Fantasy Baseball: Players who made an impact in June (for better or worse)

As we flip the calendar to July, there are plenty of players who logged June fantasy baseball stats that deserve extra attention. Here are a dozen players who deserve a deep dive, ranking from superstars such as James Wood to waiver wire fodder such as Joey Cantillo.

Jac Caglianone, 1B/OF, Royals: One of the burning questions in fantasy baseball right now centers around Caglianone and the sustainability of his June breakout. After all, the youngster went from almost a full year as a fantasy dud to now batting .309 with nine homers, 19 RBI and 21 runs scored in June. Fortunately, the underlying stats support the breakout of this former top prospect.

Caglianone led all qualified hitters in xSLG (.693) and xwOBA (.456) during June, and his .323 xBA was an elite mark as well. He tore the cover off the baseball (94.0 mph average exit velocity, 19.0% barrel rate) last month. Grabbing Cags off the waiver wire a few weeks ago could turn out to be a league-winning move.

Bryce Harper, 1B, Phillies: Although he never reached the level of stardom that was once expected of him, Harper will one day go down as one of the most consistent fantasy assets of his generation. True to form, the 33-year-old was terrific during June, batting .305 with seven homers, 20 RBI, 22 runs and nearly as many walks as whiffs. While managers continually chase the next big thing, acquiring Harper for a reasonable return is a move that is unlikely to backfire.

Jake Bauers, 1B/OF, Brewers: Bauers led the majors with 22 walks during June. I know what you’re thinking — walks aren’t a standard fantasy stat, so who cares? Well, I’m sure the Brewers front office cares that one of their players logged an elite .429 OBP last month. Bauers has quietly been a breakout player throughout 2026, and his June success (6 HR, .976 OPS) cements has status as an everyday player. Still rostered in just 67% of Yahoo leagues, Bauers has a chance to produce 30 homers and 100 RBI this season.

Luis García, 1B/2B, Nationals: García led the majors in RBI (27) and ranked second in homers (11) during June. Still just 26 years old, the infielder is in the midst of his seventh season and occupies the coveted No. 2 lineup spot in one baseball’s best offenses. Although García is due for significant regression in the power department (37.9% HR/FB rate in June), he can be counted on for a helpful batting average thanks to his excellent contact skills. If only he would return to running the bases aggressively, as García has two steals after totalling 36 across 2024-25.

James Wood, OF, Nationals: Wood needs to make up his mind on whether or not he is a star, because fantasy managers are getting sick of his inconsistency. Last season, he held a .938 OPS at the end of June before logging a .696 OPS over the final three months. This year, the regression tour may have started early, as Wood brought a .960 OPS into June before logging a .764 mark during the month. His frequent whiffs continue to be a problem; he struck out more than any other player durign June. I’m not yet suggesting that managers jump off the Wood bandwagon, but I would keep a close eye on how the next couple weeks go before deciding on whether to sell high on him.

Jarren Duran, OF, Red Sox: After rounding back into form when he posted an .879 OPS during May, Duran came crashing back to Earth (.395 OPS) in June. The speedster has posted a sub-.500 OPS in two of the three months this season, and his overall batting average has plummeted to .196. Remarkably, Duran posted the lowest wRC+ (-1) in June of any qualified hitter. Duran’s strikeout rate has soared to 30.1% this year, and he should be dropped in all 10-team leagues and 12-team, 3-outfielder formats.

Henry Bolte, OF, Athletics: Bolte enjoyed a solid month in which he hit .286 with seven steals. The productive stretch has earned the speedster opportunities to hit atop the Athletics’ talented lineup. This should be the part of the paragraph where I wholeheartedly endorse Bolte as a waiver wire option, but I have some reasons for concern.

The rookie benefited from a June BABIP of .429, while striking out 32.4% of the time. His overall .236 xBA shows that he may struggle to reach base during the summer. The advice here is to add Bolte in situations where steals and runs are needed, but not to count on him as a permanent lineup member.

Dillon Dingler, C, Tigers: Although we still have almost half of the season to go, the breakout of Dingler feels complete. The catcher ranked second in baseball with 25 June RBI, to go along with eight homers and a .333 average. Sure, his eye-popping numbers were better than his expected stats, but that’s not surprising when someone goes on this level of a tear. Dingler still recorded elite marks in xBA (.309) and xSLG (.586) during June, leading all catchers and ranking among the top 15 in qualified hitters. I wouldn’t oppose anyone who wanted to value the 27-year-old as a top-three catcher for the second half.

Drake Baldwin, C, Braves: An early season candidate to be 2026’s biggest breakout, Baldwin hasn’t been the same since suffering an oblique strain in the middle of May. The 25-year-old may have been baseball’s worst hitter in the 12 games he has played since returning, hitting .063 with one RBI and a 1:22 BB:K ratio. Managers who were excited to put Baldwin back into their lineup two weeks ago should now look at ways to slide him to the bench until he gets back on track.

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Joey Cantillo, SP, Guardians: After being dropped in many leagues when he walked 15.0% of the batters he faced during May, Cantillo cleaned up his control skills (7.0% walk rate) during June. Unfortunately, he didn’t reap the full benefits of his improvement, as a .319 BABIP contributed to a 4.50 June ERA. Over the course of his brief career, Cantillo has proven to be a useful fantasy starter when he is limiting walks, which makes him a viable waiver wire option for a favorable matchup against the Rangers Wednesday.

José Soriano, SP, Angels: I tried to warn you as it was happening, and now I must confirm that the Soriano breakout season is over. No pitcher walked more batters than the Angels righty during June (18), which contributed to a 5.34 ERA and 1.74 WHIP. In terms of season-long numbers, Soriano still ranks 24th in ERA, 12th in wins and 14th in strikeouts. Managers should use those numbers to trade him away while they still can.

Jacob Latz, RP, Rangers: Anyone could have made plenty of money by betting on Latz to be the June saves leader (11). But the southpaw was terrific last month (1.13 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 19:4 K:BB ratio), which has cemented his status as the Rangers closer. I’m not getting carried away with the long-term potential of Latz, who is 30 years old and entered 2026 with one career save. But his recent success has cemented his status in Texas, and he has as good of a chance as any reliever to rank atop the second-half saves leaderboard.