The fantasy baseball season is rapidly drawing to a close, and if you’ve been a consistent reader in this space, you know we are focusing on players who are actually close to returning to play. At some point, we just have to be realistic.

For that reason, you won’t see a player like Jazz Chisholm Jr. inside the top-10 players to stash right now. He hasn’t even returned to baseball activity yet, and for teams such as his that are out of contention, there’s often no viable reason to rush a player back.

As always, I’ll get into the top 10 right now and then into the weeds at each position.

Top-10 Players to Stash Right Now

1. Giancarlo Stanton (OF – NYY)
2. Bryce Harper (OF – PHI)
3. Trevor Story (2B, SS – BOS)
4. Clayton Kershaw (SP – LAD)
5. Jack Flaherty (SP – STL)
6. Ozzie Albies (2B – ATL)
7. Wander Franco (3B, SS – TB)
8. Luis Severino (SP – NYY)
9. Byron Buxton (OF – MIN)
10. Harrison Bader (OF – STL)

Giancarlo Stanton could be activated soon, so stay tuned for that. Bryce Harper is already swatting homers in rehab games. So while it feels like he’s been gone forever, it may not take him much longer to get into game shape. Your guess is as good as mine on Byron Buxton, who hit the 10-day IL yesterday. Hopefully, this is just the Twins giving him some extended rest. I know those nagging “DTD” designations and random missed games are unfortunate, especially in weekly leagues.

Catcher

1. Yasmani Grandal (C, 1B – CWS)
2. Ryan Jeffers (C – MIN)

That’s it. That’s the list. Yasmani Grandal is expected back after roughly two weeks, so he could offer some late-season production. Ryan Jeffers isn’t worth stashing, not as a part-timer hoping to return in late September.

First Base

1. Garrett Cooper (1B, OF – MIA)
2. Jace Peterson (1B, 2B, 3B, OF – MIL)
3. Eric Hosmer (1B – BOS)
4. Kris Bryant (1B, 3B, OF – COL)
5. Jonathan Schoop (1B, 2B – DET)
6. Eduardo Escobar (1B, 2B, 3B – NYM)
7. Aledmys Diaz (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF – HOU)

Garrett Cooper reads like the best of the bunch here, though he’s had multiple injury stints this year, so he’s tough to trust. Jace Peterson packs some per-game punch and is nearing a big-league return, with this Friday as a possibility for activation. He’s a sneaky add in deep formats, given that he’s been one of the better offensive contributors for the Milwaukee Brewers this season.

Second Base

1. Trevor Story (2B, SS – BOS)
2. Ozzie Albies (2B – ATL)
3. Luis Garcia (2B, SS – WAS)
4. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2B, SS – MIA)
5. Jace Peterson (1B, 2B, 3B, OF – MIL)
6. Eduardo Escobar (1B, 2B, 3B – NYM)
7. Aledmys Diaz (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF – HOU)
8. Luis Guillorme (2B, 3B, SS – NYM)

At this point in the year, you could slot Peterson ahead of Chisholm Jr., and I wouldn’t argue. Miami has no reason to rush Jazz back, and he hasn’t yet resumed baseball activities.

Shortstop

1. Trevor Story (2B, SS – BOS)
2. Wander Franco (3B, SS – TB)
3. Luis Garcia (2B, SS – WAS)
4. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2B, SS – MIA)
5. Aledmys Diaz (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF – HOU)
6. Luis Guillorme (2B, 3B, SS – NYM)
7. Tim Anderson (SS – CWS)

Trevor Story began his rehab this week, although he may need a little longer to ramp things up than we’d like, given the lengthy layoff. Franco had a setback due to experiencing soreness in his surgically-repaired right hand, but he expects to resume rehab games this week, so the issue doesn’t sound severe.

Third Base

1. Wander Franco (3B, SS – TB)
2. Jace Peterson (1B, 2B, 3B, OF – MIL)
3. Kris Bryant (1B, 3B, OF – COL)
4. Eduardo Escobar (1B, 2B, 3B – NYM)
5. Aledmys Diaz (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF – HOU)
6. Luis Guillorme (2B, 3B, SS – NYM)

It’s stashing Wander Franco or Peterson here. Kris Bryant just hasn’t made progress, and the others are role players.

Outfield

1. Giancarlo Stanton (OF – NYY)
2. Bryce Harper (OF – PHI)
3. Byron Buxton (OF – MIN)
4. Harrison Bader (OF – NYY)
5. Garrett Cooper (1B, OF – MIA)
6. Avisail Garcia (OF – MIA)
7. Jorge Soler (OF – MIA)
8. Ramon Laureano (OF – OAK)
9. Jace Peterson (1B, 2B, 3B, OF – MIL)
10. Brandon Marsh (OF – PHI)
11. Yonathan Daz (OF – COL)
12. Yadiel Hernandez (OF – WAS)
13. Kris Bryant (1B, 3B, OF – COL)
14. Aledmys Diaz (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF – HOU)
15. Austin Meadows (OF – DET)

The timeline for Harrison Bader is early September, and it’s clear the Yankees need any sort of spark plug possible. I’m holding out hope in a few places that he’ll return to terrorizing the basepaths for my fantasy teams.

Pitcher

1. Clayton Kershaw (SP – LAD)
2. Jack Flaherty (SP – STL)
3. Luis Severino (SP – NYY)
4. Tyler Mahle (SP – MIN)
5. Nathan Eovaldi (SP – BOS)
6. Michael Kopech (SP – CWS)
7. Keegan Thompson (SP – CHC)
8. Aaron Ashby (SP – MIL)
9. Hunter Greene (SP – CIN)
10. Tyler Wells (SP – BAL)
11. Mike Soroka (SP – ATL)
12. Bailey Ober (SP – MIN)
13. Trevor Rogers (SP – MIA)
14. Carlos Carrasco (SP – NYM)
15. Clay Holmes (RP – NYY)
16. Scott Effross (RP – NYY)
17. Tyler Glasnow (SP – TB)
18. Tylor Megill (SP – NYM)
19. David Bednar (RP – PIT)
20. Joe Barlow (RP – TEX)
21. Seranthony Dominguez (RP – PHI)
22. MacKenzie Gore (SP – WAS)
23. Graham Ashcraft (SP – CIN)

Jack Flaherty should make one final rehab start this week and then look for an activation sometime next week. Luis Severino is already throwing live batting practice and is scheduled to be activated on Sept. 12. If you are looking for quality over quantity, I think you can trust his return-to-play timeline given how patient the Yankees have been with his rehab.

Trevor Rogers struggled in his most recent rehab start, so he’s a tough one to hold onto now, especially in shallow formats. I give the slight edge to Mike Soroka, who seems one or two rehab starts away from joining the Atlanta Braves for another deep playoff run.

Tyler Glasnow should probably be listed as SP/RP due to potentially returning in a multi-inning relief role for the Tampa Bay Rays. He is already throwing live batting practice and is more than a year removed from Tommy John surgery. Tylor Megill is in the same situation for the Mets, except he isn’t throwing live BP just yet.

What say you, gamers? Who did I miss? Who are you stashing for the fantasy baseball playoffs?

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