Fantasy baseball standouts: Trey Yesavage's stellar debut headlines wave of late-season risers

There were reasons to be skeptical about Trey Yesavage's chances of making an immediate Fantasy impact, if only because, as Scott White wrote Monday, there just wasn't very much time for him to make an impact after his callup. 

But Yesavage is gonna try.

Debuting against the Rays in Tampa Monday night, Yesavage was utterly dominant. He ran into a bit of trouble in the first inning, but that ended up being the only run he allowed, as he made it through five innings with three hits, the one run, two walks, and nine strikeouts. And the Rays really couldn't touch him, as he generated 19 swinging strikes on 36 pitches, a truly bonkers 53% whiff rate. And he did it with everything.

The splitter was the star, as Yesavage did an excellent job keeping it down at the bottom of the zone from his high, overhead arm slot, and the Rays just whiffed right over it. 11 times on 14 swings, to be precise, with just a single measly 65 mph bleeder allowed in play. 

By contrast, the four-seamer and gyro slider weren't quite as dominant, but that's all relative - he still has four whiffs with each pitch. And he looked like a really uncomfortable experience for the opposing hitters, who just aren't used to seeing stuff like that from an arm angle that extreme. 

As the scouting reports get out, maybe Yesavage will find less success. But based on what he showed Monday, you have to assume he's going to remain in the Blue Jays rotation, potentially through the playoffs. And if you've got a chance to add him for the final start or two, I think you have to do that. It hasn't been confirmed that he will make another start yet, but I'd bet on it. The Blue Jays have a solid rotation, but they don't have anyone besides Kevin Gausman and maybe Shane Bieber who they could rely on to be more than solid. 

Yesavage showed even in his MLB debut, he might be a lot more than solid. 

Sal Stewart, 3B, Reds: 3 for 5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R

Stewart is up to a .919 OPS since joining the Reds, and it's not hard to see how delaying his callup might end up being the difference between returning to the playoffs and staying at home for the fifth season in a row. There's some messiness in the plate discipline for Steward, who has yet to draw a walk in 37 plate appearances, but he's just mashing the cover off the ball right now, putting up an elite 94.1 mph average exit velocity with four homers in 11 games. That's more or less what he was doing at Triple-A, too, and Stewart is looking like he should be one of the most popular breakout candidates in the league for 2026. 

Zach Cole, OF, Astros: 2 for 3, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Cole came to the majors with very little fanfare, but he's making himself known so far. Monday's was his second homer in four games, and it came in a game he began on the bench, only coming in after Yordan Alvarez left with an injury. Cole is now 6 for 13 with three runs and seven RBI in the majors, continuing his breakout season that saw him hit .279/.377/.539 across Double-A and Triple-A. That came with a 35.1% strikeout rate, which is a major red flag, obviously, and it makes it hard to get too excited despite the hot start. But if you're looking to catch lightning in a bottle in a deeper league, 

Spencer Strider, Braves @WAS: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

[whispers] Is he back? 

I have no idea. In some ways, he definitely isn't – Strider is still averaging right around 95.5 mph with his four-seamer, down 1.7 mph from 2023 and 2.7 mph from 2022. So, no, Strider isn't that guy. But he's strung together two good starts in a row after getting some extra time off earlier in the month to work on some stuff outside of game situations, and that does seem to have helped. He has clawed back another inch or so of vertical movement on his four-seamer, which is going to be more important than ever if he's going to sit around 95 mph rather than 97-98. However, even Monday, he had just three whiffs on 25 swings against the four-seamer, while the Nationals still had a 92.5 mph average exit velocity against it on 12 balls in play. 

Maybe the answer is this simple: Expecting Strider to get back to his pre-injury form, when he was the best pitcher in baseball, might be asking too much. The question now is if he can limit the damage on his four-seamer enough to thrive at a lower level. The past couple of starts are the first signs we've had of that in a while. We'll take it. 

Kyle Bradish, Orioles @CHW: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K 

Bradish is still a little shaky, which is to be expected coming back from Tommy John surgery. But the stuff continues to look excellent, and he continues to miss a ton of bats – 17 of them on 39 swings for a robust 44% whiff rate Monday. We've learned well enough by now not to expect even former aces to come back at full strength in the months after their return from major elbow surgery, but Bradish has managed to remain effective. That means you can continue to use him for his final few starts. And, more importantly, I think you can and should get very excited about him for 2026. He might be a top-24 SP for me. 

Emmet Sheehan, Dodgers vs. PHI: 5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

This is actually even more impressive than you might be thinking, because Sheehan came in after an opener who got just one out. Think of how precious pitchers are about their routines, and then think about Sheehan planning to come into the game at the top of the second, only to be called on to face JT Realmuto with a runner on first base and the Dodgers already trailing. 

Of course, it's plenty impressive even without that context, as Sheehan has tended to be lately. He generated 13 swinging strikes to go with the seven strikeouts, and has now allowed just three runs in 24.1 innings of work over the past four appearances, with 32 strikeouts to just six walks in that time. 

Sheehan has always had this potential, and seeing him putting it together for the stretch run has been fun. The biggest question for 2026 is whether it's enough to guarantee a spot in a rotation that already has four spots spoken for with Roki Sasaki, Gavin Stone, and potentially Clayton Kershaw around. I think it has to be, but that's not guaranteed. He'll just have to keep dominating and force the Dodgers' hand, I guess. 

Joe Boyle, Rays vs. TOR: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

When he throws strikes, Boyle can be awesome. He showed that in this one, and he also showed it in his previous three starts, when he walked 10 in 9.1 innings and was decidedly not awesome. The stuff plays against major-league hitters, but even 100 mph fastballs and big breaking balls won't fool big-leaguers if you can't throw strikes consistently. He did exactly that Monday, throwing 60% of his pitches in the zone and generating a solid 68% strike rate. If he could do that consistently, Boyle could be a real weapon for the Rays and for Fantasy, and he remains a name to watch for 2026 if he can build on the sporadic gains he has made this season and lock down a rotation spot. 

Simeon Woods Richardson, Twins vs. NYY: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 11 K 

Woods Richardson has never been a particularly interesting pitcher for Fantasy, but he may be worth another look. He recently introduced a splitter into his arsenal, and he leaned on it as his primary pitch in this one, generating nine of his 16 swinging strikes en route to a career-best day. It's a very small sample size, and this is really the first exciting start we've seen from him. But with a new pitch in his bag, Woods Richardson is worth monitoring over his final few starts to see if he can build on this success. But I wouldn't be adding him just based on this start yet.