Esmerlyn Valdez will almost certainly not keep up his recent superhuman pace, but that\u2019s no reason to avoid him. We can\u2019t simply trigger the regression alarm whenever a guy begins playing a little too well. Valdez has been as scorching-hot as any hitter in the game who isn\u2019t Junior Caminero, so he can regress a fair amount and still remain incredibly useful.<\/p>\n
When a guy has concourse power, he probably isn\u2019t a total fraud:<\/p>\n
Esmerlyn Valdez hits one 461 FEET!<\/p>\n
Look at where this baseball lands \ud83d\ude33 pic.twitter.com\/gHJcOznQAb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLB (@MLB) June 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Entering Monday, Valdez has gone 20-for-47 with four home runs, 10 extra-base hits and 12 RBI over his previous 13 games for the Pirates, which is, of course, silly and unsustainable. For the year, he\u2019s slashing .310\/.359\/.662 at the big-league level with six homers in just 78 plate appearances. He wasn\u2019t quite as dominant at Triple A earlier in the season, but he was definitely cooking (.914 OPS). We shouldn\u2019t expect him to completely nosedive any time soon.<\/p>\n In the near-term, Valdez has an uncluttered path to daily at-bats with both Oneil Cruz and Spencer Horwitz sidelined by injury. If the 22-year-old continues crushing \u2014 even at a less cartoonish level \u2014 he\u2019ll stick around. In recent games, he\u2019s occupied the cleanup spot for Pittsburgh. He remains lightly rostered at the major platforms, however, despite his obnoxious power upside and a friendly late-July schedule. He gets a few user-friendly pitching rotations following the break, including the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Reds.<\/p>\n Kahlil Watson appears to have the green light<\/p>\n Watson stole a pair of bags in back-to-back games against the White Sox over the weekend, which gives him six on the season in MLB, plus another 15 at Triple-A Columbus. The 23-year-old has gone 13-for-43 over his past dozen games for Cleveland with four extra-base hits, so he\u2019s obviously beginning to get comfortable. Watson hasn\u2019t hit for average at any minor-league stop, but he\u2019s a willing walker with on-base ability and 20-HR\/20-SB (20\/30?) potential. He\u2019s a deep league outfield add with obvious upside.<\/p>\n Joshua B\u00e1ez is gonna break some International League records<\/p>\n To be clear, B\u00e1ez should not actually be allowed to break any minor-league records, because he should be promoted before any of them are within easy reach. But the Cardinals seem content with his pursuit of the modern single-season International League home run mark. B\u00e1ez has launched 28 bombs for Memphis in just 76 games, so he needs only 14 additional homers with the Redbirds to match Phil Hiatt\u2019s record of 42, established in 1996<\/a>. If he clears the fence another 22 times, he can tie Ron Kittle\u2019s single-season Triple-A record across all leagues (50, 1982).<\/p>\n Joshua B\u00e1ez take sole possession of the MiLB HR lead with his 27th long ball of the season at Triple-A \ud83d\ude80@memphisredbirds<\/a> | @CardsPlayerDev<\/a> | @Cardinals<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OKj3lecJiR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n B\u00e1ez certainly isn\u2019t a flawless hitter \u2014 he\u2019s already reached triple-digit Ks for the season \u2014 but he\u2019s nonetheless the most interesting power\/speed combo player in the high minors. Keep him stashed, just in case he finds his way to St. Louis sometime soon.<\/p>\n Alas, the Jesus L\u00fazardo buy-low window may have finally closed<\/p>\n L\u00fazardo has lowered his season ERA from 4.56 to 3.75 over his past five starts, allowing just six earned runs and 22 hits over 30.1 innings while striking out 45 batters. He\u2019s had the same filthy stuff all season, but the expected ERA has been dramatically out of sync with his actual pitching ratios. Even now, his xERA is 3.05 and his xFIP is 2.97. He\u2019s striking out 10.9 batters per nine innings and is clearly capable of shaming the game\u2019s best hitters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Again, if you haven\u2019t already initiated the conversation, you might be a week too late to target L\u00fazardo via trade. Still, it could be worth kicking the tires. He\u2019s likely facing the Reds and Mets in his next two starts.<\/p>\n Caleb Kilian, locked in closer, is available basically everywhere<\/p>\n Hey, maybe Kilian actually should be lightly rostered across the fantasy landscape. It\u2019s not entirely clear that he won\u2019t eventually detonate. He\u2019s allowed runs in three of his past four appearances.<\/p>\n Kilian is the no-doubt closer for the Giants these days, however, having converted the team\u2019s past four saves. He\u2019s neither a committee member nor a placeholder. Killian is simply the dude who now owns the ninth, yet he\u2019s only 12% rostered in Yahoo leagues and 33% at Fantrax. You cannot leave him unattached in any competitive league.<\/p>\n One last round of streaming options before the All-Star break<\/p>\n Let\u2019s close out the first half with responsible two-start streaming selections, friends. Most of the best pitchers in baseball seem to be taking two turns this week ahead of the break, including Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski, Cam Schlittler, Jacob deGrom, Cristopher Sanchez, Max Meyer and Zack Wheeler. But don\u2019t worry, we still have plenty of sketchy options from which to choose, like this first gentleman \u2026<\/p>\n Joey Cantillo, CLE (at MIN, at MIA) \u2014 Cantillo is the prize among this week\u2019s widely available two-start options. His matchups aren\u2019t all that intimidating, and his recent performance has been excellent. Cantillo has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his past four starts, punching out 26 batters in 24 frames.
\nShane Drohan, MIL (at STL, at PIT) \u2014 It kinda feels like Milwaukee has a 3D printer that spits out guys like Drohan whenever one is needed. Naturally, Drohan has been extremely effective across his six recent starts, piling up 31 Ks over 30.1 innings while delivering a 3.56 ERA. He\u2019s yielded just three runs over his past three appearances. This week\u2019s opponents shouldn\u2019t scare you off.
\nReynaldo L\u00f3pez, ATL (vs. NYM, at STL) \u2014 Regardless of his role, L\u00f3pez has been useful for Atlanta this season. He\u2019s coming off an outing against the Cards in which he punched out six batters over five innings, allowing just two hits.
\nMichael McGreevy and Dustin May, STL (vs. MIL, vs. ATL) \u2014The assignments seem a little rough, but McGreevy is a savvy groundballist who almost never gets pummeled. He carries a 1.11 WHIP and 3.12 ERA into Monday\u2019s matchup with the Brewers. May is perhaps more of a roller coaster, but his best starts are absolutely dazzling.
\nSeth Lugo, KC (at NYM, at BAL) \u2014 Man, whenever Lugo retires, he can head straight for the \u201cWeekly Two-Start Streamer\u201d Hall of Fame. He\u2019s lined up to face a pair of beatable opponents. The vet has produced 10 quality starts this season, so he\u2019s holding up his end of the bargain, even when the Royals lineup does not.<\/p>\n