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Dynasty Time Machine: The Surprise League Winners for 2026

The surprise prospect pitchers to help win your league in 2026.

John Villavicencio
Dynasty 11/10/2025

What attributes does a winning dynasty team possess? Foresight. Guile. Preparation. Luck. I would surmise that many dynasty managers also have a driving force that propels them to spend an exorbitant amount of time building and shaping their rosters. For myself, I enjoy uncovering and watching hidden gems blossom into stars. I also enjoy taking home a small bag of tokens for producing a winning team.

This past season, I had one dynasty team finish at the top of a five-year, thirty-team league. The roster was mainly filled with secondary fantasy contributors who had the main skill of consistent playing time. Bryce Harper, Gleyber Torres, Pablo López, Bailey Ober, Merrill Kelly, Ryan Mountcastle, Tommy Edman, Jarren Duran, and Willi Castro were the five-year nucleus of a team that put up enough points to take home the crown. These players may not appear like league winners, but all your dynasty team needs is consistent contributions to be in a position to win.

With that spirit in mind of consistent contributions, we present 14 players from their respective organizations to break out as surprise league winners for the 2026 baseball season.

 

Dynasty Time Machine: The Surprise League Winners for 2026 

 

The Usual Suspects

A few league winners that are not much of a surprise.

Robby Snelling, Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins are about to roll out an exciting starting rotation, a year after finishing in third place in the East Division and four games back from second place. Could they get closer? The rotation is currently comprised of Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez at full strength, with a surging Edward Cabrera and an untested Ryan Weathers. Building upon that depth will be one of the younger arms in Max Meyer, Robby Snelling, or Thomas White. Meyer was out all season after hip surgery in July, but is expected to be back in time for the start of the 2026 season. He threw a 14-strikeout game in April and was revving up to 95 mph on the four-seamer, but also allowed twelve home runs over twelve games. He has an exciting profile with a few above-average pitches, but we are going to highlight the prospects.

Thomas White has the riskier profile with a predilection to help batters reach their step count goals with all of the free passes. He finished 2025 with five consecutive games of four or more walks. Over that stretch, he had a sweet-looking 37% strikeout rate and 15% swinging strike rate, yet a much less attractive 23.5% walk rate. He is achieving dominant 50% strikeout rates with the 96 mph fastball and the sweeper slipping 15 inches away from hitters. Yet, we will turn to the future workhorse of the Marlins staff for our league winner.

Robby Snelling greatly revamped his image in 2025 by going at least six innings in 14 of his 26 appearances. He gave his team quality effort with his 66% strike rate, 2.68 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 14% swinging strike rate. Not only did he keep his team in the game, but he was also posting a lot of K’s and backward K’s on the outfield fence. He went from a 26% K% in Double-A Pensacola to 33% K% in Triple-A Jacksonville. The walk rate remained level around 7% while the FIP and xFIP hovered below 2.91 at each level.

The 6’3″ left-handed pitcher uses a four-pitch mix, with the fastball and curveball combination being most deadly. Those two pitches each have a well-above-average PLV rating of over 5.12. He uses a power three-quarters delivery that doesn’t get much extension, yet he balances the shapes and directions of his arsenal well. His next step will likely be to incorporate the slider more effectively or get more production out of the seldom-used sinker against lefties.

Snelling is a top-shelf lefty who is throwing strikes, producing a 23% K%-BB%, and displaying the endurance to go deep into the game for a full major league season. For these reasons, he could help you win your league in 2026 as a late-round draft pick or trade target in dynasty leagues.

 

Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies

Oh, duh. The most obvious league winner is Andrew Painter, who gracefully slots into a large gap in the Philadelphia rotation. The Phillies could be without Zach Wheeler for most of the 2026 season, so the runway is there for Painter to take full advantage. The organization is devoid of exciting pitching talent outside of Painter, barring an unlikely ascent from Griff McGarry, Moises Chace, or Gage Wood. Although he didn’t build the strongest case for immediate future success, perhaps 2025 wasn’t as bad as the results say it was.

A sign labelled “July-ish” hung over Painter the entire first half as his promotion was always just around the corner. The organization forecasted a mid-year call-up that never came, and Painter made their decision look smart by seldom pitching to his potential. Over 118 innings, he put up a 5.26 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 24% K%, 9% BB%, 64% strike rate, 13% swinging strike rate, and gave up a whopping 20 home runs. The 4.20 xFIP says he was a smidge unlucky compared to the 4.81 FIP, yet still his pitches were fat and being knocked all around the park. Hitters especially loved his fastball, whiffing only 17% of the time, but banging it around for nine home runs and a .423 wOBA.

His splits were really bad against left-handed hitters, too. The lefties feasted on pitches like his developing changeup to the tune of .287/ .363/ .494, nine homers, a 21% strikeout rate, and an 11% walk rate. The changeup began appearing more frequently as Painter attempted to battle back against bad splits. It didn’t work, BUT, at least he tried, right? Right?!

Yes, I am listing Andrew Painter as a league winner in 2026 in the face of the poor results, bad splits, and low strikeout totals. I will point to his start on September 10th, when the extension was up to 6.5 feet, the fastball velocity was hitting 97 mph, and he had multiple whiffs on all four pitches. In this game, he was efficient, athletic, and putting hitters away with ease. We have to remember that this player is coming off a major surgery in 2024. Given that Painter is the number one in-house candidate for the open rotation spot, he could be in line for 120+ innings in the major leagues.

If he can make some adjustments to his approach against lefties and display the athleticism he showed in mid-September, then we could see the ceiling of Andrew Painter finally come to fruition in 2026.

 

Fast Promoters

A few surprise league winners from organizations that have reputations for quick prospect promotions.

George Klassen, Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels have a reputation for hastily promoting players to the major leagues without much development. Ryan Johnson received zero innings in the minor leagues before serving as a reliever for the first two months of 2025. Christian Moore and Nolan Schanuel are other recent examples, but not many of these players have hit big like Zach Neto. Although many folks have anointed this status on Los Angeles, but honestly, do they really fast-track their prospects quicker than other organizations? More evidence is needed.

The candidates to receive that quick call-up include recent draft picks and a few trade chips. Ryan Johnson and Trey Gregory-Alford are tall starters with drastically different deliveries and arsenals. Johnson is more upright with a 91 mph cutter and average sinker, launching at hitters with his short arm action. TGA is backing up a triple-digit fastball with a vertical curveball from a low three-quarters arm slot. TGA has yet to tame his stuff, while Johnson has shown pockets of sustained success.

Either way, they could both find themselves as relievers and are not as exciting as the next closest pitcher, Walbert Ureña. In September, he made a grand Triple-A debut with ten strikeouts over 5.2 innings using a mix of a 95+ sinker and slider. Yet, he is also throwing a walk rate over 12% which limits his upside. A more familiar name is Caden Dana, who left a bad taste in my mouth after consistently disappointing each outing. Dana has flashed a few times here and there, but the home run rate has remained high for two seasons in a row. That finally brings us to the surprise league winner from the Angels, George Klassen.

The Angels received the 6’2″ starter as part of the Carlos Estévez trade back in July 2024, mainly on the strength of three pitches with a 60-grade. Klassen was always known for the strikeout stuff, generating swinging strike rates over 15% in each of his first two seasons in the minor leagues. He simply needed to rein in the control a bit like he did in July 2025 when he went 21.2 innings with a ratio of 26K:7BB. His next best stretch came over his last five starts when he had a 17% swinging strike rate over 29 innings with a ratio of 40K:12BB. Even in these two best stretches of the season, his strike rate never went over the lowly rate of 63%. So, how does he help you win your league?

Klassen would have to overachieve in his strike rate while mixing in a third pitch to reach his ceiling. The 97 mph four-seamer gets significant horizontal action, so he would need to consistently land it in competitive areas of the zone to tempt the hitters to swing. He would mix in the gyro slider, which earned him 13 whiffs in his Triple-A debut back in September. He is scouted as having a 60-grade cutter, but he didn’t even throw it in his lone Triple-A game.

Therefore, he would need to identify the changeup, curve, or cutter as his preferred third weapon to keep hitters guessing. With an improved arsenal on display in Spring Training, we would hope to see Klassen secure the rotation spot that is currently assigned to Dana and Mitch Farris. Even if Klassen wasn’t on the Opening Day roster, he could see 100+ big league innings with a strong chance of eclipsing a 20% K%-BB%. The main downer would be in the wins category, as Los Angeles is not expected to be battling for a playoff spot.

 

JR Ritchie, Atlanta Braves

While the Angels may not have exactly earned the rep for quick promotions, the Atlanta Braves are boldly executing their strategy for quickly bringing up starting pitchers. There must be something in the water at Gwinnett because the organization doesn’t like to keep its rising stars there for too long.

In order of debut year, here is a list of Atlanta starters and the number of innings spent in Triple-A before their debut:

Spencer Strider (1 IP), AJ Smith-Shawver (12 IP), Hurston Waldrep (6 IP), Grant Holmes (over 200 Triple-A innings, but only threw the last 25.2 IP as a starter), Spencer Schwellenbach (0 IP), Nathan Wiles (14 IP), and Dider Fuentes (4.2 IP). These are intriguing statistics considering the lack of upper minor league experience that the next group of aces in their systems has. Names like Cam Caminiti (0 IP), Lucas Braun (19 IP), and Owen Murphy (0 IP) are potentially all within striking distance if team philosophy repeats itself in 2026. That list also includes JR Ritchie, who has a “veteran” tag next to his name with 59.2 Triple-A innings on his account. As the veteran of the next wave, JR Ritchie is the Braves player who could help you win your league in 2026.

Ritchie has a deep bag of tricks for which he can dispose of the opposing lineup. Against righties, he dips into the curveball, a 93 mph sinker, a 93 mph four-seamer, and uniquely a 82 mph slider that falls off 13 inches to the glove side. Against lefties, he also breaks out an 86 mph changeup and a 90 mph cutter. Ritchie does have a small splits risk against lefties, as seen by the increased slugging percentage and eight additional home runs allowed (10 total HR vs. LHB, 2 HR vs. RHB). This wide variety of pitches has led Ritchie to accrue the following stats across 140 innings over three levels: 2.64 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 64% strike rate, 11% swinging strike rate, 24.8% strikeout rate, and a 9.6% walk rate. The walk rate did tick up during his 59.2 IP in Gwinnett, but he also reached the sixth inning in eight out of 11 starts, which demonstrates the stamina he could contribute to Atlanta in 2026.

Ritchie could help you win your league in 2026 by inducing weak contact and getting enough whiffs to earn a solid number of strikeouts with a deep arsenal that is working to attack both sets of hitters. He is not a whiff monster like Strider, but he could turn into a valuable contributor over 120+ innings.

 

Juggernauts

A few surprise league winners on the two most popular teams in the major leagues.

Jackson Ferris, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers seemingly have an endless list of assets in their organization. Yet, they continue to experience injuries and poor performances that force them to tap into unexpected places. Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, and Tony Gonsolin will all be coming off 2024 arm surgeries next season. Andrew Heaney, Landon Knack, and Bobby Miller each vastly underperformed expectations and will likely not be considered for a place in the rotation at the start of the year. These circumstances create opportunities for rising prospects like Jackson Ferris, Adam Serwinowski, Christian Zazueta, and Zach Root, among others, to compete for a spot. Yet, it is more likely that the left-handed pitchers will have a better chance to break through.

Lefties are a diminishing group as a whole, yet their results have outpaced their right-handed counterparts over the last few years.

2025

 

For that reason, Ferris and Serwinowski appear to be the best chance at breaking through the juggernaut that is the Dodgers. Serwinowski came over in a 2025 trade with the Reds and has only thrown a few innings at Double-A. Yet, he has a funky short arm action that needs to be proven more, so it is Ferris that would be the most likely prospect to rise into a starter role for any duration of time.

Although it is a long shot, let’s give Ferris a mid-season arrival time after solidifying a third pitch in a few starts at Triple-A. The 95 mph fastball mixes in with a slow-breaking curveball and a decent slider. Let’s suppose he tightens up his long arm action and cross-body delivery. The cleaned-up mechanics will bump up the 62% strike rate a few points and shave the walk rate back down closer to 10%. The question then becomes around how he would be deployed and for how many games. He has gone over 120 innings for consecutive seasons, so his stamina is not really in question. With a renewed approach and his knack for strikeouts, we could envision him posting a 25% strikeout rate to help you win your league in 2026.

 

Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, New York Yankees

The Yankees are going to be down two starters to begin the 2026 season, while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón recover from arm surgeries. This vaults Luis Gil, Allan Winans, or an unnamed free agent into the starting five. This group is not inspiring the utmost confidence from fans, so we could see one of their top prospects rise up in a similar fashion as Cam Schlittler to save the day.

Ben Hess, a 6’5″ first-round draft pick, put up solid 33% K% and 11% BB% over 103.1 innings, but needs more experience before being considered. Cade Smith could have been a worthy candidate after a 30% K% and 11% BB% in 2024, but he got a late start to 2025 due to an undisclosed injury. Carlos LaGrange is also a strong contender for his strikeout upside after 120 innings of 33% K% and 12% BB%. Yet, it is the slightly younger Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz who gets the nod for the surprise league winner in 2026.

ERC posted one of the best pitching performances in the minor leagues behind Jonah Tong this season. He went 150 innings with a 2.87 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 63% strike rate, 178 strikeouts, 59 walks, a 14% swinging strike rate, and a 55% groundball rate. His five-pitch arsenal was so effective that he limited the opponent to a .190 average and only three home runs over his 2,370 pitches. PLV gives solid marks of over 5.1 to his sinker, with high ratings above 6 for his cutter and slider. The cutter has a late, sharp break at 90 mph. The slider can act like a sweeper at times, and he tends to use it as a pitch for hitters to chase out of the zone. Those are just the secondaries. His sinker has above-average horizontal movement over 16 inches, and the best part is that he has supreme control over its landing spot. The 6’3″ righty uses a long-arm delivery from a low three-quarters arm angle that helps him smoothly paint all over the shadows of the zone with the two-seamer. ERC has a deep arsenal with a fastball touching 97 mph, a high floor for innings, and is in an organization that is willing to promote its top-performing prospects.

For those reasons, Rodriguez-Cruz has a high probability of a 2026 major league debut. From there, the rest will be up to him. His stint in Triple-A did not go well, since he gave up nine runs over 5.2 innings. Yet, we lean on the 61.1 innings in Double-A, where he put up a 30% K%, 8% BB%, and a 2.64 ERA to illuminate his potential. If he follows the Schlittler pathway, we can expect about 50 innings in Triple-A before earning that first audition, after which anything can happen.

 

Rotational Holes 

A few surprise league winners in organizations that have major gaps in their starting rotation.

Trey Gibson, Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles appeared to be a force to reckon with in the AL East after winning the division in 2023. Woefully, they were swept out of the playoffs in the Division Series and have been clawing their way back to relevancy ever since, as the rest of their division opponents have increased their competitiveness. Although the bats have helped propel them to a perennial playoff contender, their arms have lagged far behind. This upcoming season will not be any different, with Grayson Rodriguez already on the injured list and question marks like Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells, and Cade Povich cemented in the rotation. Therefore, the prospects have a great opportunity to find their way onto the roster at some point in 2026.

The next wave of pitchers in the Baltimore organization is an exciting group that should have their front office ready to go all-in for the 2026 playoffs. The Orioles brought over a pair of strikeout demons in Jauron Watts-Brown from the Blue Jays and Wellington Aracena from the Mets. Both pitchers feature solid ratios, a 30% strikeout rate, and questionable control at times. Moving on to the homegrown talent, we find Luis de Leon, Nestor German, and Michael Forret. De Leon had a strong finish with his snappy delivery and 96+ mph sinker, posting six-straight games with at least eight strikeouts. German has a high arm slot that produces 20 inches of induced vertical break on his fastball and helped him to a 28% K% over 120+ innings. Forret is a 6’3″ righty in Double-A with a hard slider, who had to work his way back from a glute injury this season. With all of the burgeoning talent, the surprise league winner ends up being an undrafted pitcher.

Trey Gibson spent roughly one-third of his season in High-A, one-third in Double-A, and the final third in Triple-A. In order of level, he posted a 40% K%:8% BB%, 32% K%:8% BB%, and 22% K%:8% BB%. Although he didn’t quite maintain the peak 16% swinging strike rate from High-A all year, the control held steady throughout. Nevertheless, Gibson is a powerful righty standing 6’5″ with three of his pitches getting big whiffs out of his six-pitch arsenal. The slider and curveball combination was lethal in Double-A, while the sinker is breaking 14 inches at 95 mph. The standout feature is the seven feet of extension he gets on his pitches. Although he has demonstrated solid control with a 65% strike rate in 2025, he will need to adjust the mix so he can avoid the home run issues that popped up in Triple-A. Gibson will get a fresh start next season, where we will watch for increased control, a possible uptick in velocity, and better strikeout numbers as a result of offseason adjustments.

Trey Gibson will help win your league in 2026 as the bulk innings eater who pops off with an 8+ strikeout game from time to time.

 

Carson Palmquist, Colorado Rockies

The team with the stadium at the highest elevation is in search of a starting five that can consistently hold the opponent to a low enough run total that its offense remains within striking distance. Yet, the numbers do not bode well for any Rockies pitcher any time or any place. At home, the Rockies allowed the most hits, the highest average, the highest slugging percentage, the highest wOBA, along with the most doubles and triples, and home runs. On the road, the team’s pitching staff has not fared much better, leading in many of those same categories with the highest ERA. Yet for all of that badness, they could be working to suppress some of the damage done by balls in the air. The team’s fly ball rate is in the bottom three at home at 35%, while in the top 3 on the road at 42%. Albeit this is likely a fruitless endeavour, there has to be someone in the front office who can crack the code of pitching in Coors Field. Maybe the next team management will take a novel approach and experiment with novel strategies.

Chase Dollander was my initial pick to bust out of the thinking that “Coors is undefeated.” He was flashing a 98+ mph four-seamer and a curveball with a solid whiff rate in Triple-A. Yet, a high spin fastball and curveball are two of the things to scrap from a pitcher’s arsenal, as mentioned in the article linked above. Dollander sprinkled in a few strong starts, with his best Colorado home game being when the curveball stood out against Atlanta on April 30th, generating six whiffs and four strikeouts. His control often wavered over the season as he just was not consistent enough from start to start. If a high velo fastball (albeit a poorly controlled one, ~50% zone rate) and a high spin curveball cannot solve Coors Field, then what pitcher will?

The article highlights that a drop in Magnus force is caused by the drier air at high altitude, provoking pitches with high spin to fall further. To counteract physics, pitches with less spin will have less Magnus force and therefore be a harder, truer fastball rather than being dragged down by its spin. So, who amongst the Rockies staff has something close to this profile?

Although each fell off as a starter consideration,  Germán Márquez does have a low-spin fastball and sinker, but also a knuckle curve that could be less effective at altitude. Kyle Freeland has a higher spin fastball and knuckle curve, and he (37% FB%) does a better job than Marquez (41% FB%) at suppressing fly balls. McCade Brown has great extension, a gyro slider, and can rev back to 95 mph at times. Brown didn’t get much time in the major leagues, but he does inspire some intrigue with a ten-strikeout game on the road. Without much Statcast data for the next wave of prospects, we will rely on the batted ball and plate discipline. Griffin Herring (40% K%, 11% BB%, 46% FB% with A+ COL only), Konner Eaton (29% K%, 9% BB%, 29% FB% A+, Double-A), Sean Sullivan (25% K%, 6% BB%, 37% FB% with A+ COL), Everett Catlett (23% K%, 9% BB%, 34% FB% with A, A+), Carson Palmquist, Brody Brecht (36% K%, 13% BB%, 24% FB% with A).

In the end, if forced to give a league winner from the Rockies, I would half-heartedly suggest Carson Palmquist as the Rockie to observe and assess how well the above strategy of lower spin could work in Coors Field. Palmquist has a sidearm release with over 7.2 feet of extension on his four-pitch arsenal. Those two attributes help boost his low-90s fastball and break on the sweeper. In addition, all three of his secondaries have low spin with the sweeper and cutter around 1950 rpm and the changeup around 1500 rpm. Although the fastball has a low spin around 2100 rpm, it was still hit hard at home (.463 wOBA with four home runs allowed). We aren’t asking for Palmquist to turn into Ubaldo Jiménez, just reach the level he was displaying in Double-A, where he had a 30% K%, a 10% walk rate, and a 49% flyball rate. Palmquist will need to reduce the flyballs and rein in the command to leverage those unique delivery attributes that could make him successful in Denver.

Therefore, Carson Palmquist is the Colorado Rockies player to choose if you have to roster a Rockies pitcher in a fantasy league in 2026.

 

Good Pitching Orgs

A few surprise league winners from organizations that are developing strong pitching.

 

Hagen Smith, Chicago White Sox

Although the White Sox have not seriously competed for a playoff spot for a few years, there are signs that the next wave of organizational talent should raise their odds. In fact, they have taken to drafting a specific kind of pitcher, the tall lefty. Shane Murphy (drafted 2022), Noah Schultz (2023), Christian Oppor (2023), and Hagen Smith (2024) all fit this description, while Tanner McDougal (2021) is a righty generating a lot of buzz. These five pitches are all closing to support a major league rotation that already features exciting young arms in Shane Smith (2022) and Grant Taylor (2023). They could have enough firepower to finally take on their division rivals if most of these players can live up to their potential. For this reason, it feels like a promotion from any one of them is on the verge of happening.

The tall lefty profile usually leads to a mid-90s fastball and breaking balls that fall off the table on their glove side. This is most true for Noah Schultz, who struggled with control and injuries in 2024. Although he finally reached Triple-A, the velocity and arsenal plateaued. He was never wild, but there wasn’t the crispness one would expect from a top prospect. The 23% K% and 14% BB% should improve in 2026, but he will need to prove it over an extended period of time. Murphy has not flashed much strikeout upside, but has squeezed as much as possible out of his 90 mph fastball with 18 inches of IVB. He will be within striking distance of the major leagues after finishing in Triple-A. Oppor is the high upside pick to emerge out of this organization after ending the season with 31% K%, 11% BB%, and a 14% swinging strike rate over 87.2 innings. McDougal is an intriguing arm who was treated with white gloves about halfway through the minor league campaign. He posted a 2.87 ERA over 62.2 innings at Double-A with a 30% K%, 7% BB%, and a 14% swinging strike rate. He could easily be the one to follow in the footsteps of Taylor and Smith, who graduated to the major leagues with little-to-no experience in Triple-A Charlotte.

Therefore, the pick to click for the White Sox in 2026 is Hagen Smith. The 2024 first-round draft pick out of Arkansas was limited this season due to an elbow injury in May, but returned in late June to complete 59.2 innings. During that post-injury time, he posted a 33% K%, 17% BB%, 15% SwK%, .166 average against, four home runs allowed, and a 59% strike rate. Obviously, he will need to vastly improve his command, or this selection will be null and void. Smith is getting some extra run in the Arizona Fall League, where he has the strike rate up to a more acceptable 61%. The poor control could have something to do with his snappy delivery that emphasizes a flick of the wrist. With improved health, he could start amping up the velocity again to 97+ while breaking off amazing sliders over the zone. The changeup is in development, so more gains could be made in short order. He will be only two years removed from striking out a whopping 49% of batters in college with a 10% walk rate. There is unrealized potential in here, but if he keeps building like he is in Arizona, then Smith could be laying waste to hitters on the South Side by the All-Star break.

 

Jose Corniell, Texas Rangers

As mentioned earlier in this article, the Texas Rangers have seen their pitching development flourish in the past couple of years. Former starter Chris Young, the president of the organization, is marshalling the next era of the big league team with a new manager and coaching staff. The team has a lot to look forward to on the mound, as each level features a prospect arm that will help the team one day, either as a rostered player or trade bait. Although we can’t count on the next pitching coach having the same success as the outgoing Mike Maddux, the prospects should at least have some hope that they can experience significant growth once they reach the top level, as seen by Cody Bradford, Jacob Latz, and, to some extent, Jack Leiter.

This sets the stage for the next crop of prospect pitchers who should be on your radar for this team. Caden Scarborough, David Davalillo, Winston Santos, Alejandro Rosario, Leandro Lopez, and Jose Corniell. Scarborough is the pop-up prospect from 2025 who made it to High-A on the back of his strong low three-quarters delivery that earned him 33% K% and 6% BB% over 88 innings. Davalillo used his standout changeup to earn a 30% K% and 7% BB% over 107 innings. Santos is returning from a back injury that kept him out for half of the season, but he has a 97+ mph four-seamer that he had at 33K% and 9BB% over 17.1 innings. Rosario had elbow surgery, but finished 2024 with 37% K% and 4% BB% over 88.1 innings. Lopez is the most recent pop-up prospect arm as he returned from severe injuries in 2024 to post 29% K% and 10% BB% over 101 innings.

And here is the surprising selection as league winner, at least to me, since I had never heard of this player until late in the 2025 season, Jose Corniell. He got a gradual return this season after elbow surgery in 2024. He was fast-tracked after continuing the success through Rookie ball and Double-A, when he had a 29% K%, 3% BB%, a 68% strike rate, a 12% swinging strike rate, and was hitting 96 mph on the fastball. Texas was still building him up as a starter in Triple-A, where we could see that he was blending a sweeper to one side of the plate and the changeup to the other. The four-seamer has below-average IVB, but does get substantial horizontal movement. He will need to rein in the cutter as it has caused him the most control issues. Yet we are talking about a solid three pitches all coming with above-average extension from a smooth three-quarters delivery. As a current member of the 40-man roster and with his major league debut already on the ledger, he doesn’t have many obstacles to being a full-season contributor to the squad. Corniell is getting extra reps in the Arizona Fall League, where the overall results are meh (11K 4BB 5.25 ERA 1.25 WHIP 12 IP).

Although he may not have the highest strikeout upside, he could follow the path of Bradford and Latz as relievers who can capably go longer as a starter when needed.

 

Far Fetched

A few surprise league winners who would come out of nowhere.

Ethan Pecko, Houston Astros

The Houston Astros have a knack for bringing up prospect starters that help keep the team afloat. Although the team didn’t make the playoffs this season, they wouldn’t have even been so close without quality innings from Jason Alexander, Brandon Walter, or Colton Gordon. Those guys were forced into action because the Astros had no less than four big leaguers fall on the injured list with a prognosis of Tommy John surgery: Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, Luis García Jr., and Brandon Walter. And now they face a likely rotation without the stalwart Framber Valdez, who has eaten up 900 innings over the last five seasons. Despite the hardship they will undoubtedly face to fill that large gap, the Astros do have several arms ready to step in.

Miguel Ullola is the most obvious prospect that could step in, but control has long been an issue. Ullola spent all 113.2 innings in Triple-A Sugar Land, where he posted a 10% K%-BB% and 11% swinging strike rate. He blends a 94 mph fastball that is riding 19″ of vert with a changeup and curveball that each have a 30% whiff rate. Although he earned a high number of strikeouts, the strike rate has dipped below 60% as his slider has limited his progress with its 25% walk rate. If he doesn’t conjure a new strategy, he may fall further behind some of the lower-level arms like James Hicks and Anderson Brito, who are both getting extra reps in the Arizona Fall League. Brito has the higher ceiling with a high-octane fastball touching 100. At only 21 years old, Brito is flashing the swing-and-miss stuff with his sweeper and changeup. Hicks is a bit untested after missing three months due to an undisclosed injury, but he showed out at the end of the season in Double-A. His virtual sidearm delivery gives him a unique angle to attack hitters with his six-pitch arsenal. His fastballs are topping out at 94 mph, while the sweeper is generating a 31% whiff rate. Despite the low velo, Hicks is putting up great metrics to show he could be a major league option with a 17% swinging strike rate, a 67% strike rate, and a low 5% walk rate. Yet, we turn to the Astros’ 2024 pitcher of the year for their potential league winner.

Ethan Pecko is a 6’3″ righty with a low arm angle and several weapons at his disposal. Although he missed the start of the year, Pecko reached Triple-A, where he flashed five pitches with a greater than 25% whiff rate. He is given high marks for his 94 mph fastball that has an average induced vertical break, but he mainly lands up in the zone. The sinker and curve have also been effective pitches for him. Overall, he has a strong fastball with nice complementary pitches that he uses to attack all parts of the zone and keep the ball out of the air. He demonstrated his ceiling during the last four games of the regular season by posting 30 strikeouts, three walks, a 14% swinging strike rate, a 68% strike rate, and a 1.71 ERA over 21 innings. The flyball rate did jump up during that stretch, so this will be something to watch how it plays in the hitter-friendly home ballpark.

Although he may not exceed 100 total innings by much in 2026, Pecko could be an effective everyman starter for the Astros should they need someone to fill a gap in the rotation. He has the control, along with the swing-and-miss stuff, to magically lift the Astros into playoff contention once again.

 

Jurrangelo Cijntje, Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners were so close to making it to the World Series and will be hungry to advance far into the playoffs again. Their pitching staff has experienced a high level of consistency from their starters, who haven’t missed much time with injury, while posting top-3 level production as a group. Fortunately, the organization has been stacking arms just in case an opening due to injury does occur. While Blas Castano, Jhonathan Díaz, Logan Evans, and Emerson Hancock all have major league experience and are already on the 40-man roster, their upside and potential for impact are minimal. Therefore, we look further down the line for potential league winners.

Seattle has used their top 2024 and 2025 draft picks to replenish their organization with top pitching talent. They picked up lefty Kade Anderson out of LSU this year after he posted a 30% K%-BB% over 119 innings. Anderson threw a complete game shutout with eleven strikeouts to help his squad win the national title and dramatically improved his draft stock. The 6’2″ lefty throws from a high three-quarters arm angle, pumping a mid-90s fastball with solid rise and an excellent slider. He is noted as having more control over command, but the strikeout upside is huge. Given where some other 2025 draft picks have started, it wouldn’t be crazy if he were in Double-A by midseason. Ryan Sloan, the younger upside pick, has already logged 82 innings at Single-A and High-A. Sloan is excelling with his power delivery, generating a 68% strike rate, a 50% groundball rate, and a 14% swinging strike. The 6’5″ righty attacks hitters with a 95-mph fastball, a sharp slider, and a splitter. Sloan fits the Seattle mould as a control-dominant arm who can also pile up the strikeouts. Yet, we lean toward his 2024 draft class teammate for the player who could rise as a league winner in 2026.

Switch-throwing is quite the rarity, with Pat Venditte being the modern-day poster child for the art of throwing off the mound from both arms. Yet, the Seattle Mariners are tinkering with a special project from their 2024 first-round draft pick. Jurrangelo Cijntje, who throws from both sides with a six-fingered glove, is arriving out of season at Mississippi State season where he posted a 22% K%-BB% and 3.67 ERA over 92 innings. He has taken the torch of switch-pitching from reliever Venditte and is attempting to bring it into the world of starting pitchers. Cijntje posted a 26% K%, 11% BB%, 3.99 ERA, .206 average, and 46% ground ball rate over 108.1 innings this season. The 22-year-old held his own after the promotion to Double-A by maintaining most of those numbers and finished 2025 strong with 29 strikeouts and 10 walks over his last five games.

Yet, everyone will want to know how the dual-pitching experiment works from each side. Once you scratch the surface, the numbers aren’t pretty. Cijntje has mainly pitched from the right-handed side, from where he has put most of the more impressive stats. His numbers from the left-handed side suggest that he struggles to locate the ball in the zone and has to surrender to grooving the ball over the plate. The Mariners could scratch this two-sided project anytime, but what if he is a few months away from unlocking a new level on the left side?

 

Cijntje is currently humming 97 mph fastballs with a big curveball and decent changeup from the right side. The lefty side isn’t a gimmick, but his pitches haven’t been as polished as they are from the other side. In most games, he only deploys that southpaw option against weaker left-handed bats at the bottom of the lineup. If the major league club had access to Cijntje as a weapon against opposing lineups with mixed handedness, then maybe they would invest more into identifying the appropriate pitch types, shapes, and sequencing from his less dominant side. Why waste these pitches in the minor leagues when the team has its first World Series appearance within its sights? Cijntje would give the rotation more depth with a unique profile that can come on for long relief or even start games over an extended stretch. Cijntje is a long shot, but could offer his team a special weapon that could help you win your league in 2026.

 

Fast Riser

A few surprise league winners who could make a rapid ascent to the bigs.

Daniel Eagen, Arizona Diamondbacks

The Texas Rangers deserve a ton of credit for developing pitching talent over the last five years. The Kansas City Royals sincerely appreciate all that early work as they reap the benefits of their ace, Cole Ragans. The Arizona Diamondbacks may start sending holiday cards to the Rangers as well after adding three prospects in a trade for a short-term rental of Merrill Kelly. Kohl Drake, David Hagaman, and Mitch Bratt join Daniel Eagen as rising prospect arms who could break through in 2026. The 2024 draft pick Hagaman is the least tested after elbow surgery limited his playing time in 2024. He is currently getting more reps with the 95 mph four-seamer and vertical slider in the Arizona Fall League with a 9 K:4 BB ratio over 6.1 innings. Bratt has 70-grade command with a 68% strike rate and 4% walk rate over 122.1 innings. He may be touching the zone too frequently, as his low 90s velocity is producing a high home run rate. Kohl Drake was having a dominant stretch in Double-A, where he posted a 31% K% and 10% BB% over 55.1 innings. Drake is the oldest member of this group with the most experience, but his low-90s velocity, poor performance in Triple-A, and shoulder injury do not inspire confidence. That leaves the organization’s 2024 third-round pick, Daniel Eagen.

Eagen overachieved in his first professional season with a huge strikeout total of 153 in 117 innings. He has also flashed great control at times, nailing over 70% of his pitches for strikes in his better games. Overall, he was at a 63% strike rate and 15% swinging strike rate. Eagen exudes an excitable energy with his over-the-top arm slot and athletic delivery. The curveball is the star pitch with its big drop as he backs it up with a 95+ mph four-seamer and average slider. With a breaking ball as his best pitch, he will experience extremes of double-digit strikeouts or four-plus walks in a game, depending on its effectiveness from start to start. The fastball has more room to grow, but it does exhibit above-average induced vertical break. With all of this good stuff coming from a Jonah Tong-like arm angle, it means that he can catch hitters off guard due to their lack of familiarity with this release point. After his uneven end to 2025, Eagen will likely find himself back in Double-A to start the season. Yet, the Diamondbacks will be short at least one starter, especially if they do not re-sign Zac Gallen.

For the reasons above, Eagen could find himself fast-tracked to the major leagues over the summer and help you win your league.

 

Liam Doyle, St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals are in a stagnant place after missing the playoffs for the third year in a row and finishing with a winning record under .500 for the third time in the new millennium. Although the average team age is around 30 years old, that’s due to the three outliers of Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, and Sonny Gray pulling up that number. The team is actually built around young players and will be rolling into their first offseason with Chaim Bloom as their President of Baseball Operations. He has made a few new hires to the front office, and he could begin ushering in a new philosophy to bring a greater chance of success back to St. Louis.

Unfortunately, they won’t be able to rely on a few of their top pitching prospects. Cooper Hjerpe or Tekoah Roby will miss most, if not all, of 2026 after they both had arm surgeries in 2025. In addition, Tink Hence finished the season on the injured list in July with an undisclosed arm injury. At least Quinn Mathews made it back after being sidelined with shoulder inflammation for six weeks in early 2025. His games often featured uncharacteristically bad control, so it was good to see him back up to 94 mph and striking people out towards the end of the season. The organization has a few other lefties who could move quickly in Ixan Henderson, Brycen Mautz, and Braden Davis. Righty Leonel Sequera has flashed strikeout success at times, while the 6’7″ project righty, Chen-Wei Lin, is polishing off his stuff in the Arizona Fall League. The team has some fun choices to make, with none more fun than how quickly to promote Liam Doyle.

The 2025 college baseball strikeout leader is now creeping up through the Cardinals system and is poised to make a Yesavage-like run to the major leagues. Over two starts in two levels, Doyle struck out six of the 15 batters he faced with a 13% swinging strike rate. Having already logged a Double-A start, his initial 2026 home is up in the air, but would likely be no lower than in Double-A Springfield. This puts his high three-quarters arm angle and three-pitch arsenal in much closer proximity to the bigs than how Yesavage began. Doyle hit 100 mph in college, but only threw enough pitches to register 96+ with over 17″ of IVB in his professional starts. The high release point is paired with long arm action and fast motion to really move a lot of energy towards home plate. With his fastball, a 60-grade slider, a solid curveball, and the changeup as a tool against righties, he has a strong foundation to keep hitters off balance. Doyle is a shot at upside for the Cardinals, especially if he can catapult himself back into his peak college days of a 42% K%, 8% BB%, and .184 average against.

For these reasons, Liam Doyle is the player who can help you win your league with a late-season call-up a la Trey Yesavage.

 

2026 Surprise League Winners

 

Adapted by Parker McDonald (@CarbonFoxGFX on Twitter/X)

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