Los Angeles Angels
The Angels are up against Brett Anderson , who has given up nine earned runs in his last two starts, which only lasted a total of six innings. This isn’t the best hitter’s park, but as a lower owned, late-night GPP stack, they make a very interesting option. They only have an implied run total set at 4.0, which isn’t too high, so hopefully, they go overlooked a bit. Anderson is giving up a .325 wOBA to lefties and a .332 wOBA to righties. He is also giving up a 34% hard contact rate to both righties and lefties, so the power potential is certainly there. Francisco Arcia .375 ISO. Mike Trout .274 ISO. Jose Briceno .191 ISO. Jefry Marte .167 ISO. Shohei Ohtani .157 ISO.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants are up against Robbie Erlin , who has given up four or more earned runs in three of his last four starts, so if he isn’t in form, why not stack against him? Yes, the Giants certainly aren’t the best team in the league, but they aren’t that expensive across the industry, so the savings will allow you to get up to a high-end pitcher, or pay up for another stack. Love using a team like this as a “filler stack” where they have some upside against a weak pitcher and you can really just drop them into your lineups. Evan Longoria .223 ISO. Nick Hundley .211 ISO. Gorkys Hernández .183 ISO. Brandon Crawford .157 ISO.
Houston Astros
Love playing some Astros at home, since they always bring some serious run-scoring potential. They are facing off against Mike Leake of the Mariners, who has given up five or more earned runs in three of his last five starts and has no real strikeout potential. This is a pitcher who is giving up a 35% hard contact rate or higher to both types of hitters, so we could be looking at a big night from the defending world champions. They are expensive, but you are paying up for all those potential home runs. Tyler White .277 ISO. Alex Bregman .248 ISO. Evan Gattis .197 ISO. Carlos Correa .192 ISO. Marwin González .175 ISO.
Player News
Francisco Lindor announced he will captain Team Puerto Rico in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Lindor was part of Team Puerto Rico’s squad back in 2023 that lost to Mexico in the Quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic shortly after ousting the Dominican Republic in pool play. It doesn’t have any impact for fantasy managers, but it’s a significant honor for the 31-year-old superstar as he’ll continue to represent Puerto Rico on the international stage as one of the faces of baseball.
Ranger Suárez (back) struck out seven and allowed one run over four innings on Wednesday in a minor league rehab start for Low-A Clearwater.
Suárez threw 54 pitches, and was sitting in the 91-92 mph range with his fastball, in his latest rehab outing. The 29-year-old lefty continues to progress towards his season debut after opening the year on the shelf with lower back stiffness. He’ll likely need at least one additional rehab start before he’s ready to return to Philadelphia.
Cubs RHP prospect Cade Horton struck out six and allowed one run over five innings on Wednesday for Triple-A Iowa.
Horton has quickly reclaimed his previous status as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball through three excellent starts at Triple-A Iowa after missing most of last year with a lat injury. The 23-year-old righty boasts a stellar 1.43 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 18/10 K/BB ratio across 12 1/3 innings of work. He still has some work to do in terms of developing a reliable third pitch, but his fastball/slider combo is going to make him an effective high-floor rotation option in the big leagues.
Cubs C prospect Moises Ballesteros went 4-for-5 with two homers and three RBI on Wednesday for Triple-A Iowa.
Ballesteros is among a handful of true offense-oriented backstops in the upper minors and figures to arrive in Chicago at some point later this season. The 21-year-old was one of the youngest hitters at the Triple-A level last year where he displayed strong bat-to-ball skills for hitter capable of driving the ball to all field. He’s off to an exceptional start this year, batting .368 (21-for-57) with two homers through 14 games.
Orioles 3B prospect Coby Mayo went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer on Wednesday for Triple-A Norfolk.
Mayo has gone deep three times over his last four games and has recorded at least one hit in eight of his previous nine contests since April 5. The 23-year-old top prospect doesn’t have much, if anything, left to prove at the Triple-A level. However, there’s no indication that the Orioles are ready to give him another look at the highest level right now. He remains a top-10 range prospect for dynasty purposes until further notice.
According to independent reporter Francys Romero, the White Sox are calling up catching prospect Edgar Quero.
Romero, who is extremely plugged in with native Cuban players, adds that Quero will join Chicago for Thursday’s series finale against the Athletics. The 22-year-old backstop has recorded six multi-hit performances and is batting .333 (17-for-51) with one homer in 15 games for Triple-A Charlotte. He figures to get a couple weeks to make an impact with starter Korey Lee (ankle) on the injured list. There’s some appeal here for fantasy managers in extremely deep two-catcher formats.