Who Should I Trade?

Nick Mears for Riley O'Brien (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Riley O'Brien RP - STL	Nick Mears RP - KC
Expert Recommendation	100% Recommended by 6 of 6 experts	0% Recommended by 0 of 6 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 70	# 385
VBR	# 295	# 750

Projections

Strikeouts	26	14
Wins	1	1
Saves	10	0
ERA	3.62	4.47
WHIP	1.37	1.38

Misc

Injury Alert	-	IL60

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 58	‐

Dalton Del Don The Deep Shot	# 72	‐

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 78	‐

Mike Maher BettingPros	# 76	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 121	# 387

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 96	# 429

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Riley O'Brien RP - STL	Nick Mears RP - KC
2026 Stats


Games Played	41	21

Games Started	0	0

Innings Pitched	40.2	19.1

Wins	3	2

Losses	4	3

Saves	25	0

Blown Saves	5	2

Holds	1	5

Hits Allowed	34	18

Earned Runs	17	11

Home Runs Allowed	2	2

Strikeouts	41	15

Walks	15	11

ERA	3.76	5.12

WHIP	1.20	1.50

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Riley O'Brien RP - STL	Nick Mears RP - KC
2026 Projections


Games Played	27	17

Games Started	0	0

Innings Pitched	24.8	15.1

Wins	1	1

Losses	1	1

Saves	10	0

Blown Saves	0	0

Holds	2	1

Hits Allowed	21	14

Earned Runs	10	8

Home Runs Allowed	2	2

Strikeouts	26	14

Walks	10	6

ERA	3.62	4.47

WHIP	1.37	1.38

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Riley O'Brien RP - STL	Nick Mears RP - KC
News
	Riley O'Brien allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one in a scoreless appearance to earn the save in a 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks. Chase Davis Sat, Jul 18th	The Kansas City Royals transferred Nick Mears to the 60-day injured list. Nicholas Rodriguez Wed, Jul 15th
	Riley O'Brien struck out one batter while allowing no hits and one walk in a scoreless outing to earn the save in Saturday's 4-1 win over Atlanta. Chase Davis Sun, Jul 12th	Nick Mears is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday. Nicholas Rodriguez Sat, Jun 27th
	Riley O'Brien struck out two batters in a scoreless outing to earn the save in Friday's 2-1 win over the Braves. Chase Davis Sat, Jul 11th	Nick Mears began playing catch again on Monday. Nicholas Rodriguez Tue, Jun 23rd
	Riley O'Brien struck out one batter while allowing one walk over a scoreless frame to earn the save in Saturday's 3-0 win over the Cubs. Chase Davis Sun, Jul 5th	Nick Mears experienced soreness following Tuesday's bullpen session and is undergoing further evaluation. Nicholas Rodriguez Fri, Jun 19th
	Riley O'Brien allowed one hit in a scoreless frame to earn the save in Tuesday's 5-3 win over Atlanta. Chase Davis Wed, Jul 1st	Royals right-hander Nick Mears (shoulder) is continuing his throwing progression and could be throwing bullpens by the end of the week. Brenton Kemp Tue, Jun 9th
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR
	Riley O'Brien RP - STL			Nick Mears RP - KC
Fri, Mar 27th				@ ATL	Chris Sale (10-6)	#6
Sat, Mar 28th	vs TB	Joe Boyle (0-1)	#163	@ ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-3)	#90
Sun, Mar 29th	vs TB	Steven Matz (4-4)	#199	@ ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#152
Mon, Mar 30th	vs NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#107	vs MIN	Simeon Woods Richardson (1-7)	#370
Wed, Apr 1st	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#42	vs MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14
Thu, Apr 2nd				vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#46
Sat, Apr 4th	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#54	vs MIL	Logan Henderson (3-1)	#58
Sun, Apr 5th	@ DET	Keider Montero (6-5)	#160	vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#55
Mon, Apr 6th	@ WSH	Zack Littell (7-7)	#179	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-9)	#51
Tue, Apr 7th	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (6-4)	#64	@ CLE	Gavin Williams (10-5)	#26
Wed, Apr 8th	@ WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-7)	#327	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74
Thu, Apr 9th				vs CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200
Fri, Apr 10th	vs BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#138	vs CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#92
Sat, Apr 11th	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#28	vs CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#407
Sun, Apr 12th	vs BOS	Brayan Bello (2-6)	#142	vs CWS	Grant Taylor (4-2)	#44
Tue, Apr 14th	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74	@ DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#29
Wed, Apr 15th	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-6)	#104	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#54
Thu, Apr 16th				@ DET	Keider Montero (6-5)	#160
Fri, Apr 17th	@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#136	@ NYY	Cam Schlittler (9-6)	#22
Sat, Apr 18th	@ HOU	Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3)	#198	@ NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65
Sun, Apr 19th	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#178	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (3-7)	#57
Mon, Apr 20th	@ MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#61	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (6-9)	#40
Tue, Apr 21st	@ MIA	Chris Paddack (0-7)		vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#68
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ MIA	Janson Junk (4-6)	#106	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#206
Fri, Apr 24th	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-8)	#23	vs LAA	Yusei Kikuchi (0-3)	#141
Sat, Apr 25th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13	vs LAA	Walbert Urena (6-7)	#258
Sun, Apr 26th	vs SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-4)	#93	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43
Tue, Apr 28th	@ PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (9-4)	#25	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#236
Wed, Apr 29th	@ PIT	Bubba Chandler (3-8)	#123	@ ATH	Luis Severino (2-6)	#184
Thu, Apr 30th	@ PIT	Paul Skenes (9-8)	#3	@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-9)	#189
Fri, May 1st	vs LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-7)	#36	@ SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13
Sat, May 2nd	vs LAD	Roki Sasaki (3-5)	#117	@ SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-4)	#93
Sun, May 3rd	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#78	@ SEA	Luis Castillo (3-9)	#67
Mon, May 4th	vs MIL	Chad Patrick (5-4)	#132	vs CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-9)	#51
Tue, May 5th				vs CLE	Gavin Williams (10-5)	#26
Wed, May 6th	vs MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-5)	#125	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74
Thu, May 7th	@ SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-6)	#104
Fri, May 8th	@ SD	Griffin Canning (1-8)	#171	vs DET	Keider Montero (6-5)	#160
Sat, May 9th	@ SD	Randy Vasquez (6-6)	#269	vs DET	Burch Smith
Sun, May 10th	@ SD	Walker Buehler (6-5)	#190	vs DET	Brenan Hanifee
Tue, May 12th	@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-9)	#189	@ CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#407
Wed, May 13th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#144	@ CWS	Noah Schultz (3-7)	#213
Thu, May 14th	@ ATH	Jacob Lopez (4-4)	#220	@ CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200
Fri, May 15th	vs KC	Michael Wacha (5-7)	#69	@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#45
Sat, May 16th	vs KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#79	@ STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#119
Sun, May 17th	vs KC	Stephen Kolek (4-3)	#223	@ STL	Andre Pallante (10-6)	#133
Mon, May 18th				vs BOS	Sonny Gray (12-1)	#31
Tue, May 19th	vs PIT	Mitch Keller (6-7)	#112	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#28
Wed, May 20th	vs PIT	Carmen Mlodzinski (6-3)	#122	vs BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#138
Fri, May 22nd				vs SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#11
Sat, May 23rd	@ CIN	Chase Petty (1-2)	#414	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-8)	#23
Sun, May 24th				vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13
Mon, May 25th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (10-4)	#7	vs NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65
Tue, May 26th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#55	vs NYY	Cam Schlittler (9-6)	#22
Wed, May 27th	@ MIL	Chad Patrick (5-4)	#132	vs NYY	Gerrit Cole (3-5)	#30
Fri, May 29th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (6-8)	#27	@ TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35
Sat, May 30th	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#101	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (3-8)	#98
Sun, May 31st	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#230	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#135
Mon, Jun 1st	vs TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#8	@ CIN	Lyon Richardson
Tue, Jun 2nd	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (9-8)	#17	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#105
Wed, Jun 3rd	vs TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#21
Thu, Jun 4th				@ MIN	Andrew Morris (4-2)	#155
Fri, Jun 5th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (4-9)	#148	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#109
Sat, Jun 6th	vs CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-2)	#94	@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14
Sun, Jun 7th	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#197	@ MIN	Connor Prielipp (2-5)	#118
Tue, Jun 9th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#42	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (9-8)	#17
Wed, Jun 10th	@ NYM	Austin Warren		vs TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35
Thu, Jun 11th	@ NYM	Christian Scott (3-1)	#62	vs TEX	Kumar Rocker (3-8)	#98
Fri, Jun 12th	@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14	vs HOU	Tatsuya Imai (6-4)	#129
Sat, Jun 13th	@ MIN	Connor Prielipp (2-5)	#118	vs HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#178
Sun, Jun 14th	@ MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#46	vs HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#154
Mon, Jun 15th	vs SD	Wandy Peralta (1-1)	#212	@ WSH	Andrew Alvarez (2-3)	#151
Tue, Jun 16th	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (11-2)	#63
Wed, Jun 17th	vs SD	Bradgley Rodriguez (2-2)	#149	@ WSH	Zack Littell (7-7)	#179
Thu, Jun 18th	@ KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#79	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-7)	#110
Fri, Jun 19th	@ KC	Seth Lugo (3-6)	#140	vs STL	Michael McGreevy (4-7)	#88
Sun, Jun 21st	@ KC	Stephen Kolek (4-3)	#223	vs STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#45
Mon, Jun 22nd	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (7-8)	#114	@ TB	Drew Rasmussen (8-5)	#18
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3)	#111	@ TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34
Wed, Jun 24th	vs ARI	Mitch Bratt (0-0)	#194	@ TB	Griffin Jax (5-7)	#60
Thu, Jun 25th				@ TB	Casey Legumina
Fri, Jun 26th	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#61	@ CWS	David Sandlin (2-1)	#321
Sat, Jun 27th	vs MIA	Ryan Gusto (0-2)	#183	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#92
Sun, Jun 28th	vs MIA	Tyler Phillips (2-5)	#271	@ CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200
Tue, Jun 30th	@ ATL	Martin Perez (6-6)	#181	vs TB	Griffin Jax (5-7)	#60
Wed, Jul 1st	@ ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-3)	#90	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)	#224	vs TB	Ian Seymour (6-2)	#76
Sat, Jul 4th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (6-8)	#27	vs PHI	Jesus Luzardo (9-4)	#10
Sun, Jul 5th	@ CHC	Javier Assad (6-1)	#232	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-7)	#52
Mon, Jul 6th	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (5-3)	#85	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (12-4)	#4
Tue, Jul 7th	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (2-4)	#137	@ NYM	Cionel Perez
Wed, Jul 8th	vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#55	@ NYM	Christian Scott (3-1)	#62
Thu, Jul 9th	vs MIL	Logan Henderson (3-1)	#58	@ NYM	Sean Manaea (2-5)	#81
Fri, Jul 10th	vs ATL	Chris Sale (10-6)	#6	@ BAL	Brandon Young (8-2)	#131
Sat, Jul 11th	vs ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-3)	#90	@ BAL	Kyle Bradish (6-9)	#40
Sun, Jul 12th	vs ATL	Danny Young		@ BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#68
Fri, Jul 17th	@ ARI	Merrill Kelly (7-8)	#114	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50
Sat, Jul 18th	@ ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (4-1)	#71	vs SD	Griffin Canning (1-8)	#171
Sun, Jul 19th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3)	#111	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#377
Mon, Jul 20th	@ LAA	Jose Soriano (8-6)	#47	vs SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)	#168
Tue, Jul 21st	@ LAA	Walbert Urena (6-7)	#258	vs SF	Tyler Mahle (2-9)	#83
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43	vs SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#56
Thu, Jul 23rd	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (4-1)	#71	@ DET	Troy Melton (5-1)	#95
Fri, Jul 24th	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#197	@ DET	Tarik Skubal (6-5)	#2
Sat, Jul 25th	vs CIN	Hunter Greene (2-1)	#16	@ DET	Casey Mize (4-6)	#39
Sun, Jul 26th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#105	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#54
Tue, Jul 28th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (7-6)	#195	@ MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#89
Wed, Jul 29th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#37	@ MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#46
Thu, Jul 30th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (6-8)	#27	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#109
Fri, Jul 31st	@ TOR			@ COL
Sat, Aug 1st	@ TOR			@ COL
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ TOR			@ COL
Tue, Aug 4th	@ NYY			vs MIN
Wed, Aug 5th	@ NYY			vs MIN
Thu, Aug 6th				vs MIN
Fri, Aug 7th	vs COL			vs CHC
Sat, Aug 8th	vs COL			vs CHC
Sun, Aug 9th	vs COL			vs CHC
Mon, Aug 10th	vs PHI			@ LAD
Tue, Aug 11th	vs PHI			@ LAD
Wed, Aug 12th	vs PHI			@ LAD
Fri, Aug 14th	@ CHC			@ LAA
Sat, Aug 15th	@ CHC			@ LAA
Sun, Aug 16th	@ CHC			@ LAA
Mon, Aug 17th	@ CIN			vs ATH
Tue, Aug 18th	@ CIN			vs ATH
Wed, Aug 19th	@ CIN			vs ATH
Thu, Aug 20th	@ CIN			vs ATH
Fri, Aug 21st	@ PHI			vs DET
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ PHI			vs DET
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ PHI			vs DET
Tue, Aug 25th	vs BAL			@ TOR
Wed, Aug 26th	vs BAL			@ TOR
Thu, Aug 27th	vs BAL			@ TOR
Fri, Aug 28th	vs PIT			@ CLE
Sat, Aug 29th	vs PIT			@ CLE
Sun, Aug 30th	vs PIT			@ CLE
Tue, Sep 1st	@ LAD			vs MIA
Wed, Sep 2nd	@ LAD			vs MIA
Thu, Sep 3rd	@ LAD			vs MIA
Fri, Sep 4th	@ COL			vs TOR
Sat, Sep 5th	@ COL			vs TOR
Sun, Sep 6th	@ COL			vs TOR
Mon, Sep 7th	@ SF			vs ARI
Tue, Sep 8th	@ SF			vs ARI
Wed, Sep 9th	@ SF			vs ARI
Fri, Sep 11th	vs CWS			@ BOS
Sat, Sep 12th	vs CWS			@ BOS
Sun, Sep 13th	vs CWS			@ BOS
Tue, Sep 15th	vs SF			@ HOU
Wed, Sep 16th	vs SF			@ HOU
Thu, Sep 17th				@ HOU
Fri, Sep 18th	vs WSH			@ PIT
Sat, Sep 19th	vs WSH			@ PIT
Sun, Sep 20th	vs WSH			@ PIT
Tue, Sep 22nd	@ PIT			vs CWS
Wed, Sep 23rd	@ PIT			vs CWS
Thu, Sep 24th	@ PIT			vs CWS
Fri, Sep 25th	@ MIL			vs CLE
Sat, Sep 26th	@ MIL			vs CLE
Sun, Sep 27th	@ MIL			vs CLE
Thu, Mar 26th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (8-5)	#18
Tue, Mar 31st	vs NYM	Kodai Senga (0-7)	#147
Fri, Apr 3rd	@ DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#29
Mon, Apr 13th	vs CLE	Gavin Williams (10-5)	#26
Mon, Apr 27th	@ PIT	Mason Montgomery (2-3)	#121
Thu, May 21st	vs PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (9-4)	#25
Fri, Jul 3rd	@ CHC	David Peterson (5-7)	#84
Mon, Jul 27th	vs CHC	David Peterson (5-7)	#84
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ NYY
Mon, Sep 14th	vs SF

Who Should I Trade?

Nick Mears for Riley O'Brien (2026)

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