NL Week 9 Strategy-May 16, 2026
In The Field
2B Jorge Polanco (wrist/Achilles) has been able to participate in some baseball activities but is still dealing with Achilles bursitis. There is no timetable for his return, and we won’t have a clear picture until he starts playing in rehab games. OF Lars Nootbaar (heels) started a rehab assignment with Single-A Palm Beach on Friday. He had offseason surgery on both of his heels. Nootbaar is eligible to come off the 60-day IL on May 24, but that appears to be unlikely given that he has missed all of spring training. OF Christian Yelich (back) has missed four straight games but is hoepful that he can return on Sunday. Back injuries have been a recurring issue for Yelich. This is tough because he had just returned from a groin injury on Tuesday. The biggest beneficiary would be 1B Andrew Vaughn, who also recently returned from injury. He has been very good since coming to Milwaukee. He has hit .306 with 10 HR, 31 R, 52 RBI, and 0 SB in 284 PA. C Francisco Alvarez is going to be out 8 weeks after having right meniscus surgery. SS Fransico Lindor (calf) is without a return date. His most recent MRI revealed his calf is healing, but he is still in the strength-building phase. This puts him multiple weeks away from returning. 3B Bo Bichette has been playing shortstop in his absence, which has opened up playing time for 3B Brett Baty. OF Juan Soto (ankle) left Wednesday’s game early after fouling a ball off his ankle, but X-rays revealed no damage. He was back in the lineup on Thursday as the DH. SS Trea Turner sat out on Wednesday due to an illness but returned on Thursday. Turner has struggled so far (.232 AVG with 4 HR, 29 R, 13 RBI, and 6 SB). He has the classic profile of a hitter pressing because he is chasing more out of the zone and striking out more. OF Ronald Acuna Jr. (hamstring) is not going to return during the Braves’ current home stand. The Braves currently have the best record in baseball, so they are giving Acuna Jr. the time he needs to get completely healthy so there are no setbacks. He was hitting .252 with 2 HR, 17 R, 9 RBI, and 7 SB before going on the IL. C Joey Bart was placed on the 10-day IL on Tuesday with a left foot infection. The Pirates called up C Endy Rodriguez to be the backup catcher. C Henry Davis will get the majority of the playing time due to his defensive work, but he has struggled with the bat (.151 AVG with 2 HR, 10 R, 8 RBI, and 1 SB). There is a chance that he starts to turn it around, given that he has cut his strikeout rate from 26% to 18% and hits the ball hard (7% Barrels). He has been hurt by a .167 BABIP. Endy Rodriguez hit .323 with 25 HR, 92 R, 95 RBI, and 4 SB in 531 PA in the minors the last time he was healthy (2022). He’s not an add unless he starts to get regular laying time somehow. C Sean Murphy (finger) is going to be out 8 weeks due to a fractured left middle finger. He had been back for four games before hitting the IL again. C Drake Baldwin will continue to be the primary catcher while he is out. OF Luis Robert Jr. (back) is not recovering as fast as he or the Mets would have liked. This is why they called up OF A.J. Ewing. He was hitting .339 with 2 HR, 25 R, 11 RBI, and 17 SB in 132 PA in the minors. Ewing is going to get a shot to be the Mets’ starting CF while Robert is out. SS Ha-Seong Kim was activated on Tuesday, and he has started every game at shortstop. SS Mauricio Dubon has shifted into being the everyday leftfielder, so SS Jorge Mateo is the one seeing his playing time cut with Kim in the fold. SS Mookie Betts returned from the IL on Monday. The Dodgers will go with Betts at SS and Hyseong Kim as the regular at 2B. The caveat here is that they mix and match a lot to keep guys fresh, and with Shohei Ohtani not hitting when he pitches and that opens up more at-bats at DH. OF Heliot Ramos left Friday’s game early due to right quad tightness. He was placed on the 10-day IL and is going to be out for at least two weeks according to manager Tony Vitello. Ramos is hitting .267 with 4 HR, 19 R, 20 RBI, and 0 SB. 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn is dealing with a quad injury which is why he left Saturday’s game early.
On The Mound
Tyler Glasnow (back) is not going to return when eligible (May 22nd), according to manager Dave Roberts. Other than that, they were going to take it slow, and not many details were given. The Dodgers will likely play the long game with their starters with the postseason in mind. Logan Webb (knee) is expected to return when first eligible. Webb has struggled this year (5.06 ERA and 1.40 WHIP). His strikeout rate is down drastically (26%->20%K ), and his walk rate has increased from 5% to 7%. Chase Dollander was removed from his start on Thursday early due to right arm tightness. He was placed on the 15-day IL on Friday with a right elbow sprain. Dollander has a 3.89 ERA and 1.30 WHIP with 25% K and 10% BB in 44 IP. It has been an encouraging start to his 2026 season, so hopefully this won’t be a lengthy absence. Rhett Lowder (shoulder) has started throwing again after receiving an injection in his shoulder for his AC joint injury. Hunter Greene (elbow) is scheduled for his first bullpen session on May 26. He had surgery to remove bone chips in his pitching elbow in the middle of March. His return date is looking to be sometime in July. Jacob Misiorowski left Wednesday’s start early due to quad cramping. He has been excellent to start the year (2.12 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 40% K, and 8% BB). Robby Snelling was placed on the 15-day IL with a left elbow sprain. He had just made his major league debut (5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, and 2 K). Snelling had been crushing the minors (1.86 ERA and 0.90 WHIP with 40% K). Brady Singer (foot) was hit by a comebacker on Tuesday but is hopeful he can make his next start. Singer, like most Reds pitchers, has struggled this year (5.79 ERA and 1.67 WHIP). Jared Jones looked good in his most recent rehab start for Double-A Altoona (4 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, and 4 K). He was asked after the game if he would consider pitching out of the bullpen when he returns, and he said no. The easy move for the Pirates would be to take Carmen Mlodzinski (4.40 ERA and 1.44 WHIP) out of the rotation and put him in the pen. He has struggled with left-handed batters and multiple times through the order, so a move to the pen can help him be the best version of himself. The other possible move is to demote a struggling Bubba Chandler so he can work on his control (5.14 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 19% K, and 16% BB). The last time we saw Jared Jones in the majors, he had a 4.14 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 26% K, and 8% BB in 121.2 IP. Spencer Schwellenbach (elbow) is expected to start a throwing program soon. The goal for the Braves is to get him back after the All-Star break. Schwellenbach has looked great when on the mound in the majors (career 3.23 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 25% K, and 4% BB). Brandon Woodruff (shoulder) threw a bullpen on Thursday and came away feeling good. He is scheduled for another on Monday. He is expected back before the end of May. Woodruff had a 3.60 ERA and 1.03 WHIP through 30 IP. Quinn Priester (shoulder) is expected to resume his rehab assignment this weekend. He has already had one setback, so the Brewers are going to be cautious, and this could be a slow rehab process. Clay Holmes fractured his fibula after taking a 111 mph line drive off his leg. The Mets did not give a timetable for his return, but manager Carlos Mendoza said it would be for a “long time”. Blake Snell was scratched from his start on Friday and put on the 15-day IL with loose bodies in his elbow. Snell managed to make one start before going back on the IL. He is going to have surgery to remove the loose bodies which is going to be a 4-6 week recovery, which is brutal news for those who took a chance on Snell. Matthew Boyd (knee) is going to throw off a mound on Saturday. He is one week out from surgery and is expected back in six weeks.
In The Bullpen
Erik Miller (back) was activated off the 15-day IL on Saturday. Miller has a 3.18 ERA and 1.24 WHIP with 35% K in 11.1 IP. The Giants are looking for a solution at closer, and Miller could be a factor here. Raisel Iglesias has been awesome this year after a lot of noise coming into the year about Robert Suarez taking his job. Iglesias has a 0.00 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 35% K, 6% BB, and 8 SV. Suarez has been awesome as well (0.47 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 26% K, 5% BB, and 4 SV). The Reds’ pitching staff as a whole has been a disaster this year. This includes the bullpen. Tejay Antone is the most recent pitcher to pick up a save. He has only pitched six innings, but he has struck out 27% of batters and hasn’t issued a walk. He has also gotten 56% GB, which could be key pitching in Great American Ballpark during the summer. He is someone worth adding if he gets more save chances. Pete Fairbanks returned from the 15-day IL on Wednesday. He moves back into being the Marlins’ closer despite a 10.00 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. The underlying skills paint a much different picture (32% K, 10% BB, .364 BABIP, and 3.37 SIERA). Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill got saves for the Brewers this week. Jhoan Duran got two saves (7) and has continued to be a dominant reliever (1.54 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 40% K, and 11% BB). Gregory Soto has taken over as the Pirates’ closer. He secured a save on Tuesday before imploding on Friday night against the Phillies. The good news is that there is no one pushing him for saves because former closer Dennis Santana has struggled this year (4.42 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 12% K, and 11% BB). Mason Miller continues to be the most unhittable pitcher in the game. He picked up two saves this week, so he now has a 0.86 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 56% K, and 8% BB. Riley O’Brien had two saves this week (13). Caleb Killian got a save for the Giants on Tuesday. The underlying skills are not pretty thought (24% K and 15% BB).
Players to add this week:
RP Tejay Antone (CIN)-Tejay Antone is the most recent pitcher to pick up a save. He has only pitched six innings, but he has struck out 27% of batters and hasn’t issued a walk. He has also gotten 56% GB, which could be key pitching in Great American Ballpark during the summer. He is someone worth adding if he gets more save chances.
RP Aaron Ashby (MIL)- Aaron Ashby has been excellent to start 2026, posting a 2.17 ERA with a 36% strikeout rate across 29.0 IP. The strikeout surge is backed by elite bat-missing ability (15% SwStr) and a massive 123 Stuff+. Ashby is also generating a ton of ground balls (60% GB), which helps limit damage. The walks (12% BB) remain an issue, but the upside is too high to leave on waivers. He is a must-add arm for strikeout upside despite being a reliever and not getting saves. Ashby leads the league with eight wins despite starting only one game.
RP Gregory Soto (PIT)- Gregory Soto has moved into the Pirates’ closer role. He did blow the save on Friday night, but he has been their best bullpen arm to date. Soto has a 2.42 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 30% K, and 11% BB in 22.1 IP. The main issue for Soto throughout his career has been walks, but given how bad the Pirates’ bullpen has been this month, it would take a prolonged stretch for him to lose this role.
2B Luis Garcia Jr. (WSH)- Luis García Jr. has quietly put together a productive start, hitting .267 with 3 HR, 18 R, 22 RBI, and 2 SB in 138 PA. He has been especially hot over the past two weeks, hitting .357 with 2 HR while improving his contact quality (12% Barrels and 48% HardHit). García continues to make plenty of contact (15% K), which supports the batting average. He is a solid middle-infield add while the bat is hot.
OF A.J. Ewing (NYM)- A.J. Ewing has been called up to get a shot at everyday at-bats in CF with Luis Robert Jr. on the IL. He was hitting .339 with 2 HR, 25 R, 11 RBI, and 17 SB in 132 PA in the minors. Ewing showed the ability to make contact (15% K) and take a walk (16% BB) at Triple-A. In 2025, he hit .315 with 3 HR and 70 SB in 564 PA in the minors. The speed is legit, and the reason why you should pick him up.
OF Brandon Marsh (PHI)-Brandon Marsh has gotten off to an excellent start in 2026, hitting .336 with 4 HR, 24 R, 22 RBI, and 3 SB in 160 PA. Over the past two weeks, he has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball, batting .404. He pairs the ability to make contact (18% K) with strong quality of contact (7% Barrels and 48% Hardhit). Marsh is a worthwhile add while he is locked in offensively, especially for batting average and runs.
C Joe Mack (MIA)- Joe Mack has struggled to start 2026, hitting .200 with a 36% strikeout rate in 31 PA. The reason why he is an add right now is his minor league track record (.257 AVG with 21 HR and 9 SB in 468 PA), and the Marlins are playing him regularly. Catcher is a tough position for fantasy, so someone who could provide both power and speed is an intriguing option. He will have to cut down the strikeouts, but at this point, he has a very limited sample size.
SS Ha-Seong Kim (ATL)- Ha-Seong Kim was activated this week and is going to be the Braves’ starting shortstop moving forward. The last time he was healthy for an extended period of time (2023), he hit .233 with 11 HR, 60 R, 47 RBI, and 22 SB in 470 PA. Kim is going to hit near the bottom of the order, so his counting stats will be somewhat limited, but the Braves’ lineup is good enough to make up for that, and he offers power/speed upside.
SP Trevor McDonald (SFG)- Trevor McDonald has now made two starts at the major league level. He has looked good (2.92 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 24% K, and 4 % BB). He combines slightly above league-average strikeouts with good control and a heavy ground-ball rate (50%+). He’s got a four-pitch mix but is mostly a sinker/slider/change guy. It won’t be a league-winning profile, but he is definitely worth adding.
SP Christian Scott (NYM)-Christian Scott has shown intriguing upside early in 2026, posting a 3.45 ERA with a 29% strikeout rate across 15.2 IP. The ability to miss bats is real, but the 13% walk rate is the result of a tough first start (5 BB in 1.1 IP). He’s got good stuff (107 Stuff+), and even though it is a small sample, his underlying skills look good (3.93 SIERA). He will also benefit from a pitcher’s park, given his fly-ball tendencies. The recent injury to Clay Holmes gives him an opportunity to stick in the rotation going forward.
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