It was another solid showing from the rookies last week. In my fantasy baseball rookie report, I break down how they performed by putting them in three different categories. I’ve identified who had a hot, mild, or cold week and provided some analysis. See where your favorite rookie finished last week.
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Fantasy Baseball Rookie Report
Rookie Batters Who Had a Hot Week
Carter Jensen – C, Kansas City Royals
2026 Stats – 300 PA, .251/.317/.438, 11 HR, 39 R, 45 RBI, 1 SB
Jensen has loved the month of June. He has set a franchise-rookie record, extending his hitting streak to 19 games. He also went 9-for-29 (.310) with three runs, a home run, and six RBIs. These RBIs were his 19th of the month, as Jensen is one of the hottest hitters in the Royals’ lineup. Move over, Salvador Perez, there’s a new catcher in KC.
Sal Stewart – 1B, Cincinnati Reds
2026 Stats – 356 PA, .255/.343/.458, 15 HR, 4 R, 57 RBI, 11 SB
Stewart is on his way back to being a consistent hitter, currently on a four-game hit streak with three two-hit games. The power has been down from his hot start to the season, but it’s nice to see his contact somewhat picking up. The Reds’ first baseman went 7-for-24 (.291) with four runs, a home run, and four RBIs.
June hasn’t been kind to fantasy managers who have Stewart on their rosters. His home run was only his third of the month, and he has only stolen one base. We’d like to see his power pick up, so hopefully he’ll get a reset after the All-Star break.
Kazuma Okamoto – 3B/1B, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 336 PA, .238/.318/.466, 19 HR, 43 R, 53 RBI, 0 SB
Okamoto had a rare outbreak of contact success last week. He got hits in three games, but he had two or three hits in each game. He went 7-for-27 (.259) with five runs, three home runs, and eight RBIs. He continues to be the only power source in the Blue Jays lineup, leading the second-best total by 11 from George Springer (8).
Okamoto is excelling in his first American baseball season, but he needs some help in the power department. If the Blue Jays are buyers at the trade deadline, then you have to believe a power bat is a high priority.
A.J. Ewing – OF, New York Mets
2026 Stats – 169 PA, .279/.359/.422, 4 HR, 17 R, 9 RBI, 8 SB
A.J. Ewing filled up the stat sheet last week, going 8-for-23 (.347), with three runs, two homers, six RBIs, and a stolen base. He ended the week by continuing his hit streak to five games. The week could have been even more amazing if he had converted the two steal attempts that he was thrown out on. The Mets have a good thing going with having both Ewing and Carson Benge in the lineup. If only the rest of the lineup would wake up, ranking 29th in OPS.
Sam Antonacci – 2B/3B/OF, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 258 PA, .292/.391/.411, 4 HR, 41 R, 22 RBI, 11 SB
Antonacci continues to hit for the White Sox. Last week, he went 8-for-24 (.333) with five runs, three RBIs, and two stolen bases. This is the typical weekly production that fantasy baseball managers can expect from the platoon leadoff batter. I’d still like to see a few more steal chances each week, but the future is bright on the South Side of Chicago.
Braden Montgomery – OF, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 67 PA, .246/.299/.426, 2 HR, 10 R, 8 RBI, 0 SB
Another reason the future looks bright on the South Side of Chicago is Montgomery, who is only a couple of weeks into his rookie season. Last week, he went 6-for-22 (.272) with five runs, a home run, and four RBIs. It’s been a fast start for the rookie, who received his call-up on June 9. His batting average is slightly lower than what he displayed in his two minor league seasons, but that can be expected for a rookie.
Kevin McGonigle – SS/3B, Detroit Tigers
2026 Stats – 358 PA, .281/.394/.421, 6 HR, 51 R, 28 RBI, 11 SB
McGonigle saw his eight-game hit streak come to an end last week, but he still went 7-for-26 (.269). He also added four runs, two RBIs, and two stolen bases. He has shown great plate vision at the top of the Tigers lineup with a 1.09 walk per strikeout rate, although he had six strikeouts and no walks last week. McGonigle continues to be the heavy favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Munetaka Murakami is still on the IL with +550 odds, but Travis Bazzana is the closest active AL player at +1100.
Esmerlyn Valdez – Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 45 PA, .262/.311/.690, 5 HR, 8 R, 10 RBI, 0 SB
Valdez has homered in three straight games leading into this week. Before last week, he was struggling in his short MLB debut, hitting .111. However, he broke out of that slump in a big way. He went 8-for-15 (.533) with five runs, five RBIs, and the home runs mentioned earlier. The Pirates are an interesting team at the trade deadline. It’ll be fun to watch them over the next month.
Rookies Who Had a Mild Week
Carson Benge – OF, New York Mets
2026 Stats – 330 PA, .257/.318/.318, 9 HR, 44 R, 32 RBI, 11 SB
Benge had a six-game hitting streak come to an end last week in a June 24 doubleheader, but he quickly started a new streak the next day. He brings a four-game streak into this week. Throughout last week, he went 8-for-31 (.258), with two runs and three RBIs. The lackluster performance doesn’t put a damper on the solid season Benge has delivered thus far for the Mets.
Konnor Griffin – SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 218 PA, .273/.330/.414, 5 HR, 31 R, 23 RBI, 14 SB
Welcome back, Konnor Griffin. He missed 22 games due to a forearm flexor strain, but in his return on June 26, he homered in his first at-bat off Andrew Abbott. He went 3-for-9 (.333) at the plate last weekend with the run and RBI from the homer. The Pirates are taking it slow with Griffin as he sat out Saturday’s game. Griffin was heating up before his injury, so hopefully that continues.
TJ Rumfield – 1B, Colorado Rockies
2026 Stats – 328 PA, .294/.372/.491, 12 HR, 36 R, 45 RBI, 0 SB
Cole Carrig – OF, Colorado Rockies
2026 Stats – 69 PA, .268/.382/.518, 3 HR, 11 R, 11 RBI, 2 SB
Samuel Basallo – C, Baltimore Orioles
2026 Stats – 258 PA, .251/.310/.451, 12 HR, 29 R, 36 RBI, 0 SB
Henry Bolte – OF, Athletics
2026 Stats – 157 PA, .299/.385/.388, 2 HR, 14 R, 12 RBI, 10 SB
Owen Caissie – OF, Miami Marlins
2026 Stats – 224 PA, .231/.290/.427, 9 HR, 25 R, 43 RBI, 4 SB
Alex Freeland – 2B/3B/SS – Los Angeles Dodgers
2026 Stats – 199 PA, .234/.321/.327, 3 HR, 23 R, 17 RBI, 1 SB
Rookie Batters Who Had a Cold Week
Travis Bazzana – 2B, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 226 PA, .256/.350/.431, 7 HR, 26 R, 25 RBI, 12 SB
JJ Wetherholt – 2B/3B/SS, St. Louis Cardinals
2026 Stats – 350 PA, .265/.360/.411, 12 HR, 49 R, 34 RBI, 9 SB
Nathan Church – OF, St. Louis Cardinals
2026 Stats – 209 PA, .258/.301/.392, 5 HR, 25 R, 20 RBI, 5 SB
Justin Crawford – OF, Philadelphia Phillies
2026 Stats – 253 PA, .243/.296/.332, 2 HR, 23 R, 16 RBI, 9 SB
Colt Emerson – SS, Seattle Mariners
2026 Stats – 125 PA, .205/.288/.455, 7 HR, 15 R, 17 RBI, 1 SB
Spencer Jones – OF, New York Yankees
2026 Stats – 73 PA, .219/.315/.344, 2 HR, 5 R, 7 RBI, 1 SB
Brice Matthews- 2B/OF, Houston Astros
2026 Stats – 208 PA, .193/.243/.323, 6 HR, 19 R, 18 RBI, 2 SB
Sung-Mun Song – 2B/3B, San Diego Padres
2026 Stats – 65 PA, .214/.323/.250, 0 HR, 8 R, 8 RBI, 6 SB
LuJames Groover – Arizona Diamondbacks
2026 Stats – 52 PA, .174/.269/.283, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB
Cooper Pratt – SS, Milwaukee Brewers
2026 Stats – 42 PA, .222/.310/.250, 0 HR, 4 R, 2 RBI, 5 SB
Yohendrick Pinango – OF, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 143 PA, .276/.322/.440, 5 HR, 11 R, 20 RBI, 0 SB
Blaze Jordan – St. Louis Cardinals
2026 Stats – 53 PA, .250/.264/.417, 1 HR, 5 R, 12 RBI, 0 SB
Rookie Pitchers
Nolan McLean – SP, New York Mets
2026 Stats – 16 GS, 4-5, 4.03 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 106 SO, 34 BB
Parker Messick – SP, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 16 GS, 7-4, 2.67 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 101 SO, 29 BB
Bubba Chandler – SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 15 GS (1 relief), 3-7, 4.42 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 73 SO, 46 BB
Connelly Early – SP, Boston Red Sox
2026 Stats – 16 GS, 7-5, 3.59 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 88 SO, 32 BB
Payton Tolle – SP, Boston Red Sox
2026 Stats – 12 GS, 4-5, 2.78 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 69 SO, 20 BB
Brandon Sproat – SP, Milwaukee Brewers
2026 Stats – 13 GS (2 relief), 2-4, 5.43 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 73 SO, 32 BB
Foster Griffin – SP, Washington Nationals
2026 Stats – 17 GS, 8-2, 2.93 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 98 SO, 25 BB
Trey Yesavage – SP, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 11 GS, 3-3, 3.56 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 58 SO, 30 BB
Connor Prielipp – SP, Minnesota Twins
2026 Stats – 12 GS, 2-5, 4.96 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 65 SO, 23 BB
Tatsuya Imai – SP, Houston Astros
2026 Stats – 11 GS, 5-3, 5.36 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 58 SO, 25 BB
Gage Jump – SP, Athletics
2026 Stats – 6 GS, 3-1, 2.04 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 35 SO, 10 BB
Trey Gibson – SP, Baltimore Orioles
2026 Stats – 6 GS (1 relief), 1-2, 5.64 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 25 SO, 19 BB
Rhett Lowder – Cincinnati Reds
2026 Stats – 12 GS, 3-5, 4.81 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 48 SO, 29 BB
Injuries/Demotions
Munetaka Murakami – 1B, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 246 PA, .240/.378/.560, 20 HR, 43 R, 41 RBI, 1 SB
Placed on the 10-day IL with a hamstring injury on May 29
Noah Schultz – SP, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 8 GS, 2-3, 5.35 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 33 SO, 22 BB
Placed on the 15-day IL with a knee injury on May 26
Nick Yorke – 2B/3B, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 78 PA, .221/.308/.309, 1 HR, 6 R, 6 RBI, 0 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
Juan Brito – 2B, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 56 PA, .176/.250/.255, 0 HR, 7 R, 3 RBI, 0 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
Dylan Beavers – OF, Baltimore Orioles
2026 Stats – 119 PA, .243/.331/.369, 2 HR, 16 R, 12 RBI, 3 SB
On 10-Day IL with an oblique injury on May 11
Elmer Rodriguez – SP, New York Yankees
2026 Stats – 3 GS, 0-1, 4.15 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 6 SO, 9 BB
Optioned to Triple-A
Jose Fernandez – SS, Arizona Diamondbacks
2026 Stats – 166 PA, .258/.290/.361, 3 HR, 23 R, 15 RBI, 6 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
Chase DeLauter – OF, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 270 PA, .263/.337/.408, 7 HR, 24 R, 34 RBI, 2 SB
Placed on the 10-day IL with a hairline fracture in his right rib cage on June 17
Ryan Waldschmidt – OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
2026 Stats – 122 PA, .259/.314/.357, 0 HR, 11 R, 8 RBI, 5 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
Andrew Painter – SP, Philadelphia Phillies
2026 Stats – 12 GS (2 relief), 1-8, 7.06 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 53 SO, 24 BB
Optioned to Triple-A
Moises Ballesteros – C, Chicago Cubs
2026 Stats – 171 PA, .235/.304/.392, 6 HR, 15 R, 23 RBI, 1 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
Sterlin Thompson – OF, Colorado Rockies
2026 Stats – 77 PA, .232/.312/.377, 2 HR, 7 R, 10 RBI, 0 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
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