8 Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers - Kazuma Okamoto, Seranthony Dominguez, Will Smith, more

May 4, 2026

Kipp's fantasy baseball risers, fallers, breakouts for Week 6 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 6 of the 2026 season! Today, I'll look at players like Kazuma Okamoto, Seranthony Dominguez, Will Smith, 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

Kazuma Okamoto, 1B/3B, Toronto Blue Jays

Kazuma Okamoto has been on a roll over the previous two weeks, slashing .283/.377/.696 with six HR, 15 RBI, 12 R, and seven BB. He is also posting just a 14% K rate over the previous seven days, which has directly correlated to that .377 OBP. Quite frankly, he has been a standout in this Blue Jays lineup to begin the 2026 campaign.

Over those previous 14 days, Okamoto finds himself ranked as the number one overall player in Yahoo! fantasy leagues, which is fantastic for fantasy managers, especially when you consider he was ranked 246th to begin the season.

He currently ranks in the 80th percentile or better in terms of average exit velocity, barrel rate, and hard hit rate, all of which back the eight total home runs he has hit thus far. While it is nice to see strikeouts declining over the past week, he will need to continue working here, as his 29.7% K rate currently ranks in the 14th percentile.

Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees

Aaron Judge was mentioned in the fallers category earlier this season when he was struggling, so it is only fair to include him as a riser now that he is starting to heat up.

Over the previous two weeks, Judge has been slashing .300/.491/.650 with four HR, seven RBI, 11 R, and 14 BB. Additionally, he finds himself ranked fifth overall in Yahoo! fantasy leagues over the previous 14 days, which is in line with where we would expect him to be ranked.

It was only a matter of time before Judge started to warm up, and we are seeing that now. Overall, he ranks in the 80th percentile in just about every hitting metric you could imagine, which is also no surprise. While the K rate is still north of 27%, we can live with that, given his walk rate is in the 92nd percentile at 16.4%.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Risers

Seranthony Dominguez, Chicago White Sox

Seranthony Dominguez marks the first time a relief pitcher will be mentioned in either the risers or fallers category this season, and while I typically like to focus on starting pitching here, we are always chasing saves in most leagues, so he needs to be discussed a bit.

Over the previous 14 days, Dominguez has racked up five saves while posting a 1.35 ERA, .060 WHIP, and eight Ks across 6 2/3 IP. This is good enough to rank him ninth overall in Yahoo! leagues. Furthermore, Dominguez is still rostered in just 52% of Yahoo! leagues, so he very well may be available in yours.

He currently ranks in the 75th percentile or better in terms of fastball velocity, whiff rate, and K rate, so the punchouts should continue to roll in. The White Sox are also playing in competitive games, so the saves should continue to be somewhat stable as well.

Max Meyer, Miami Marlins

Max Meyer has looked terrific this season and has posted a 1.04 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, and 20 Ks across the previous 14 days, which encompasses 17 1/3 IP. He has struck out five or more batters in every start this season but one, and has seven or more strikeouts in two of his previous three starts.

Over the previous 14 days, Meyer ranks 14th overall in Yahoo! leagues. While the underlying metrics do not necessarily support the success he has had thus far, he does rank near the 70th percentile in terms of whiff rate, K rate, and chase rate, with his chase rate ranking him in the 77th percentile.

Meyer has been especially good at home, posting a 2.42 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with a 9.7 K/9. He is also rostered in just 26% of Yahoo! leagues, so he is definitely worth a flier at this point in the season if he is available in your league.

Fantasy Baseball Hitter Fallers

Corey Seager, SS, Texas Rangers

Corey Seager has struggled quite a bit, and over the previous 14 days, he has been slashing just .217/.294/.348 with one HR, five RBI, five R, and five BB. Additionally, he is posting a 27.5% K rate over this span.

Over those 14 days, Seager ranks 463rd in Yahoo! leagues, which is not what fantasy managers were hoping to see at any point in the season, especially when you consider he was ranked 53rd to begin the season. Seager has a long track record, so this is certainly not a time to panic, and his metrics still look solid overall.

He ranks in the 68th percentile or better in xwOBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, barrel rate, and walk rate, so a rebound from a cold two weeks is more than reasonably expected.

Will Smith, C, Los Angeles Dodgers

Will Smith has been in a funk lately, slashing just .176/.243/.265 with one HR, five RBI, two R, and three BB over the previous 14 days. This is bad enough to rank him 650th overall in Yahoo! leagues after starting the season ranked 131st. All this being said, I do not think it is time to panic about Smith.

Smith still ranks very well in terms of the metrics, and is ranked in the 75th percentile or better in terms of xwOBA, xSLG, chase rate, and whiff rate. He also plays a premium position at catcher, so trying to find a replacement is not recommended or even worth looking at this juncture.

The past two weeks are almost certainly just a blip on the radar and are something I would expect Smith to put in the rearview mirror very soon.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Fallers

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers

We have another Los Angeles Dodger on the fallers list this week with Yamamoto, as he has been struggling quite a bit over the previous two weeks. Across the past 14 days, Yamamoto has made two starts and has posted a 4.50 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, and struck out 11 batters across 12 IP.

He allowed three earned runs in each of those two starts, which is a bit uncharacteristic for him, as he did not allow more than two earned runs in any other start this season. The fact that he got tagged a bit by the Giants and Marlins is a bit surprising, but like Smith, these two starts are probably nothing more than a couple of rough outings.

Yamamoto should rebound just fine, as he is still generating a decent amount of swing and miss, and has a walk rate that ranks in the 82nd percentile. He is definitely worth monitoring over the next couple of starts, however, as the Dodgers have some tough matchups with the Astros and Braves lined up for next week.

Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies

Cristopher Sanchez is another elite arm who has been struggling lately. Over the previous two weeks, he has posted an ugly 6.00 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, and allowed five BB across 12 IP. This encompasses two starts, and he allowed eight earned runs.

That being said, one start against the Cubs on April 23 really got the best of him, as he allowed six earned runs across 5 1/3 IP. This was bad enough to rank him 738th overall in Yahoo! leagues over the previous 14 days. I am certainly not worried about him given these details, especially when you look at the underlying metrics.

Overall, he ranks in the 80th percentile or better in chase rate, whiff rate, and K rate, so he should rebound just fine from this rough patch.

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