Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Aidan Miller (back) is likely going to sit out for a few days. According to Todd Zolecki, Miller is dealing with back soreness, so the Phillies plan to be careful with him. The team will take it easy with Miller while he gets treatment this week. The 21-year-old is expected to begin the season in the minors, but it shouldn't be too long before he's in Philly. In 2025, Miller slashed .264/.392/.433 with 14 home runs, 42 RBI, and 59 stolen bases in 116 games between Double-A and Triple-A. The majority of his games were played in Double-A, so Miller will likely begin the 2026 campaign in Triple-A. He could be on the short list to Philly if he shows that he can handle Triple-A pitching.

In one of their bigger moves this winter, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired long-time Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe this offseason. Lowe has struggled to consistently stay healthy throughout his career, as he's reached 600 plate appearances just once in eight big league seasons. However, he was productive in 2025, hitting .256/.307/.477 with 31 home runs, 83 RBI, 79 runs scored, and three stolen bases. Another reason for the lefty-swinging Lowe's low plate appearance totals is his career splits against same-handed pitching, which has caused him to lose playing time in the past. Across 695 career plate appearances against lefties, Lowe owns a .695 OPS with a 32.4% strikeout rate. Now in Pittsburgh, Lowe may be given more of an opportunity to play against lefties, which could help his counting stats, but may cause his overall batting average to suffer. Still, with an average draft position of pick 172, Lowe could outperform his draft-day cost in a true everyday role with the Pirates.

After an injury-marred 2024 campaign, Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl bounced back and re-established himself as his team's everyday leadoff hitter in 2025. Across 685 plate appearances, the 30-year-old hit .261/.364/.378 with 14 home runs, 53 RBI, 82 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases. Friedl increased his walk rate to a career-best 11.8%, which helped him stay in the leadoff spot and allowed him to set his career-high in runs scored. However, Friedl's speed fell off considerably from his banner year in 2023, when he recorded 27 stolen bases in just 138 games. Friedl's underlying batted ball metrics also indicate that his power ceiling is minimal. He posted a single-season-worst 2.7% barrel rate in 2025, and his 3.3% career mark is not much better. As long as Friedl remains in the leadoff spot in Cincinnati, he offers a safe fantasy floor as a compiler. However, his lack of power means he will need to have a resurgent season in the speed department to provide much surplus value from his current average draft position of pick 257.

Across 560 plate appearances in 2025, Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott hit .257/.328/.391 with 13 home runs, 66 RBI, 66 runs scored, and 24 stolen bases. Stott looked like a potential future star in 2023, when he hit .280 with 15 home runs and 31 stolen bases. However, the 28-year-old has settled in a level a notch below what he showed in that banner year, as he's hit .251 and averaged 12 home runs over the last two seasons. With a 9.6% walk rate and 16.3% strikeout rate in 2025, Stott has quality plate skills that provide him with a high floor. However, he owns just a 4.4% career barrel rate and made hard contact just 29.5% of the time in 2025, so his power upside is limited. Perhaps most worryingly for his fantasy profile, the lefty-swinging Stott owns a .666 OPS in 529 career plate appearances against left-handed pitching and has lost some playing time against same-handed starters over the past two years. The Phillies have a quality right-handed infielder in Edmundo Sosa on their bench, which could mean Stott functions as a platoon bat once again in 2026. The lost playing time hurts Stott's ability to compile counting stats, which is his main appeal to fantasy managers. His speed gives him a safe floor, but Stott's fantasy upside has a firm ceiling.