Ultimate Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide For 2026 – Who To Draft & When

Welcome to The Ultimate Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide for 2026. It’s our personal draft outline for who to draft and when for your 12-team fantasy baseball leagues, encapsulating all of the player rankings we’ve fine-tuned across the last six months.

In this guide, we’ll outline who we’re targeting in each round, which positions we’re focusing on getting early in the draft, and those on which to wait. All our favorite players are here in one place for each position, with a round-by-round cheat sheet at the end.

Per usual, before we talk about the specific players, we really need to talk about draft philosophy — specifically, 12-team standard league draft philosophy, but much of this also applies to other leagues. We’ve adapted many approaches and refined our strategy over the years, and we found it’s incredibly important to outline how you should navigate your draft at a macro level before we determine who should be on our radar at the micro level, round by round.

For additional resources, we want to direct everyone to our Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit For 2026. This is where you’ll get links to all our rankings, research articles, sleepers, busts, player breakdowns, all for free. If you enjoy this and want to support this little company I started in 2014, consider subscribing to PL Pro, granting access to our incredible Discord, an Auction Draft Calculator, our 2026 Player Projections powered by PLV, a Draft Guide PDF, and our Live Draft Assistant Tool.

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Draft Strategies

There are many tenets of drafting we want to discuss, but if there is one that you take home with you it’s this:

You Are Not Drafting A Best Ball Team

I have hammered this point across articles and podcasts for years now, and it’s for good reason. As we prepare for drafts, we’re overwhelmed with different rankings and projections, from a site awarding “most accurate experts” that are determined from their pre-season rankings and how they played through the entire season (Spoiler alert: Those are best ball rankings, not draft rankings!) to a collection of projections that make you feel comfortable grabbing a pitcher because “he’ll give me a 3.80 ERA” or a hitter on your bench that gives you just enough RBI or Runs to make his spot worthwhile.

This is all a lie.

I’m willing to bet that you won’t be rostering at least 30% of the team you drafted by June 1st. Go back and look at your drafts from previous seasons and you’ll quickly see how few picks panned out in the back half of your draft. You should be drafting in a way that not only expects this but plans around it from the start.

Think of yourself, the astute, smart, dashing fantasy manager. Let’s say it’s the 20th round, and you chose to draft Zac Gallen because the projections say he’s destined for a near 4.00 ERA and 1.25 WHIP this year. But then his first start is against the Dodgers, and you can’t start him then. And then he’s holding a 4.00+ ERA in May, are you still holding him? Is it worth it?

The great news for you is that the waiver wire exists. You don’t have to keep rostering Gallen, and you should have structured your draft with this in mind. This brings us to our next point:

Draft Preparing To Use The Waiver Wire

The waiver wire is a magical place. It’s where seasons are won, your next favorite player has a cozy abode, and it feels like the most glorious mall in America where you can constantly go shopping. I can hear many of you right now “But Nick, it’s so hard to find someone good on the wire!” and to all of you, I want to show you a pair of charts I’ve already featured many times this off-season:

And that’s not even including this rag-tag crew containing many pitchers you were able to grab at specific points of the season for legit value:

The whole goal is to win your league, not leave the draft getting appropriate value for the round you picked them. Grab SPs who are easily identifiable as early drops who also have a ceiling that is far above their draft value. You don’t win leagues being the one who drafted Nick Martinez in 2025, you win them because you took a shot on Kris Bubic instead.

The Frizzle Method is the most important thing I can teach you: take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. In the back half of your drafts, don’t go after boring projection players so you can show your friends that the “draft projects me to win our league.” Those charts expect everyone to have the same players by the end of the year, and we all know that isn’t the case.

Nick, how am I supposed to know which pitcher’s to pick up and when? Well, don’t worry about that one, just read my daily SP Roundup articles that will come out early in the AM every single day of the season. It’s why I do it and you will be able to get many of these arms — you’ll only need 2-3 to win your league!

Now that we’ve established that you want to pick up arms off the waiver wire, it’s important that you draft accordingly. What this means, is you have to set yourself up for a sturdy floor, then feel comfortable taking chances.

The raw number of “foundational” pitchers I want to draft changes each year based on the pool of players, and with a hefty amount of SP depth this season, I find myself drafting SP like this:

• Grab hitters for at least the first five rounds. I’ve extended this to nine rounds and made it work.
• Once pivoting, go hard into SP. Pivot when you feel confident you’ll get at least two of my Top 27 SPs
• Keep going down The List until you have four SPs…maybe five if they fall.
• Go ham once you feel from SP 45 through SP 64.

Once you have those 4-5 arms, take all the fun picks you like, just make sure that we can collectively decide on them early in April — there’s nothing worse than taking a starter late in your draft and realizing he has poor matchups early that make him sit on your bench. You might as well take something that can give you value in those early weeks.

So take your Tatsuya Imai, Cade Horton, Edward Cabrera, Shane Baz, etc. Don’t feel like you need a ratio “rock” with your sixth starter — you already have five others! — and you’ll be able to find one of them on the wire if you really want one during the season.

This Is For Hitters, Too

This plan doesn’t apply just to pitchers. During the season, the two easiest positions to fill in your daily lineups are Outfield (especially in a standard 3 OF league!) and UTIL. That means as you traverse your draft, plan to leave at least one UTIL and one OF spot for the later rounds of the draft. Take a flier on each and plan to search the wire for that one batter who made the changes you like.

Lastly, I want to mention here to play to your personal strength. If you don’t have one, we have all the articles and AMAs to help through the year, but if you’re better at finding hitting in-season, great! Draft accordingly to give yourself the ability to fill those holes.

Other Minor Things To Consider

I’ll just bullet point now, and it mostly stems from that expectation that you’re going to be changing your team through the season.

• Who cares which team is projected to win the season — Yep, I’m saying it again. You’re not in a best ball league!
• Drafting is about a floor you’re comfortable with early, then taking chances late — you can replace the weak spots on the wire if you fall in the back half of the draft
• Know yourself as a manager — I already mentioned this before, but I want to say it again. Are you better at finding hitting on the wire? Are you willing to make the changes each day for platoon bats? Will you have the time to make constant waiver wire swaps through the season? Draft to cover your weaknesses and open yourself up to take advantage of your strengths: For me, that’s a lot of hitting early (my weakness) and relying on the waiver wire for SP (my strength, shocking, I know).
• When in doubt, draft a closer — Many people say “I’ll just get a closer on the wire” and I like to think I’m the same, but man, it’s annoying. When you’re going through your draft and don’t love any options, drafting a closer always helps. I’ve called closers “the currency of fantasy baseball” as every team can use one more guy for saves. You’ll always improve by grabbing a closer.
• Team construction is huge, especially for roto leagues. Look I don’t like punting categories as it puts too much pressure on winning the other categories. Go for “average” in saves and steals if you want, and reach on ADP if you need that one guy for steals at 2B. Who cares about ADP values, winning your league is way better.

And one more time…

You are not drafting a best ball team.

Okay okay, let’s actually move on now.

Who I’m Drafting Round By Round

Draft Outline Primer

H’ok, the real meat of this article. Let’s go over the details of these picks and why I’m choosing who I am:

• This outline is meant for a redraft, 12-teamer 5×5 Roto or H2H league with 23 rounds. It still applies to most variants, but obviously, it’s not a one-size-fits-all.
• In general, the positional eligibility is from Yahoo. Know your league’s settings and adjust accordingly.
• Don’t follow this so rigidly that when Elly De La Cruz falls to the third round, you ignore him, nor do you ignore that you may have to reach an extra round for some of these targets at times.
• Round targets are based on Fantasy Pros’ ADP, which merges NFBC, Yahoo, and CBS data. They are a rough estimation and should give you a general idea of when you should be looking to grab them.
• There are certain players who have round labels well before or after their ADP. Either I want to reach, or I’ve seen them fall consistently and will watch their stock mid-draft.

• These aren’t the only players I’m looking to draft, but they are the ones that I’m hoping fall to the right place.
• I can’t list every player at every position for obvious reasons. You should 100% be reading the player ranking articles from Scott Chu, Rick Graham, and myself that provide detailed reasoning for our affection or skepticism. I’m sorry I can’t answer all comments that ask “Why aren’t you considering [Player]?” or “You forgot [This Player]. He wasn’t forgotten, just not someone I found myself taking either because I liked others at that spot or thought he was going too early.
• “What’s your ideal amount of SPs and Bench bats?” Generally: 9x SP, 3x RP, 1x Hitters in a standard daily league with 4 bench spots, shifting to 8x SP, 2-3x RP, 2-3x Hitters after a few weeks. Why? Getting PAs each day is more important than an extra start as the season progresses, but SPs with full-season value are easier to identify in April and require aggressive bench stashing.
• Consider multi-positional eligibility for your final hitters. It’s for Mondays and Thursdays when teams have days off — you want as many PAs as possible, and multi-positional players can do wonders. Even a 1-for-4 with a Run and RBI can add up plenty across 25+ weeks.

Alright, I think you understand the flow. Get tons of offense early, shift a focus to SP somewhere between rounds 5-9, and find the flow after round 10 for your needs.

Now let’s focus on the specific players to target during your drafts by position and later round-by-round.

Why Don’t You Have [Player] Listed?!

I’m addressing this a second time because I’m wagering you skipped a lot of this article. This is my personal outline of players who I’m targeting. It means there are many I skipped over because they aren’t a good value in my personal view (I’m not a fan of Elly De La Cruz, for example) or is not the position I want to target at that time (early SP and RP, for example).

First Basemen

First base continues to have its mainstays in the early rounds, with established veterans largely making up the top group. Vlad Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso, Bryce Harper, and Matt Olson are joined by Nick Kurtz as the names going in the first 50 picks, and you largely know what you’re getting with each outside of Kurtz. 

After that top group, however, the first base options bring more questions than you might be comfortable with. There are legitimate age, ballpark, or profile questions with the next set of first baseman, ranging from Freddie Freeman to Vinnie Pasquantino. Beyond that, there’s a nice variety of bats that can fill specific needs, but there seems to be more batting average options than power options for second division players. 

I would look to grab one of the top options if possible, making sure you can bank as many counting stats as possible with your primary first baseman. Then, you have more flexibility to take shots at specific skills the later group of first basemen provides. – Nate Schwartz

For detailed analysis on First Basemen, check out Scott Chu’s Hitter Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Baseball.

Second Basemen

Once again, second base is the shallowest position across the board. The two top options, Ketel Marte and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Jr., bring skills worthy of being early picks, but they do have injury concerns. They’ve averaged under 600 plate appearances per season over the last two years (albeit close), giving you great stats for most of the season. Looking beyond the top two, only two other second basemen appear in the top 100 picks: Brice Turang and Maikel Garcia. Their projections are the rosiest of the rest, but that looks like a 20 home run ceiling along with their plus speed and average.

After the top group, it becomes a healthy mix of players that all generally look similar: .250s average with 30 combined home runs and steals. How players get there differs slightly, but they’re all generally in the same projected bucket. There is an opportunity to take shots on skills changes: if you believe in the development of guys like Jackson Holliday or Luke Keaschall, or believe the aging curves for the older names won’t be as harsh as expected.

If you don’t end up with one of the top two names, it’s worth waiting on second base unless you desperately need stolen bases in the middle of the draft. I would target players who will either be in good lineups or in a good place in a lineup, such as Gleyber Torres. Finding hitters that won’t sink you but can also accumulate runs and RBI is a good way ensure that second base isn’t a black hole for you.

In terms of middle infield strategy, second base gets drowned out by the strength of shortstop. That means it won’t be the same lows that second base provides, and gives you ample opportunity to invest in a specific need for a middle infield position. While there are more stolen base options than power options, there’s players like Jorge Polanco late enough that you don’t need to fret over options. Additionally, there’s a decent crop of prospects with 2026 ETAs that are worth taking a shot on, or that we’ll at least get more information about come Spring Training. – Nate Schwartz

For detailed analysis on Second Basemen, check out Scott Chu’s Hitter Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Baseball.

Third Basemen

Third base continues to be a top-heavy position, with significant contributors existing early and cliff earlier than you might realize. José Ramírez is as consistent as always in the first round, and Junior Caminero looks to be an elite power bat for years to come. After that, Jazz Chisholm Jr. still has some durability concerns, and Manny Machado is a stable, but older, stalwart.

The questions come quickly, even early in the draft, about talents being drafted high. Austin Riley, who hasn’t played more than 110 games in either of the last two seasons, is getting lofty projections more akin to his peak. Maikel Garcia is an exciting option, but he is the only stolen base provider in the early middle rounds. The two third basemen who were the talk of the offseason – Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suárez – aren’t getting a ton of love from projections systems, but they still represent solid third basemen. 

There is a significant cliff at third base, with Matt Chapman being roughly the last trustworthy option at the position. That cliff exists around the tenth third baseman off the board, so you want to make sure you have someone solid early enough in the draft. There are some interesting options later that have more than enough potential to overcome the cliff, namely Sal Stewart, Noelvi Marte, Isaac Paredes, and Munetaka Murakami, but these are not names you want to necessarily depend on. The late third base options are more promising than second base, but there’s still a floor that you will not want to be caught at.

The corner infield position has more options than middle infield, with a plethora of platoon hitters appearing later in drafts. In daily formats, these platoon hitters can provide immense value: the projections don’t like them because of lower plate appearance totals, but they’ll post when they are in the lineup. This includes hitters like Max Muncy (who can see now!) or Brett Baty. In weekly leagues, it’s worth finding the everyday corner infielders who have more locked-in everyday roles. Hitters like Christian Walker or Spencer Torkelson can be set it and forget it names, unless there’s a pop-up name who becomes available. – Nate Schwartz

For detailed analysis on Third Basemen, check out Scott Chu’s Hitter Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Baseball.

Shortstops

Shortstop is the strongest position this year in fantasy, providing all sorts of talent deep into the middle rounds of the draft. Despite the strength, only one players is a bonafide first round pick: Bobby Witt Jr.. (maybe Elly de la Cruz for the bold). It’s the second and third rounds that will assuredly be filled with shortstops, with five other names likely to go before pick 30. All of these options, such as Zach Neto, all provide different flavors of the same outcome: five-category outputs that are foundational for any fantasy team.

The other shortstops in the top 100 start to show a diverse range of skillsets, but all still have that potential to be upper-echelon contributors across multiple categories. If you don’t end up with one of the all-around balanced options, there are fun ways to build out your roster with a non-stolen base option like Corey Seager or take a shot on soon to be third basemen Bo Bichette.

While shortstop is known as a position of dynamic athletes and exciting potential, the later names like Trevor Story, Willy Adames, or Dansby Swanson create ample opportunity to bank a healthy mix of home runs and stolen bases from a non-flashy player. 

Beyond the main group of likely starters, the late-round options include some exciting skills that could pay off in a big way. Colson Montgomery’s power is unlike anyone else’s this late for a middle infielder, Xavier Edwards has the potential to be a league leader in steals, and then there’s the group of prospects. Three shortstop prospects could be impact bats in the early months of 2026: JJ Wetherholt, Kevin McGonigle, and Konor Griffin. All possess skills that would make them much more expensive if word got out that they are making an early debut. If you have room to throw them in a bench role, it could pay off very quickly. However, holding prospects too long can be detrimental to necessary early waiver moves.

While grabbing a top shortstop in the first few rounds would be preferred, there will be good options up through the middle of the draft to grab as a starting shortstop. Enough players will post at the position that you can take a chance on an injury-prone name if you want, since there will be good names to take as reserves that could become starters. – Nate Schwartz

For detailed analysis on Shortstops, check out Scott Chu’s Hitter Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Baseball.

Outfielders

The outfield remains steady from last year, with new stars still hovering outside of being first-round worthy. The elite names provide you exactly what you want, and the new blood still leaves question marks among mostly polished players. We saw MVP potential in Pete Crow-Armstrong and James Wood, but they showed harsh reality checks. Wyatt Langford and Roman Anthony also flashed their sky-high potential; however, it’s unclear whether it can fill stat sheets the way people want.

After the names everyone wants, the position thins out quicker than anticipated. Dependable bats fill up the early middle rounds, giving you ample opportunity to fill out your outfield. However, there are likely only 30 outfielders who feel “safe-ish,” which means you need to know what your team needs later.

There aren’t many bulk stolen base options later, so it would be wise to get them earlier if possible, then take shots at plate skills to fill the position. You don’t want to end up empty-handed in the outfield. 

For DH or UT-only players, the options are pretty slim and straightforward: Shohei Ohtani is a top two pick, Kyle Schwarber goes in the first fifteen picks, and then it’s dart throws on positional eligibility like Ivan Herrera or Moisés Ballesteros. For Schwarber, any bit of batting average regression could be a serious flaw for a top pick, but the later UT-only options require spring news to gauge positional eligibility timelines. – Nate Schwartz

For detailed analysis on Outfielders, check out Scott Chu’s Hitter Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Baseball.

Catchers

This is as good as it gets for the catcher position in fantasy. From top of the draft talent to intriguing options throughout the middle rounds, catcher feels deeper than usual. Cal Raleigh’s early second-round ADP is as high as we’ve ever seen a modern catcher go – Buster Posey in 2013 and Joe Mauer in 2010 are the only ones who come close. The quality of bats across upper-echelon catchers is as good as it’s ever been too. According to ZiPS projections, 14 catchers are projected to have a 110 wRC+ or better and play 100 or more games in 2026, the most in ZiPS’ historical projections database. 

After Raleigh at the top, there are a plethora of options in the next tier, allowing you to pick your poison across a variety of hitter archetypes. There are power-specific options in Hunter Goodman or trusty Salvador Perez, or you can chase more all-around profiles in William Contreras or everyone’s favorite breakout, Ben Rice. The positional depth really starts to show around pick 100, where World Series hero Will Smith and NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin aren’t getting the playoff or award tax one might usually get.

Later in the draft, there are intriguing bounce-back candidates and prospects that make the catcher position more exciting than in years past. It creates an interesting proposition for weighing playing time against prospect pedigree. J.T. Realmuto or Adley Rutschman may play every day, but the potential of a Samuel Basallo or Carter Jensen may be more enticing depending on team build.

In one catcher leagues, I think there is significantly more flexibility to grab one of the top ten catchers – a premier option isn’t required, but waiting to be one of the last options might put you in a bind. However, for two catcher leagues, I think it will be important to grab one of the top options and make sure you grab a formidable second catcher as well. The depth of catchers gives you more options, but there is still a significant drop-off around catcher 20ish. Don’t end up empty-handed. – Nate Schwartz

For detailed analysis on Catchers, check out Scott Chu’s Hitter Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Baseball.

Relief Pitchers

With Opening Day quickly approaching, the bullpen landscape remains a beautiful, volatile mess. This offseason’s player movement has flipped several team hierarchies upside down, leaving us with a list of “safe” anchors that is unfortunately thin in 2026. Right now, there are only about eight (maybe nine) closers I’m truly comfortable rostering. Beyond the top tier, the league is a minefield of committees and “if they…” gambles.

If you’re drafting today, especially in Save only Roto formats (not so much in Points or H2H), securing one of those top-tier anchors is no longer a luxury to me; it’s borderline essential. From there, it’s about navigating the Tier 2-3 “if-they” question marks for your second closer/reliever and throwing a late-round dart or two at some high-upside arm. For those in H2H formats, it’s easier to sit back and wait for relievers if you feel comfortable navigating the waiver wire throughout the year and use your top 100 picks on hitters/starters.

We’ll have more clarity as the spring progresses and roles are hashed out, but for now, here’s how they rank.

When building these rankings, I focus on the arm, not the jersey. It’s a common trap to assume that a team’s winning percentage correlates with save and hold chances, but the data consistently tells a different story:

• Last year, the Tigers and Astros won 87 games each and made the postseason, but finished in the bottom third of the league in save opportunities. In 2024, the Phillies had just 56 save chances, fourth lowest in all of baseball despite winning 95 games.
• Sub-.500 teams like the Angels and Diamondbacks finished in the top five for save chances last season. In 2024, the Pirates finished fourth in save chances, while winning just 76 games, and the Rays were third after finishing the year 80-82.

Because bullpen usage is also very fluid, I derive these ranks mainly from bat-missing ability and pure “stuff,” prioritizing things like strikeout-minus-walk rates (K-BB) and pitch metrics (like PLV) over the perceived safety of a role.

As far as this year’s draft strategy goes, in save-only, Roto formats especially (could apply to certain H2H leagues as well), securing one of those top-tier anchors is no longer a luxury…it’s borderline essential. From there, it’s about navigating the Tier 2–3 question marks and throwing a late-round dart at some high-upside arm or two. – Rick Graham

For detailed analysis on Relief Pitchers, check out Rick Graham’s Reliever Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Baseball.

Starting Pitchers

I’ve shared my thoughts aplenty across the last six months, and there is a tried and true method toward targeting SP that leans heavily into the massive pitching depth this season. It can be summarized by putting your trust in both the stability at the top and embracing the value of the waiver wire. This gameplan is rooted by a core set of arms (usually four SP) who are as low risk as possible and will always provide quality when on the mound (and avoid as much injury risk as you can). We want quality volume over potential high strikeout rates with questionable HR and WHIP marks. However, this doesn’t mean we have to grab pitchers in the early rounds. In fact, the floor value gap between early hitters and early pitchers is so wide, it’s in your best interest to draft hitters across the first four rounds, at least. I’ve made this work going no pitchers until the eighth round and absolutely loving my team.

The moment you begin noticing you don’t love any hitters left on the board, we feast. Go ham on SP and grab as many reliable arms as you can find. I’ve found myself grabbing a combination of Shohei Ohtani (SP), Joe Ryan, and/or Kyle Bradish as my first two starters, with some Nick Pivetta, Eury Pivetta, Ryan Pepiot, Drew Rasmussen, Cam Schlittler, Michael King, Tatsuya Imai, Cade Horton, Bubba Chandler, Trevor Rogers, Edward Cabrera, Aaron Nola, Shane McClanahan, Bryce Miller, and I could go on. These values are ridiculous, and I’m leaking into the mid-to-late rounds with some of these pitchers and it boggles my mind. After those trustworthy arms are off the board (usually around SP 45 or so), return back to closers/hitters and fill the holes you need.

It’s important that you don’t jump too quickly at filling up your bench with SP despite many exciting ones likely still remaining on the board – just because that guy you love may be taken, I guarantee you’ll find a fantastic value arm in the later rounds who you’ll like. Ensure that your fifth and/or sixth SP is not a HIPSTER, and instead is someone you’re confident will provide early season value. Examples include (and not limited to) Ryan Weathers, Shane Baz, MacKenzie Gore, and Emmet Sheehan. I also suggest targeting one IL stash post pick 175 – Cole, Wheeler, Rodón, Jones – and then fill up your SP with pitchers you feel confident starting for at least their first outing. Guys like Cameron, Nelson, Gallen, Eflin, Roupp, Mahle, Weiss, Ponce, etc.

If SP is drying up early, don’t hesitate to an SP who is a binary decision before the season starts. For example, Logan Henderson, Mick Abel, Justin Wrobleski, two pitchers who have value if they are in the rotation and easy drops if they aren’t And finally, if it’s your game to get SP early, then go ahead. Do your thing. Play to your personal strengths – mine is waiting on SP and preparing a rotation that is ready to snipe quality pitchers who showcase something new early in the year (follow my SP Roundup article in season to be in the know!) – and if you’re confident in finding hitter value off the wire, then lean harder into SP. Good luck! I’ll be updating my Top 100 SP rankings every Monday in season, with regular updates across March before the season begins. – Nick Pollack

Follow along easily with Nick’s Latest Starting Pitcher Rankings 

All Targets Round By Round Cheat Sheet

I made this handy chart for you to reference through your draft:

And here is one giant table of all players by round and position listed.

Bonus For PL+ and PL Pro Members

PL+ and PL Pro members get access directly to the Excel sheet that I will be updating moving forward given player injuries and news. You can find it in pinned inside the #fantasy-help channel.

Get 15% off PL Pro Yearly with promo code DRAFTGUIDE26 – Sign up here

Good luck! Here’s to a fun 2026 season ahead.