Two-plus months of Major League Baseball for the 2026 season are in the books. Our marathon of a season says that we still get nearly four months of daily baseball before things are wrapped up, and that's only the regular season. What will unfold in the next month -- in the leadup to both the trade deadline and the playoff race -- will help shape the rest of the season.
Here are our 10 most important players for the month of June.
1. Tarik Skubal, Tigers
He's still recovering from elbow surgery, but the last we heard, Skubal threw 39 pitches in a simulated game. The speculative timetable has him returning to the Tigers in mid-June. Even if it takes a bit longer, Skubal is the biggest name in baseball to monitor right now. He's won back-to-back Cy Youngs and was one of the best pitchers in 2026 before the injury. He's also a free agent after this season, is incredibly unlikely to sign an extension and plays for a team in a free fall. The Tigers are 4-21 since May 3. They are 11 ½ games out of first place in the AL Central and seven games out of a wild-card spot.
Do the math. Skubal is about to be the hottest name on the trade market, assuming he comes back healthy.
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres
The Padres are in playoff position and sit six games over .500 at the moment. They've gotten to this point without much offense from their should-be stars in Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Tatis. Let's focus on Tatis. He's hitting .266/.340/.318 (89 OPS+) at present. That .318 SLG is 180 points lower than his career mark. He hit a home run over the weekend for his first of the season. Sure, the 42 homers in 130 games in 2021 isn't happening again, but Tatis has since established himself as a 25-ish home run guy. Even if we stop short of superstar, we're talking about a star here. If the Padres are going anywhere this season, they need Tatis to play like a star. He hasn't done so, in terms of hitting for power, to this point. Maybe that home run on Saturday will get him going.
3. Alex Bregman, Cubs
The hot-and-cold Cubs have now lost 16 of their last 21 since winning 20 of 23. They lead the majors in runners left on base and are hitting just .223 with a .346 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position. Getting runners on base at a high clip is very good, but the Cubs need to actually get them home.
Bregman is a middle-of-the-order hitter who signed a five-year, $140 million deal this past offseason with the Cubs. He's hitting .259 with a .341 on-base percentage, but he's only slugging .364. He's hitting .203 with a .219 SLG with runners in scoring position. If the Cubs are going to start making good on scoring runs with their robust OBP, Bregman is a good place to start. He hit a home run on Sunday, and sometimes all it takes is just one swing.
4. Jordan Walker, Cardinals
The Cardinals entered the season with low expectations and in rebuild mode. And yet here they are in June, playing winning baseball. They enter the month five games over .500 and in playoff position. The star turn from Walker is a big reason why. He's hitting .290/.357/.557 (159 OPS+) with 15 homers and 43 RBI. The Cardinals haven't had a 40-homer guy since Albert Pujols in 2010, but Walker is on pace to join the club that only includes Pujols (six times), Jim Edmonds (twice), Mark McGwire (twice), Johnny Mize and Rogers Hornsby.
Of greater importance is the Cardinals hanging around in the playoff race. If they are to do so, Walker's presence in the middle of the batting order will be integral.
5. CJ Abrams, Nationals
For the first time since 2018, when their superstar was Bryce Harper, the Nationals are above .500 entering June. Yeah, even in 2019 when they won the World Series, they had a losing record heading into this month. How about that?
Much of the focus with this team will be on James Wood and rightfully so. He's a beast. Don't overlook Abrams, though. Now in his age-25 season, he's leveling up. In 59 games, he's at 2.6 WAR with a .294/.391/.542 slash line and 13 doubles, two triples, 12 homers, 47 RBI, 36 runs and nine steals. He's legitimately one of the best players in baseball on a team hanging around in a playoff race they weren't supposed to come near.
6. Trea Turner, Phillies
The Phillies, who haven't missed the playoffs since 2021, have turned it around under new manager Don Mattingly, going 21-10 after a miserable start to the season. They aren't in playoff position at this point, but they are only 1 ½ games out of the wild-card race. They've climbed their way back into contention without one of their biggest and most highly compensated players performing well.
Turner is hitting .223/.273/.349 (71 OPS+). He won the batting title last season and has carried a 121 OPS+ in each of the last two seasons.
The Phillies have a thin position-player roster, meaning the big names need to carry a heavy load. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper have done their part so far, while Brandon Marsh is having a huge season. If the Phillies are to continue their winning ways and make the playoffs for the fifth straight season, Turner needs to get things on track.
7. Jackson Chourio, Brewers
The Brewers are doing Brewers things. They just went 19-7 in May and have turned a 5 ½-game deficit in the NL Central into a 4 ½-game lead -- and this is a division without a losing team!
Given that the Brewers have made the playoffs seven of the last eight years and still haven't gotten past the NLCS, just being in the race shouldn't be acceptable anymore. This means we can nitpick a little. If there's a shortfall on the Brewers right now, it would be power hitting. They are last in the majors in home runs and 29th in slugging percentage.
Some of that is due to injuries to Christian Yelich, Andrew Vaughn and Chourio. It'll be interesting to see how things fall in the coming weeks. I'll be watching Chourio. He's still only 22 years old and already has two 20-20 seasons under his belt. There's superstar upside in there. Will he get hot this month and inch closer to that very high ceiling?
8. Cal Raleigh, Mariners
The Mariners were lying in the weeds for much of the 2026 season, but have now won six straight and taken over first place in the AL West. They sit in first despite -0.1 WAR and a .161 batting average with a 61 OPS+ from Raleigh. He's now on the injured list with an oblique issue, but has started to take swings in a batting cage. He should be back before the end of this month.
As we've seen this past week, the Mariners can win games without Raleigh. They cannot, however, secure their first ever pennant without him being that imposing middle-of-the-order presence he was in the lineup last season. He's never going to hit 60 homers in a season again, but a return to the guy who can hit 30+ homers a season would give a significant boost to this lineup.
9. Gerrit Cole, Yankees
The Yankees enter June trailing the Rays by 1 ½ games in the AL East. They have more talent and arguably are the most talented team in the entire American League. This is the Yankees, though, so just having that distinction isn't gonna cut it. They crave World Series rings. Ace Max Fried is on the shelf right now, but youngster Cam Schlittler is really proving himself as a frontline starter. In looking ahead to October, what if the Yankees had three aces?
Cole returned from Tommy John surgery last month. He's now made two starts and has yet to give up a run. Last time out, he worked 6 ⅔ innings and struck out 10 without walking anyone. It came against a terrible offense in the Royals, but still, this was quite encouraging.
Monitor his work this coming month. A fully functional Cole really takes the Yankees up into the top tier of baseball.
10. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
Always. He's always one of the most important players.
This time around, though, we're gonna focus on the mound work of the four-time MVP.
Back in the spring, word started to circulate that Ohtani had his eyes on winning a Cy Young. That's the one thing he hasn't yet done in Major League Baseball. He's still a great hitter (.280 with a 153 OPS+), but it feels like pitching is moving to the forefront for him this season. In nine starts, he's 5-2 with a 0.82 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 61 strikeouts in 55 innings. Remarkably, he's getting better. In his last three starts, he's only given up one run on seven hits in 18 innings.
How good can he be on the mound all season? Will the workload catch up to him, given that he hasn't topped 140 innings since 2022?
