Fernando Tatis Jr. lastly hit a house run. Jacob Misiorowski set a report that in all probability shouldn’t be doable. And two New York Mets who’ve been ready a really very long time for very totally different milestones lastly acquired them on the identical afternoon. Let’s get into it.
The week that was in fantasy baseball featured a 451-foot exclamation level from a person who had been making contact with the baseball at an elite stage whereas in some way watching all of it keep contained in the park, a 26-year-old pitcher who threw 57 pitches at 100 miles per hour or quicker in a single sport — a quantity that had by no means been achieved within the pitch-tracking period — and a Saturday afternoon at Citi Field that produced two of the purest moments of the season in the identical field rating.
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Baseball typically grabs you by the feels. As we head towards summer time, this week had lots of that.
Winners
Fernando Tatis Jr., OF, San Diego Padres
He hit one. He lastly hit one.
After 240 plate appearances with no house run — a stretch that had change into probably the most mentioned energy outage in baseball, the topic of Statcast deep dives and more and more frantic Twitter threads — Tatis deposited a 451-foot solo shot to left area off the Nationals on Saturday, and it traveled 114 mph off the bat. The ball didn’t go away the yard as a result of he had all of a sudden mounted one thing. The ball left the yard as a result of a participant rating within the 97th percentile in hard-hit fee was at all times going to expire of unhealthy luck finally.
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The related query for fantasy managers will not be what occurred. It is what occurs subsequent. Everything beneath the drought was at all times advantageous. The anticipated batting common was 28 factors above the precise. The exit velocity metrics have been within the prime handful of hitters within the sport. The drought was a BABIP story dressed up as an influence story. Now that the seal is damaged, the affordable expectation is that Tatis will get again to being Tatis, and the managers who held via the longest homer-less stretch of his profession are going to really feel very sensible for the subsequent three months.
Buy. Hold. And settle for the apology the baseball gods owe you.
Jacob Misiorowski, SP, Milwaukee Brewers
Jacob Misiorowski continues redefining energy pitching ceilings with traditionally dominant velocity benchmarks.Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
On Monday night time in Milwaukee, Jacob Misiorowski threw 57 pitches at 100 miles per hour or quicker towards the Cardinals. The earlier report within the pitch-tracking period was 47, set by Hunter Greene in 2022. Misiorowski didn’t merely break the report. He broke it by 10 pitches, completed with 12 strikeouts, and then mentioned “that’s what I do” afterward, which is both probably the most assured or least self-aware postgame quote of the season and probably each.
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He leads the majors in strikeouts, Ok/9, Ok-BB fee, and now an unofficial class that didn’t exist as a tracked statistic 72 hours in the past. The fantasy case is overwhelming and the innings-limit concern is actual — he debuted final June, threw 66 main league innings, and the Brewers have been public about managing his workload. The wall usually arrives in June or July for younger energy arms on innings leashes. This column has flagged it. You have been warned. But till the Brewers sluggish him down, you experience this.
Gregory Soto, RP, Pittsburgh Pirates
The quiet story of the week and one of many quieter nearer tales of the season. Soto earned a win Friday with an ideal ninth inning because the Pirates walked it off towards the Twins, then got here again Saturday to get the ultimate 4 outs for his seventh save in a 10-9 sport that required the sort of composure most relievers do not need after a six-run lead has evaporated. He is now 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA and has been, with out a lot fanfare or a lot possession in most leagues, one of many higher ninth-inning arms within the National League. If he’s in your waiver wire, he shouldn’t be.
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(*9*) and Hayden Senger, NYM — The Batterymates
Save this one. Frame it. Put it on the wall.
Christian Scott entered Saturday having thrown 1,250 pitches throughout 15 main league begins with out incomes a win. His rookie season was minimize quick by Tommy John surgical procedure in September 2024. He missed all of 2025. He got here again this 12 months and saved pitching nicely and saved not profitable, the best way younger pitchers typically do when run assist and bullpen luck and the calendar all conspire towards them directly. His winless streak was the second-longest to open a profession for a pitcher working solely as a starter. Only Liam Hendriks, who waited via 17 begins from 2011 to 2012, made him wait longer.
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On Saturday, Scott’s afternoon started with a pitch clock violation earlier than he threw a single pitch to a batter. The sport was, in different phrases, precisely on model. He then went out and allowed one run, struck out eight — matching a profession excessive — and lastly, on his 96th pitch within the sixth inning of his sixteenth profession begin, earned win primary.
In the seventh inning, his catcher hit his first profession house run.
Hayden Senger was drafted by the Mets in 2018. He spent seven years within the minor leagues. He debuted in 2025 and hit .181 with zero house runs. He got here again in 2026 and saved catching and saved not homering, the best way backup catchers typically do when the baseball gods are saving one thing up. On Saturday afternoon at Citi Field, with the Mets already up comfortably, Senger parked one within the seats for the primary time in his main league life.
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“I’ve had him for a while, and I caught a lot of his games,” Senger mentioned of Scott. “I kind of thought we would do it together.”
Cade Smith, RP, Cleveland Guardians
Cade Smith has emerged as one in all baseball’s most reliable closers via two months.Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Save quantity 20 on Friday, the primary reliever in baseball to achieve that mark. He has transformed 18 consecutive save alternatives. His ERA is pristine, the hierarchy behind him has thinned additional with Erik Sabrowski going to the IL, and there is no such thing as a arm in Cleveland that constitutes a menace. This column moved him to 95 this week and the one motive he’s not greater is that Mason Miller exists.
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Losers
Lucas Erceg, RP, Kansas City Royals
The column owes you an apology. Last week, we informed you to go test on him instantly and add him. Since that endorsement was printed, Erceg has blown a fifth save, his ERA sits at 5.06, his WHIP is 1.69.
The Royals are 22-32. The column was incorrect and we’re correcting it in full. Erceg dropped 12 factors in a full-throated Closer Confidential correction column this week. The apology is real. The drop is cruel. Both issues might be true directly.
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Kenley Jansen and Kyle Finnegan, RP, Detroit Tigers
We are combining these two as a result of the Detroit nearer state of affairs is now so totally damaged that separating the person grades misses the bigger level, which is that the Tigers haven’t any functioning ninth-inning possibility and haven’t had one for the higher a part of two weeks.
Jansen is on the 15-day IL with pelvic irritation. Finnegan, the nominal alternative, left Wednesday’s outing earlier than throwing a pitch to a batter after tweaking his personal groin throughout warmups. Drew Anderson, the third possibility, was used on at some point of relaxation Friday and allowed a walk-off two-run house run. Three totally different pitchers. Three totally different accidents or availability considerations. One blown save in every of the final two days. If you might have roster house you want for actually another objective, this example has earned your disrespect.
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Andrés Muñoz, RP, Seattle Mariners
Four blown saves on the season, a .477 wOBA towards his four-seamer, a .538 wOBA towards his sinker. The slider continues to be among the many three finest pitches in any bullpen in baseball. The two pitches round it are getting hit arduous sufficient that we’re involved. He continues to be rostered in every single place he must be rostered. He is now not the simple maintain he seemed to be in April.
Jack Flaherty, SP, Detroit Tigers
A 5.90 ERA. Zero wins. A ten.00 ERA throughout his final three begins. The Tigers are paying him to be their ace and he has been, to make use of the exact scientific terminology, not that. Detroit seems to have determined that accidents to each nearer they make use of will not be adequate chaos and has added a collapsing rotation to the combination for full impact. Fantasy managers in deeper leagues needs to be weighing whether or not Flaherty’s peripherals — which aren’t uniformly horrible — justify the continued roster maintain. In commonplace leagues, the reply might be no.
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Paul Skenes, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates —Week Loser Only
Paul Skenes stays elite regardless of latest outcomes creating pointless fantasy supervisor nervousness.Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Nine runs in his final two begins, ERA as much as 3.00 for the season, and the sort of tough week that can immediate panicked commerce affords from the leaguemates who drafted him first general. Do not settle for these affords. His seven-start stretch between the Opening Day catastrophe and this week produced a 1.31 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 41.1 innings. This is every week loser, not a season story. The managers who promote low on Paul Skenes early June will spend September looking at their telephones. Hold him. Buy him from the panickers in case you can.
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Questions About Winners And Losers In Fantasy Baseball, Answered
Who have been the largest fantasy baseball winners final week?
Fernando Tatis Jr. lastly broke his historic house run drought with a 451-foot blast, Jacob Misiorowski set an all-time pitch-tracking report with 57 pitches at 100 mph or quicker, and Gregory Soto earned a win and a save in back-to-back days to quietly emerge as one of many NL’s most dependable closers.
Who have been the largest fantasy baseball losers within the week of May 25-30?
Lucas Erceg blew his fifth save of the season to drop 12 points in Closer Confidential, Kenley Jansen landed on the IL with pelvic irritation whereas Kyle Finnegan aggravated his personal groin in the identical week, and Andrés Muñoz posted his fourth blown save with underlying fastball metrics which might be genuinely alarming.
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Should I drop Lucas Erceg in fantasy baseball?
Yes in all however the deepest codecs, as Erceg now carries 5 blown saves, a 5.06 ERA, and a Hot Seat designation on the depth charts whereas his workforce sits at 22-32 with no indication the function is altering somewhat than evaporating.
Is Fernando Tatis Jr. a purchase after lastly hitting his first house run of 2026?
He was at all times a purchase as a result of his underlying contact metrics have been elite all through the drought, and the 114 mph, 451-foot homer that ended the streak was precisely the sort of ball his Statcast profile mentioned was coming finally.
What did Jacob Misiorowski do that week to make historical past?
The Milwaukee Brewers right-hander threw 57 pitches at 100 mph or quicker in a single sport towards the Cardinals, shattering the earlier pitch-tracking-era report of 47 set by Hunter Greene in 2022 whereas placing out 12 batters.
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Who are Christian Scott and Hayden Senger and why does their Saturday matter?
Scott earned his first profession win in his sixteenth main league begin after lacking all of 2025 following Tommy John surgical procedure, and his catcher Senger, who was drafted in 2018 and spent seven years within the minors earlier than reaching the majors, hit his first profession house run in the identical sport.
Should I add Gregory Soto in fantasy baseball proper now?
Yes, Soto is 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA and seven saves for Pittsburgh and is nearly definitely out there in your league regardless of performing like one of many ten most dependable ninth-inning arms within the National League.
This story was initially printed by Athlon Sports on May 31, 2026, the place it first appeared within the Fantasy part. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.