6 Fantasy Baseball Risers & Fallers: Week 3 (2026)

Welcome to our weekly fantasy baseball risers and fallers column. In this article, I’ll provide three risers and three fallers based on what has transpired in the previous week.

Given that we’re past opening week, there are more options to choose from. We now know how managers are deploying their players, with some surprisingly receiving less playing time than initially expected. We also have a few young hitters who are making their presence felt immediately.

Without further ado, let’s find out who this week’s biggest risers and fallers are.

Fantasy Baseball Risers & Fallers

Fantasy Baseball Risers

Jose Soriano (SP – LAA)

Jose Soriano is off to a remarkable start to the season, putting up a 0.33 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP with a 32% strikeout rate and a 9.3% walk rate. The advanced metrics look great as well, including a 2.73 SIERA and a 12.8% swinging-strike rate.

Now, I don’t need to tell you that Soriano is going to regress. That’s pretty obvious. But I should note that he is allowing some hard contact, including a 10.5% barrel rate, which ranks in the 32nd percentile.

But even with incoming regression, Soriano is clearly a pitcher who already had the tools in place, and is finally putting them all together.

Taj Bradley (SP – MIN)

Taj Bradley is off to a terrific start for the Twins, putting up a 1.25 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP with a 31.2% strikeout rate and an 8.6% walk rate. You have to love the strikeout upside he’s shown so far, racking up at least seven punchouts in three of his four outings, including two with at least 9 strikeouts.

The advanced metrics support this breakout so far, including an impressive 2.95 SIERA. Remember that Bradley always had upside; he just couldn’t find consistency. Perhaps he’s finally putting it together.

Jeffrey Springs (SP – ATH)

Remember when Jeffrey Springs was a highly touted lefty for the Rays before getting injured? It feels like so long ago, but there’s a slight chance he’s getting back to that version of himself.

So far, the veteran lefty has put up a 1.47 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP with 22.1% strikeout rate and an 8.8% walk rate. While the 3.97 SIERA screams regression, Springs is firmly on the streaming radar now.

Fantasy Baseball Fallers

Eury Perez (SP – MIA)

Eury Perez was one of my biggest targets among starting pitchers this season. So far, he’s been extremely disappointing. Take a look at his game logs:

Four innings, seven hits, three earned runs, two walks, two strikeouts (at Braves)
Five innings, six hits, two earned runs, two walks, six strikeouts (vs. Reds)
Four innings, two hits, four earned runs, six walks, four strikeouts (at Yankees)
Seven innings, five hits, three earned runs, one walk, eight strikeouts (vs. Rockies)

Coming into Monday’s start against the Braves, Perez still had a 14.7% swinging-strike rate, but the 4.17 SIERA is concerning. I’m still hopeful Perez can provide value, but we need to adjust our expectations.

Michael King (SP – SDP)

Michael King has been underwhelming so far this season, despite putting up a 3.24 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. The strikeout rate is down from 24.7% to 22.1%.

I watched his last start against the Pirates, where King could barely generate any whiffs, finishing with a 5.3% swinging-strike rate in that game. This could just be a case of a pitcher adjusting to the regular season with a slow start, but we have to keep a close eye on this.

Tanner Bibee (SP – CLE)

Tanner Bibee is off to a poor start, including a 4.84 xERA and a 10.3% barrel rate. While we’ve seen some rock-solid seasons from him in the past, those days may be in the past, similar to Bailey Ober.

It’s about time we start viewing Bibee more as a matchup-based streamer going forward, especially with him coming off a poor outing against the Braves, where he allowed eight earned runs in 4.2 innings.