Last week was rough for some MLB rookies who have lived in the “hot” category of my fantasy baseball rookie report. They saw their scorching hot bats come to an ice-cold freeze. Usually, after a rough week, it’s best to step back into the box the next day so you don’t dwell on what you’re doing wrong, but the All-Star break will give them a mental reset. As the legendary Yogi Berra said, “Baseball is 90% mental, and the other half is physical.”
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Esmerlyn Valdez has been on a scorching-hot tear over the last few weeks and finds himself at the top of my rookie report after his explosive performance last week. Check out how MLB rookies have performed all season and how offensive players performed last week. See where your favorite rookies rank.
Fantasy Baseball Rookie Report
Rookie Batters Who Had a Hot Week
Esmerlyn Valdez – 1B/OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 105 PA, .309/.371/.713, 10 HR, 21 R, 27 RBI, 0 SB
Esmerlyn Valdez is still shooting off fireworks with the explosive bat he displayed last week. He went 7-for-23 (.304) with an incredible eight runs, four homers, and 10 RBIs. He started his MLB debut slowly after being called up on May 22, with only two hits over his first nine games, but since June 19, Valdez has had a hit in 16 of 19 games.
Somehow, he is owned in just 47% of fantasy leagues, but it looks like the rookie has figured out major-league hitting and shows no signs of slowing down. See how he starts up after the All-Star break, and if he’s continuing his hot hitting, then run to the waiver wire.
Sal Stewart – 1B, Cincinnati Reds
2026 Stats – 414 PA, .256/.338/.474, 19 HR, 51 R, 65 RBI, 11 SB
Sal Stewart is slowly regaining his early-season power. He homered twice while going 7-for-24 (.291) with three runs and four RBIs. For some reason, he’s still showing no desire to steal bases, with the last one coming on June 15. Getting on base isn’t the issue, as Stewart has gotten a hit in nine of his 11 games in July. Hopefully, the break in the season will rejuvenate his legs and get him running more.
Kevin McGonigle – SS/3B, Detroit Tigers
2026 Stats – 413 PA, .283/.392/.420, 8 HR, 58 R, 34 RBI, 11 SB
Kevin McGonigle has a hit in eight of 10 games throughout the first half of July. Last week, he went 6-for-23 (.260) with a home run, three runs, and three RBIs, which isn’t a flashy week, but he’s been a steady contributor at the top of the Tigers’ lineup all season long. This is why he’s still the heavy favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Look for a solid second half to McGonigle’s rookie campaign as he’s on pace to pass 100 runs. You can’t ask for much more for a leadoff hitter.
Chase DeLauter – OF, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 333 PA, .278/.345/.448, 11 HR, 33 R, 46 RBI, 3 SB
Chase DeLauter has been on a tear since returning from a two-week absence due to a rib fracture sustained when he collided with the outfield wall on June 13. Since his return on June 28, he’s gotten a hit in 12 of 14 games and had multi-hit games in seven of them. The rest seems to have refueled his power swing as well, hitting three last week and one on July 5. Last week, the Guardians’ rookie also went 8-for-23 (.347) and added four runs and five RBIs.
Throughout the season, DeLauter has been a solid contributor, getting on base, but the power has been a disappointment after hitting four home runs in his first three games. It’s encouraging to see the rookie hit four over his last seven games before the All-Star break, and hopefully it continues when the Guardians start back up Friday at home against the Pirates.
Carson Benge – OF, New York Mets
2026 Stats – 386 PA, .263/.326/.402, 11 HR, 52 R, 37 RBI, 15 SB
Before Carson Benge finished last week with two hitless games, he had a hit in 22 of 25 games, dating back to June 14. So he’s been a consistent contributor for the Mets, and lately he’s been hitting in the heart of the lineup, the four- or five-hole. Last week, Benge went 7-for-20 (.350) with five runs, two RBIs, and four stolen bases.
In May and June, he combined for five stolen bases. So to see four in a week is a welcome sign for fantasy managers, unless you played against him, as I did. If Benge can become a reliable five-tool producer, he could be one of the biggest steals this season, given his average ADP of 297.
A.J. Ewing – 2B/OF, New York Mets
2026 Stats – 222 PA, .276/.350/.439, 7 HR, 27 R, 24 RBI, 9 SB
A.J. Ewing has fit in nicely as the Mets leadoff hitter recently. Last week, he went 10-for-26 (.384) with seven runs, two homers, four RBIs, and a stolen base. Since July 5, he has had a hit in six of his last eight games, providing a reliable bat in front of the Mets’ power bats. The team’s offense has had its ups and downs all season long, so it’s nice to know you have a steady contributor leading off games.
Kazuma Okamoto – 3B/1B, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 382 PA, .239/.319/.469, 22 HR, 50 R, 62 RBI, 0 SB
Kazuma Okamoto is the main source of strength in a Blue Jays lineup that has surprisingly underperformed in the first half of the season. His two home runs last week bring him to 22, a massive difference from the second-highest total, 9, from George Springer. Okamoto also added five runs and seven RBIs while going 6-for-20 (.300). It’s not a mystery why the Blue Jays sit at the bottom of the AL East, but their high expectations this offseason have turned into potential sellers at the trade deadline.
Cooper Pratt – SS, Milwaukee Brewers
2026 Stats – 89 PA, .257/.360/.324, 1 HR, 10 R, 7 RBI, 6 SB
Last week, Cooper Pratt had his most productive week in the big leagues since his call-up on June 16. He went 8-for-18 (.444) with five runs and five RBIs. He also hit his first career triple. It’s been a rough season for the rookie, going hitless in eight of nine games before July 3. Even though Pratt has had his struggles, he’s displayed outstanding plate vision, with a 0.86 walks-per-strikeout rate. It seemed the pressure of signing an 8-year $50 million contract had weighed on the rookie, but we’ll have to see if his hot bat continues after the break.
Samuel Basallo – C, Baltimore Orioles
2026 Stats – 301 PA, .248/.309/.464, 16 HR, 34 R, 46 RBI, 0 SB
Samuel Basallo had a rare week when he started every game, as he is a platoon player. However, he took advantage of the opportunity. Although he went only 4-for-24 (.166) at the plate, he hit two home runs, scored three times, and drove in four. Basallo is a frustrating player for fantasy managers because, at a usually weak position, he can perform when he’s in the game, but he’s tough to trust when he doesn’t get a full slate of starts each week.
Rookies Who Had a Mild Week
Sam Antonacci – 2B/3B/OF, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 304 PA, .287/.381/.418, 6 HR, 48 R, 27 RBI, 13 SB
It was a typical week for Sam Antonnaci, other than hitting a leadoff home run on Sunday, July 12. He added two of each: runs, RBIs, and stolen bases, while going 6-for-18 (.333). He must have read my article last week, wanting him to get more aggressive on the basepaths. Antonacci isn’t the flashiest player, but he has been Mr. Consistent throughout the first half of his rookie season.
Braden Montgomery – OF, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 116 PA, .231/.302/.394, 3 HR, 15 R, 12 RBI, 0 SB
Justin Crawford – OF, Philadelphia Phillies
2026 Stats – 287 PA, .263/.312/.353, 2 HR, 28 R, 21 RBI, 12 SB
Rookie Batters Who Had a Cold Week
Munetaka Murakami – 1B, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 259 PA, .232/.371/.540, 20 HR, 45 R, 42 RBI, 1 SB
Luckily, the White Sox have not skipped a beat over the past six weeks without their Japanese slugger. The team is tied for first in the AL Central with the Guardians and is second in the league in run differential (+35). Murakami made his long-awaited return on July 10, so he played only three games before the break. He went 1-for-11 (.090) with two runs and an RBI, but it’s expected he’ll start slowly after such an extended absence.
TJ Rumfield – 1B, Colorado Rockies
2026 Stats – 384 PA, .296/.380/.475, 12 HR, 42 R, 47 RBI, 0 SB
It was a rare dud of a week for TJ Rumfield, as he went 5-for-18 (.277), and that was it for his stat line. However, on the positive side, he drew six walks to two strikeouts. Both series were away from Coors Field, but he’s been a solid hitter on the road with an .832 OPS and 132 wRC+. So let’s chalk this up to a fluke. Maybe he has big plans over the All-Star break that he was focused on.
Cole Carrig – OF, Colorado Rockies
2026 Stats – 119 PA, .273/.356/.515, 4 HR, 18 R, 19 RBI, 2 SB
Something was in the air of Denver as Cole Carrig joined teammate Rumfield in having a rare stinker of a week. He went 2-for-18 (.111) with two runs and an RBI. Carrig went hitless in his last five games, which is surprising since before last week, he hadn’t surpassed two hitless games in a row in his short MLB debut, which started on June 9. Like Rumfield, we will chalk this up to a fluke, and hopefully he can reset over the break.
Carter Jensen – C, Kansas City Royals
2026 Stats – 346 PA, .236/.303/.421, 13 HR, 41 R, 49 RBI, 1 SBi
What a roller coaster Carter Jenson has been on since June 4, when he started a 20-game hitting streak. However, on July 1, the streak ended, and he has hit .132 since. This includes going hitless in four straight games to end the week, while going 2-for-22 (.090) last week with only two RBIs. Hopefully, the break will help Jensen reset and find a happy medium, production-wise.
Travis Bazzana – 2B, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 282 PA, .238/.330/.389, 7 HR, 30 R, 28 RBI, 13 SB
JJ Wetherholt – 2B/3B/SS, St. Louis Cardinals
2026 Stats – 407 PA, .259/.356/.399, 13 HR, 58 R, 36 RBI, 9 SB
Nathan Church – OF, St. Louis Cardinals
2026 Stats – 254 PA, .236/.280/.384, 9 HR, 30 R, 28 RBI, 5 SB
Dylan Beavers – OF, Baltimore Orioles
2026 Stats – 148 PA, .233/.320/.349, 2 HR, 19 R, 13 RBI, 3 SB
Henry Bolte – OF, Athletics
2026 Stats – 202 PA, .261/.343/.347, 3 HR, 18 R, 16 RBI, 11 SB
Alex Freeland – 2B/3B/SS – Los Angeles Dodgers
2026 Stats – 220 PA, .234/.313/.318, 3 HR, 24 R, 19 RBI, 2 SB
Colt Emerson – SS, Seattle Mariners
2026 Stats – 160 PA, .201/.275/.396, 7 HR, 17 R, 20 RBI, 3 SB
Brice Matthews- 2B/OF, Houston Astros
2026 Stats – 226 PA, .197/.250/.332, 7 HR, 23 R, 22 RBI, 4 SB
Sung-Mun Song – 2B/3B, San Diego Padres
2026 Stats – 98 PA, .212/.316/.282, 1 HR, 13 R, 13 RBI, 11 SB
Blaze Jordan – St. Louis Cardinals
2026 Stats – 83 PA, .237/.253/.355, 1 HR, 8 R, 14 RBI, 0 SB
Sean Keys – 3B, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 32 PA, .188/.188/.313, 1 HR, 5 R, 5 RBI, 0 SB
Kahlil Watson – OF, Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 77 PA, .221/.250/.312, 1 HR, 5 R, 10 RBI, 0 SB
Gabriel Rincones Jr. – OF, Philadelphia Phillies
2026 Stats – 71 PA, .179/.211/.313, 2 HR, 6 R, 6 RBI, 0 SB
Edwin Arroyo – 2B, Cincinnati Reds
2026 Stats – 108 PA, .240/.280/.290, 0 HR, 11 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB
Jacob Gonzalez – 1B, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 98 PA, .241/.320/.356, 2 HR, 11 R, 17 RBI, 0 SB
Rookie Pitchers
Nolan McLean – New York Mets
2026 Stats – 19 GS, 6-6, 3.52 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 125 SO, 39 BB
Parker Messick – Cleveland Guardians
2026 Stats – 19 GS, 8-5, 2.73 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 110 SO, 36 BB
Bubba Chandler – Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 18 GS (1 relief), 3-8, 4.77 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 85 SO, 55BB
Payton Tolle – Boston Red Sox
2026 Stats – 15 GS, 5-6, 3.11 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 87 SO, 25 BB
Brandon Sproat – Milwaukee Brewers
2026 Stats – 16 GS (2 relief), 3-4, 5.16 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 87 SO, 39 BB
Foster Griffin – Washington Nationals
2026 Stats – 19 GS, 10-2, 2.77 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 109 SO, 26 BB
Trey Yesavage – Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 14 GS, 4-4, 3.72 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 68 SO, 39 BB
Tatsuya Imai – Houston Astros
2026 Stats – 13 GS, 5-4, 6.06 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 63 SO, 33 BB
Gage Jump – Athletics
2026 Stats – 9 GS, 3-4, 3.51 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 48 SO, 15 BB
Rhett Lowder – Cincinnati Reds
2026 Stats – 13 GS, 3-6, 4.91 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 59 SO, 35 BB
Noah Schultz – Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 11 GS, 3-6, 5.60 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 47 SO, 29 BB
Jake Bennett – Boston Red Sox
2026 Stats – 8 GS, 4-3, 2.64 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 35 SO, 8 BB
New Additions to the Rookie Report
Luis Lara – OF, Milwaukee Brewers
2026 Stats – 18 PA, .286/.444/.357, 0 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 0 SB
Joshua Kuroda-Grauer – 3B/SS, Athletics
2026 Stats – 46 PA, .422/.435/.533, 0 HR, 4 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB
Cam Cauley – 2B/SS, Texas Rangers
2026 Stats – 23 PA, .238/.304/.333, 0 HR, 4 R, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Jim Jarvis – SS, Atlanta Braves
2026 Stats – 32 PA, .300/.323/.467, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 0 SB
Drew Cavanaugh – C, San Francisco Giants
2026 Stats – 38 PA, .219/.324/.219, 0 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 SB
Ben Malgeri – OF, Detroit Tigers
2026 Stats – 28 PA, .261/.357/.304, 0 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB
Jesus Rodriguez – C, San Francisco Giants
2026 Stats – 46 PA, .238/.304/.405, 2 HR, 3 R, 8 RBI, 1 SB
Jase Bowen – OF, San Diego Padres
2026 Stats – 44 PA, .119/.159/.143, 0 HR, 5 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB
Injuries/Demotions
Konnor Griffin – SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Stats – 247 PA, .276/.332/.404, 5 HR, 35 R, 25 RBI, 20 SB
Placed on the 60-day IL with a left ring finger sagittal band injury
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
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
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
Spencer Jones – OF, New York Yankees
2026 Stats – 73 PA, .219/.315/.344, 2 HR, 5 R, 7 RBI, 1 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
Connelly Early – SP, Boston Red Sox
2026 Stats – 17 GS, 7-5, 3.44 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 93 SO, 34 BB
Placed on the 15-day IL with left elbow inflammation
Trey Gibson – SP, Baltimore Orioles
2026 Stats – 7 GS (1 relief), 1-3, 7.36 ERA, 1.91 WHIP, 30 SO, 25 BB
Optioned to Triple-A
David Sandlin – SP, Chicago White Sox
2026 Stats – 3 GS (1 relief), 2-1, 6.05 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 20 SO, 10 BB
Optioned to Triple-A
LuJames Groover – Arizona Diamondbacks
2026 Stats – 54 PA, .167/.259/.271, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
Connor Prielipp – SP, Minnesota Twins
2026 Stats – 13 GS, 2-5, 5.00 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 71 SO, 25 BB
Placed on the 15-day IL with a blister
Sean Sullivan – SP, Colorado Rockies
2026 Stats – 5 GS, 0-3, 8.87 ERA, 2.01 WHIP, 16 SO, 11 BB
Optioned to Triple-A
Carson Whisenhunt – San Francisco Giants
2026 Stats – 2 GS, 2-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 6 SO, 6 BB
Optioned to Triple-A
Owen Caissie – OF, Miami Marlins
2026 Stats – 246 PA, .239/.297/.459, 12 HR, 30 R, 50 RBI, 4 SB
Placed on the 10-day IL with a calf strain
Yohendrick Pinango – OF, Toronto Blue Jays
2026 Stats – 160 PA, .267/.313/.413, 5 HR, 11 R, 20 RBI, 0 SB
Optioned to Triple-A
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