking up counting stats as of late. While the quality of contact metrics aren't great, such as a 31.4% hard-hit rate, it’s nice to see him succeeding so early in his career. 

The youngster’s xBA is .259, which suggests some regression is coming, but we’re talking about a top prospect who plays half of their games at Coors Field. Colorado’s entire lineup is full of previously mediocre players who are providing great fantasy production this year, so there’s no reason to think that Carrigg isn’t also a must-start-caliber player when he’s at home. 

With an 18.8% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate that both grade out as above-average, it’s clear that the 24-year-old isn’t being overwhelmed by major league pitching. His 92nd percentile sprint speed also suggests more steals are coming, making the outfielder a very nice all-around player who can contribute in many ways for fantasy. 

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Risers

Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies

Zack Wheeler had his best start of the season on Tuesday, allowing one run on four hits over seven innings against the Reds while striking out 14. It was his second double-digit strikeout performance of the season, and coincidentally, the second in a row. On July 1st against the Pirates, he struck out 10 over 4 ⅔ innings, which snapped his 53-game streak of consecutive starts of at least five frames.

Zack Wheeler matches his career high with strikeout No. 14 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yF0xyKUcCR

— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2026

While his fastball velocity is still sitting 0.7 mph slower than last season, it clearly doesn't matter. The most likely outcome that many expected from Wheeler coming back from his injury is that he would still be a very good pitcher, but just wouldn't have that same upside of being one of the best pitchers in the entire sport.

However, the 36-year-old is proving those assumptions wrong, as it looks like he hasn't lost a single step. He now holds a 2.28 ERA and 0.91 WHIP with 98 strikeouts in 87 innings, while posting a 29.4% strikeout rate, which ranks in the 90th percentile.

The last thing we were really missing from Wheeler was the dominant strikeout performances, and he's now delivered two back-to-back. There's no reason not to rank the righty as a top five starting pitcher for fantasy yet again, and he's turning out to be one of the biggest draft day steals in hindsight.

Taj Bradley, Minnesota Twins

Taj Bradley just delivered his two best starts of the season, striking out 10 batters on Tuesday and 11 batters back on July 1st. He tossed 12 innings in those two starts, allowing just two runs on seven hits and three walks. While those two outings were his best, this hot streak actually dates back four starts, after a rough patch that saw him give up at least four runs in four straight starts.

Taj Bradley strikes out the side 🔥

He's got 10 Ks through 4 innings! pic.twitter.com/y1Ewx6e6HK

— MLB (@MLB) July 2, 2026

In the four starts since, he's yet to allow more than two runs in a single outing. The volatility of Bradley is always frustrating as a fantasy manager, but it's stretches like this that show he should never end up back on the waiver wire. His ERA now sits at 3.67 with a 1.22 WHIP, to go along with 112 strikeouts in 95 ⅔ innings.

The below-average walk rate of 9.4% and his propensity for complete blowup outings will always keep his ERA and WHIP on the higher side, but he has strikeout upside that is hard to find outside of the elite tier of starting pitchers. The 25-year-old is a must-start arm until he cools off, but he's reaching the point where he may finally be doing more good than harm over the course of a full season.

Fantasy Baseball Hitter Fallers

Caleb Durbin, 2B/3B, Boston Red Sox

Caleb Durbin was one of the best hitters over the course of June, slashing .326/.359/.605 with six home runs and five steals over 25 games. If you were wondering if it was time to buy into the youngster, the underlying metrics would have told you a resounding no, due to his poor .235 xBA, .332 xSLG, and 84.8 mph average exit velocity on the season.

Those numbers individually were obviously better in June than April and May, but it's not a good sign when the season-long totals are still looking that bad after such a hot stretch. Regression came fast for the 26-year-old, who entered Wednesday with just one hit in his last 18 at-bats.

Hopefully, you enjoyed the hot streak while it lasted if you did pick him up, but it's just not possible to sustain that type of production with such poor quality of contact metrics. Durbin could still have a role in very deep roto leagues where you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for middle infield options, but outside of that, he's not someone who you should have to worry about as he sits on waivers for the remainder of the year.

Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, New York Yankees

Paul Goldschmidt's resurgence certainly fell off fast, as he's hitless in his last 18 at-bats and 4-for-38 over the past couple of weeks. If those numbers aren't bad enough, he's also struck out in seven of his last eight at-bats, so things are only getting worse. While this isn't the biggest sample size, it's still a good reminder not to get ahead of ourselves with the 38-year-old.

While his batting average currently sits at .261 along with a .496 slugging percentage on the season, it comes with an xBA of .239 and an xSLG of .434, which are significantly less impressive. The veteran is posting a career-worst 86.8 mph average exit velocity that ranks in only the 14th percentile, so his hot performance throughout most of May and June was always a bit sketchy.

While I'm sure he'll rebound to some extent and not continue to hit under .100 for the rest of the year, this cold spell is a good time to cut ties with him in fantasy. The hot streak was nice while it lasted, but it was likely the best we'll get from Goldy for the rest of the season, and possibly the rest of his career.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Fallers

Will Warren, New York Yankees

Will Warren is crashing hard after a generally successful first three months of the season, as he most recently allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks over four innings against the Rays. He also gave up five runs to the Red Sox on June 26th, but the decline really began a month ago, back on June 8th.

It took some time to really begin to affect his overall stats, since he still allowed exactly two runs in four of the six starts since, but he also has only pitched at least five innings three times in that span. In those 29 innings, he's allowed 19 runs on 38 hits and 12 walks with only 24 strikeouts.

The 27-year-old now holds a 4.15 ERA and 1.37 WHIP on the season, so all of the fantasy production provided by his great early-season starts is essentially gone, and he's even about to drop below a strikeout per inning on the year. The strikeouts looked pretty fluky to begin with, as his 22.2% whiff rate looks much worse than his 22.9% strikeout rate, so the signs of regression were there.

It's definitely time to bench Warren from here on out in deeper leagues, and it's safe to drop him in shallower formats. The lack of volume was always a problem, and now, with the bad ratios and lack of strikeouts, there aren't many benefits left.

Shane Bieber, Toronto Blue Jays

Shane Bieber got lit up again in his third start of the season on July 4th, as he allowed seven runs on six hits and three walks in four innings against the Mariners. It hasn't looked great yet for the veteran after making his return from injury, but he at least limited the damage in his second time out, where he allowed two runs over 5 ⅓ innings against the Rangers.

If that start got your hopes up, then his third start should have crushed him, as the 31-year-old doesn't look like a startable pitcher in fantasy by any means. He has issues across the board, with a bottom-of-the-barrel strikeout rate of 14.1%, a walk rate of 10.9%, and a hard-hit rate of 54.2%.

With a fastball velocity of just 92 mph, Bieber's always relied on his breaking pitches to be effective. However, his curveball, slider, and cutter are all moving less than in the past, which has left him throwing his fastball and changeup a combined 59.4% of the time over these first three outings.

None of this is a recipe for any type of success, and you don't need to roster the righty while he attempts to figure things out. That's not to say that he never will figure things out, so he could still be worth a stash to just wait and see, but I'd only recommend that in leagues with very little effective pitching on the waiver wire.

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