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  "description": "Kyle Sonntag (X: @sonny_108 / Bluesky: @sonny108) highlights MLB and MiLB players you should add and drop each week",
  "path": "/weekend-dynasty-baseball-pickups-april-5-26/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-05T10:00:45.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.prospectslive.com",
  "tags": [
    "Dynasty Baseball Pickups - Prospects LiveTaylor Corso and Kyle SonntagProspects LiveRaj Mehta",
    "Emerson Hancock",
    "Hancock’s",
    "Subscribe now"
  ],
  "textContent": "Hello and welcome back to the _Dynasty Baseball Pickups_ written series! The offseason was fun, but I am beyond excited for another year of baseball and another year of recommendations to help boost your dynasty teams!\n\nThough we haven’t been writing our articles for the past few months, we have still been making plenty of recommendations on the podcast regarding both major and minor leaguers to buy heading into this season, and with many of them off to hot starts, I sure hope you’ve got as many shares of those players as I have! You also may have noticed, either by listening to the podcast or by reading the mid-week edition of the article, that Taylor has had to take a step back this season, but he will still be with me for every episode of the podcast, and we know that Raj will do an excellent job taking over his mid-week article.\n\nDynasty Baseball Pickups - Prospects LiveTaylor Corso and Kyle SonntagProspects LiveRaj Mehta\n\nWith this being the first weekend edition of the year, there isn’t much to go on from a sample-size standpoint, which means some of the key reasons to be excited will be based on rumblings from offseason reports and improvements. The Triple-A season did open last Friday, March 27th, so we have a little bit more of a sample from our highest level of the minors, but Single-A through Double-A just opened up this Thursday, April 2nd, so there isn’t much worth looking at from most of the full-season levels of the minors. That being said, full-season ball is well underway, which means there is still a lot to get excited about.\n\nThis week starts with an arm whose season debut was almost impossible to ignore, a couple of hitters coming stateside for the first time, another bat whose offseason focus was improving their impact potential, and an arm with one of the best fastballs in the minor leagues. It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for, so without further delay, let’s get into the first weekend recommendations of 2026!\n\n**_Note: all stats current through Friday April 3/26 and all minor league Statcast data is sourced from TJ Stats unless otherwise stated._**\n\n* * *\n\n## **Weekend Pickups**\n\n\n### Emerson Hancock**- 26/SP/SEA/MLB**\n\n**Height/weight:** 6’4”/213\n\n**Throws:** R\n\n**Fantrax roster%:** 80%\n\n**PLive Dynasty Ranking (April 2026):** 681\n\n**2025 stats (AAA):** 44.2 IP, 5.24 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 27.7% K%/7.4% BB%\n\n**2025 stats (MLB):** 90 IP, 4.90 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 16.6% K%/8.1% BB%\n\n**2026 stats (MLB):** 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.17 WHIP, 47.4% K%/5.3% BB%\n\n**_Why To Pick Up_**\n\nIf you watched Hancock’s season debut against the Guardians, then you likely know exactly why he’s getting the nod here - over six shutout innings, he limited Cleveland hitters to just one baserunner, a walk, while striking out nine. It was a level of dominance we’ve never seen from Hancock at the big league level, and it raises the question: has anything really changed for the former sixth overall draft pick? According to the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast, the answer to that question might lie in a devastating new breaking ball. The crew mentioned that in the spring of 2025, he was working on a new sweeper to add to his mix, but didn’t feel comfortable with it in game action and more or less shelved the pitch, throwing it just 3% of the time over his 90 big league innings. It was ready for game action on March 29th, though, and made a number of Guardians hitters look foolish while generating an astonishing 42.9% whiff%. As impressive as that pitch was, it’s not the only difference between his 2025 arsenal and what he showed in his first start of 2026 - he also showed off a 4-seam fastball that better separated itself from his sinker than it had previously, thanks to a near three-inch increase in iVB from 11.4 to 14.2 inches. This all led to the best start in Hancock’s young major league career, and as you can see in the TJStats graphic below, produced some solid stuff numbers.\n\n**_Why To Think Twice_**\n\nWhile there were plenty of encouraging signs pointing towards this being a new and improved Emerson Hancock, it was still just one start. No matter how excellent it was, we still need to see significantly more out of him to fully buy in. He should have a few weeks to prove his worth, but regardless of how well he performs, he might find himself as the odd man out when Bryce Miller returns from his oblique strain. In an organization as flush with pitching talent as Seattle, he may have a hard time finding a consistent role in the rotation unless he gets traded.\n\n**_Final Thoughts_**\n\nAlthough Hancock’s spring ERA was 5.40, his FIP was a much stronger 2.12, and he did strike out 21 batters while walking just one over 15 innings of work, lending more credence to the thought of an improved arm. The uncertainty around his rotation job makes this a bit of a tougher decision, but at the very least, he could be a solid option for the first month of the season while Seattle waits for Miller to come back. If he can somehow hold on to his spot in the rotation, he will hold longer-term fantasy value, but if not, you’ll be able to safely drop him when he gets pushed to the bullpen (or stash him if he instead gets sent to the minors). At 80% rostered, he won’t be available in a number of leagues, but as someone who has been able to pick up a few shares, I highly recommend checking your free agent pool before completely counting this recommendation out.\n\nHe also has another start on Saturday night after this article is submitted, so that could change how he is viewed, but unless it is a complete disaster, he showed enough in his first start of the year to consider him an add or even a buy in trade conversation.\n\n**_UPDATE: 4/4/26 Hancock 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 HR allowed_**\n\n**Where to pick up:** Leagues with 300+ players rostered\n\n**FAAB bid:** Moderate (5-10%)\n\n## Sign up for Prospects Live\n\nYour one stop shop for Dynasty Fantasy Baseball, MLB Draft, Baseball Card & MiLB Baseball content. Blending Data & Scouting into our Player Evaluation\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "Weekend Dynasty Baseball Pickups - April 5/26",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-14T01:19:58.560Z"
}