Pressing fantasy baseball questions: Is Mike Trout back? Which prospects are coming soon?

Garrett Crochet was lit up for 10 earned runs over 1.2 innings during Monday’s start, and fantasy managers are questioning whether something is wrong with their ace. It’s a small sample, but he struggled during spring (8.1 K-BB%) as well. Crochet insists he’s physically healthy, but his velocity was down Monday, and he’s experienced major increases in innings pitched each of the past two seasons. It’s possible it’s just a dead-arm phase — coincidentally, Crochet suffered a similar drop in velocity against the Twins early last year — but his underlying stats combined with an arm angle change are causes for concern. Crochet will surely bounce back, but it will be difficult for him to live up to his first-round ADP. Undoubtedly, fantasy managers will be paying close attention to Crochet’s next start. Garrett Crochet through 4 starts in 2026. Cutter is his most-used pitch (32%) for the first time in his career. Four-seamer down to 26%, a career low. Fastball velo: 97.1 (2024) → 96.4 (2025) → 95.9 (2026) Sweeper whiff rate: 40.5% → 23.8%. SwStr%: 16% → 14% → 11%… — Brendan Tuma (@toomuchtuma) April 14, 2026Here are more questions three weeks into the season.Has Oneil Cruz figured out lefties?Defensively, Cruz has been an unmitigated disaster in the outfield, but he’s also been fantasy baseball’s MVP to open the year. Cruz dedicated his offseason to improving against left-handed pitching, and early returns have been overwhelmingly positive. He hit .102 (18 wRC+) with a 35.2% K rate when facing southpaws last season, but he entered Tuesday batting .471 (311 wRC+) with a 21.1% K rate versus LHP to open 2026. It’s been an incredibly tiny sample, but Cruz has already clobbered three times as many homers against lefties over just 19 plate appearances than he had against them all last season.Advertisement