Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

Paul Skenes lived up to the hype in 2025, overpowering hitters with elite velocity and swing-and-miss stuff while maintaining strong run prevention in his first extended MLB action. Sure, his record was 10-10, and he probably could have been a 20-game winner on almost any other team. His 2026 projections remain aggressive on strikeouts and ratios, and he is expected to pitch almost 200 innings after throwing 187 in 2025. The year-over-year takeaway is how quickly his command stabilized, limiting walks more than expected for a power arm. Skenes profiles as a high-impact fantasy SP1 whose value is driven by dominance rather than volume alone.

The Pirates faced criticism for keeping Bubba Chandler in Triple-A despite his dominant start (1.42 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 36:7 K:BB by May 1), but his command slipped over the next three months, as he logged a 1.75 WHIP and 85:46 K:BB in 74.2 innings with six outings of four-plus walks. Promoted in late August after preserving rookie eligibility, the 23-year-old righty looked like a potential frontline starter outside of one blowup against Milwaukee (nine earned runs in 2.2 innings); excluding that start, he posted a 1.57 ERA, 0.59 WHIP and 28:1 K:BB across 28.2 innings. Armed with a 99-mph fastball, 89-mph slider and a 92-mph changeup that generated a 39.6% whiff rate in the majors, Chandler combines premium velocity with a durable 6-foot-3 frame and three straight 110-plus inning seasons, giving him the upside to emerge as one of the game's top young starters if his command stabilizes.