April 8, 2026
Through his first six games of the 2026 season, New York Yankees outfielder
Aaron Judge had recorded just three hits in 25 plate appearances while striking out 11 times. While the 33-year-old two-time reigning American League MVP hasn't fully returned to his usual elite form, he's stabilized his early-season stat line by recording seven hits over the first five games of the Yankees' current home stand. Across 48 plate appearances overall this year, Judge is hitting .244/.340/.488 with three home runs, seven RBI, nine runs scored, and one stolen base. As he enters his mid-30's, fantasy managers should be slightly wary of signs of age-related decline for Judge. His 9.1% walk rate is significantly down from the 18.3% walk rate he posted in 2025. Additionally, his 23.1% barrel rate, while still elite, would be his lowest mark since 2021. Still, Judge is showing signs of coming around after a slow start to the year and will likely remain one of the very best hitters in baseball in 2026.
--Will BradySource: RotoBaller
April 8, 2026
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher
Taj Bradley earned his second win of the season on Tuesday, allowing just one earned run across 6 1/3 innings in his team's 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. Bradley allowed six hits but did not walk a batter and struck out 10. The 25-year-old former top prospect is off to a strong start to his 2026 campaign, as he's recorded a 1.08 ERA and 1.08 WHIP with 22 strikeouts across his first three starts (16 2/3 innings). Bradley is averaging a career-best 97.7 mph on his fastball and has yet to allow a home run, a major development considering he owns an elevated 1.43 HR/9 across 402 career MLB innings. Raw arm talent has never been Bradley's issue, so the young right-hander could finally be putting it all together in his first full season with the Twins. He profiles as a prime waiver-wire target in most fantasy formats.
--Will BradySource: RotoBaller
April 8, 2026
Athletics reliever
Joel Kuhnel picked up his first save of 2026 on Wednesday, pitching a scoreless ninth inning with a strikeout in his team's 3-2 win over the New York Yankees. The 31-year-old was just recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday, but he's already made two high-leverage appearances for the A's. Kuhnel spent the entire 2025 season at Triple-A, bouncing from the Philadelphia Phillies organization to the Yankees'. While Kuhnel's save on Wednesday was just the second of his MLB career, he picked up seven minor league saves in 2025. The Athletics do not have an obvious ninth-inning option currently on their roster, with
Mark Leiter Jr.,
Hogan Harris, and
Justin Sterner profiling as Kuhnel's stiffest competition for the closer role. For deep-league managers in need of saves, Kuhnel could be a player to monitor on the waiver wire.
--Will BradySource: MLB.com
April 8, 2026
Across his first 17 2/3 innings pitched (three starts) of 2026, Detroit Tigers left-hander
Tarik Skubal has recorded a 1-2 record with a 2.55 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts. While Skubal's top-line numbers are still very strong, the two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner hasn't quite found his fully dominant form yet this season. After posting strikeout rates north of 30% in each of the past three seasons, Skubal has struck out just 22.5% of the batters he's faced so far in 2026. Still, Skubal has issued just two walks on the year and is averaging 97.6 mph on his fastball, right in line with where he's been in previous campaigns. The 29-year-old will also get a chance to make his first home start of the year in his next time out against the Miami Marlins on Sunday. Skubal remains an elite starting pitcher option for fantasy managers in 2026.
--Will BradySource: RotoBaller
April 8, 2026
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher
Zack Wheeler (shoulder) threw 61 pitches over 4 1/3 innings in his rehab start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Thursday, allowing three hits, one earned run, and one walk while striking out six. The 35-year-old is expected to make one more rehab appearance at Triple-A before rejoining the Phillies, putting him on track to make his 2026 debut at some point in the next couple of weeks. Wheeler is working his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, which ended his 2025 campaign in August. The hard-throwing righty was his usual dominant self before getting hurt, pitching to a 2.71 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with 195 strikeouts and 10 wins across 149 2/3 innings (24 starts). Even coming off a serious injury, Wheeler projects as a high-end fantasy starting pitcher and should immediately be plugged into starting lineups upon his return to the big-league mound.
--Will BradySource: milb.com
April 8, 2026
Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher
Zach Eflin (elbow) has undergone successful elbow surgery to repair his right UCL and will miss the remainder of the 2026 season, per Robert Murray of FanSided. Eflin exited early from his first start of the year due to elbow discomfort and was recently transferred to the 60-day injured list. Eflin posted back-to-back seasons with at least 160 innings pitched in 2023 and 2024, but he was limited to just 14 starts in 2025 due to multiple back injuries. After signing a one-year contract with Baltimore this past offseason, the 32-year-old is now looking at a completely lost 2026 campaign. With Eflin sidelined, veteran right-hander
Dean Kremer could be the favorite to take over as the Orioles' fifth starter. Across 171 2/3 innings for Baltimore in 2025, Kremer posted an 11-10 record with a 4.19 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and 142 strikeouts.
--Will BradySource: FanSided - Robert Murray
April 8, 2026
Baltimore Orioles outfielder
Taylor Ward is enjoying the start to his first season with his new team in 2026 and added four more hits in a 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. Ward went 4-for-5 at the plate with three doubles, two RBI, and a run scored. The 32-year-old right-handed power hitter is still searching for his first home run, while he leads the league with nine doubles. The long balls will likely come, but fantasy managers surely aren't complaining about Ward's .383/.464/.574 start with eight additional RBI. Plenty is expected of Ward in his first year in Baltimore after having his first 30-30 season in 157 games with the Los Angeles Angels in 2025 in his eighth year in the big leagues. Camden Yards won't make it easy on Ward in his attempt to reach 30 homers in a second consecutive season, but he should at least be a strong counting-stat contributor in fantasy while hitting near the top of the O's lineup on a regular basis.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
April 8, 2026
Cleveland Guardians outfielder
Angel Martinez had a big day at the plate in the team's 10-2 blowout win on Wednesday over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Hitting in the two-hole while playing left field, Martinez went 4-for-5 with a grand slam and a strikeout. The ball was jumping off of Martinez's bat on Wednesday, and it led to his first runs batted in of the season and his first long ball. The 24-year-old Dominican switch-hitter came into Wednesday's contest against KC with a .208 average (5-for-24) with a double, three runs scored, and a stolen base in 10 games played for the Guards. Most of Martinez's playing time in Cleveland has come against left-handed pitchers, but he looked good against righties on Wednesday, which could earn him some more playing time going forward if he continues to make loud contact. His grand slam came in the eighth inning off right-hander
Steven Cruz.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
April 8, 2026
After filing an appeal on his seven-game suspension from Major League Baseball, Atlanta Braves right-hander
Reynaldo Lopez reached a settlement with the league and will have his suspension reduced to five games, effective immediately, according to Chad Bishop of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lopez threw a pitch up and in to Los Angeles Angels outfielder/designated hitter
Jorge Soler in the fifth inning on Tuesday night, and Soler took exception, charging the mound. Lopez and Soler threw haymakers at each other before the benches cleared to break up the brawl at Angel Stadium. With the reduced suspension, Lopez will not end up missing a start early in the year. He'll take the ball next Tuesday against the division-rival Miami Marlins, where he should be started by fantasy managers. The 32-year-old former reliever was a first-time All-Star in 2024 in his first year in Atlanta in his return to a full-time starting role. Lopez made only one start in 2025 due to shoulder issues, but he's healthy again and is off to a fine start in three outings so far, posting a 1.15 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 13:5 K:BB through three starts.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Chad Bishop
April 8, 2026
Detroit Tigers outfielder
Kerry Carpenter (illness) is feeling better and is starting in right field and batting cleanup for Detroit on Wednesday on the road against the division-rival Minnesota Twins and right-hander
Bailey Ober, according to MLB.com. Carpenter didn't start in each of the last two games due to a stomach illness, but he was used as a pinch-hitter on Tuesday. Now that the 28-year-old left-handed hitter is feeling better, he'll attempt to dig himself out of an early-season funk at the plate. The former 19th-round pick in 2019 has gone 6-for-32 (.188) with two home runs, six RBI, and three runs scored while walking five times and striking out 16 times in just 38 plate appearances over 10 games played. Carpenter has plenty of experience against Ober, hitting .267 against him with an .886 OPS, a home run, and three RBI in 15 career at-bats, so perhaps this matchup is just what the doctor ordered for the struggling outfielder.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
April 8, 2026
Chicago Cubs right-hander
Colin Rea will enter the team's starting rotation and make the start on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, according to MLB.com. Rea is going to get a chance to prove he deserves a rotation spot with
Matthew Boyd (biceps) and
Cade Horton (elbow) on the injured list (Horton is done for the season). The 35-year-old veteran has made two appearances in relief so far in the early going in 2026, allowing three earned runs on eight hits while walking one, striking out eight, and picking up a save in 6 1/3 innings. Rea has a 19.3% strikeout rate in his career and will likely be limited from a pitch-count perspective on Wednesday in his first start of the year, so we wouldn't recommend him as any kind of streamer against the Rays. At best, Rea will probably end up being a matchup-based streamer in deep fantasy leagues for however long he remains in Chicago's starting rotation.
--Keith HernandezSource: MLB.com
April 8, 2026
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that shortstop
Anthony Volpe (shoulder) will likely come back with the team after their weekend series in Tampa, and he could "potentially" be sent out on a minor-league rehab assignment at some point next week, according to Erik Boland of Newsday. Volpe played through a torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder for the majority of last season before undergoing labrum surgery last October. He has been working out at extended spring training in Florida. If Volpe can avoid any setbacks with his surgically repaired shoulder in minor-league games, he could make his 2026 debut with the Yankees in late April or early May. Until then, the speedy
Jose Caballero will continue to see most of the playing time at the 6 in the Bronx. The 24-year-old Volpe is a career .222/.283/.379 hitter in his three big-league seasons, but he had a 20-20 season as a rookie in 2023, and he's stolen 70 bases in 472 regular-season games played, making him useful as middle-infield depth for fantasy managers in mixed leagues when he's healthy.
--Keith HernandezSource: Newsday - Erik Boland
April 8, 2026
Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough called it a "possibility" that outfielder
Kyle Stowers (hamstring) will play first base this year, possibly as early as his minor-league rehab assignment, according to Kevin Barral of Fish On First. Stowers is approaching a rehab assignment after going through a workout on Wednesday. The left-handed slugger has never appeared at first base as a professional, but it could be a way for the Fish to keep him healthy for the long run. A right-hamstring strain forced Stowers to the 10-day injured list to begin the 2026 season. The 28-year-old former second-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2019 out of Stanford was the Marlins' lone All-Star representative in 2025 after a breakout campaign that saw him hit .288/.368/.544 with a .912 OPS, 25 home runs, 73 RBI, 61 runs scored, and five steals in 117 games played. Durability is a major concern, but Stowers deserves to be stashed in all fantasy leagues as he looks for an encore in 2026.
--Keith HernandezSource: Fish On First - Kevin Barral
April 8, 2026
Tampa Bay Rays right-handed reliever
Edwin Uceta (shoulder) will pitch one inning on Friday and on Sunday for Double-A Montgomery on a minor-league rehab assignment before being sent to Triple-A Durham to build his arm up further, according to Ryan Bass. "I'm hopeful just before May 1," manager Kevin Cash said on a possible return timeline. "He didn't have a spring training, so he's gonna get built out, and then it'll kind of decide how we want to navigate."
Griffin Jax began the 2026 season as Tampa's first option for saves with Uceta sidelined, but he quickly blew two saves and has been surpassed by
Bryan Baker for the time being in the closer hierarchy in Tampa. Uceta, who was one of only five relievers with 100-plus strikeouts in 2025, could quickly become the team's closer once he's activated from the 15-day injured list later this month. The Dominican reliever had a sparkling 1.51 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and five saves in 2024 as well, and is one of the most talented arms in the Rays' bullpen.
--Keith HernandezSource: Ryan Bass
April 8, 2026
Chicago Cubs outfielder
Ian Happ (heel) is out of the starting lineup on Wednesday for a second straight night against the Tampa Bay Rays while dealing with a bruised left heel, according to Taylor McGregor of Watch Marquee Sports. Happ is available off the bench, though, which means he should be able to return to action for Friday's series opener against the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates after an off day on Thursday. With Happ out again,
Michael Conforto will start in left field for the Cubbies and will hit eighth against Rays right-hander
Joe Boyle. Although Happ has already gone deep four times in his first 40 at-bats, he only has eight hits in total (.200 batting average) while driving in seven runs and scoring seven runs for the Cubs. Fantasy managers should check back on Friday to make sure that Happ is back in the lineup before returning him to their starting lineups. Conforto has gone hitless in just two career at-bats against Boyle.
--Keith HernandezSource: Watch Marquee - Taylor McGregor
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