Fantasy Baseball’s Unsung Hero – May 1, 2026
Alec Burleson, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
Burleson went 3-5 with R, 3 RBI, K on two hard hit balls. Burleson is truly an unsung hero in the fantasy baseball space. His 13/11 K/BB ratio makes him super relevant in points leagues, and his .409 xwOBACON and 47% hard hit rate provide an excellent floor. His 15% pull air rate will keep him in the 20-25 HR range. He is currently running his fourth straight season of a .270 xBA. He’s the best player you’ve never heard of out there.
Ronald Acuna Jr., OF, Atlanta Braves
Acuna went 1-5 with 2B, 2 K on one hard hit ball. It’s been a mediocre start for the superstar, who is currently slashing .240/.352/.372. I know you paid for so much more in draft capital, but there is hope that better is coming. Acuna’s 13.5% barrel rate, .432 xwOBACON, and 42.7% hard hit rate are plenty strong. His 20% K rate would be the second best in his career (best being the 11% rate in 2023). He’s also stolen 6 bases thus far, which is a good sign given his injury history. Expect more to come.
Luke Keaschall, 2B, Minnesota Twins
Keaschall went 0-3 with RBI on zero hard hit balls. The sophomore came into the season with some hype after a strong rookie campaign that saw him slash .302/.382/.445 across 207 PA’s. Thus far, Keaschall has been horrible in 2026, as he’s slashing .218/.271/.277. Keaschall’s 93.5% zone contact is incredible, and it helps him keep his K% at a low 16.5%. The issue is that the impact is nowhere to be found. His .291 xwOBACON and 23.7% hard hit rate are super low, and largely unplayable for fantasy purposes. 3.1% barrel and 84 EV won’t play either. Keaschall was MUCH better across all these statistics in 2025. The good news is that it’s uncharacteristic to lose so much juice at only 23 years old. He’s also stolen 7 bases, so he can be playable in points leagues. I’m rooting for him to turn it around.
Luis Robert, OF, New York Mets
Robert is being placed on the IL with a lumbar disc herniation. It doesn’t sound fun, but I wonder if it’s been impacting him lately. Robert started off the season hot, and was posting a .922 OPS in April 9. Since then, he’s cratered and is slashing .224/.327/.329. That being said, there are some notable differences to Robert’s underlying stats that are encouraging. For starters, his 17% K rate and 13% BB rates are career bests by a good margin. He’s whiffing and chasing at career low rates. The tradeoff is that his 47% GB rate is a career worst, and it shows in his career worst .322 xwOBACON. It’s normally the other way around – he normally has juice but lacked contact. The good news is that juice rarely randomly disappears for a 28 year old. If it’s the case that this injury was holding him back, he could be a buy low.
Spencer Strider, SP, Atlanta Braves
The Braves will be activating Strider on Sunday. Strider posted a 4.45 ERA and 4.93 xERA across 23 starts last year. His stuff was noticeably down after major surgery in 2024. Reports are that his velocity had still not recovered to pre-surgery levels, so that’s a concern. In three rehab starts, he went 12.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 18 K. I’m incredibly hesitant to be excited about his return, almost to the point of not rostering him if I’m not desperate for another starter. We need to see multiple starts worth of data to determine what the stuff looks like and if he settles into his 2025 profile, which would be a bad thing. Proceed with tremendous caution.
This is just a small sample our daily analysis, join our member area for tools that will help you win your fantasy championship. Click here for details: http://www.insiderbaseball.
featured