Jack Leiter (SP - TEX) - Granted, it's been against two of the league's most struggling offenses thus far, but Jack Leiter has looked very solid through two outings this year. Sunday was even more impressive than his opener against the Orioles, as he limited the Reds to 1 run on 4 singles and a walk over 5 innings, striking out 9 and generating 18 whiffs on just 85 pitches. What is striking is the control improvement, as he's shown the ability to miss bats throughout the past 4 years in the minors, but he had yet to walk under 3.98 per 9 at any stop. As Adam mentioned last week, Leiter did cut that number to 3.7 during the second half last season, and so far he's walked just 2 through 11 innings in his 2 starts this year. It's tough to ignore the ceiling.....there are a sizable number of pitchers that could be very productive by cutting their walks by 25-50%, and Leiter is most definitely in that group. I'm cautiously optimistic here that enough strides have been made for Leiter to be a top-50 SP this season, and the ceiling is certainly even better than that.
Cole Young (2B - SEA) - Young homered (his 2nd) and walked on Sunday in the 8-7 loss to the Angels, and the 22 year old is now hitting 278/333/556 through 10 games and 39 PAs this season. That's 8 HRs in 102 PAs if you count spring training, which while we shouldn't treat it like we do the regular season, it did actually happen so it means "something". The high LD rate that he consistently showed throughout the minors seems to be back, and while he hasn't figured out how to steal bases at this level yet the speed does grade out a bit above average. Did I mention that he's just 22 until after the break? I think that he's very much still figuring things out at the top level, and as weak as the 2B position is overall, I think that there's a very good chance that he finishes the year as a top-15 player at the position. For a player drafted as 2B77 this spring, that may sound crazy, but he has shown plus ability in all facets of the game at different times. I absolutely think that he should be owned in most formats right now.
Braxton Ashcraft (SP - PIT) - Ashcraft had a very solid start on Sunday against the O's, going 6 innings and allowing 4 hits and a run, striking out 8 without walking a man. I'm really coming around to the idea that Pittsburgh could be a playoff team this year, and even with the return of Jared Jones at some point I think that Ashcraft can remain in the rotation and be a viable mid-rotation SP. There are no massive strengths here, but the control, bat-missing, and ability to keep the ball down have all flashed plus at various times, and they've all been sort of "decent" to start 2026. He has the Cubs (in Wrigley) and Nationals (at home) coming up next, and nothing there keeps me from thinking that he should be owned and started in all formats right now.
Miguel Vargas (3B - CWS) - The very definition of a post-hype prospect, Vargas tripled in a run in 4 ABs on Sunday against the Jays, and is hitting 276/389/552 through his first 9 games this season with 3 2B, 1 3B, and 1 HR. It's easy to downplay this since it's only 9 games and Vargas has shown us 1160 PAs of barely replacement-level performance coming into this season, but I still see a player that just turned 26 over the winter and has never failed to perform offensively at any level in the minor leagues. Sure, some guys are simply 4A hitters, but Vargas has proven to be a very good contact hitter with fantastic plate discipline, and he has roughly average power and speed. I feel like he could very easily be Alec Bohm with a bit more speed (and a lesser lineup around him, of course), and that's plenty valuable.....not to mention the fact that he's 3 years younger and could conceivably still be improving/learning at this level. I've picked him up in a few 12-teamers, so that's speaking with my own wallet here, so to speak. I think he could definitely be an above average player at 3B.
Max Muncy (3B - ATH) - The "other" Max Muncy is off to a great start for the A's this year, hitting 314/333/571 after a pair of singles in the 12-10 win over Houston on Sunday. I know it's early, small sample size, etc.: truly, I do. He's definitely made some strides in the power department though, as the bat speed is up 2 mph already (putting him 29th in MLB among qualifiers), and the exit velocity has been among the game's elite. There are certainly contact issues and there's only around average speed (and probably not a ton of SBs regardless), but it looks like there's quite a bit more power than I anticipated, which makes him viable in far more formats than I expected. The fact that he's just 23 makes me far more interested than I would otherwise be, and the consistently high LD rates over the past 3 years mean that the AVG should be less hampered by the poor contact rate that you might think. In straight roto or points leagues I think he's on the fringe of being 12-team mixed worthy....I'm less interested in OBP-based formats for now.
This is just a small sample our daily analysis, join our member area for tools that will help you win your fantasy championship. Click here for details: http://www.insiderbaseball.com/baseballsample.htm Click here to register: http://www.fantistics.com/salesbaseball.php3
