Guardians: Bo Naylor
Bo Naylor had a down year offensively in 2025 as the Guardians’ starting catcher, with David Fry and Austin Hedges failing to complement his offense against lefties. Naylor’s breakout 2023 season has not been replicated since, yet Naylor remains the primary Guardians backstop entering 2026.
Naylor was even worse in 2024, and despite his production remaining below average in 2025, many underlying numbers were encouraging. Naylor posted a career-best pulled flyball rate, hard-hit rate, and barrel rate in 2025.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, also a catcher in his Major League career, believes the “sky’s the limit” for Naylor in 2026, citing an improved swing path and great live BP’s early on following a strong offseason. While Naylor’s plus defense will likely give him a decent floor regardless of his offense, Naylor’s value could skyrocket with an above-average offensive season in 2026.
Royals: Cole Ragans
Regardless of his ERA in a small-sample 2025, Cole Ragans is elite. After missing some time early in 2025 with a groin strain, Ragans strained his rotator cuff in early June, missing 3 months before returning for a couple of starts in August.
As reflected by his 2.45 xFIP vs. 4.67 ERA, Ragans was unlucky when it came to run prevention. His LOB%, BABIP, and HR/FB% (12.3 in 2025, 8.1 in 2024) all indicated Ragans’ ERA would come down in a larger sample.
Ragans ended 2025 healthy and enters 2026 with playoff aspirations. In my eyes, all Ragans needs is to stay healthy for his stuff to dominate and command to allow him to work deep into games. Look for him to do that on a strong Royals team in 2026.
Tigers: Parker Meadows
Parker Meadows broke out in 2024 as a strong centerfield defender with plus batted ball tendencies, hitting 10 percent above league average and showing signs of power in about a half-season’s sample.
Sadly, this trend did not continue into 2025, as Meadows’ pull-side power slowed and slugging output plummeted. While his defense and baserunning remained strong, Meadows failed to hit the ball hard in the air consistently enough to remain effective.
A lot of this may stem from injury, as Meadows missed time early with nerve damage in his right arm and later in the year with a quadriceps strain. These likely both impaired his ability to maximize his power output, and if recovered from, could mean Meadows has more power to show.
Still just 26, Meadows remains the projected starting center fielder and hopes for a bounce-back season with a strong, likely playoff-bound Tigers roster in 2026.
Twins: Bailey Ober
Bailey Ober had a disappointing 2025 season, failing to follow up on a career year in 2024, where he generated a career-best 3.0 fWAR in 178.2 innings. In 2025, Ober’s velocity, stuff, and command all took a step back as hitters crushed most of his offerings.
A lot of this likely derived from a lingering hip issue, which sent him to the IL in early July. Ober reportedly received treatment for this hip issue throughout the offseason, and has noticed a “big difference” this year so far.
Ober’s changeup remained an effective offering in 2025, but his fastball losing a tick and a half of velocity was a problem. He also lost velocity and break on most of his breaking balls, which were crushed throughout the season.
For Ober, look for signs of his stuff returning to its 2024 levels in Spring Training and early regular season starts. On a Twins team with little starting pitching depth, Ober making strides to return to being a plus starter would be huge for Minnesota fans’ sanity.
White Sox: Erick Fedde
Erick Fedde has been a traveling man the last few years. After returning from a stint in the KBO in 2023, Fedde signed with the White Sox and had a great 2024 split between Chicago and St. Louis. In 2025, however, Fedde’s results took a step back while he had stints with St. Louis, Atlanta, and Milwaukee.
Fedde’s strong 2024 was characterized by weak contact, a low walk rate, and quick outs. Unfortunately, just about every one of these traits took a step back in 2025, and Fedde enters 2026 back with the Chicago White Sox, looking to provide a veteran presence to an exciting young roster.
A big part of my optimism for Fedde’s bounce back in 2026 comes from his reuniting with White Sox director of pitching Brian Bannister. Bannister played a key role in helping Fedde adjust to MLB hitting in 2024 and keeping his mechanics in check. Bannister was also one of the biggest reasons Fedde signed with the Sox out of the KBO in the first place.
Fedde’s stuff was similar enough to 2024 in 2025 for me to think he has what it takes to be close to league average again in 2026. Look for Fedde to adjust his arsenal again with the White Sox in 2026 while settling back into a groove with an exciting White Sox team in 2026.
