April 17, 2026
Chicago White Sox outfielder
Everson Pereira blasted his third home run of the season on Thursday in the White Sox's 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. He finished the game going 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored as part of his home run. Pereira has not gotten a ton of playing time thus far this season, with only 25 plate appearances through 19 games, but he has made the most of his opportunities, slashing .304/.360/.739 with five RBI and five runs scored. With a small sample size thus far in 2026, his underlying metrics support the small breakout, as evidenced by his .297 xBA, .444 xwOBA, and 93.4 mph average exit velocity. If Pereira continues to take advantage of his opportunities, he could earn more and more playing time as the season continues. The 25-year-old does not have much of a track record at the big leagues to go off of, so fantasy managers should not be chomping at the bit to pick him up just yet, but perhaps someone to keep their eye on moving forward.
--Nicho RoesslerSource: Baseball Savant
April 17, 2026
Chicago White Sox closer
Seranthony Dominguez took the loss on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays and got tagged with his second blown save of the season. Domínguez has now converted three of his five save opportunities. In Thursday's outing, Domínguez entered the contest with a 3-2 lead, allowing three earned runs on two hits and one walk in 1/3 of an inning pitched. Domínguez's other blown save came earlier in the season against Milwaukee and was also a blow-up type of outing, where he allowed two earned runs on one walk and two hits. He now has a 7.50 ERA and 1.83 WHIP through seven appearances. All five of his earned runs allowed came in the two blown save opportunities. The White Sox do not have much competition for bullpen arms to dethrone Domínguez as closer just yet; however, he is running on thin ice and could be in jeopardy of losing the role if he doesn't provide more consistency moving forward. Fantasy managers who drafted Domínguez as their back-end closer may want to begin to think of potential contingency plans on the off chance the White Sox do decide to try someone else out.
--Nicho RoesslerSource: Baseball Savant
April 17, 2026
Kansas City Royals first baseman
Vinnie Pasquantino crushed his first home run of the season on Thursday against the Detroit Tigers. It came in his fifth at-bat of the contest off
Connor Seabold and had an exit velocity of 108.0 mph and traveled 412 feet. It was his first hit of the game and first home run of the season for Pasquantino, and he finished Thursday's contest going 1-for-5. Pasquantino has struggled at the plate thus far, slashing .155/.244/.239 with nine RBI and five runs scored. The Royals' offense overall has yet to show up this season, but perhaps their nine-run outburst from Thursday will get them going. Fantasy managers who drafted Pasquantino have every right to be disappointed with his performance thus far; however, Pasquantino is a career .261/.327/.447 hitter and is coming off a career high last season with 32 home runs and 113 RBI. There is very likely positive regression coming his way. While the underlying metrics so far this season do not fully support that positive regression, his track record over the past five years certainly does. Fantasy managers should be optimistic about his home run on Thursday and the potential breakout on the horizon.
--Nicho RoesslerSource: Baseball Savant
April 17, 2026
San Diego Padres right-hander
Mason Miller struck out the side Thursday night against the Seattle Mariners to earn his league-leading sixth save of the season. Miller has been nothing short of dominant thus far in 2026, converting on all six of his save opportunities, having not allowed a run, and striking out batters at a ridiculous 74.1 percent clip (23 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings pitched) in 9 ⅓ innings pitched. In addition, he's also not allowing many baserunners, as evidenced by his 0.21 WHIP. He has walked one batter and allowed one hit in nine appearances. Fantasy managers who roster him are fortunate enough to set and forget with Miller, as he has been cementing himself as the top closer in baseball, if he hasn't already.
--Nicho RoesslerSource: Baseball Savant
April 17, 2026
Tampa Bay Rays' right-hander
Bryan Baker picked up his fourth save of the season on Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox, allowing no hits, one walk, and one inning pitched. The four saves for Baker are a career high, and through eight appearances on the season, he owns a solid 3.68 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and seven strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Baker does not have a ton of experience closing out games, with his previous career high being three saves in 2025, but so far this season, he has five save opportunities compared to
Griffin Jax's two.
Kevin Kelly also has two save chances, and
Mason Englert has one. While Baker may not be deployed as the Rays' full-time closer, he appears to be the most likely reliever to pitch the ninth inning for the foreseeable future, making him a strong add off the waiver wire heading into Week 5 for fantasy managers looking to bolster their saves category.
--Nicho RoesslerSource: RotoBaller
April 17, 2026
Atlanta Braves left-hander
Chris Sale is off to a strong start in 2026 in his 16th year in the big leagues and his third in Atlanta, going 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 22:6 K:BB in 22 innings pitched over his four starts. Sale bounced back nicely in his last appearance on Sunday against the Cleveland Guardians by allowing just one earned run with a walk and six strikeouts in six innings pitched. On April 6 against the Los Angeles Angels, Sale surrendered six earned runs on five hits (two homers) while walking two and striking out seven in only four innings. The 37-year-old nine-time All-Star and former American League Cy Young winner is still a strong fantasy starter, even though he's 37 years old, but durability is a major concern. Sale has made 20 starts in a season just once since 2017. He'll have a difficult upcoming matchup on Saturday against the Phillies, but Sale remains a must-start in fantasy when he's healthy.
--Keith HernandezSource: Baseball Reference
April 17, 2026
New York Yankees outfielder
Aaron Judge went 1-for-4 with his major-league-leading eighth home run of the season and a strikeout in the team's 11-4 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Thursday in the Bronx. Judge and Angels star outfielder
Mike Trout put on an impressive display of back-and-forth power in the four-game series at Yankee Stadium this week. The 33-year-old three-time MVP hit a pair of home runs in Monday's victory over the Halos and then added his eighth dinger of the year in the series finale. Judge wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders at the start of the 2026 season, but he's beginning to heat up and is now hitting .236 with a .918 OPS through 19 games played. The seven-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger winner also has 14 RBI, three stolen bases, and 16 runs scored for the Yankees. Fantasy managers will be hoping that Judge can continue his elite power display going into this weekend's series against the visiting Kansas City Royals. Judge is always a must-start in fantasy leagues.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
April 16, 2026
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder
Oneil Cruz continued his hot start to the 2026 season by going 2-for-5 with a double, two stolen bases, an RBI, a run scored, and a strikeout in the team's 8-7 extra-inning loss at PNC Park to the Washington Nationals on Thursday. Cruz came into Thursday's game slashing .310/.380/.563 with a .943 OPS, five home runs, 16 RBI, seven stolen bases, 14 runs scored, seven walks, and 25 strikeouts in 18 games played. It's very nice to see for the Pirates and fantasy managers who have been waiting for Cruz's breakout season. He did have 20 home runs, 61 RBI, and a league-high 38 stolen bases in 135 games in 2025, but he also hit just .200 (94-for-471) with 174 strikeouts in 544 plate appearances. The 27-year-old Dominican has some of the best bat speed and exit velocities in the big leagues, so if he can cut down on the whiffs, his power/speed upside makes him extremely dynamic for fantasy baseball purposes.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
April 16, 2026
Los Angeles Angels infielder
Oswald Peraza was doing a little bit of everything during Thursday's game against the New York Yankees. Peraza got revenge on his former club with a two-run home run during Thursday's blowout win. He went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, a homer, three RBI, one walk, and a stolen base in the 11-4 victory. Peraza probably doesn't have an everyday role, but is taking advantage of the extra at-bats with
Jorge Soler suspended right now. He's 5-for-10 with two homers, four RBI, and three walks over the last three games. Peraza could be a short-term spark plug for fantasy managers looking for help right now.
--Andy WebbSource: mlb.com
April 16, 2026
Washington Nationals relief pitcher
Clayton Beeter continued to struggle with his command during Thursday's outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Beeter was handed the ball in the ninth inning with a one-run lead on Thursday. The right-hander allowed two walks, one hit, and one run to blow his second save of the season. He was able to get out of the inning and eventually earn the win with the Nationals taking the lead in the 10th inning.
Orlando Ribalta wound up earning the save by tossing a scoreless inning in the 10th. Beeter could be on a short leash in the closer role with eight walks in 9.1 innings this season.
--Andy WebbSource: mlb.com
April 16, 2026
Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher
Angel Zerpa was handed the ball with a one-run lead against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. Zerpa picked up his first career save on Monday and was asked to do it again a few days later. The southpaw gave up a leadoff single to
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to begin the final frame. Zerpa was able to work around the hit and earn his second save of the season.
Trevor Megill pitched in the eighth inning, while
Abner Uribe didn't pitch for rest purposes. This could end up turning into a committee between Megill, Uribe, and Zerpa going forward. Fantasy managers should monitor Zerpa to see if the Brewers continue using him in save situations.
--Andy WebbSource: mlb.com
April 16, 2026
San Francisco Giants relief pitcher
Ryan Walker once again was called upon in a non-save situation on Thursday. The right-hander was handed the ball in the seventh inning of Thursday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. Walker was solid as he tossed a scoreless outing with one strikeout to earn himself the hold. The Giants decided to go with left-hander
Erik Miller in the ninth inning of Thursday's game. It went well for Miller, who struck out three batters to earn his first save of the season. Clearly, Walker isn't the full-time closer, and the Giants want to continue going closer-by-committee. Fantasy managers who are relying on Walker for saves might need to start looking elsewhere.
--Andy WebbSource: mlb.com
April 16, 2026
Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher
Trevor Megill appears to have lost the closer role for now. Ahead of Thursday's game, Megill had allowed seven earned runs over his last two outings. The Brewers decided to have Megill pitch in the eighth inning of Thursday's game. The right-hander tossed a scoreless frame with two strikeouts. Milwaukee handed the ball to left-hander
Angel Zerpa with a one-run lead in the ninth inning. The southpaw gave up one hit but was able to close the door for his second save of the season. Megill could earn his way back into the full-time closer role, but for now, Zerpa and
Abner Uribe should be in the mix as well.
--Andy WebbSource: mlb.com
April 16, 2026
Cleveland Guardians rookie left-hander
Parker Messick flirted with history in an impressive pitching performance on Thursday night in a 4-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field. Messick took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and ended up giving up two earned runs on two hits while walking two and striking out nine in eight innings of work to win his third game of the year. Outfielder
Leody Taveras singled with no outs in the ninth inning to break up Messick's no-hit bid. Messick generated 18 swings and misses on a total of 112 pitches in his outing, and his changeup continues to be a nasty pitch for opposing batters to pick up. The 25-year-old former second-round pick in 2022 out of Florida State doesn't have an overpowering fastball, but in comparison to his plus-plus changeup, it gets on hitters faster than expected. Messick is quickly becoming a must-roster player in all fantasy leagues, and he'll be a must-start in his next scheduled outing next Tuesday against the Astros. He currently holds a strong 1.05 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, and 25:7 K:BB in 25 2/3 innings for Cleveland.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
April 16, 2026
The Houston Astros added right-hander Peter Lambert to their taxi squad on Thursday, according to the Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara. The Astros haven't listed a starter for their series opener on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Daikin Park, with
Lance McCullers Jr. and
Mike Burrows listed as the probable starters for Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The 28-year-old Lambert will be making his Astros debut when he gets into a game after four years with the Colorado Rockies, where he posted a 6.28 ERA (5.46 FIP) and 1.61 WHIP with 181 strikeouts and 95 walks in 243 2/3 innings over 74 appearances (35 starts). Lambert has allowed only three earned runs with three walks and 12 strikeouts in 14 2/3 frames in three outings (two starts) at Triple-A Sugar Land so far this year, and he'll be on six days of rest going into Friday. Lambert won't be a very attractive fantasy streamer for a matchup against a Cardinals team that is in the middle of the pack in terms of team OPS (.695).
UPDATE: Lambert will officially start on Friday against the Cardinals.--Keith HernandezSource: Houston Chronicle - Matt Kawahara
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