Top 150 Hitters for Fantasy Baseball 2026 – Week 20

 

• 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 with tools such as our PLV Hitter Attributes (available to 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 more valuable 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 with clear roles and players with higher ceilings who lack a clear path to playing time. I try to note this in the blurbs as much as I can.
• THIS IS NOT A TRADE CHART. Trade charts need to account for “market” value, which is largely perception-based.

 

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 me, Brett Ford, and occasional special guests.

 

Tier 1 

 

• No changes here, except for the loss of James Wood to injury.

 

Tier 2

 

• The only reason Pete Crow-Armstrong isn’t in Tier 1 is because of the severe drop-offs and droughts we’ve seen when healthy. That said, there are arguments his overall upside is worth putting in that tier. If he doesn’t completely crater between now and the end of the season, PCA will be in Tier 1 for 2027.
• On the bright side, Ben Rice still hits the ball hard when he hits it. That said, he’s striking out 31.8% of the time so far this month. I’m not really concerned here as we’ve seen him have these slumps and recover before.
• Drake Baldwin has 12 hits and three walks but just four runs scored while batting at the top of Atlanta’s order this month, which is more bad luck than anything else. Sure, he’s not hitting for much power right now due to a spiked ground ball rate, but that shoudl resolve itself in due time.
• I don’t love that CJ Abrams has a 38.9% strikeout rate in August and a .235/.278/.373 line, but his four steals have kept his overall value afloat.
• The strikeouts are creeping up, but Matt Olson has 10 homers in the second half with seven of them in his last 12 games. The 54 he hit in 2023 will likely remain his career high, but 45 or so definitely seems within his grasp.

 

Tier 3 

 

• Corbin Carroll’s power output is way up the last eight games, with two doubles, two triples, and two homers, but it’s not a given that he’ll reach 25 homers or 25 steals this season after reaching that mark in at least one of those categories in each of his first three full seasons. Carroll remains a fantastic dynasty asset considering that he’s just 25 and has shown fantastic upside, but a return to Tier 2 will require a strong finish.
• Jordan Walker has once again rebounded his ground ball rate to below 40%, though he’s been extremely up and down in this regard, which impacts his production. That said, his ability to continue to fix the problem is promising, even if the fix isn’t lasting terribly long, especially considering that the spikes are also fairly short.

• Brice Turang is nursing a knee injury, and for the second seaosn in a row seems poised to front-load all of his stolen bases (seven at the end of April, just nine since, and just one since the Break). In 2025, it was eight in April, six in May, and then 10 for the rest of the season. I’m not sure what to do with this information since it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
• Francisco Lindor has looked very Lindor-like in his last 16 games with a 165 wRC+ and plenty of power. The Mets stink, but Lindor doesn’t.

 

Tier 4

 

• Randy Arozarena is only hitting .238 in August, but his expected stats for this month suggest it should be closer to .280. I’m a little disappointed that he has just one successful steal since the start of July (he’s been caught twice), but if the Mariners want to keep their Wild Card hopes alive, they’ll likely need Arozarena to swipe some bags.
• When Kyle Schwarber is hot, he’s HOT. The Field of Dreams game was his second two-homer outing in his last five starts and facing the Twins and Marlins should present even more opportunities to rack up the stats.
• Ronald Acuña Jr. hasn’t attempted a stolen base since his return from the IL and is hitting just .222 over those 16 games, though he is hitting for power. The low average and OBP is likely the main thing to blame for the lack of steals (six of his 14 hits were for extra bases, so he hasn’t been on first all that often), and I’m sure he’s still an elite hitter, but the up-and-down production, faltering contact ability, and durability issues force me to move him down the rankings.
• Fernando Tatis Jr. has gone on a power binge of late, hitting four homers in his last eight games and seven total since the Break after hitting just five in the entire first half. Tatis would need to stay scorching hot to clear 20 homers on the season and I still think he’s more of a 20-25 homer type going forward, but his 28 steals have helped soften the blow. He’s on pace break his previous career-high for steals set in 2025 (32), and his .281 batting average is a repeatable skill. Durability concerns and a lack of consistency will make Tatis maddening to project, but the talent upside feels much more clear than it did a month ago.
• Dillon Dingler has struggled mightily the last two series, but I don’t see anything alarming in the plate discipline or ground ball rate that suggests anything is broken. He’s just a bit off.

 

Tier 5 

 

• Seiya Suzuki continues to consistently produce week after week. I worry that someone is going to pull the rug out from under us (as we’ve seen happen with Suzuki from time to time), but right now everything under and on top of the hood looks great.
• Welcome back, Byron Buxton! He’s electric when on the field, but often not on it.
• By performance, Julio Rodríguez should be lower than this (he’s been something like a top-50 hitter in 2026), but the upside and ability to dominate for one or two whole months is hard to ignore.

 

Tier 6

 

• Kevin McGonigle turns 22 later this week, which is amazing to think about considering how advanced his approach has been in 2026. The sizzling Tigers offense has helped McGonigle pile up the counting stats, with 11 runs and nine RBI in the last 11 games. He’s getting a bit lucky with batted ball outcomes of late, but his prime lineup spot and fantastic plate skills should keep the floor extremely high.
• Miguel Vargas continues to slump, and while there isn’t anything you should do about it from an add/drop perspective, it’s certainly frustrating after he showed such strong skills earlier this summer.
• Jeremy Peña is also slumping big time, as he’s striking out in bunches of late and is hitting just .079/.167/.105 in his last nine games.

 

Tier 7 

 

• Wilyer Abreu is an extremely streaky hitter who has been prone to long slumps (like the 54 games between May 10 and the Break where he posted a .682 OPS). Interestingly, Abreu a weird reverse split in 2026 as he has rocked out against left-handed pitching while being average against right-handed pitching. That should help keep him out of the platoons that limited his playing time earlier in his career, but the prolonged slumps still weigh heavily on my mind. There’s top-30 upside here if he ever found a level of consistency or got those slumps to end after a few weeks instead of two months, but as of now, you’re riding a bit of a roller coaster, alebit one with solid upside on a hot offense.
• Does Caleb Durbin hit the ball hard? No (80.5 mph average exit velocity in the second half). Does he hit in the middle of the order? Not often. Is he an efficient base stealer? Not really. Does he produce anyway, despite all of this? Yes, and keeps doing it.
• Munetaka Murakami contnues to strikeout in extreme amounts while hitting some home runs and taking a bunch of walks. In OBP, you can bump him up a tier, but in standard leagues, his weaknesses are a bit more obvious than they were early in the season.

 

Tier 8

 

• Nico Hoerner has gone from top-40 to bottom-tier and now back to the middle of the ranks. For a player with a contact-oriented skill setr, that journey is as fascinating as it is maddening. Hoerner’s stolen base pace is a little behind his marks from the last three seasons, largely because he slumped so madly through May and June, but he’s rocking a .370 batting average since the Break with five steals (as many as he had for the entire months of May and June combined) and three homers (he had zero in May and June).

  Some of you likely dropped Hoerner at one point and may be kicking yourselves, but it’s important to note that there was nothing happening in May and June that suggested a breakout was imminent, and starting him through those two months would have poisoned your whole roster. Those in deep leagues likely had no choice due to the lack of depth on the wire at second base, so they never had to make the tough decision to let him go, but in 10- and 12-teamers, there are only so many times you can let a guy like Chase Meidroth or Bryson Stott or Ezequiel Duran or Nick Gonzales pass by early in the summer before you take a chance. Don’t beat yourself up about it.

• If you’re in a points league, drop Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the bottom tier. Seriously. His game is horrible for that format as he doesn’t put a lot of balls in play and a large chunk of his category value comes from stolen bases. That said, in category leagues, his slumps are frustrating but the end result continues to be a surprisngly useful player, especially with his dual-eligibility at second and third.
• Luis García Jr. has not been able to recreate his magic from his days in a Nats jersey, and while I don’t think you should drop him yet, I do see why some fo you want to.

 

Tier 9 

 

• Jac Caglianone has improved the strikeout rate in a huge way, and the ground ball rate is below 50%. All systems are GO.
• Alex Bregman has five home runs this month and might be making up for all of the lost time earlier this season. His 15-game rolling xwOBA is up over 100 points from the low water mark we saw towards the end of July.
• Isaac Paredes is not providing a ton of results right now, though there aren’t many third basemen on the wire in the leagues I’ve seen that woudl warrant a change.
• It was good to see Josh Naylor break out of his home run slump with a two-dinger day and also return to play after that wrist injury.
• The results for Corey Seager since coming off the IL aren’t going to blow you away, but a .279/.340/.465 line ain’t too shabby, and the batted ball data looks pretty good. If his health can stay strong, Seager could shoot up these ranks in no time.
• Xavier Edwards hasn’t produced much at all lately, both because he’s not hitting well and because his team is not hitting well. He also has yet to steal a base in August.

 

Tier 10

At this point in the ranks, you can start considering aggressive adds/drops based on need and situation in shallow/standard-size 10-12 team leagues, especially in the outfield. 

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a home run! He also has a six-game hitting streak going, though it comes with just two RBI. Now the question is whether he gets to 10 steals or 10 home runs first. I mean, it HAS to be the latter, right? RIGHT?!
• Welcome back Zack Gelof! He’s dynamite at home, but the skills behind the performance this season are far less exciting.
• Ivan Herrera looks like a man possessed over the last 10 days, though a lot of his fantasy value is coming from a huge number of runs scored (eight in his last six games). Those counting stats will likely fade away a bit, but the hard contact is back and that’s a fntastic sign.
• Jo Adell is taking walks and hits near the middle of the lineup, though his power upside remains capped in Cleveland.

 

Tier 11

There is an average net gain of +13 for most of this tier. 

• Trent Grisham is back to his hitting ways and leading off most days for the Yankees, which is always a good way to move up above most outfield streamers.
• Austin Riley continues to hit the ball hard, though the plate discipline leaves a lot to be desired and he’s been pushed down in the order a bit. If he cleans up those strikeouts, he could be a beast for your playoff run, but if he doesn’t, you may end up cutting him again.
• Teoscar Hernández’s opportunity is insanely good so it’s hard to completely let him go, but yeesh has he looked awful of late.
• Welcome back, Adley Rutschman! You never know how much a right-handed bat will try to adjust to the Green Monster in Boston, but if he tried, I’m sure Adley could be a doubles machine.
• It’s a huge dip for Antonacci as I had held him higher hoping his hit tool woudl lead him out of the dark woods of his current slump, but instead, he’s lost some playing time. Being a second basemen is his saving grace, though if you need to ride a hot hand, there are some in this tier, like Jackson Holliday, who you could stream instead. If Antonacci returns to his hitting ways, he’d fly up much more quickly than Holliday, which is why he ranks higher, but you may not be interested in playing the long game and that’s OK.
• Nasim Nuñez will still steal lots of bases, but he stopped doing just about anything else that’s helpful.
• Eugenio Suárez is heating up a bit, but there’s also a chance he strikes out 10 times this weekend and goes back to the wire.
• OK, Cam Smith, go ahead, tease me one more time.
• Abuimelec Ortiz is in a platoon, but he appears to have stolen his predecessor’s mojo when he left for the Bronx.
• Joe Mack has better skills than this, but there are enough catchers that you could just stream.
• Bryce Eldridge is getting the ball in the air, but he’s not pulling it much and strikeouts have been an issue. He’s a solid hold in Dynasty, but in redraft, it may take too long to fix these issues.
• Maybe it’s injury, maybe it’s contact ability, maybe it’s both, but Esmerlyn Valdez does not have it right now.
• Jake Burger might just be a power streamer.
• Tommy Edman is hitting balls of abysmal quality of late, and while he’s eligible at second base, it’s the only thing about him bringing any value of late.
• Heliot Ramos has a fantastic lineup spot that he is certain to lose soon due to competition and a lack of performance. He’s capable of useful hot streaks, but I’d be letting him go if my trade deadline has passed. If not, I’d be shopping him as a buy low pointing out his great lineup position and hope someone takes the bait.

 

Rank	Hitter	Team	Position	Change
1	Shohei OhtaniT1	LAD	DH	-
2	Yordan Alvarez	HOU	OF	-
3	Pete Crow-Armstrong T2	CHC	OF	-
4	José Ramírez	CLE	3B	-
5	Junior Caminero	TB	3B	+3
6	Ben Rice	NYY	C, 1B	-
7	Drake Baldwin	ATL	C	-
8	CJ Abrams	WSH	SS	+2
9	Bobby Witt Jr.	KC	SS	-
10	Matt Olson	ATL	1B	+1
11	Elly De La Cruz T3	CIN	SS	-6
12	Hunter Goodman	COL	C	-
13	Corbin Carroll	ARI	OF	-
14	Jordan Walker	STL	OF	-
15	Jackson Chourio	MIL	OF	-
16	Brice Turang	MIL	2B	-
17	Francisco Lindor	NYM	SS	-
18	Randy Arozarena T4	SEA	OF	-
19	Kyle Schwarber	PHI	OF	+2
20	Ronald Acuña Jr.	ATL	OF	-1
21	Fernando Tatis Jr.	SD	OF	+6
22	Pete Alonso	BAL	1B	-
23	Dillon Dingler	DET	C	-3
24	Alec Burleson	STL	1B, OF	+2
25	Jackson Merrill	SD	OF	+4
26	Bryce Harper	PHI	1B	-3
27	Sal Stewart T5	CIN	1B, 3B	-2
28	Seiya Suzuki	CHC	OF	+6
29	Byron Buxton	MIN	OF	+UR
30	Julio Rodríguez	SEA	OF	+2
31	Willson Contreras	BOS	1B	-7
32	Trea Turner	PHI	SS	+4
33	Michael Harris II	ATL	OF	-2
34	Manny Machado	SD	3B	-1
35	Ceddanne Rafaela T6	BOS	2B, OF	+4
36	William Contreras	MIL	C	+1
37	Freddie Freeman	LAD	1B	+1
38	Kevin McGonigle	DET	SS	+10
39	Yandy Díaz	TB	1B	+10
40	Miguel Vargas	CHW	1B, 3B	-10
41	Rafael Devers	SF	1B	-6
42	Ketel Marte	ARI	2B	-1
43	Jeremy Peña T7	HOU	SS	-15
44	Brandon Lowe	PIT	2B	+2
45	Wyatt Langford	TEX	OF	-3
46	Wilyer Abreu	BOS	OF	+9
47	Caleb Durbin	BOS	2B, 3B	+16
48	Jake Bauers	MIL	1B, OF	+2
49	Jonathan Aranda	TB	1B	+4
50	Munetaka Murakami	CHW	1B, 3B	-6
51	Jake McCarthy	COL	OF	+7
52	Luis Arraez	PHI	1B, 2B	+4
53	Ozzie Albies	ATL	2B	-1
54	Otto Lopez	MIA	2B, SS	-14
55	Gabriel Moreno	ARI	C	-10
56	Max Muncy	LAD	3B	+1
57	Zach Neto	LAA	SS	+4
58	Nico Hoerner T8	CHC	2B, SS	+20
59	Bryan Reynolds	PIT	OF	-12
60	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	NYY	2B, 3B	-6
61	JJ Wetherholt	STL	2B, SS	-2
62	Royce Lewis	MIN	3B	+8
63	Cole Carrigg	COL	OF	+2
64	Chase DeLauter	CLE	OF	+7
65	Liam Hicks	TB	C, 1B	+2
66	Nick Gonzales	PIT	2B, 3B	+2
67	Brandon Nimmo	TEX	OF	+2
68	Luis García Jr.	NYY	2B	-17
69	Bryson Stott	PHI	2B, SS	+4
70	Andy Pages	LAD	OF	-10
71	Kyle Tucker	LAD	OF	-7
72	Jac Caglianone T9	KC	OF	+23
73	Kazuma Okamoto	TOR	3B	+2
74	Gunnar Henderson	BAL	SS	+2
75	Alex Bregman	CHC	3B	+18
76	Carson Benge	NYM	OF	+1
77	Dansby Swanson	CHC	SS	+2
78	George Springer	TOR	OF	+2
79	Chandler Simpson	TB	OF	+2
80	Isaac Paredes	HOU	3B	-18
81	Corey Seager	TEX	SS	+2
82	Mike Trout	LAA	OF	+6
83	Josh Naylor	SEA	1B	+1
84	Ty France	SD	1B	+1
85	Daylen Lile	WSH	OF	+15
86	Ezequiel Duran	TEX	1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF	-14
87	Mookie Betts	LAD	SS	-1
88	Xavier Edwards	MIA	2B, SS	-22
89	Jung Hoo Lee	SF	OF	+1
90	Brandon Marsh	PHI	OF	+9
91	Steven Kwan	CLE	OF	-
92	Christian Walker	HOU	1B	+2
93	Vladimir Guerrero Jr. T10	TOR	1B	+3
94	Zack Gelof	ATH	2B, 3B, OF	+UR
95	Ivan Herrera	STL	C, DH	+20
96	Chase Meidroth	CHW	2B, SS	+6
97	Bo Bichette	NYM	3B, SS	-
98	Geraldo Perdomo	ARI	SS	+3
99	Salvador Perez	KC	C, 1B	-10
100	Gleyber Torres	DET	2B	-18
101	Tyler Soderstrom	ATH	1B	+5
102	Jacob Wilson	ATH	SS	+8
103	TJ Rumfield	COL	1B, 3B	+9
104	Jo Adell	CLE	OF	+12
105	Colson Montgomery	CHW	SS	-13
106	Ian Happ T11	CHC	OF	+16
107	Trent Grisham	NYY	OF	+32
108	Willi Castro	COL	1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF	+16
109	Kyle Stowers	MIA	1B, OF	+16
110	Austin Riley	ATL	3B	+UR
111	Jarren Duran	BOS	OF	+9
112	Teoscar Hernández	LAD	OF	-38
113	Tyler Stephenson	CIN	C	+UR
114	Carter Jensen	KC	C	-9
115	Dylan Crews	WSH	OF	+14
116	A.J. Ewing	NYM	OF	-13
117	Adley Rutschman	BOS	C	+UR
118	Ryan Jeffers	MIN	C	+14
119	Michael Busch	CHC	1B	-8
120	Christian Yelich	MIL	OF	+13
121	Tim Tawa	ARI	1B, 2B, 3B, OF	+15
122	Jose Altuve	HOU	2B, OF	-4
123	Andruw Monasterio	BOS	1B, 2B	+14
124	Jake Mangum	PIT	OF	+UR
125	Dominic Canzone	SEA	OF	-17
126	Spencer Torkelson	DET	1B	+14
127	Luis Rengifo	SD	2B, 3B	+16
128	Sam Antonacci	CHW	2B, OF	-41
129	Mickey Moniak	COL	OF	+6
130	Cal Raleigh	SEA	C	-13
131	Luke Keaschall	MIN	2B	+15
132	Nasim Nuñez	WSH	2B, SS	-18
133	Eugenio Suárez	CIN	3B	+UR
134	Cam Smith	HOU	OF	+UR
135	Nolan Arenado	ARI	3B	+12
136	Jackson Holliday	BAL	2B	+UR
137	George Lombard Jr.	NYY	SS	+11
138	Abimelec Ortiz	WSH	1B	+UR
139	Joe Mack	MIA	C	-35
140	Bryce Eldridge	SF	1B, DH	-27
141	Esmerlyn Valdez	PIT	OF	-32
142	Max Clark	DET	OF	-
143	Jake Burger	TEX	1B	-45
144	Cole Young	SEA	2B	-25
145	Ernie Clement	TOR	1B, 2B, 3B, SS	-1
146	Garrett Mitchell	MIL	OF	-16
147	Heriberto Hernández	MIA	OF	-26
148	Tommy Edman	LAD	2B, OF	-41
149	Brendan Donovan	SEA	2B, 3B, OF	-4
150	Heliot Ramos	NYY	OF	-27

 

UPDATE: I’ve separated the Taxi Squad and Injured List for my own organization. The Injured List will only focus on players who might actually get ranked on return.

Catcher

• Alejandro Kirk (C, TOR) — Strong plate skills but no longer plays every day so he’s more of a safe streamer than locked-in regular.
• Francisco Alvarez (C, NYM) — Striking out and walking a ton, which limits his value to an OBP streamer at the moment.
• Jonah Heim (C, ATH) — Volume-based streamer, but he’s not hitting much and just moved down to sixth in the order.
• Eduardo Valencia (C, DET) — Needs to play more than twice a week to get my attention.
• Keibert Ruiz (C, WSN) — Hits when he plays, but sometimes that’s only three times a week.
• Rafael Flores Jr. (C, PIT) — Just in case that huge two-homer game excited you, Flores is a power-over-hit guy who might see some extra time with Endy on the shelf. He’s a streaming second catcher for some pop but nothing more.

First Base

• Coby Mayo (1B/3B, BAL) — The power is legit but the strikeouts and inability to deal with sliders are just too much to overcome. Everything else has promise, so if he overcomes even one of these weakness, he could be a breakout candidate.
• Andrew Vaughn (1B, MIL) — Playing more, but you never know when the time will disappear, even when he’s hitting (I mean, he has a 138 wRC+ on the season with amazing discipline and still can’t get a safe role).
• Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE) — I’m out in all formats, even dynasty, until he leaves Cleveland.
• Nolan Schanuel (1B, LAA) — Points league streamer.
• Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B/3B, BAL) — Playing more but not producing much.
• Vinnie Pasquantino (1B, KCR) — Back on the IL with wrist issues and I don’t see a need to keep holding.
• Spencer Steer (1B/2B/OF) — I wouldn’t expect him back until September. If you’ve got a full IL, he might be a drop.
• Josh Bell (1B, MIN) — Heating up a bit again but just a streamer.
• Nathaniel Lowe (1B, CLE) — He’ll produce against righties and sit against lefties.
• Kody Clemens (1B/2B/OF, MIN) — Slashing .172/.226/.310 in his last 22 games and might be sliding down the batting order.

Second Base

• Matt McLain (2B/SS, CIN) — On the IL again.
• Tyler Tolbert (2B/SS/OF, KCR) — Deep league speed streamer who randomly has a big game now and then.
• David Hamilton (2B/3B/SS, MIL) — Speed streamer. Pratt’s injury gives him more playing time.
• Pedro Ramirez (2B/3B, CHC) — Hitting well when he plays, which is not very often.
• Blaze Alexander (2B/3B/SS/OF, BAL) — Finally playing catch but he won’t be back until mid-September.
• Mauricio Dubón (2B/3B/SS/OF, ATL) — Playing time is back up a bit, but he doesn’t do enough to justify in standard-size leagues.
• Cooper Pratt (SS, MIL) — The heat has faded, though the OBP remains solid if you’re in a deep OBP format.
• Travis Bazzana (2B, CLE) — It’s been an up and down season for Bazzana, who is starting to lose time against lefties with Martínez back. Also, after stealing seven bases in his first 10 games, he has just 10 steals in the following 78 games.
• Osleivis Basabe (2B/3B, SFG) — Deep league filler based on volume.
• Vaughn Grissom (1B/2B/3B, LAA) — Once again, everything dried up as quickly as it came on.
• Angel Martínez (2B/OF, CLE) — The bat is hot but he only really plays against lefties and he’s not going to sport a 45.8% line drive rate for very long. Once that rate comes down, so does the production.

Third Base

• Jordan Lawlar (3B/OF, ARI) — Has a home run in back-to-back games on his rehab, but striking out a TON. Sounds like he’ll be back this weekend, but not sure where he fits in the lineup against righties (but he should start against lefties).
• Angel Genao (3B, CLE) — Plenty of hard-hit balls in play, albeit mostly on the ground. Feels like a streamer for now with more upside in points leagues due to his hit tool.

Shortstop

• Anthony Volpe (SS, NYY) — Learning second base, which maybe adds a bit of appeal in deep dynasty leagues.
• Colt Emerson (3B/SS, SEA) — Demoted.
• Kaelen Culpepper (SS, MIN) — Culpepper is off to a slow start and is sitting every third day or so, but can remain an upside stash if you’re looking for lightning in a bottle and can wait to see if that’s what you’ve got.
• Jesús Made (SS, MIL) — Just pointing out that I don’t see Made breaking through in 2026. He hasn’t exactly been a world-beater in triple-A, though his above-average results are an awesome sign for a 19-year-old kid in the high minors.
• Brayan Rocchio (SS, CLE) — As ice cold as it gets.
• Willy Adames (SS, SFG) — Working through a back issue, which will make it tough to reeach 9+ home runs in August for a third consecutive year. Maybe he goes off in September, but that only can happen if I drop him out of the rankings for a few weeks. I DON’T MAKE THE RULES.
• José Caballero (2B/3B/SS/OF, NYY) — Playing time eroded when Lombard came up.

Outfield/DH

• Joc Pederson (OF, TEX) — The king of the streaky lefty platoon guys in 2026. Plenty of hard-hit balls lately but not a lot to show for it.
• Joshua Baez (OF, STL) — Crazy hot in triple-A with a 1.077 OPS in his last 14 games with not-awful plate discipline. There might be a path to some playing time if they move some guys around and demote Prieto or something, but even then, there might be a platoon.
• Dylan Beavers (OF, BAL) — Might be worth a look in deeper OBP formats.
• Lars Nootbaar (OF, ARI) — He’ll get a good opportunity in Arizona, but the skills remain fairly limited.
• Ryan Waldschmidt (OF, ARI) — Playing more, but Lawlar’s return may create a log jam as he’s been playing centerfield in the minors.
• Daulton Varsho (OF, HOU) — Hitting fourth for Houston ain’t bad, but the streakiness will continue to be an issue.
• Taylor Ward (OF, SEA) — You shouldn’t be rostering him outside of deep OBP leagues, and that’s really only for the plate appearances.
• Victor Mesa Jr. (OF, TBR) — Platoon guy with some power upside.
• Trevor Larnach (OF, MIN) — The batted ball quality has cratered.
• Walker Jenkins (OF, MIN) — Hitting extremely well in August (1.063 OPS), and the collapse of Larnach may give him a chance to break through into the major league lineup. Probably the best use of an MiLB roster spot for 2026 redraft as he’d likely get to lead off for the Twins as they try to stay alive and has a better chance of meaningful playing time this season than the rest of the top prospects.
• Henry Bolte (OF, ATH) — Playing every day but the results aren’t overly exciting (though playing a ton of lefties lately has helped).
• Luis Robert Jr. (OF, NYM) — Smacked some dingers over the last week but playing time is spotty and he’s always been streaky.
• Jacob Young (OF, WSN) — Awesome plate discipline of late, but the Nats are a below-average offense so far this month after losing Garcia Jr. to trade and Wood to injury. More of a points league or speed streamer for now.
• Lawrence Butler (OF, ATH) — Plays regularly and streamable at home, but has a .504 OPS on the road.
• Zac Veen (OF, COL) — Plenty of upside after turning his life around and posting solid numbers at triple-A, but the opportunity is a bit limited at the moment.
• Luis Lara (OF, MIL) — Hoped he could turn that hot streak into something more, but it never materialized.
• JJ Bleday (OF, CIN) — Still hits third, still swings really hard, still has great plate discipline, but the results just aren’t there and outfield is too deep to keep holding on outside of 15-team formats.