Injuries continue to hit fantasy managers hard, highlighted by Aaron Judge’s placement on the IL over the weekend. The superstar suffered a stress fracture in his rib and will be reevaluated in four to six weeks; fantasy managers are preparing for Judge to miss significant time. Judge, Tarik Skubal, Elly De La Cruz, Garrett Crochet and Cal Raleigh are among the players with a composite ADP inside the top 15 who are currently sidelined on the IL. Then, there’s Ronald Acuña Jr., who limped off the field Tuesday and is dealing with left hamstring tightness. Here are pressing questions during a time in which many fantasy managers’ depth and patience are being tested.
How healthy is Tarik Skubal?
Skubal impressed during a recent rehab start just one month after undergoing elbow surgery. He’s scheduled to throw a bullpen session Wednesday and is (remarkably) tentatively set to return to the majors Friday or Saturday. The NanoNeedle Scope technology has cut the return time from bone-chip injuries in half. Skubal encouragingly produced 16 whiffs and topped out at 99 mph during his outing in High A.
Tarik Skubal in his first rehab start:
5 IP
2 H
0 ER
0 BB
6 K
54 pitchesHis fastball topped out at 99 MPH pic.twitter.com/zMR8JWM67H
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 7, 2026
It remains to be seen whether Skubal is 100% after the new procedure, but we’ll find out soon thanks to the procedure that accelerated his recovery time dramatically.
Will Austin Riley ever start hitting?
Riley was one of my favorite targets during drafts this season, as he looked like an obvious bounce-back candidate after injuries ruined his previous two seasons. But he’s been a fantasy bust instead, entering Tuesday with a career-low 80 wRC+ and ranking as the No. 22 fantasy third baseman despite ostensibly staying healthy. While the Braves’ offense has otherwise rebounded hugely in 2026 (third highest wRC+ in MLB), Riley has been moved down to seventh in Atlanta’s order; he’s even been dropped by some fantasy managers in shallow leagues.
Riley has struck out more while not hitting the ball quite as hard this season, but he’s also undoubtedly been unlucky. Riley’s .266 BABIP and 10.8 HR/FB% are both career lows and well below his normal marks. His track record suggests he won’t continue performing this poorly for much longer, so patient fantasy managers will be rewarded (preferably soon).
Where’s Vinnie Pasquantino’s power?
Pasquantino is another massive fantasy disappointment. He was drafted as the No. 10 first baseman and inside the top 75 overall, but he’s produced negative fantasy value while ranking as the No. 43 first baseman this season. The performance is especially discouraging considering Pasquantino’s expectations were high after Kauffman Stadium moved in its fences for 2026. Pasquantino entered Tuesday with a 57 wRC+ at home compared to 104 on the road, and he has just two homers in Kansas City this year. He ranks 11th on the season in fly-ball percentage (49.7), but Pasquantino’s 6.3 HR/FB% is toward the bottom among all qualified hitters.
Pasquantino isn’t near last season’s 32-homer pace despite hitting easily the most fly balls of his career and playing in a home park that now has shorter outfield walls. His declining bat speed is a concern, but Pasquantino qualifies as a true buy-low candidate.
Can Jake Bauers keep this up?
Bauers was a complete afterthought and ignored during fantasy drafts, but he entered Tuesday a top-20 fantasy player this season, sandwiched between De La Cruz and Judge. Bauers’ Statcast page looks legit, including a hard-hit rate (54.1) in the top 3% of the league and a manageable K% (22.1). He’s hitting in the middle of a Milwaukee lineup that leads baseball in runs scored per game, is multi-eligible and doesn’t need to be platooned. Bauers is on pace to go .286-96-30-109-13.
However, Bauers is also a 30-year-old who entered the season with almost 2,000 career plate appearances of poor results (.211/.307/.365); he posted a negative fWAR and ranked No. 277 among hitters in wRC+ (87) over 2018-2025. Bauers has performed like a truly elite hitter over the first one-third of the season in 2026, which has been a major surprise.
Bauers’ lack of track record and incoming regression likely make him a tough sell-high candidate, but fantasy managers are playing with house money at this point.
Is Payton Tolle already Boston’s ace?
Not much has gone right for the Red Sox this season, but Tolle’s emergence has been a highlight. After impressing in spring training and Triple A, the young lefty entered Tuesday’s start in Tampa Bay with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. The rookie won’t finish with those ratios, but regression could be mild given his 20.3 K-BB% would rank 12th among qualified starters. Tolle’s four-seam fastball is especially impressive; it produced the highest swinging-strike rate in the minors last season and has been dominant while holding hitters to the league’s lowest hard-hit percentage in the majors this year.
Payton Tolle’s 4-seamer has been a dominant pitch this season.
MLB ranks among pitchers with 300+ 4-seamers thrown…
BAA: .138 (3rd)
SLG: .200 (1st)
wOBA: .217 (1st)
Whiff: 29.5% (7th)
Hard-Hit: 22.4% (1st)#RedSox pic.twitter.com/vmxLdrYxcL— Red Seat Podcast (@RedSeatPodcast) June 8, 2026
A healthy Crochet would remain the Red Sox’s best starter, but he looked compromised in 2026 and suffered a setback while on the IL. Connelly Early (4.08 SIERA) was called up sooner while Sonny Gray (4.09) and Ranger Suarez (3.75) have been solid, but Tolle (3.45) has been the superior pitcher. Tolle threw 108 innings last season, so he may reach his limit in 2026. Still, while many of the biggest free-agent bids have turned into busts this season, Tolle has emerged as Boston’s ace and one of the best waiver-wire adds.
How chaotic are fantasy closers?
Alex Lange was this week’s biggest free-agent prize in NFBC Main Event leagues, as he’s ostensibly replaced a struggling Lucas Erceg as the Royals’ closer. Fantasy managers remain desperate for saves in a season filled with chaos. Only five relievers recorded more than one save over the last week, and there have been 75 different relief pitchers who’ve closed out a game over the last month. The Cubs haven’t had a save since May 14, while Jordan Romano has recorded 66.7% of the Angels’ saves despite being released in April.
Abner Uribe ostensibly lost the closer’s role in Milwaukee, thanks to an obscene gesture, but Trevor Megill’s health status is now in question after he was unavailable Monday. Meanwhile, Joel Kuhnel is suddenly throwing 5 mph harder after being traded to the Brewers. The Giants remain a total mess and a stay-away situation, while Edwin Díaz is making encouraging progress and is worth stashing in this economy.
Which hitter is due for regression?
Manny Machado apparently hates analytics, which is an odd thing to blame for his horrifically slow first two-plus months of the season. Machado is hitting the ball with less authority, but he’s also suffered bad luck. He entered Tuesday with a .167 BABIP that was 35 points lower than the next worst mark among 161 qualified hitters. Machado’s career hit rate is .295, and his BB% (10.3) is a career high. He owns the fourth biggest difference between batting average and expected batting average in MLB and ranks toward the bottom of the league in batting average with runners in scoring position (.156).
Machado is clearly in the decline phase, but it’s unlikely he completely forgot how to hit at 33 years old. His misfortune will turn around.
Which pitcher is due for regression?
Andrés Muñoz entered Tuesday with a 5.18 ERA that ranked 156 out of 186 qualified relievers this season, but his 2.52 SIERA ranked 11th. Muñoz’s velocity and stuff have remained intact while his K-BB% (25.0) has improved compared to last season (21.7), when he finished with a 1.73 ERA. The 27-year-old’s CSW% (35.2) ranks third in MLB, and his LOB% (66.9) and HR/FB% (19.0) should normalize. Muñoz’s poor results haven’t lost him the closing role in Seattle, and his bad luck should change.
Jeff Hoffman is also due for better fortune while flirting with the worst BABIP of all time, but he’s become irrelevant in fantasy leagues with Louis Varland pitching like a top-three closer. Muñoz can do the same when regression hits.
Which prospects are on the fantasy radar?
Joshua Báez has clubbed six homers with a 1.373 OPS over the last two weeks and is arguably baseball’s hottest prospect. Lars Nootbaar just returned to St. Louis’ outfield, but Victor Scott II was sent to the minors, and DH is open when Ivan Herrera catches. Baez’s K% (32.1 in Triple A) remains an issue, but he owns future 30-HR/30-SB upside. He’ll induce fights on waiver wires whenever he’s called up by the Cardinals. Báez is rostered in only 12% of Yahoo leagues.
Meanwhile, Cole Carrigg and Braden Montgomery are recent outfield call-ups worth adding in deeper fantasy leagues. Carrigg has Coors Field on his side and is the preferred add if looking for speed, while Montgomery has more power potential but is a greater batting average risk.