With the 2026 MLB season approaching, you’re likely preparing for your fantasy baseball drafts. Yahoo analysts Scott Pianowski, Fred Zinkie and Corbin Young go around the table, sharing the batter and pitcher they’re most excited to draft this season.

Batters were most excited to draft

Plenty of value in Milwaukee

I’m glad I already have some Juan Soto shares, a fun and automatic pick if he’s there at fourth overall. He’s in the prime of his career, now stealing bases and insulated by a deep New York lineup. Maybe the timing is right for an MVP run. 

For some of my value picks, I’ll gravitate to Milwaukee, the best value-driven franchise in baseball. Brice Turang is one of those underrated players who does everything well. Andrew Vaughn has post-hype sleeper written all over him. And the quality of the Milwaukee defense will also push several of their pitchers to ADP-winning seasons as well. — Scott Pianowski

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Breakout coming for Twins infielder?

I’m predicting a Keaschall breakout and am trying to draft him on all of my teams. He showed last year that he has plenty of plate patience (9.2% walk rate) and can limit whiffs (14.0% strikeout rate). The infielder has a terrific batting eye, as his 20% chase rate is an excellent mark. He makes up for a mediocre quality of contact by keeping his batted ball on a low trajectory (45.8% ground ball rate, 20.3% line drive rate) and utilizing his 85th percentile average sprint speed.

From a premium spot in the Twins lineup, Keaschall will hit .285 with 90 runs, 35 steals and a double-digit homer total. The icing on the cake is that Keaschall is eligible at second base, which is one of the weakest fantasy positions this season. I see him as a clone of Cubs’ Nico Hoerner, with the added bonus of being available 2-3 rounds later in drafts. Some managers may be scared off by the amount of time Keaschall missed in 2025, but his fractured forearm was a fluke injury and not a reflection on the 23-year-old’s durability. Managers in category leagues can prioritize power hitters and balanced contributors in the early rounds before grabbing Keaschall as their primary speedster in Round 10. — Fred Zinkie

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Bounce-back in Queens

If I’m feeling risky, it’s Luis Robert Jr. Robert joins the Mets after being on one of the worst franchises in baseball. On a per-plate appearance basis, Robert would average 18 home runs and 36 stolen bases over the past two seasons if we projected him for 550 plate appearances. Injuries have been a concern, but there’s a chance that Robert puts in extra work to remain healthy with an improved team context.

Besides 2023, Robert hasn’t hit 20 home runs, though the power skills exit with a career 10.1% barrel rate and 75.6 mph bat speed, both above the league norm. Furthermore, the Mets’ home park ranked 7th in Home Run Park Factors compared to 18th for the White Sox. That should boost Robert’s home run chances in a more hitter-friendly venue for right-handed hitters. 

Making contact can be an issue for Robert, but he crushes the ball when he hits it. What’s somewhat impressive involves Robert showing improved plate discipline by chasing less often over the past two seasons. He went from a 38.6% chase rate in 2023 to 35.6% in 2024 and 32.1% in 2025. That coincided with Robert’s zone swing rates dipping to 71.7% in 2024 and 74.3% in 2025, four percentage points below the league average. Robert looks like he made an actionable approach to improve plate discipline, which can be challenging, while continuing to hit the ball hard. 

If I’m looking for a discount on a solid player, it’s Bryan Reynolds, who averaged 24 home runs and five or more stolen bases for four straight seasons. He had his worst season from a production standpoint since his rookie year in 2019 when we toss out the 2020 season. From a skills standpoint, most of Reynolds’s advanced metrics look similar. Reynolds had a 73.5% contact rate, 10.1% barrel rate and 72.2 mph bat speed, all within 1-2 percentage points of his career norms. 

He expressed frustration with the outcomes in 2025 after feeling like he was hitting the ball well, which the underlying metrics indicate. Buy the dip on Reynolds because there’s a good chance he makes a mechanical adjustment and the skills point to a similar player moving forward. — Corbin Young

Pitchers were most excited to draft

A Tale of Two Logans

I hope a handful of my pitching staffs are helmed by either of the two Logans — Gilbert and Webb. Both righties are in big parks and tied to good defenses and competitive teams. I also like how both have proven the ability to succeed without maxing out on velocity, which could give them an assist in staying healthy (I acknowledge that Webb did have a Tommy John surgery, but it was 10 years ago). I’ll have both names on speed dial as I navigate the third and fourth rounds. — Scott Pianowski

Don’t Mis out on this potential

I’ll take all of the Jacob Misiorowski shares. Remember the 2025 MLB All-Star Game and the controversy surrounding the decision to name Misiorowski as the NL starter? If you told me at that time that he would be available past pick 100 in 2026 drafts, I would have thought you were crazy. Misiorowski struggled at times in the second half (5.36 ERA) but still recorded a ridiculous 12.1 K/9 rate and solid 3.93 FIP over that stretch. And when many fantasy managers had turned their attention to football, he was one of the stars of October. In the NLDS, the flamethrower earned two wins while allowing one run over seven innings. He followed up that performance by striking out nine Dodgers over five innings in his lone NLCS appearance.

Among starting pitchers, only Hunter Greene logged a higher average fastball velocity than Misiorowski, who has 200-strikeout potential in his first full season. Managers who are passing on Misiorowski in favor of boring veterans such as Kevin Gausman or Sonny Gray are making a big mistake. He’s one of the most talented youngsters to enter the Majors in recent years and benefits from being part of an organization that consistently maximizes the effectiveness of their starters. After all, if Milwaukee pitching coach Chris Hook and turn Chad Patrick and Quinn Priester into effective starters, he can make Misiorowski a superstar. — Fred Zinkie

Don’t sleep on Cease

This is the year that I’m planning to wait on starting pitchers to attack those breakout picks in the middle and sleepers late in the draft. Trust the skills of Dylan Cease, though we have WHIP concerns. Cease was unlucky from a BABIP perspective, yet maintained a strong 20% K-BB% and 15.6% swinging-strike rate. A reminder from an advanced stats piece that K-BB% strongly correlates with Skill Interactive ERA or SIERA. Cease had a 3.58 SIERA in 2025, similar to 2024 (3.46). 

He has a dominant slider that generates a swinging-strike rate above 20% (21.3%), which he relies on heavily to right-handed hitters (45.3%), leading to positive outcomes (.273 wOBA, .233 xwOBA). The challenge comes against left-handed hitters, with the slider and curveball performing well when he finds success. Cease toyed with a changeup, but look for him to throw more sinkers or make a small tweak to the arsenal against left-handed hitters. He provides volume and strikeout upside at the price. — Corbin Young

OKLAHOMA CITY — Around 90 minutes before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s record of consecutive 20-plus-point games, the Thunder guard is out on the floor with a few staffers working over defensive coverages. 

There’s a certain elegance to how effortlessly the reigning regular season and Finals MVP glides around during his pregame warmup, but also an element of humor watching a low-level assistant attempt to masquerade as an NBA-level defender. Like clockwork, Gilgeous-Alexander moves from zone to zone, disseminating the defense being shown and manipulating it to his benefit in record efficiency.

It’s almost cruelty deploying a 9-to-5 working adult against one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, but the same could be said of the plethora of Gilgeous-Alexander’s peers that have tried — and ultimately failed — slowing him down. 

“Over the years I’ve just built my game and seen defenses,” Gilgeous-Alexander said following his 35-point, 9-assist and 6-rebound performance in Thursday’s 104-102 win over the Boston Celtics — his 127th straight game scoring at least 20. “And I just attack the defenses with the tools that I have. It feels like each year I get better and better at doing so. And I think that’s the reason; I just see coverages, learn from them, try to get better and apply them when I can.”

(As much as the focus will be on SGA’s historic night, Thursday night was a thrilling contest featuring Jaylen Brown, who finished with 34 points at the other end. This wasn’t an ethically pleasing display of hoops — there were 62 missed 3s and 36 fouls across both teams — but watching both Brown and Gilgeous-Alexander exchange buckets down the stretch, combined with the tactical battles, provided an epic night of playoff-ish basketball.)

The beauty of Gilgeous-Alexander’s night was multi-layered, displaying the beauty of both the individual and the collective. The 27-year-old, much like any other night, didn’t seem solely interested in chasing greatness or forcing the issue, with the understanding that his approach to the game, and the growth of his teammates combined with Boston’s defensive game plan, would yield positive results. The Celtics opted for a few different looks in attempts to thwart Gilgeous-Alexander; physical man-to-man, a shifting zone and occasional pressure. But SGA allowed the game to come to him, using his gravity at the right times to create high-leverage opportunities for those in his orbit. Gilgeous-Alexander not only led all players in scoring but finished with a game-high nine assists as well, a testament to his processing speed and the sheer joy he finds in uplifting his teammates. There was a warm spirit present in the Thunder locker room following the final buzzer, with players like Jaylin Williams and Jared McCain in awe of their brother etching his name in the books. 

“What an impressive record,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I’ve reflected on it; you get lost in the season and take for granted what you’re watching every night. But surgical to his craft. No one is more precise with their craft than he is. No. 2, the whole life of the streak has not prevented us from having success either. He’s the kind of person you couldn’t be happier for when they accomplish something like this. Huge congratulations to him.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS

And it’s not so much about the record itself than what it represents. Oklahoma City has won 103 out of the 127 games that Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 20 points, an 81 percent win percentage. Within those games tell the story of an artist still perfecting his craft while producing at a dominant rate. He’s scoring the most points per minute and points per shot attempt of his career at the highest field goal percentage — all while turning the ball over at the lowest frequency since entering the league in 2018, a rate that has essentially decreased as his experience has grown. He’s a top three player by virtually every advanced metric you want to pull from a hat: DARKO, LEBRON, Estimated Plus-Minus. And the Thunder, who are blasting opponents away by a league-leading 11.2 points per 100 possessions, are an incredible +15.2 points per 100 possessions with SGA on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass — the 98th percentile in impact. Essentially, Gilgeous-Alexander is having an even better season than when he won league MVP, which is … um, yea. 

And there are still ways he can be even better! Gilgeous-Alexander paused for a moment at the podium, admitting he still wants to reach the vaunted “50-40-90 club”, the elite collection of players that shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3 and 90 from the free-throw line. (For the record, he’s currently 1.7 percent away from the 3 threshold, and 0.5 percent from the free-throw percentage.) Gilgeous-Alexander also mentioned the desire to become smarter at reading and dissecting opposing defenses, particularly in the area of creating for his teammates. His February was cut short (averaged 10.3 assists in two games against Denver and one against Orlando) but this month, he’s up to 8.3 assists to just 2.5 turnovers per game. The majority of his passing metrics — assist points, potential assist points per 100 and bad pass turnovers — are in the upper echelon of playmakers. 

There’s also the very real and very terrifying fact that the Thunder have played a sizable chunk of their season without the services of Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein. According to PBPStats, that Finals-winning lineup has played just 41 minutes together over five games. (SGA-Lu Dort-JDub-Chet-Hartenstein is a plus-10, per Second Spectrum.) Five games! Yes, the lack of bodies has opened up opportunities; Jaylin Williams’ floor spacing, Aaron Wiggins’ downhill drives, Ajay Mitchell’s two-way force and the recently acquired Jared McCain’s secondary shot-making. But this is a group that technically is yet to jell, all while having the best record in the NBA at 52-15. 

“We’ve been dealing with this all year,” Daigneault said. “We’ve had a very fluid roster. It’s been imperfect. In an 82-game season, there’s nothing smooth about that for anybody. It’s challenging for different reasons and different times for teams. But this team does a great job of playing the hand we’re dealt, seeing the opportunity in every situation and making the most out of the opportunities we get. And these guys have stepped up and performed when their numbers have been called.”

The Thunder’s final 15 games of the season aren’t an open-and-shut case; per Tankathon, they have the ninth-hardest finish to the year. But the combination of an in-rhythm Gilgeous-Alexander, a tenacious defense, elite coaching and vast development across the board has Oklahoma City primed for another race to June — and everything starts and ends with the superstar that draws his strength from everyone else. 

“When the MVP of the league is the guy that’s being unselfish, it just sets a standard for the rest of the team to be the same way,” Williams told Yahoo Sports. “From Day 1 of me being here, he’s the same guy now that he is then and he’s won so much since. When you have someone that sets the tone it makes it easier for everybody else.”

Luka Dončić accomplished something special with the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.

The star guard posted his first 50-point game with the franchise more than a year after the trade that landed him in Los Angeles, with 51 points on 17-of-31 shooting plus 10 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals against the Chicago Bulls. And 8-of-9 on free throws, because that matters now.

Overall, it’s Dončić’s eighth career 50-point game and first since the 2023-24 season, when he scored 73. Before Thursday, his scoring high with the Lakers was 49 points on Oct. 24.

The Lakers defeated the Bulls, 142-130, giving them sole possession of the No. 3 spot in the West. Austin Reaves also had 30 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds, while LeBron James had 18 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick’s analysis on Dončić:

“He’s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now. It’s probably not being talked about enough, but I’m gonna talk about it.”

Dončić also told reporters that it was Bulls guard Matas Buzelis who sparked him into action after some heated words:

“In the second quarter, I could feel it. Somebody started talking to me, so it woke me up … Matas, I was surprised … I didn’t say nothing to him. Wasn’t very nice.”

Of course, some Lakers fans might have preferred Dončić scoring 33 more points, anything to overtake Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point night on Tuesday. The Lakers’ announcers certainly seemed affronted by how Adebayo overtook franchise legend Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game.

You can read more about that here.

There was already a lot on the line when the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder took the court Thursday night. It was a possible look at an eventual Finals matchup, but there was even more at stake for Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander rose to the moment, setting an NBA record by scoring at least 20 points in his 127th consecutive game. With the performance, Gilgeous-Alexander surpassed NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain, whose record of 126 games was tied by Gilgeous-Alexander on Monday.

The reigning NBA MVP made history with his first basket of the third quarter, hitting a 20-foot jump shot after knocking down two free throws on Oklahoma City’s previous possession. He had 17 points at halftime.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points in the Thunder’s 104-102 win over the Celtics, adding 9 assists and 6 rebounds. It’s the 38th time this season he’s scored 30 points or more. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, as Oklahoma City rallied from an 83-80 deficit.

The Thunder improved to 52-15 for the season, the best record in the NBA. With the loss, Boston fell to 43-23, 4.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons for the top mark in the East.

For Gilgeous-Alexander, the streak extends all the way back to early in the 2024-25 NBA season. After dropping 18 points in a win over the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 30, 2024, Gilgeous-Alexander went for 30 points two nights later. That turned out to be the beginning of his record-breaking streak.

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Since then, the Thunder star has scored at least 20 points in every single game in which he’s played, often easily surpassing that mark.

With the record now out of the way, here are a few fun facts about Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak:

• During his streak, there have been just two times Gilgeous-Alexander finished with exactly 20 points. The most recent came in February, in the game where he sustained an abdominal injury that would cause him to miss the next nine contests. The other game where he finished with exactly 20 points came back in January, when the Thunder beat the Houston Rockets 111-91.

• Gilgeous-Alexander has scored between 30-39 points 62 times during the streak, 40-49 points 13 times and has exceeded 50 points five times.

• Four of those 50-point games came in a span of just 19 games last season. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 54 points against the Utah Jazz on Jan. 22, 2025, and then exceeded 50 points three more times between then and March 3, 2025.

• His highest point total during the streak is 55, which he scored during a double-overtime win over the Indiana Pacers in October.

During his eight-year NBA career, Gilgeous-Alexander has more than lived up to the hype after being selected with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. After finishing sixth in the Rookie of the Year voting, Gilgeous-Alexander continued to develop his game, eventually reaching perennial MVP contender status.

Over the previous three seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander has made the All-Star team and been named a first-team All-Pro in each of those seasons. He has three top-five MVP award finishes over that period as well, winning the award for the first time last year.

He once again finds himself in the running for the MVP award during the 2025-26 NBA season, thanks to another transcendent performance.

With Gilgeous-Alexander once again performing like the best player in the NBA, the Thunder find themselves sitting at the top of the Western Conference. The team seems poised to make yet another deep playoff run after winning a championship last season.

The NBA awards races are heating up. But in addition to the nightly on-court performances of the league’s brightest stars, fans (and voters) will have to keep an eye on whether or not the stars are actually, um, on the court.

Due to the NBA’s 65-game rule in which players must appear in 65 games over the course of the 82-game season in order to qualify for year-end awards, a number of injured stars — including Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry — are already ineligible for regular-season honors. In addition, several other notable awards candidates are at risk of losing their eligibility with five weeks left in the season. Let’s take a look.

Players at risk of not qualifying for NBA awards

Under the league’s 65-game rule, players who miss 18 games will no longer be eligible for season-ending awards.

Nikola Jokić, Nuggets: 16 games missed

• Missed a month with a left knee injury

• Remaining schedule

Deni Avdija, Trail Blazers:16 missed games

• Recently returned from a back injury

• Remaining schedule

Devin Booker, Suns: 16 missed games

• Has missed time with a right hip strain and an ankle sprain

• Remaining schedule

Evan Mobley, Cavaliers: 15 games missed

• Missed time due to two calf strain injuries

• Remaining schedule

Victor Wembanyama, Spurs:15 missed games

• Missed time earlier in the season with calf and knee injuries

• Remaining schedule

Kawhi Leonard, Clippers: 14 missed games

• Managing ankle soreness; also missed time with foot/ankle injuries

• Remaining schedule

Luka Dončić, Lakers:12 missed games

• Missed four games with a left hamstring injury before All-Star break

• Remaining schedule

Cooper Flagg, Mavericks:12 missed games

• Recently returned from a left foot sprain

• Remaining schedule

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder: 11 missed games

• Recently missed nine games with an abdominal strain

• Remaining schedule

Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves:10 missed games

• Missed time with hamstring and foot injuries earlier this season

• Remaining schedule

Players ineligible for NBA awards

These star players will not reach the league’s 65-game threshold for year-end awards this season.

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks

• Jimmy Butler, Warriors

• Stephen Curry, Warriors

• Anthony Davis, Mavericks/Wizards

• Joel Embiid, 76ers

• Josh Giddey, Bulls

• LeBron James, Lakers

• Lauri Markkanen, Jazz

• Ja Morant, Grizzlies

• Austin Reaves, Lakers

• Domantas Sabonis, Kings

• Franz Wagner, Magic

• Jalen Williams, Thunder

• Trae Young, Hawks/Wizards

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews left Thursday night against Anaheim after a knee-on-knee hit from Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas.

Trying to make a move around Gudas in the slot in the second period, Matthew stook a direct blow to his left leg and crashed to the ice. The U.S. Olympic captain stayed down before being helped to the locker room.

Gudas, the bruising Czech defender whose hit ended Canadian captain Sidney Crosby’s Olympics in the quarterfinals, was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct.

Matthews snapped a 12-game goal drought earlier in the period on a power play. The center has 27 goals and 26 assists in 60 games this season.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl