Young Sluggers Making Strides – May 27, 2026
Michael Harris II, OF (ATL)
Harris’ sensational season continued on Tuesday. One game after a rare 0-for-3 performance on Sunday, the dynamic outfielder filled up the stat sheet, tagging Red Sox pitchers for four hits in four at-bats, including a home run, double and three RBI’s. Three of his batted balls were hit harder than 96 miles per hour, including two over 100-mph. He is posting elite quality-of-contact numbers while striking out less than 20% of the time. After hitting a career-high 20 home runs in 2025, Harris already has 12 homers in one-third of the season. It’s all coming together for the talented outfielder and it’s supported by elite metrics. This isn’t a sell-high situation. Harris is a HOLD.
James Wood, OF (WSH)
Wood followed up his four-hit performance on Monday with three more hits and a walk on Tuesday. The young slugger has home runs in back-to-back games and stole his ninth base in Washington’s 6-3 win at Cleveland. Most importantly, Wood has cut down his strikeouts. After posting a 31.1% strikeout rate through May 18, Wood has a 16.7% K-rate over his last eight games. Strikeouts were his Achilles heel in 2025 so moderate improvement in that category is a good sign Wood is developing. There’s no question he possesses extraordinary power (96.4-mph average exit velocity, 25.4% barrel rate) and above-average speed. Becoming an all-around hitter with manageable strikeout totals will lift James Wood into a first-round caliber talent.
Joe Ryan, SP (MIN)
Ryan continues to showcase higher velocity, and the results are impressive. He threw a season-high 7.2 innings on Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits and no walks while striking out nine batters for the second-straight game. Ryan was actually pitching a shutout through seven frames before Munetaka Murakami tattooed a two-run homer in the 8th inning. Ryan has allowed more than two runs only once in his past 10 starts. Ryan averaged 92.6 miles-per-hour on his fastball before leaving a start on May 3 with a sore left elbow. Since returning from that injury, his fastball velocity is up more than a mile-per-hour. On Tuesday he averaged almost 95-mph. He finished the game with a 37% CSW rate and lowered his ERA below 3.00 for the first time since his first start of the season.
Vaughn Grissom, 1B (LAA)
Grissom had his best game of the season on Tuesday. Playing first base and hitting third in the Angels lineup, Grissom was 3-for-5 with a home run and six RBI’s. The unfortunate part is a lot of fantasy owners probably had him on the bench after going 2-for-28 in his last eight games and hitless in his last four. Grissom is showing signs of life this season after disappointing since his rookie year. While he is only hitting .233 with three home runs, his advanced metrics point to some positive regression on the horizon. He has a .231 BABIP despite a 45.6% hard-hit rate. He has 11 strikeouts to 11 walks. Grissom is also on the verge of adding 3B and 1B to his positional eligibility in most leagues. He’s probably never going to develop into the star some projected when he came up with the Braves, but he’s still only 25 years old and capable of developing into a worthwhile fantasy asset.
Garrett Mitchell, OF (MIL)
Mitchell hit his third home run of the season, a 3-run shot off Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez. Mitchell presents extraordinary potential. The former first-round pick has battled injuries for much of his career, but he is finally healthy and playing fairly regularly. What he has demonstrated is the makings of an elite power/speed combo. Mitchell’s bat speed is fantastic and his sprint speed is top-notch. His biggest issue is strikeouts. He whiffed three times on Tuesday, lifting him into first play in all of major league baseball in strikeout rate. He maintains a strong on-base percentage because he draws a lot of walks, but the K-rate is simply unsustainable for an everyday player. If he can mitigate the K’s, he really can develop into a fantasy stud.
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