𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

In a fair and just society, Robby Snelling would not make another professional appearance in the minor leagues. Snelling’s next start should probably happen in Miami. He appears to have achieved sufficient dominance over opposing batters at the Triple-A level:

Another gem for Robby Snelling 💎

The @Marlins’ No. 2 prospect strikes out 9 over 6 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 1.89 and WHIP to 0.95 across four starts for the Triple-A @JaxShrimp. pic.twitter.com/8lIqfKZmyk

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 18, 2026

Over his last two starts, the 22-year-old left-hander has delivered 11 scoreless innings, allowing only four hits while striking out 21. Snelling was similarly untouchable at Jacksonville last season, delivering Dead Ball Era ratios (1.27 ERA, 0.99 WHIP) with 81 Ks in 63.2 frames. He has a four-pitch arsenal featuring a vicious curve and mid-to-high 90s fastball, and he’s coaxing plenty of ground-ball outs.

He’s as ready as he will be, basically.

Miami’s current major league rotation features a pair of veteran starters with beefy WHIPs (Janson Junk and Chris Paddack), so it’s not as if Snelling is blocked by a collection of aces. A serious team with legitimate postseason aspirations would promote this man. We can only hope the Marlins are such a team.

If you want to argue that Snelling doesn’t quite belong to the Payton Tolle/Seth Hernandez/Kade Anderson tier of pitching prospects, I’ll hear you out. Among all the upper-tier arms in the minors, however, he’s the guy with nothing left to prove and the cleanest path to MLB.

Oh, hey, Josh Jung is good again

The last time Josh Jung was irrefutably good was back in 2023, when he hit 23 home runs and delivered a .781 OPS while earning all-star recognition. Each of the previous two seasons has been defined by visits to the IL and an unfortunate lack of power. Jung rarely walks and doesn’t steal bases, so if he’s not clearing fences, he’s not helping.

At age 28 and coming off two forgettable years, Jung’s career is at a crossroads. He’s certainly become an afterthought in fantasy — undependable and lightly rostered.

Over Jung’s last 11 games with the Rangers, however, he’s feasted like the 25-year-old version of himself. Dating back to April 6, he’s gone 16-for-40 with two bombs, nine extra-base hits and as many walks as strikeouts (three). He nudged his batting average over .300, which almost never happens.

Obviously, a two-week stretch of productive games is not conclusive, but it’s certainly encouraging. Jung’s hard-hit rate (55.6%) is among the highest in MLB. If you’re looking for a power boost at a problematic position, Jung deserves consideration. At the very least, it’s nice to see non-injury news on his player page for a change.

Dylan Crews, resetting in Rochester

The Washington Nationals have held their own in the early weeks, but the team pretty clearly has a Dylan Crews-shaped hole in the lineup. Meanwhile, the actual Crews — a former top-five overall prospect — is reestablishing himself at Triple-A Rochester following a miserable spring (3-for-29), full of strikeouts and harmless pop-ups. Ideally, at age 24, he would require no additional minor league seasoning.

But the good news is that Crews is surging in April. He’s now hitting .304/.394/.464 with two homers and three steals over his previous 15 games, which will pay the bills at any level. One of the home runs was an opposite-field shot against a major league-quality arm:

Dylan Crews 🚀

The @Nationals outfielder takes rehabbing Blue Jays phenom Trey Yesavage deep for the @RocRedWings. pic.twitter.com/glSppbr50a

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 15, 2026

Crews had a wild ride of a season for the Nats last year, marred by injury and inconsistency, but he still finished with 10 homers and 17 steals over 85 games. It’s tough to believe there isn’t a useful player in there somewhere. We’ll see Crews back with the Nats at some point soon, no question. His return should be an actionable fantasy event, given his power/speed potential.

Reviewing the streaming hellscape priorities for the week ahead

Disclaimer: Please note that neither the author nor The Athletic is responsible for any damage to fantasy ratios resulting from the use of any two-start pitcher appearing in the bulleted list below. In fact, we disavow these names (unless they work out). Streaming is a dangerous business, full of downsides. Officially, this list is purely for entertainment purposes.

• Max Meyer, MIA (vs. STL, at SF): Meyer has emerged from a few challenging matchups (including the Braves and Yankees) with his ratios intact. He’s striking out 9.4 batters per nine innings over the past two seasons, so the K upside should be clear enough.
• Mick Abel, MMIN (at NYM, at TB): Even if Abel wasn’t spinning the ball well, we’d take an interest in any pitcher preparing to face the current version of the Mets. But Abel hasn’t allowed a run in either of his last two starts, and he’s coming off a 10-K performance against Boston. If he’s available to you, add him.
• Seth Lugo, KC (vs. BAL, vs. LAA): Lugo has been a bit win-challenged in the early weeks, despite three quality starts in his first four games. He enters Monday’s game with a WHIP of 0.99 and 21 Ks in 24 innings. Lugo also offers one of baseball’s deepest arsenals, which gives him plenty of potential answers to various dilemmas.
• Keider Montero, DET (vs. MIL, at CIN): The 25-year-old Montero has been excellent in his three early starts (16.1 IP, 6 ER, 2 BB, 15 K), and he has a dash of flair, making him highly watchable. He opens his week against the banged-up Brewers, then closes with a Reds lineup that hasn’t produced many runs (3.38 R/G) despite all the winning.
• Colin Rea, CHC (vs. PHI, at LAD): Best to ignore this one. Probably a terrible idea. Reckless self-sabotage. I’m just trying to talk myself into a head-to-head pickup for a roster that’s probably doomed. Keep scrolling.

Upheaval in the ninth

The great thing about punting saves in your fantasy drafts is that you can simply un-punt the category as soon as the regular season begins.

The list of add-worthy relievers who have picked up saves over the past five days includes Caleb Thielbar (in place of the injured Daniel Palencia), Abner Uribe, Victor Vodnik, Seranthony Dominguez, Robert Suarez (in place of Raisel Iglesias, who slept funny), Bryan Baker, Joel Kuhnel and Enyel De Los Santos. We also learned that Brad Keller will handle the ninth for the Phillies while Jhoan Duran (oblique) is sidelined. Louis Varland might soon find himself in the mix in Toronto, too.

And another thing: The current major league saves leaderboard includes such luminaries as Paul Sewald (7), Riley O’Brien (6), Emilio Pagan (6) and Lucas Erceg (5).

Just like every other season in fantasy history, it was once again completely unnecessary to burn an early draft pick on a closer in 2026. This is true for the deepest leagues and the shallowest formats; it’s true in the high-stakes world and the no-stakes world. Saves remain a stat we can fully address in-season.