June 26, 2025
Philadelphia Phillies catcher
J.T. Realmuto will take a seat for Thursday's series finale in Houston against the Astros at Daikin Park.
Rafael Marchan is behind the plate and will catch left-hander
Cristopher Sanchez while hitting eighth against Astros right-hander
Hunter Brown. The 34-year-old Realmuto will get a breather after playing in each of the team's last five games. Realmuto has gone hitless in his last three games but is hitting .288 (19-for-66) with three doubles, six RBI and a steal in 18 games in the month of June after a very slow start to the 2025 season for his standards. He's no longer one of the best catchers in fantasy, and his counting stats are way down with only five homers and 27 RBI in 66 games. Marchan doesn't really move the DFS fantasy needle. The 26-year-old switch-hitting backstop has gone 8-for-49 (.163) with one homer in limited playing time.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
June 26, 2025
Kansas City Royals catcher
Salvador Perez is not in the team's starting lineup for the series finale on Thursday against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.
Freddy Fermin will do the catching for right-hander
Michael Lorenzen and will hit eighth against Rays right-hander
Shane Baz. Perez gets a much-needed day of rest for the first time in over a month. The 35-year-old nine-time All-Star probably isn't going to hit for much of an average at this point in his career, but he can still provide elsewhere for fantasy managers and has nine home runs and 41 RBI in 76 games so far in 2025. He's hitting .265 (22-for-83) with five long balls, four doubles and 15 RBI in 21 games in the month of June. Fermin has limited power (two homers in 132 at-bats) and will be a low-upside DFS sleeper at catcher at the bottom of KC's batting order on Thursday.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
June 26, 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman
Max Muncy is out of their lineup for the team's series finale with the hosting Colorado Rockies. The veteran will sit for the second time against a southpaw over the last week as he's batting just .118 (6-for-51) against them. Teammate
Miguel Rojas will man the hot corner and bat ninth while he's on the bench. Muncy has picked it up over the last few months after an abysmal start to the season and has been particularly productive in June. In 67 at-bats on the month (22 hits), he's slashing a robust .328/.459/.642 with six home runs, 20 RBI, and 19 runs scored. Since the start of May, the 34-year-old has registered 11 long balls, 46 RBI, and more walks (33) than strikeouts (30).
--Alex CiullaSource: MLB.com
June 26, 2025
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder
Lars Nootbaar is sitting for the final contest of a four-game series with the visiting Chicago Cubs. Nootbaar will be out of the team's lineup for the second straight day as they face another southpaw in
Shota Imanaga. Teammate
Brendan Donovan is occupying left field and batting leadoff. The former eighth-round pick was productive over his first 30 games this season, but has seen his average drop 40 points to .230 since Apr. 30. Despite how bad he's been in June (.174), Nootbaar's average exit velocity (92.2 MPH) and hard-hit rate (53.4%) are sitting at career-highs, and his xBA is a more palatable .247.
--Alex CiullaSource: MLB.com
June 26, 2025
Colorado Rockies catcher
Hunter Goodman is out of the lineup for Thursday's home series finale with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The hard-hitting 25-year-old will hit the bench again with lefty
Clayton Kershaw on the mound. Teammate
Braxton Fulford will get the start behind the plate and bat eighth in his stead. Goodman sat out a few days ago as well, but that was against a right-handed hurler, so it appears to be just another day of rest, as there's been no mention of injury. He's been exceptional in June, slashing .342/.373/.734 with six doubles, two triples, seven homers, 17 RBI, and 15 runs scored.
--Alex CiullaSource: MLB.com
June 26, 2025
Athletics outfielder
Lawrence Butler won't be in his team's lineup for their series finale with the hosting Detroit Tigers on Thursday. Manager Mark Kotsay shuffled the lineup quite a bit today. With Butler getting a routine day off,
Brent Rooker will be in right field, with
Nick Kurtz DH'ing and
Gio Urshela manning first base. The 24-year-old has cooled a bit from a hot stretch that bridged May and June, batting just .172 (10-for-58) across his last 14 appearances. Still, it's worth noting he's on pace to set career-highs in home runs (22) and steals (18). Maybe another day off will be enough to break him out of his funk.
--Alex CiullaSource: MLB.com
June 26, 2025
MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reports that New York Yankees pitcher
Jonathan Loaisiga (illness) was unavailable for Wednesday's 7-1 win against the Cincinnati Reds due to an illness. The 30-year-old yielded three earned runs to Cincinnati on Tuesday and retired a lone batter before exiting with a trainer. It was easy to assume the worst at that point, but fortunately, he isn't dealing with an injury and could rejoin the Yankees as early as Friday after their scheduled day off on Thursday. Loaisiga has a 4.32 ERA and 1.26 WHIP through 16 appearances, though his underlying metrics are far more appealing and point to some positive regression if he can keep it up (3.27 xERA).
--Alex CiullaSource: Bryan Hoch
June 26, 2025
New York Yankees catcher
J.C. Escarra will go on the paternity list after being forced to leave the team's series in Cincinnati when his wife went into labor. The team already has
Austin Wells and
Ben Rice on the roster, although they have tried not to use Rice behind the plate if possible. The team hasn't announced if they will call up a catcher to fill Escarra's spot on the roster, but if they do,
Alex Jackson,
Ronaldo Hernandez, and
Jesus Rodriguez would be candidates to fill the role, with Rodriguez the most likely option since he is already on the 40-man roster. The team could also opt to just stick with Wells and Rice short term since Escarra will likely return soon.
--Zach ThompsonSource: Bryan Hoch
June 26, 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder
Michael Conforto blasted his sixth homer of the season as part of the team's 8-1 victory on Wednesday night. Conforto went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI on his solo blast in the eighth inning off
Anthony Molina. It was his second straight game with a home run and two hits in Colorado, but he is still only hitting .176 with a .282 wOBA on the season. Conforto will continue to be part of the outfield mix for the Dodgers, and he could be worth watching on the waiver wire if he can build on his big series at Coors Field and turn around his disappointing season.
--Zach ThompsonSource: ESPN.com
June 26, 2025
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher
Shota Imanaga (hamstring) is ready to return to the mound for the Cubs on Thursday after being officially reinstated from the 15-day IL. Imanaga has been sidelined since May 4 when he strained his hamstring while going to cover first base. In his eight starts, he went 3-2 with a 2.82 ERA, 4.53 FIP, and 34 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings. He had a pair of starts in which he allowed five runs, but in each of his other six outings, he allowed two runs or fewer. He threw 72 pitches and went 4 1/3 innings in his last rehab outing, so he will likely have a restricted workload in his return on Thursday in St. Louis.
--Zach ThompsonSource: Chicago Cubs
June 26, 2025
San Diego Padres relief pitcher
Adrian Morejon pitched a clean ninth inning to close out a 1-0 shutout against the Nationals on Wednesday. Morejon was filling in for
Robert Suarez, who was serving the first game of his two-game suspension.
Jason Adam threw 27 pitches on Tuesday while Morejon only threw 16, so he was the fresher of the two fill-in options. Morejon has been a workhorse lately with 13 appearances already this month, but he has been very effective, not giving up a run in those 13 games with 13 strikeouts and two holds in 12 innings. Morejon will continue to be a top option at the end of the Padres' bullpen, but Suarez is expected to return to his role as the top closer when he finishes his suspension.
--Zach ThompsonSource: ESPN.com
June 26, 2025
The Cincinnati Reds announced that they have placed infielder/outfielder
Connor Joe on the 10-day injured list with hand, foot, and mouth disease (retroactive to June 22). The team recalled infielder/outfielder
Ryan Vilade from Triple-A Louisville in a corresponding move. Joe has played sparingly for the Reds since they acquired him in a minor trade with the Padres in May. Overall, the 32-year-old journeyman is hitting .207/.273/.276 with four RBI and two stolen bases in 66 plate appearances.
--Connor ByrneSource: Cincinnati Reds
June 26, 2025
Miami Marlins designated hitter/outfielder
Heriberto Hernandez racked up four RBI on Wednesday against the Giants, going 2-for-5 with a single and a double. His three-run double in the 10th inning was the difference in the team's 8-5 victory. Hernandez has given the team a nice boost since his promotion 17 games ago, hitting .340 (17-for-50) with four doubles, a home run, and a .375 wOBA. He has a solid 44.4% hard-hit rate and has primarily done his damage against left-handed pitchers. Hernandez was only hitting .220 in Triple-A before his promotion, with nine home runs and six stolen bases in 41 games. Based on his minor league numbers, his hot streak likely won't last long-term, but he's a streaming or DFS bargain play for as long as he's hitting the ball so well, especially when facing a southpaw.
--Zach ThompsonSource: ESPN.com
June 26, 2025
Cincinnati Reds right-handed pitching prospect
Rhett Lowder (oblique) underwent another MRI on his injured left oblique and is continuing to deal with swelling, Charlie Clifford of NBC 5 Cincinnati reports. Lowder, the seventh pick in the 2023 draft, hasn't pitched this year while battling multiple injuries. The 23-year-old was originally shelved with a strained right forearm, and then he suffered a significant oblique strain during a Triple-A rehab start in late May. At the very least, it doesn't look as if he'll make his 2025 major league debut until after the All-Star break. Lowder, MLB Pipeline's second-ranked Reds prospect, received his first big league promotion last year and pitched to a stellar 1.17 ERA with 22:14 K:BB in 30 2/3 innings.
--Connor ByrneSource: Charlie Clifford - NBC 5 Cincinnati
June 26, 2025
Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher
Ryan Zeferjahn filled in for
Kenley Jansen on Wednesday afternoon to help his team close out a sweep of the visiting Red Sox. The former Red Sox prospect was traded to the Angels last July and has become a key part of the bullpen for Los Angeles. He threw two hitless innings with just one walk against his former team and secured the 5-2 victory, earning his second save of the season. Overall, he is 4-1 in his 34 appearances with a 4.45 ERA and 4.82 FIP to go with an impressive 11.3 K/9. He has not allowed a run in eight of his last 10 games and has become a solid late-inning option. Jansen will remain the team's primary closer, but he did leave his last game with cramps in his neck. If Jansen misses time or the injury is worse than expected, Zeferjahn could be the next man up for the Halos.
--Zach ThompsonSource: ESPN.com
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