Walking Into a Breakout – April 7, 2026
Jordan Walker, OF, Cardinals
Jordan Walker continued his hot start on Monday, going 2 for 5 with a solo home run. It was his third long ball of the season, to go along with eight runs, nine RBI, and a .314 batting average. While it seems like Walker has been up in the majors forever, he is miraculously still only 23 years old, and the breakout could finally be happening. For the most part, the sample size is still too small to make any definitive conclusions, but at least so far, his launch angles have drastically changed. After posting a 29.0% launch angle sweet spot rate in 2025, which ranked in the 2nd percentile, he is up to 38.1% this season (70th percentile). When you pair that with elite 99th percentile bat speed of 78.8 mph, the power upside is massive. It’s important to remember that Walker was one of the most highly regarded prospects in the sport, and he’s worth adding in all leagues in case he keeps this performance going.
Cam Smith, OF, Astros
Cam Smith continued his hot start to the season, going 2 for 4 with a double and a solo home run. On the season, he’s now slashing .297/.422/.595 with nine runs, three home runs, six RBI, and three steals. He had a disappointing 2025, batting only .236 with nine homers and eight steals in 134 games, but it’s important not to judge rookies too harshly for their first taste of the majors. He was still an elite prospect before getting promoted, and could finally be adjusted for 2026. One notable change that is already apparent this season is his bat speed, which is up to 77.2 mph (98th percentile) from 74.5 mph last season. That’s enough of a difference to drastically change a player’s power output, and Smith should be added in all leagues in case this breakout is real. That’s not even mentioning his 95th percentile sprint speed, which should make him an asset on the basepaths, too.
Andrew Painter, SP, Phillies
Andrew Painter was hit around on Monday night by the Giants, allowing four runs on nine hits and one walk with one strikeout over four innings. It was a very different result from his major league debut last week, when he struck out eight and allowed one run over 5.1 innings. The most concerning part of this start was the complete lack of whiffs, as he got only four swings and misses on 90 pitches. This 9% whiff rate is so low that it’s shocking to see, and it could be a problem for Painter this season if he doesn’t find consistency with his breaking pitches. He said all of his breaking stuff felt great in his first start, which led to great results. However, this time out, the breaking pitches clearly were not at their best, which led to him throwing his fastball and sinker a combined 60% of the time, compared to 45% in his first start. The youngster’s fastball is not a great pitch in terms of getting strikeouts, which leaves nothing for him to fall back on if his curveballs and sliders aren’t working on any given day. He’s not worth giving up on in fantasy, but he’s one of the more interesting pitchers to monitor moving forward.
Shane McClanahan, SP, Rays
Shane McClanahan had a rough showing on Monday, allowing two runs on one hit and four walks with five strikeouts over four innings. While it certainly could’ve been worse, the most concerning part of the outing was his velocity. His fastball averaged 94.3 mph, which is over one mile per hour less than his first start of the season, and a far cry from the 96.8 mph average he sat at before his injuries in 2023. There’s not a large enough sample to determine how effective he’ll be with this new velocity, but the early signs aren’t good. Through two starts this season, he’s failed to reach five innings in either of them and walked seven batters in 8.2 innings.
Jose Soriano, SP, Angels
Jose Soriano was once again elite on Monday, allowing one run on three hits and no walks with 10 strikeouts over eight innings against the Braves. This is coming off of two consecutive outings of six shutout innings, and he now features a minuscule 0.45 ERA with 21 strikeouts and 6 walks over 20 innings pitched. On the night, he posted a 31% whiff rate and 37% CSW%, with his knuckle curve being especially dominant. He threw the pitch 24 times and posted a 42% whiff rate and CSW% with the offering. Soriano has always shown flashes of dominance but struggles to stay consistent, but this is now three straight very good starts from the righty. He should be rostered in all leagues at this point and is safe to start until he gives you a reason not to.
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: Click here to register: