Tarik Skubal, SP, Tigers
It's safe to say Tarik Skubal has shaken off the rust following his injury and is back to being the same player we know and love, as he struck out 12 batters over 7.1 dominant innings against the Royals on Friday. He allowed one run on four hits and two walks. This was following seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts against the Angels in his last start, as he makes the case to reclaim his spot as the number-one ranked fantasy pitcher. The underlying metrics are as elite as ever, as his 36.7% chase rate, 32.1% whiff rate, and 30.5% strikeout rate all rank in the top 10 percent of the league or better. His control is especially pristine, as his 3.4% walk rate ranks in the 100th percentile of the league. It'll be interesting to see what the Tigers do at the deadline, as Skubal could be on the move to a contender.
Jared Jones, SP, Pirates
Jared Jones continued his hot streak on Friday against the Cubs, allowing one run on two hits and one walk with five strikeouts over six innings. He's now allowed only two total runs over his past three starts spanning 17 innings, and has struck out 22 in that span. He looks as healthy as ever, with a 96th percentile average fastball velocity of 98.6 mph, while posting a whiff rate of 32.8% and a strikeout rate of 29.4%. All signs point to Jones being a standout pitcher for fantasy, however, the big downside is volume. Jones was pulled after only 83 pitches in this outing, which also represented his season high. Through 10 starts this season, the flamethrower has only topped 80 pitches twice. That hinders his fantasy value, especially in leagues that reward quality starts, and there are no signs of the Pirates increasing that limit anytime soon. However, they're only two games out of a playoff spot, so at some point, they may need to let their best pitchers pitch if they want to maximize their shot at claiming a wildcard spot.
Kyle Tucker, OF, Dodgers
Kyle Tucker went 2 for 3 with a home run, two RBI, and a walk on Friday against the Mets. This was only his eighth home run of the season to go along with an ugly .240/.333/.371 slash line. This certainly isn't what the Dodgers expected when they signed him to a big contract this offseason, with his underlying metrics tanking across the board. His barrel rate is down to 5.9% compared to 10.8% last season, and his strikeout rate increased from 14.7% to 19.7%. Those are the two most notable changes, but every quality of contact metric has gotten worse in some capacity. It's especially concerning considering he had a very bad second half of 2025, so we've now had a year straight of Tucker being a bad player for fantasy. It's tough to imagine someone with Tucker's track record just falling off a cliff out of nowhere, so I still have hope he can turn things around, and hopefully now is the start of that turnaround.
Kazuma Okamoto, 3B, Blue Jays
Kazuma Okamoto went 2 for 5 with a home run, a double, one run, and three RBI on Friday against the Red Sox. This was his 23rd home run of the season, which surpassed Shohei Ohtani's record for most home runs in a season for a Japanese-born rookie. He's now slashing .227/.308/.451 with 51 runs, 23 homers, and 65 RBI on the year. It's surprising that the rookie has a very poor 31% strikeout rate, especially after striking out at just an 11.3% clip last season in the NPB. Obviously he was bound for some big regression in that regard when coming to the US, but no one expected him to strike out at a 9th-percentile rate. The good news is that he's been successful regardless, thanks to a 13.9% barrel rate, a 46.4% hard-hit rate, and a 26.6% pull-air rate that all work together to make him a great power threat. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he improves at his ability to make contact as he further adjusts to the league, making me think this current production is closer to his floor than his ceiling.
Cam Smith, OF, Astros
Cam Smith went 1 for 4 with a two-run home run and a walk in Friday's win against the White Sox. He's now slashing .210/.285/.370 with 13 home runs and 19 stolen bases on the season, but the underlying metrics paint a better picture. They suggest he's been the victim of quite a bit of bad luck, as his .249 xBA and .447 xSLG are much better than his actual marks, as the xSLG ranks in the 73rd percentile of the league. He's also posted an excellent 11.3% barrel rate and swings the bat faster than almost every other player in baseball, with an average speed of 77.4 mph. Combine that with a 93rd percentile sprint speed of 29.2 ft/sec, and it's easy to see the upside here. It hasn't quite all come together yet, but be on the lookout for a big second half from the youngster as his stats begin to catch up with his expected ones.
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