San Francisco Giants rookie first baseman Bryce Eldridge could easily be trending towards a second-half breakout in 2026, and he's starting to generate more attention off the waiver wire in fantasy baseball leagues for his elite raw power from the left side of the plate. In 33 games with the Gigantes this year, Eldridge has delivered a .319/.405/.558 slash line, .962 OPS, six home runs, 16 RBI, and 19 runs scored in a small sample size of 131 plate appearances. He debuted with San Fran in 2025, but he appeared in just 10 games. The 21-year-old former 16th overall pick in 2023 is in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak in which he has gone 13-for-31 (.419) with four home runs, two doubles, 10 RBI, and six runs scored in 37 plate appearances. Eldridge went deep in three straight games and has homered in four of his last seven contests after clearing the fences in the team's last game on Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves. The Giants could sell off some major pieces at this year's trade deadline, which could put Eldridge in line for a more prominent role in the Bay Area going forward. Fantasy managers in need of some pop should definitely look Eldridge's way, as he's available in more than half of Yahoo leagues.

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Arizona Diamondbacks veteran right-handed closer Paul Sewald doesn't light up the radar gun, is 36 years old, and has had his fair share of struggles in a high-leverage role in the past, but you can't argue with his results this year in the desert. The 10-year veteran has a 3.29 ERA (4.08 FIP), which also isn't exactly enticing for a ninth-inning arm, but he is currently tied for third in the majors with 18 saves in 2026 and also has a 0.73 WHIP and a 30.1% strikeout rate in 27 1/3 innings. Sewald is more prone to blow-ups than other high-end fantasy closers, sure, but he hasn't blown a save since May 13 against the Texas Rangers. Since then, he has only allowed two earned runs on four hits while walking two and striking out 12 in 12 innings over 12 outings with two wins and nine saves for the D-backs. In his first 18 appearances this year, Sewald had a 4.70 ERA (4.33 FIP) with an 0-4 record, nine saves, and one blown save. He's not perfect, but he should be rostered in more than the 68% mark in Yahoo leagues.

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New York Mets rookie outfielder Carson Benge has quickly become a lineup regular and table-setter for the Mets in 2026 in his first year in the big leagues, batting .257/.316/.385 with a .701 OPS, seven home runs, nine doubles, two triples, 26 RBI, 11 stolen bases, and 39 runs scored in his first 72 big-league games across 288 plate appearances. The 23-year-old former 19th overall pick out of Oklahoma State University in the 2024 MLB draft went 3-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base in the team's 6-4 win over the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday out of the leadoff spot, and he's now hitting .293/.338/.533 with four home runs, six RBI, and 14 runs scored in his last 18 games. The left-handed-hitting outfielder has also gone 16-for-49 (.327) with two of his seven home runs against left-handed pitchers. In what has become a lost season for New York, Benge should be a lineup regular all year, and his recent hot streak makes him a must-add off the waiver wire for his high-end upside in multiple fantasy categories. Benge is currently rostered in only 44% of Yahoo leagues.

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Boston Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle took his fourth loss of the season in his most recent outing on June 16 versus the division-rival Toronto Blue Jays, when he allowed three earned runs on four hits (two homers) while walking two and striking out six in just five innings of work. He gave up a season-high four earned runs in six innings for a loss in his previous outing on June 9 against the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays, but the 23-year-old southpaw remains one of the best young left-handed arms to roster in fantasy baseball leagues in just his second year in the league. The former second-round pick in 2024 out of Texas Christian University is 3-4 in 2026 with a strong 2.93 ERA (3.08 FIP) and 1.06 WHIP with 60 strikeouts and 16 walks in 58 1/3 innings over his 10 starts after having an ERA over 6.00 with a 1.59 WHIP and 19:8 K:BB in 16 1/3 frames in his first seven MLB appearances (three starts) in 2025. Tolle has a 25.5% strikeout rate since debuting last year and a 7.7% walk rate. He has done enough to stick around in Boston's starting rotation and is an emerging young arm with his arrow pointed up. Tolle has bounce-back potential in his next scheduled start against the banged-up Seattle Mariners.

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Cincinnati Reds outfielder JJ Bleday, who was the fourth overall pick by the Miami Marlins in 2019 out of Vanderbilt University, was a first-round bust in his first four years in the big leagues with the Fish and the Athletics, but he has found a home in Cincinnati and is in the midst of the best year of his young MLB career. Through 45 contests with the Reds in 2026, Bleday is hitting .265/.367/.572 with a .940 OPS, 13 home runs, 35 RBI, 27 runs scored, and two stolen bases across his 196 plate appearances. The 28-year-old left-handed-hitting outfielder is well on pace to set a new career high in home runs, and his resurgence at the plate has led to him being a popular waiver-wire pickup in the first half of the season. Four of Bleday's 13 homers have come in June, but he's gone 11-for-57 (.193) during the month with two doubles, nine RBI, nine runs, a steal, nine walks, and 12 strikeouts in 15 games. While he may have cooled off a bit in June, Bleday has an expected batting average of .274 and an xwOBA of .388, with his underlying metrics backing his strong start to the 2026 campaign. If you need power off the waiver wire, Bleday is a widely available asset and is currently rostered in 56% of Yahoo leagues.

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St. Louis Cardinals outfield prospect Joshua Baez has enjoyed an incredible stretch at the plate at Triple-A and is on the verge of earning the call to the big leagues. Through 64 total games with the Memphis Redbirds, the outfielder has held a dominant .275/.343/.628 line with 24 home runs and 12 stolen bases. Over his last 14 contests (since June 2), the outfielder has been even more impressive at the dish, launching eight of these home runs with a .368/.381/.877 line. On June 16, Baez made headlines across the minor leagues, slugging four long balls in a single game. However, despite this level of play, the Cardinals have yet to turn to him. Even though Lars Nootbaar and Nathan Church are both back in action, Baez's current production should pave the way for him to join the MLB roster before the end of the month, especially if they remain in the Wild Card race. He remains an elite prospect to stash in all standard leagues ahead of Week 13.

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St. Louis Cardinals left-handed pitching prospect Quinn Mathews has begun to turn the corner at Triple-A and is quickly emerging as a top prospect to stash among pitchers. Mathews turned in a dominant debut season in the St. Louis system in 2024 but has yet to return to that level of play. In 2025, he logged only 99 innings and saw those troubles linger early in 2026. Through his first 35 2/3 innings this season, the southpaw posted a hefty 5.55 ERA with a 1.63 WHIP. During this stint, Mathews posted a rough 44:30 K:BB. However, over his last 21 innings of work (four starts), the former Stanford standout has held a stellar 1.71 ERA with a much-improved 28:9 K:BB. While he may need to show this success over a longer stretch, he has a clear path to the majors given St. Louis' weak rotation. He is a viable target in the 12+ team leagues ahead of Week 13, but can quickly enter priority stash range if he turns in a strong conclusion to June.

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Seattle Mariners left-handed pitching prospect Kade Anderson has seen his short-term fantasy stock take a hit this past week, but the budding ace remains firmly on the stash radar. The Mariners acknowledged that they will be looking to "piggyback" each of their MLB starters and do not view Anderson as part of their immediate plans. While this could change in the second half, for now it appears the former LSU superstar will remain in the minor leagues for the foreseeable future. However, during his first taste of professional baseball, the southpaw has looked nothing short of dominant, posting an elite 1.13 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, and an 82:7 K:BB over 55 2/3 innings of work. While his path to the majors is not overly clear, his upside remains elite, making him a top-stash candidate in standard formats with NA spots.

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Athletics infielder/outfielder Zack Gelof has been a hitting machine for the Athletics in June. Slashing .350/.409/.683 with 15 runs scored, five home runs, 10 RBI, and two stolen bases. Gelof is currently riding a 22-game hitting streak and has multiple position eligibility in fantasy baseball. In most formats, he has third base, second base, and outfield eligibility, which helps fantasy managers be flexible with their lineups to fill in vulnerable spots. On the season, Gelof is now hitting .286/.336/.508 with 11 home runs, eight stolen bases, 36 runs scored, and 29 RBI. While everything on the surface looks incredible, and he is a must-add player off the waiver wire right now, it is important to note that he has a .224 xBA and a .291 xwOBA, which are both in the bottom 25th percentile of the entire league. Most of his underlying data does suggest regression, but in situations like this, ride the hot streak until the wheels fall off. Especially for a hitter, because with hitters, you can notice the regression slowly as time goes on, instead of a pitcher that has a singular blow-up outing. For fantasy managers hurting for some immediate production due to losing someone like Jose Ramirez (hand), Gelof is a nice replacement.

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Seattle Mariners outfield prospect Lazaro Montes has had a strong start to the Double-A regular season and is establishing himself as one of the top emerging power hitters in the minor leagues. Across 64 games with Double-A Arkansas, the young slugger has gone deep 20 times while holding a .237/.346/.543 line and an .889 OPS. Since the start of June, Montes has been even more dominant at the plate, launching eight of these long balls and carrying a .316/.409/.772 line. This elite play has put himself in strong contention to earn the call to Triple-A, which will open the door for a second-half debut. While fantasy managers will need to wait for him to move up to Triple-A before declaring him a top stash candidate, he is firmly on the watch list, given his elite power upside. If he maintains this pace, he could provide a major spark to a Mariners lineup as they look to clinch a spot in the postseason down the stretch.

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Texas Rangers left-hander Jacob Latz has been fantastic thus far in 2026, converting on 12 of his 14 save opportunities with an impressive 1.62 ERA and 0.60 WHIP with 35 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings pitched. Under the hood, he has a 2.23 xERA (99th percentile) and a .168 xBA (99th percentile) and is completely dominating the ninth inning of games. The only downfall for Latz is that the Rangers are sitting four games under .500, and have not earned him as many opportunities as some of the other top closers in the game. To put the 14 opportunities into perspective, Cade Smith of the Guardians, who leads the league, has 26 opportunities. While 14 isn't bad, it still leaves more to be desired for fantasy managers and Latz. That being said, the Rangers are still in the hunt in the AL West, as it's been one of the weaker divisions in baseball, with the Mariners leading the division at 39-37, meaning the Rangers should be motivated to make a push, considering they have guys like Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and Corey Seager as a veteran core. Due to the lack of consistent closers for fantasy baseball in 2026, Latz remains a top option if available on your waiver wire.

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Kansas City Royals' 2024 first-round pick Jac Caglianone has been heating up at the plate in June, slashing .356/.441/.610 with four home runs, 11 RBI, 12 runs, and seven walks. While his strikeouts remain an issue on the season (29.7 percent), his underlying data on how he is impacting the ball and his quality of contact remain elite. He has a 93.4 mph average exit velocity (96th percentile), 14.5 percent barrel rate (89th percentile), 56.5 percent hard-hit rate (98th percentile), and a 76.9 mph bat speed (96th percentile). On the season, Caglianone's slash line is up to .266/.338/.439 with nine home runs, three stolen bases, 30 runs scored, and 22 RBI. While the batting average looks nice, his counting stats are still down, mostly due to a lack of a power surge in April and May, and the Royals' offense not producing at a high level. Nonetheless, he is doing what he needs to do with how he's impacting the ball, and ultimately, that is all a player can control. It's quite possible he has a second half where he can hit fifteen-plus home runs and drive up those numbers for fantasy managers. Caglianone has much more value in category formats than he does in points leagues due to his poor plate discipline.

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Athletics left-hander Gage Jump was lights out last night at home against the Los Angeles Angels, throwing seven shutout innings of zero-run ball, racking up seven strikeouts, and allowing only one hit. This season, and in his career, Jump has now made five starts for the Athletics and has an excellent 2.37 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in 30 innings pitched (five starts), with a 22 percent strikeout rate. While his strikeout rate is lacking, he did have a 33.1 percent strikeout rate in Triple-A this season and a 28.4 percent strikeout rate in the Minors last year across Double-A and High-A, meaning there is more room for improvement at the Major League level. Nonetheless, he has been spectacular for the Athletics, and the 23-year-old has become a must-add player in all formats due to his production thus far and the upside he could show if he starts generating more whiffs and strikeouts, as he has at other levels of his professional career. Up next for Jump is a road game against the San Francisco Giants.

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Lance McAlister, host of 700 WLW Sports Talk + Reds Inside Pitch, reported on Thursday that Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene (elbow) topped out at 101 mph in his first rehab outing, and threw three innings, allowing two hits, zero earned runs, zero walks, and six strikeouts. He threw 45 pitches, 34 of which were strikes. It was an extremely sharp outing for Greene, who has been out all season due to recovering from a March 11 surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow. Greene is slated to return from the injured list sometime over the next few weeks, and this is likely fantasy managers' last chance to capitalize on Greene potentially being on your waiver wire. Greene was a consensus top-20 starting pitcher coming into the 2026 season, due to his elite fastball and swing-and-miss upside. Last season, Greene had a 2.76 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with a 31.4 percent strikeout rate in 107 innings pitched. Greene has a league-winning type of upside, and fantasy managers will want to take advantage of that if they can.

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Toronto Blue Jays rookie catcher Brandon Valenzuela has impressed with his bat, glove, and arm in his first year in the big leagues in 2026. Offensively, Valenzuela has exceeded expectations with a .254/.338/.454 slash line, .792 OPS, seven home runs, 18 RBI, 17 runs scored, and a stolen base across his first 47 games and 149 plate appearances. The 25-year-old also has above-average arm strength behind the dish and has been solid defensively for the Jays while helping fill in after Alejandro Kirk fractured his thumb. The Mexican native has gone 9-for-28 (.321) at the plate with three home runs, two RBI, eight RBI, and four runs scored in nine games in June, but with Kirk now back from the injured list, Valenzuela's playing time is quickly drying up. Valenzuela definitely has earned more opportunities in his rookie season, but those chances might be fewer and further between with Kirk now healthy. He's currently rostered in 9% of leagues and is merely a catcher handcuff to keep stashed in deep two-catcher fantasy leagues.

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St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar didn't make his 2026 season debut until June 5 after having surgery on both of his heels in the offseason. The 28-year-old left-handed-hitting outfielder has appeared in 12 games and has gone 11-for-41 (.268) with two home runs, two doubles, six RBI, seven runs scored, seven walks, and 13 strikeouts in his 49 plate appearances. He has only had nine plate appearances against lefty pitchers, though, and he was out of the starting lineup again on Thursday against the Kansas City Royals for the third time that the Cardinals have faced a traditional southpaw starter. Nootbaar has teased multi-category upside in his first five seasons in the big leagues, but injuries have held him back, and he's never exceeded 14 home runs, 48 RBI, or 11 stolen bases for the Red Birds. The Cardinals are most likely easing Nootbaar in this year after his long absence, so he won't necessarily be in a strict platoon going into the second half of the season. With better health in both of his feet, Nootbaar could finally be ready to break out the rest of the way, making him worth a waiver flier in deeper mixed fantasy leagues. He's rostered in just 5% of Yahoo leagues right now.

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The Atlanta Braves acquired catcher Joey Bart (foot) from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night in exchange for right-hander Hunter Stratton, according to the team. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Braves designated catcher Sandy Leon for assignment. Bart has been on the injured list for over a month with a foot infection, but he is currently on a minor-league rehab assignment and looks ready to make his debut with Atlanta sooner rather than later. Drake Baldwin is the unquestioned starter for the Braves behind the dish, but Bart figures to serve as the team's backup with Sean Murphy (finger) still recovering from a broken finger that is expected to keep him out into the second half of the 2026 season. The move doesn't really make the 29-year-old Bart anymore attractive in deeper fantasy baseball leagues. Bart hit a career-high 13 home runs and drove in 45 runs in 80 games in his first year with the Pirates in 2024 after being acquired from the San Francisco Giants, but he had just four homers and 30 RBI in 93 games last year. Before going on the IL with his foot injury this year, he was hitting .259/.290/.379 with two homers, six RBI, two walks, and 21 K's in 21 games played.

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New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto has been red-hot at the plate recently, and it continued in the team's 6-4 win on the road in Philadelphia on Thursday night against the division-rival Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Soto went 2-for-4 at the plate with two solo home runs and a walk to boost his season average to .300 and his OPS to .980. The 27-year-old Dominican hit both of his home runs in his first two at-bats of the game to set the tone for the Metropolitans. It was his second multi-homer game of the season. The four-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger winner missed time this year with a calf injury, but other than that, he's been excellent despite the Mets' terrible season. Soto is now hitting .300/.398/.582 with 17 home runs, 38 RBI, 36 runs scored, and six stolen bases in his 249 plate appearances. And in his last eight games, he's been even better, going 14-for-29 (.483) with three long balls. As always, Soto is a must-start in all fantasy lineups as long as he's healthy.

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Texas Rangers outfielder Joc Pederson has been putting together a solid stretch of play lately. Over the last week. Pederson is slashing .357/.438/.571 with one home run and two RBI. He owns a .984 OPS over the last month of action. At this point in his career, Pederson is strictly a platoon bat, but that doesn't mean he can't offer fantasy value. He has blasted nine homers this season with 25 RBI and 28 walks in 68 games. The 34-year-old has enough pop in his bat to warrant looking at in deep leagues right now. His nine long balls have already matched his season total from a year ago. Fantasy managers should scoop him up while he's hot at the plate.

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Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jose Soriano (chest) was scratched ahead of his scheduled start against the Athletics on Thursday. Soriano is dealing with chest tightness and leg soreness, so the team will give him another day to rest. Angels' manager Kurt Suzuki confirmed on Thursday that Soriano will take the ball against the Athletics on Friday. It looks like they wanted to give Soriano an extra day to get 100 percent healthy. Soriano was unhittable to begin the season, but he has come back down to Earth. Over the last nine starts, Soriano has a 4.74 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and a 43:26 K:BB ratio. Fantasy managers should get him back in their lineups ahead of Friday's game.

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