Texas Rangers reliever Jacob Latz allowed three runs without recording an out in his last appearance on Wednesday, but he may still have control of the closer job in Arlington. Outside of an occasional blemish like Wednesday, Latz has been stellar this season, pitching to a 2.08 ERA with 7.06 K/9, 2.08 BB/9, and 0.42 HR/9. He has two holds, five saves, and two blown saves through 18 outings so far this year. The biggest obstacle for Latz has arguably been the Rangers' record. At 21-22, save opportunities don't present themselves every day. Texas has still been getting him leverage scenarios, but fantasy managers would like to see more saves. The good news is that he faces essentially no competition for the closer role. Jakob Junis does have three saves this year, but he's been more of an eighth-inning setup option, and he's also trending down after taking a loss in his last outing. All in all, fantasy managers should continue to feel confident about Latz as the Rangers' closer. He ranks #29 among relievers in RotoBaller's latest fantasy baseball rankings.

Minnesota Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews should generate some waiver-wire interest after he impressed in his first start of the 2026 season in a win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday in the series finale. Matthews threw seven shutout innings with four hits allowed, one walk, and five strikeouts. The 25-year-old was called up so that the Twins could push left-handed pitching prospect Connor Prielipp back to manage his innings. If the Twins decide to keep Matthews around, he should be considered off the waiver wire in deeper leagues. The former eighth-round pick in 2022 out of Western Carolina threw 56 of his 83 pitches for strikes in his first big-league outing of the year. In his first two seasons with the Twins, Matthews really struggled, posting a 5.92 ERA (4.41 FIP) and 1.54 WHIP with 131 strikeouts, 35 walks, and 23 home runs allowed in 117 innings across his 25 starts. Despite his unsavory results in the big leagues before this season, there is intrigue with Matthews because of his strong control, high strikeout rates in the minors, and high-end velocity. He's rostered in only 5% of Yahoo leagues.

Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jared Jones (elbow) is nearing a return to Pittsburgh's big-league starting rotation after missing the entire 2025 season due to elbow surgery. The 24-year-old has already made three minor-league rehab starts with Single-A Bradenton, Double-A Altoona, and Triple-A Indianapolis and has looked really good, allowing just one earned run on eight hits while walking just one and fanning 11 in 10 total innings. In his last outing with Altoona on Tuesday, Jones threw 36 of his 52 pitches for strikes. He's still not completely built up and ready to return to the Pirates' starting rotation, and he's not eligible to return from the 60-day injured list until late May. In a best-case scenario, we probably won't see Jones make his 2026 season debut until early June. Still, Jones deserves stash consideration for those searching for starting pitching help. He struggled with the long ball (18 allowed in 121 2/3 innings) in his first 22 MLB starts in his rookie season in 2024, but otherwise, he was impressive with 132 K's and 39 walks. Jones is rostered in 36% of Yahoo leagues currently.

Something has clicked for outfielder JJ Bleday since joining the Cincinnati Reds. In 16 games with the team, Bleday has gone 17-for-53 (.321) with six home runs, 18 RBI, 10 runs scored, one steal, 13 walks, and 10 strikeouts across 66 plate appearances. In his first four MLB seasons with the Miami Marlins and Athletics, the left-handed-hitting outfielder slashed just .215/.307/.394 with a .702 OPS and 49 home runs across 404 games played. The 28-year-old's assault on opposing pitchers continued in Thursday's 15-1 rout of the Washington Nationals, when he went 3-for-5 at the plate with two more home runs and six RBI. Bleday, a former fourth overall pick out of Vanderbilt, is red-hot right now with Cincy and will continue to play regularly in a hitter-friendly home environment as long as he continues to produce. Fantasy managers who need power production should be looking his way, if even for just a short amount of time until he cools off. Bleday is currently rostered in only 27% of Yahoo leagues. He's gone 7-for-13 with 11 RBI in the last four games.