Samples are still small, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to learn! Just remember that overreliance on any one data point (like bat speed) is the only wrong answer at this point.
- As a reminder, these rankings are geared toward a standard, daily, 12-team H2H redraft league, which is typically the most popular fantasy baseball format. They will only factor in the five standard categories: runs, RBI, home runs, batting average, and stolen bases.
- These are not best ball or draft and hold rankings. The 12-team redraft format with daily moves is the fundamental opposite of that. Pure volume plays are not valued as much here as in those no-move formats.
- I take rankings like this more as art than science. Every person’s rankings are influenced by their biases, strategic philosophies, risk assessments, and projections. It’s why no two rankings are ever exactly alike. My way of evaluating and ranking players has worked well for me, but it might not be an excellent fit for you. I can’t possibly predict your team’s specific needs, your leaguemates’ player evaluations, or your current waiver wire, and if I could, it’d be weird in a bad way.
- This is a safe space for me where I answer to no one but myself…and you if you leave a comment.
- I’m doing my best to use five starts or 10 appearances as the threshold for positional eligibility. I have not included presumed eligibilities based on likely new positions, but I’ll add them once those eligibilities are earned. This is just a maintenance thing, and we will update eligibility throughout the season. Feel free to let me know if I’m missing any!
Ranking Philosophy
To keep things in the same ilk, here are a couple of notes on how I generally evaluate hitters before we dive in:
- In 12-team formats, I don’t see much value in guys who only provide stolen bases. It’s an important category, especially in Roto, but in shallower formats, there are too many other (and better) ways to get the steals you need without sacrificing production in the other categories.
- No stat is an island, and they should all be taken in proper context. For ranking purposes, the primary starting points I use are plate discipline, wRC+, quality of contact metrics (also known as Statcast batted ball data), lineup context, and the skills we can measure using tools such as our PLV Hitter Attributes (available for PL Pro members). I also use various projections (some free, some I buy) and dollar value generators.
- Positional eligibility, specifically multi-eligibility, is neat but isn’t a huge factor in many 10- and 12-team leagues anymore due to the prevalence of multi-eligible players. It’s of more value in deeper contests like the NFBC or in leagues with limited roster moves (draft and hold leagues, transaction limits/costs, extremely short benches, etc.). Still, the value is fairly situational and context-dependent.
- Similarly, I don’t penalize players for only qualifying in the utility slot. At most, it is a mild inconvenience if a DH-only player is available at a great value and you already have filled your utility spots.
- Regardless of true talent, anyone talented enough to make it to the big leagues can be brilliant or putrid for 50 to 100 at-bats. It could even last over a month with no change in potential or skill. It also could be wildly meaningful. We can’t and don’t know which will be valid until it’s over, though track record, scouting, and trends can give us hints.
- One of the most difficult things to account for in these rankings is the dynamic between low-ceiling players who have clear roles and players who could have higher ceilings but are without a clear path to playing time. I try to note this in the blurbs as much as I can. NOTE: PROJECTIONS AND AUCTION CALCULATORS WILL ALWAYS FAVOR THE FORMER OVER THE LATTER.
Read The Notes
If you’d like input on a player or have any feedback, your best bet is to contact me on Bluesky (@scottchu.pitcherlist.com), X (@ifthechufits), or Reddit (u/ChusephEsquire)
I also host an AMA in the r/fantasybaseball subreddit every Friday (starting sometime in late March) with Nate Schwartz, starting around noon ET that lasts through the rest of the day and into the weekend, so feel free to join the fun and ask questions or make comments.
For additional insight, also check out the Hacks & Jacks podcast! This is a hitter-focused pod with myself, Brett Ford, and occasional special guests.
Tier 1
- No changes here, and unless there’s an injury or a guy like Bobby Witt Jr.. finds a new level to his game, there won’t be any changes.
Tier 2
- Juan Soto’s exit to the IL is most of the change here. He should be back in a few weeks and I don’t have any long-term concerns.
- Another cold start for Julio Rodríguez is not concerning to me. Just stay the course.
- The home runs haven’t quite showed up for Kyle Tucker yet, but his 11 runs is good for second place in all of baseball and it’s not hard to imagine him scoring 110 or more by the time this is all over.
Tier 3
- You love to see Corbin Carroll hit the ground running this season after some bumpy rides to start the last two. He’s knocking on the door to Tier 2.
- Nick Kurtz is hitting the ball as hard as he ever did and the results are starting to trickle in. Don’t panic.
- Cal Raleigh finally smacked his first dinger of the season and many more are to come. Just as importantly, he had zero strikeouts in the last two games. Something was off for a bit there, but it seems to be coming around.
- Yordan Alvarez is (and always has been) Juan Soto with bad knees. If the injury risk wasn’t there, he’d be in Tier 2. Usually I talk more about the featured guy in the graphic but I feel that those two sentences are more than enough.
- Love seeing Gunnar Henderson show off power early. It’s the thing that has been missing since mid-2024 and if he’s figured that out, he’s Tier 2 bound.
- Pete Alonso has always been a bit streaky. He’s still hitting the ball hard, but the Polar Bear is a tiny bit off in terms of getting the ball up and into the pull field. It’ll come, and when it does, you’ll forget this little blip even happened.
- Don’t fall for a “hamate bone sapped his power” narrative on Francisco Lindor. He’s just hitting a few too many grounders.
Tier 4
- Ronald Acuña Jr. Jr is fine. Some bad batted ball luck, that’s it. His ranking is basically unchanged because my overall assessment is unchanged: he’s an explosive talent with major injury risk.
- That two home run, six RBI game for Brent Rooker should hopefully be a reminder to folks not to do anything crazy (like one dude in my 12-teamer did when he cut him going into the weekend).
- No, I’m still not concerned about Josh Naylor, and if I scooped one of the early hot hitters like Chase DeLauter or Jordan Walker or Cam Smith, I’d be offering them for Naylor right now.
- Matt Olson’s elevated strikeout rate is still well within the normal range of 10-15 game outcomes. Including the chart as a reminder for you to use charts like this to gauge whether this early-seasosn sample is actually unique or of it’s a normal-looking sample.
Tier 5
- Pete Crow-Armstrong has hit a ton of pop-ups lately and that’s something to keep an eye on, but so far he looks much better than he did in the second half last year and that’s what really matters.
- The Brewers have nearly twice as many steals as anyone else so far this season, and assuming Brice Turang’s ankle is OK, he will continue to reap the rewards from that aggression. It’s worth noting, though, that Turang stole eight bases last April and six more in May, but just 10 more total for the entire rest of the season.
- James Wood’s streakiness has been on full display in this short sample. In the first eight games, he struck out 40% of the time and had just a .478 OPS. Then he went and hit a home run in three straight games. With any luck, Wood will continue to work on his decision-making (especially in two-strike counts and against breakers) and get us to a more evened-out place, but streakiness is often a part of the profile for big swingers with contact issues like Wood.
- It’s a slow start for Rafael Devers, but not nearly as slow as it was last season. His incredibly poor rate of contact on pitches in the zone will leave him vulnerable to hideous (yet often short) slumps, but that’s not new information.
- Riley Greene’s expected slugging is over 200 points higher than his current .262 actual slugging and that should fix itself naturally. Even better, he’s done well to make better decisions on pitches out of the zone and is showing improved contact. Those are the things we want to see for Greene to take the next step (which is hitting 35+ home runs again but with a .275+ batting average).
- If Cody Bellinger stays healthy (2025 was his first 145+ game season in the post-COVID world), he could move as high as the top of this tier or the bottom of the previous one.
Tier 6
- No major concerns for Wyatt Langford or Bo Bichette yet. For players of this caliber, I’ll generally wait until we get closer to 75+ plate appearances before making major moves.
- Drake Baldwin is the biggest mover in the top-50 and it’s well deserved. He’s mashing, playing every day, and hitting second for an offense that should be better than it has been. There’s a universe where he finishes as the top catcher, though that’s theoretically possible for Hunter Goodman, Ben Rice, and William Contreras.
- You can shuffle these four catchers however you’d like, but as of today I won’t put any of them over Cal Raleigh despite his slow start. I won’t really entertain the idea unless Cal gets hurt or if the hot streaks and Cal’s cold streak extend into May. Even then, it’s more likely I just close the gap between them.
- No concerns with Byron Buxton. He stays just ahead of Christian Yelich, though, due to the higher ceiling even if he plays fewer games.
Tier 7
- The plate discipline for Austin Riley looks good, though the quality of contact has been awful. This is an excellent opportunity to give an example of how to use bat speed, as the big dip in average exit velocity after two injury-plagued seasons would naturally bring concerns that the power has been sapped from his body. Thankfully, that isn’t likely, as the bat speed is as good as it ever was. That leads us to conclude that Riley’s issue is more connected to his timing or swing decisions. Sure enough, pitchers are keeping the ball out of the zone against Riley (43.2% zone rate) and Riley is making contact with a lot of those pitches. I don’t see this as a long-term issue, so keep riding it out.
- Michael Harris II has given us abysmal starts to the season in each of the last two years, so it’s natural to feel some deja vu right now. Thankfully, this slow start can be chalked up largely to bad batted ball luck. His expected stats are WAY better than his actual stat line, so as long as MHII keeps doing what he’s doing, then there will be brighter days very soon.
Tier 8
- That’s three straight two-hit games for Willy Adames, who is a bit of an odd fit in the leadoff role, but who am I to complain? Adames has historically been streaky and a slow-starter, so if things dry up for a bit, don’t be alarmed.
- Jacob Marsee is really fast and can steal four bags in a game. I think he also can start hitting for a little power, too, and that the projections are way too cold on his expected batting average. Give it time.
- Jarren Duran is sitting a lot lately and that’s rather annoying. So far he’s whiffing a lot more than usual, and that’s something I expect to get cleaned up (and may be part of the reason for the odd days). There’s a big logjam at DH and outfield in Boston right now, and I expect anyone who is cold to get a few days off here and there until they get right (especially the lefties).
- Roman Anthony’s throwing has become a meme, but my bigger concern is the ground ball rate. He also hit a ton of them in the minors, so it’s not a surprise, but it could cap his upside a bit since it severely limits how many home runs a guy can hit. Still, there’s a ton of upside here (especially in OBP and points leagues), so don’t do anything rash.
Tier 9
- Teoscar Hernández is scorching hot right now and it’s fun. Remember this when he goes cold for a month. You hold him to make sure you get these moments. The ugly times will be ugly, but the good times are exceptionally good.
- Tyler Soderstrom had two separate extended home run slumps in 2025 (April 17 to May 14, June 5 to July 6) and still had a solid season. In head-to-head, this type of hitter can be frustrating, but at least you can rest easy knowing that the lack of dingers to begin the year is not a new phenomenon for Sod.
- Ivan Herrera is up to five starts at catcher, putting him on pace for the 10-game threshold by the end of the month and the 20-game threshold by early May. He’s another guy who has shown good signs under the hood but has been crushed by bad batted ball luck. Just stay the course here.
- The longer Luis Robert Jr. Jr. shows this plus decision-making and walk rate, the higher up he goes.
- Oneil Cruz has exploded at the plate lately, but it’s not the type of performance that changes our view of him. He’s striking out a lot, not walking, and hitting missiles. Unless that starts coming with more steals or more walks, it’s hard to raise him up much higher than this due to the inevitable cold streaks.
Tier 10
- Ramón Laureano is leading off and that’s probably the best thing for his 2026 fantasy value in San Diego.
- Brandon Lowe has gone cold after his hot opening series, but that’s because he’s a streaky power-hitting lefty and always has been.
- Michael Busch is being patient at the plate and starting against lefties, and that’s all I can ask for at the moment. I was already lower on him than others, so I won’t move him down much for this slow start.
- It’s good to see Luis Arraez get off to a nice start. I expect him to stay at or near the top of the batting order all season and do his slappy hitting nonsense while healthy.
- Xavier Edwards is never going to hit more than 10 home runs the way he is now, but a guy who can swipe 30 bags who also is a positive contributor in two other categories (ratios and runs) is a precious commodity.
- Ozzie Albies is hitting third against lefties, and that’s good. He’d move up higher if he was doing something else unexpected, but frankly the batted ball data isn’t all that exciting.
Tier 11
- Time for a mini tier! The exact order you put these guys in doesn’t matter a ton, but I’ve got Konnor Griffin at the top because he has the most upside of all these players as he has high-end power and speed.
- While Kevin McGonigle and JJ Wetherholt can claim a better hit tool than Griffin, they can’t compete with his raw power. I put McGonigle ahead of Wetherholt because I think he has more pop, plus he’s already worked his way to the top of the order.
- Murakami isn’t ever going to help you in batting average, but he’s the most likely of this group to hit 30 home runs this season, plus he’s eligible at third base in several places, which is a lot harder to address than outfield.
- You can absolutely be stoked about a possible post-hype breakout on Jordan Walker and Cam Smith. They’re hitting the ball hard and have excellent prospect pedigrees. Just remember that a 10-12 game sample to start April and a 10-12 game sample in the middle of the season are not different in terms of importance, and that plenty of guys have been this good for 10-12 games to then fade and struggle. I’m not saying these guys will do that, I just don’t want you to think they’re immune to it just because they have a neat little narrative.
- On Jordan Walker, he’s getting the ball in the air consistently in this small sample, and that has always been the key to unlocking his power potential, which is something like 30 home runs. I don’t really care if he strikes out close to 30% of the time as long as he’s walking a bit and getting the ball off the ground.
- For Cam Smith, he’s a guy who has poor average exit velocities and awesome max exit velocities because he swings very hard but has a tendency to just miss the barrel of the bat. It feels like a streaky profile, at least from a home run perspective, though he has a better hit tool than Walker and likely a higher floor (assuming he stays a full-time player).
Tier 12
For those in 10-team leagues or shallow 12-team leagues, we are at the point where players are no longer a “must-hold”. That doesn’t mean they are expendable, it just means that I can see multiple circumstances that might lead you to dropping one of these guys for someone else.
- I didn’t put Chase DeLauter in the above tier because he has an additional risk – health. As I said previously, he’s never completed 60 games in a professional season. He has fantastic upside, much like the guys above, but his floor is lower due to the chance that he misses 100 games.
- Heliot Ramos is off to a cold start, and the strikeouts are scary (40.4%, which is noticeably above previous small samples). That plus the lack of walks and the emergence of some other exciting outfielders makes Ramos a tough hold in three outfield leagues.
- Carlos Correa has missed a few games with illness, but when he comes back he should get right to piling up counting stats again. This Astros lineup with a healthy Yordan is a different beast than the one we saw a lot in 2025.
- Still not overly concerned with Durbin yet, and third base is still a tough position to fill.
- Ryan O’Hearn doesn’t have a ton of upside, but he gets hot like this a few times a year and provides a bit of pop with excellent ratios. While outfield and first base are pretty deep, it’s nice he has the flexibility.
Tier 14
- The planets have stayed aligned for Isaac Paredes so far with random minor injuries and illnesses giving him space to start, but I imagine that his luck with start running out eventually, and it could lead to him sitting two or three times a week unless he really starts mashing.
- Garrett Mitchell is hitting in the heart of the order and getting to run like crazy thanks to the Brewers early season philosophy of just trying to outrun everything. Durability is a huge concern, though, as is streakiness that stems from his high strikeout rates.
- TJ Rumfield is more likely to hit 15 home runs than he is to hit 20 on the season, but his plus hit tool and his opportunity to play daily for the Rockies makes him worth a stream if you need a corner guy.
- This is the range of catchers that are just streamers for me at the moment. Samuel Basallo has the most pedigree and upside of this group, while Gabriel Moreno and Dillon Dingler have the hit tool to provide a higher floor. I expect there to always be a nice little rotating batch of catchers worth starting at any given moment, and don’t think it’s necessary in a 10-12 team redraft league to be overly loyal to any of them if you need a boost and your guy is slumping.
- Jacob Wilson is the free-faller this week because it’s hard to hold a ratios-only guy when he’s not hitting, and his upside is severely limited unless he shows us the power he briefly displayed before his injury in 2025.
Taxi Squad/Injured List
Players are listed by position and in no particular order. Players in bold are either new to this section or have an updated blurb.
Catcher
- J.T. Realmuto (C, PHI) — He’s fine.
- Austin Wells (C, NYY) — He plays a lot and should get close to 20 home runs with decent counting stats but bad ratios.
- Ryan Jeffers (C, MIN) — Not DHing like I expected, not even against a lefty.
- Kyle Teel (C, CWS) — The more interesting of the two South Side catchers, though he might miss most of the month.
- Edgar Quero (C, CWS) — He’ll need to start hitting soon to carve out a larger role when Teel returns.
- Gary Sánchez (C, MIL) — No thanks. Enjoy the dingers but the juice ain’t worth the squeeze for long.
First Base
- Andrew Vaughn (1B, MIL) — The hamate bone claims another. He’ll miss a little over a month.
- Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE) — A slow start and yet again platooning.
- Spencer Horwitz (1B, PIT) — Interested to see how good the first half of the order is with Griffin.
- Gavin Sheets (1B/OF, SDP) — Streaky, power-hitting lefty.
- Coby Mayo (1B/3B, BAL) — He struck out a ton this spring and is still doing that in the regular season. Hard to see how he sticks around without taking care of his whiffs against breakers.
- Jake Bauers (1B/OF, MIL) — Super hot start and fine to stream if you want a spark, at least while he’s hitting fourth.
- Nolan Schanuel (1B, LAA) — He’d be ranked for points leagues.
Second Base
- Jackson Holliday (2B, BAL) — On a rehab and should be back by mid-April.
- Brett Baty (2B/3B, NYM) — Getting playing time and has hit a few fly balls.
- Ernie Clement (1B/2B/3B/SS, TOR) — Plays everyday and puts the ball in play. Just don’t expect much else.
- José Caballero (2B/3B/SS/OF, NYY) — He’ll play every day until Volpe comes back, but may not play much at all afterwards.
- Nolan Gorman (2B/3B, STL) — Can sock dingers, and the strikeouts were improved over the spring.
- Andrés Giménez (2B/SS, TOR) — Bats last, but has a little bit of speed. Not the worst short-term replacement in 12-teamers.
- Jonathan India (2B/3B/OF, KCR) — Let’s see how many more homers he can hit with the new dimensions at his home park.
- Luisangel Acuña (2B, CHW) — Looks like the White Sox will let him run, but the jury is still out on whether he can hit enough to make an impact.
- Travis Bazzana (2B, CLE) — They didn’t call him up with Arias’s injury, which suggests it may be quite a while. That was the perfect moment.
- Cole Young (2B, SEA) — Playing time will get messy when Emerson is promoted, so he needs to keep piling up the hits.
- Nick Gonzales (2B, PIT) — He’ll add third base to his eligibility with his next start there, and could hit like 10-12 homers with a .270 average I guess.
- Max Muncy (2B, ATH) — There’s power and extreme contact issues. He’s a short-term stream at best.
- David Hamilton (2B/SS, MIL) — Middle infielder who plays most of the time and steals bases. Might be slightly more interesting if he keeps walking.
Third Base
- Addison Barger (3B/OF, TOR) — I’m not holding him on my IL in 12-teamers.
- Jordan Westburg (2B/3B, BAL) — Won’t be back until at least June.
- Marcelo Mayer (3B, BOS) — He’ll have to cut down the strikeouts to get me interested.
- Jordan Lawlar (3B/OF, ARI) — Finally gets an opportunity only to have injury snatch it away. He’s on the 60-day IL and I’m not holding in mixed redraft leagues.
- Ronnie Mauricio (2B/3B, NYM) — He’s a former top-25ish prospect with a bit of pop and a bit more speed, but the opportunity just isn’t there right now in a crowded infield and his MLB results so far have not been encouraging.
- Miguel Vargas (1B/3B, CWS) — The decision-making seems back on track, and the three steals are something to keep an eye on.
- Mauricio Dubón (2B/3B/SS, ATL) — A slap-hitting utilityman who is just hitting balls where they ain’t right now. More of a deeper points league streamer while you wait for something better.
- Matt Shaw (3B, CHC) — If he keeps playing when Suzuki returns on Friday, we can revisit. Doesn’t seem very likely, though.
Shortstop
- J.P. Crawford (SS, SEA) — He’s on the last year of his contract and the young middle infielders have started to break through. Will Seattle keep starting him?
- Colt Emerson (SS, SEA) — With an extension signed, he should be up any minute.
- Carson Williams (SS, TBR) — If he gets that strikeout rate below 30% for an extended period, he could stick on the roster and is a threat to have a 20-20 season, albeit with bad ratios and counting stats.
- Mauricio Dubón (2B/3B/SS/OF) — He’s gonna play most days and put the ball in play a lot.
- Masyn Winn (SS, STL) — How much longer does he bat fourth?
- Nasim Nuñez (SS, WSN) — He’s getting the playing time and stealing bases, but he’ll need to strike out a lot less for this to work out.
- Mookie Betts (SS, LAD) — So far it seems like a short stay on the IL.
- Hyeseong Kim (2B/SS, LAD) — Hopefully he swipes a bag or two before Betts comes back.
Outfield/DH
- Juan Soto (OF, NYM) — He’ll miss 15-20 games or so.
- Jackson Chourio (OF, MIL) — He should be back by the start of May, but man, that came out of nowhere.
- Seiya Suzuki (OF, CHC) — Suzuki will be back this weekend and will slide into Tier 6 or 7 in next week’s update.
- Jung Hoo Lee (OF, SFG) — If he leads off a few more times, maybe I’ll be interested.
- Cedric Mullins (OF, TBR) — This rough start is not the path to being more than a platoon guy in Tampa.
- TJ Friedl (OF, CIN) — He’s not much of a hitter, but he leads off for a decent offense with a fantastic home park.
- Mike Yastrzemski (OF, ATL) — He bats fifth whenever they play a righty, which should lead to a healthy amount of RBI.
- Brandon Marsh (OF, PHI) — Stayed in the lineup against two of three lefties and should be a fringe top-150 player all season.
- Matt Wallner (OF, MIN) — Walks, strikeouts, homers, and injuries. That’s the story here.
- Josh Lowe (OF, LAA) — He’s painfully streaky but should start against most righties and will heat up for a few weeks at a time to provide pop and speed.
- Luke Raley (1B/OF, SEA) — Crushing the ball but striking out too much.
- Dominic Canzone (OF, SEA) — Stuck in a platoon and at the bottom of the order. Need one (or both) to change to get excited.
- Justin Crawford (OF, PHI) — It’s a Chandler Simpson profile with (hopefully) more walks and a bit less speed.
- Mickey Moniak (OF, COL) — When he’s healthy, he’ll be a streaky power-hitting lefty who you’ll turn on when he’s in Coors against a righty and off at all other times.
- Jake McCarthy (OF, COL) — I am certain he cannot hit, but he can run.
- Kyle Isbel (OF, KCR) — He’s swinging harder, hitting harder, and already has gotten close to his homer and stolen base totals from last season (four each, and it took 135 games). Is this an insane breakout? Maybe, and he’s worth a pickup if you have an open space. That said, we have 496 games and over 1,500 plate appearances of an insanely uninteresting player for fantasy purposes and it’s far more likely than not that he turns back into that. So you’re saying there’s a chance?! Sure.
- Owen Caissie (OF, MIA) — Injuries have opened up some playing time and a higher spot in the order, so let’s see if he’s more than the 15-20 home run platoon bat I expect him to be.
- Austin Hays (OF, CWS) — He’ll miss a few weeks with a hamstring issue and doesn’t need to be held in standard leagues.
- Brenton Doyle (OF, COL) — Being held out of two of the last three games is highly concerning to me.
- Jordan Beck (OF, COL) — I was apparently mistaken in thinking his everyday role was secure.
- Marcell Ozuna (DH, PIT) — Unless you’re in an NL-only that requires a DH, you should be cutting him.
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