Early 2026 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 20 at shortstop depicts a ton of early-round talent to parse through

Now we're getting to the good stuff.

The talent tends to congregate at shortstop, where no fewer than five players figure to be drafted in the first two rounds next year and fully 15 players would be surefire starters at most any other position. I'm not even counting Colson Montgomery, who homered 21 times in less than half a season as a rookie, nor Jacob Wilson, who hit .311.

• Early rankings: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP

It has so many high-impact players for Fantasy that there comes a point when they're simply unrankable. Sure, Bobby Witt belongs at the top, but how am I supposed to sort out Zachary Neto, Jeremy Pena, Bo Bichette, C.J. Abrams and Corey Seager? The correct order is less about them than you, namely what categories you need filled and how risk-averse you are. And if your format is Head-to-Head points, you're left to play hunches.

While it may be replete with high-end talent, shortstop has a high barrier to entry and can thin out quickly in leagues that require teams to draft multiple. Among those losing eligibility there in 2026 are Oneil Cruz, Nico Hoerner, Jackson Holliday, Ceddanne Rafaela, Matt McLain and Bryson Stott.

Note that the focus here is standard 5x5 scoring (such as Rotisserie leagues), but scroll a little further, and you'll see my rankings for points leagues.  

Top 20 shortstops for 2026

1	Bobby Witt Kansas City Royals SS
Witt's home run production slipped in 2025, taking him out of consideration to go No. 1 overall, but there's nothing in the underlying numbers to suggest it's a long-term concern. He's still as safe of a bet as anyone on the draft board to contribute plus production across all 5x5 categories and the obvious choice to be drafted first at this star-studded position.
2	Elly De La Cruz Cincinnati Reds SS
De La Cruz cut down his strikeout rate in 2025 and seemed to be making a leap as a hitter until the final two months, when his batting average and home run output both cratered. Even presuming it was a blip brought about by him playing through a quad injury, he's probably more like a 40-steal guy than a 60-steal guy thanks to the influence of manager Terry Francona, making him a borderline first-rounder rather than a decisive one.
3	Francisco Lindor New York Mets SS
Another borderline first-rounder is Lindor, who gets the edge over De La Cruz in Head-to-Head points leagues because of his superior strikeout rate and is as bankable as they come after what was more or less his third straight 30/30 season (technically just 29 steals in 2024, but close enough). He had a rough couple months while playing through a fractured pinky toe midseason, but he came back around once it healed.
4	Gunnar Henderson Baltimore Orioles SS
It seemed like nothing could slow Henderson's rise to stardom, but then came a humbling 2025 in which his home run output was more than halved. Nothing else was too out of whack for him -- and in fact, he set a new high with 30 stolen bases -- so the power slippage may have been the byproduct of a preseason intercostal strain. Given his youth, pedigree and lack of any obvious red flag, I'm ranking him for a rebound.
5	Trea Turner Philadelphia Phillies SS
Turner's 36 steals were his most in seven years, and he won a batting title for the second time. Clearly, he's still an impactful Fantasy player at age 32. While his power output is a little substandard for this range of the rankings and he's unlikely to make it through a season totally unscathed, a second-round pick still seems appropriate, particularly in 5x5 leagues.
6	Mookie Betts Los Angeles Dodgers SS
If you tuned out of the 2025 season early, then you missed the great sigh of relief that was Betts' final 47 games, seeing him pick up a couple extra miles per hour of exit velocity while slashing .317/.376/.516. It's possible that the strong finish is masking legitimate decline for the 33-year-old, but given his long history of excellence, it's more likely that he just needed some time to regain his strength after a lengthy illness just prior to the season.
7	Geraldo Perdomo Arizona Diamondbacks SS
Arguably the most difficult player to rank for 2026, Perdomo placed third among shortstops in 5x5 scoring and first in Head-to-Head points with an out-of-nowhere breakthrough that saw him more than triple his previous high in home runs. The expected stats back up the performance, which just got better and better as the year went along, but the skill indicators (raw power and speed) are so lacking here that I have to think he'll give something back.
8	Zachary Neto Los Angeles Angels SS
If not for a couple of IL stints, Neto would have given shortstop another 30/30 man to go with Francisco Lindor, and since some people approach Fantasy Baseball as if those are the only two contributions that matter, you may see him elevated beyond this point in some drafts. But he'll struggle to keep the batting average respectable and may fall short in runs (because of his poor on-base skills) and RBI (because of his questionable supporting cast).
9	Bo Bichette Toronto Blue Jays SS
Bichette predictably returned to form after an injury-plagued 2024 and is pretty much a lock for a .300-plus batting average and .800-plus OPS, even as he tests free agency this offseason. You won't find a safer bet for batting average at shortstop, but because Bichette no longer steals bases and is no better than a B-minus for power, he's decidedly second tier overall.
10	Jeremy Pena Houston Astros SS
Pena already had a sturdy foundation as an athletic player with quality bat-to-ball skills, but by angling the ball better in 2025, he managed to improve his power output, which, in turn, improved his batting average. His walk rate is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Geraldo Perdomo's, which greatly limits his run-scoring potential even if he continues to bat leadoff, but he should project similarly to Perdomo in the other five categories.
11	C.J. Abrams Washington Nationals SS
For the second straight year, what appeared to be a breakthrough season for Abrams ultimately met with disaster, seeing him hit .217 with a .633 OPS in the second half. While that next leap may still yet come, seeing as he only recently turned 25, his final stat line the past three years has held pretty steady. Do you want Jeremy Pena, or do you want 10 more steals and a batting average 30-50 points lower?
12	Corey Seager Texas Rangers SS
Shortstop has developed enough Fantasy standouts that it's getting harder to see the glass half full with Seager, particularly since he's a nothing for steals at a position where you'd like to secure some. That's not such an issue in Head-to-Head points leagues, where he ranks four spots higher, but even there, the all-too-frequent injuries could really put you in a bind. Only once in the past five years has he lasted even 125 games.
13	Trevor Story Boston Red Sox SS
To remind you how abruptly the "games played" tally could change, though, look no further than Story, who equaled a career high with 157 after averaging just 54 in his first three years with the Red Sox. The resulting production, while not quite like his heyday in Colorado, was not so dissimilar to Zachary Neto. Story isn't as bankable, though, particularly with him expected to opt out and test free agency.
14	Willy Adames San Francisco Giants SS
Concerns about Adames leaving Milwaukee for San Francisco seemed to be validated after the first couple months, but a midseason rally brought his numbers more or less in line with where they were during his first two years in Milwaukee. So in the end, his 2025 was less a disappointment than his 2024 was an aberration, and you should continue to expect about a .230 batting average with 25-30 homers annually.
15	Dansby Swanson Chicago Cubs SS
Swanson is about as vanilla of a pick as you could make at shortstop, reliably delivering the sort of numbers that won't win you the league but certainly won't lose it for you either. I'm talking about a batting average in the .240-.250 range, 20-plus homers, 15-plus steals, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 runs and RBI. There's no greater testament to shortstop's depth than having such a player rank only 15th.
16	Jacob Wilson Athletics SS
Putting bat to ball consistently isn't normally enough to produce a high batting average in the modern game, not with a Baseball Savant page as blue as Wilson's, but his one weird trick is that he scrapes out just enough home runs to give that high contact rate teeth. He still needs more vetting in the majors, of course, but if you think of him as a more useful but also more volatile Luis Arraez, you're on the right track.
17	Colson Montgomery Chicago White Sox SS
After being eaten alive by strikeouts during a tumultuous two years at Triple-A, Montgomery arrived midseason with a home run binge that never really abated, seeing him go deep 21 times in just 71 games. The implied upside isn't unfounded and should certainly command your attention on Draft Day, but Montgomery was performing a bit of a tight-rope walk between his inflated strikeout rate and pull-air tendencies. It wouldn't be shocking for his batting average to dip below .200.
18	Xavier Edwards Miami Marlins 2B
Edwards is the first multi-eligible shortstop featured here, and as such, he'll more likely be drafted to man second base, where he ranks 15th for me. The versatility could be of some use in deeper leagues, though, and he'll also be a handy pickup in builds where you've neglected batting average and stolen bases (though he's more good than great at both).
19	Xander Bogaerts San Diego Padres SS
Now only a shortstop (and a pretty good one thanks to a change in defensive approach), Bogaerts is less useful than when he had second base eligibility, particularly since he's clearly on the downswing offensively. He may have more batting average upside than, say, Otto Lopez, but he's angling for a similar 15-homer, 15-steal outcome.
20	Carlos Correa Houston Astros 3B
Correa ranks only one spot higher at third base, where he's also eligible, which should indicate to you that the talent at shortstop does taper off in deeper-league contexts. It's a toss-up where you'd actually play him in leagues where the question is worth asking, but for however long he's healthy, he should deliver a pretty good batting average with a modest home run total.

What changes in points leagues?

1. Bobby Witt, KC
2. Francisco Lindor, NYM
3. Gunnar Henderson, BAL
4. Elly De La Cruz, CIN
5. Trea Turner, PHI
6. Mookie Betts, LAD
7. Geraldo Perdomo, ARI
8. Corey Seager, TEX
9. Bo Bichette, free agent
10. Jeremy Pena, HOU
11. C.J. Abrams, WAS
12. Zachary Neto, LAA
13. Jacob Wilson, ATH
14. Trevor Story, likely free agent
15. Willy Adames, SF
16. Dansby Swanson, CHC
17. Colson Montgomery, CHW
18. Xavier Edwards, MIA
19. Xander Bogaerts, SD
20. Carlos Correa, HOU