Fantasy Baseball: Predicting the first two rounds of 2026 drafts; find out where Kyle Schwarber ranks

We've talked a lot about remaining matchups and clutch waiver wire pickups as the season draws to a close.

But they may be moot for you if you're out of it for 2025, as the majority of Fantasy Baseball participants are. How about a little something to look forward to?

The ranking process for a new season can be daunting. Even with the weeks of research that go into it, there's no end to the second-guessing. Now is the time to lay the groundwork, believe it or not.

And this early start has the dual benefit of giving you things to think about, such as ...

• How early should you draft a starting pitcher given that three stand head and shoulders above the rest?
• How much should you value Kyle Schwarber coming off a career season, knowing he'll be losing outfield eligibility?
• How much benefit of the doubt does Ronald Acuna Jr. deserve?
• Does Pete Crow-Armstrong still belong in the first two rounds, or has his poor second half removed him from consideration?

You'll find my initial take for all four of those matters here.

Note that these rankings are for traditional Rotisserie leagues (i.e., 5x5 scoring). I address Head-to-Head points leagues further below. 

Round 1

1	Aaron Judge New York Yankees RF
If the past four years have taught us anything, it's that injuries are the only thing that can bring Judge down. He's the game's premier slugger and on-base guy and isn't far from being the top bet for batting average as well.
2	Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Dodgers DH
A return to pitching has indeed slowed Ohtani's roll as a base-stealer, but on the pantheon of Fantasy Baseball greats, a 50-homer, 20-steal guy doesn't place so far behind a 50-homer, 50-steal guy. His pitching contributions might be enough to nudge him ahead of Judge in daily leagues.
3	Bobby Witt Kansas City Royals SS
The 2025 season represented the first step backward for Witt in his four-year career, particularly with regard to home runs, but nothing in the underlying data would suggest a return to 30 is off the table for the 25-year-old. He's built for Rotisserie leagues, being arguably the safest bet for plus production across all five hitting categories.
4	Juan Soto New York Mets RF
Soto is among the slowest 15 percent of major leaguers, but his work with first base coach Antoine Richardson to improve his technique has turned him into one of the game's premier base-stealers and the first 30/30 man of 2025. Whether he'll remain so eager to steal bases is impossible to say, but the fact he's been one of the biggest underachievers in batting average allows for some tradeoff.
5	Jose Ramirez Cleveland Guardians 3B
There will come a point when Ramirez begins to show his age, but for now, he just keeps getting better and better and remains the surest bet at what's shaping up to be the thinnest position in 2026. He's as much of a five-category threat as Witt, only with less upside in batting average.
6	Ronald Acuna Jr. Atlanta Braves RF
My natural impulse is to rank Acuna lower than this, not knowing if he'll ever make stolen bases a priority again, but there were even bigger questions surrounding him the first time he came back from a torn ACL in 2022. You know what happened the following year, right? Statcast says he's not any slower after his second ACL surgery, so I would be careful not to underestimate him.
7	Kyle Tucker Chicago Cubs RF
For all the ups and downs of Tucker's 2025, which started out great but was plagued by injuries beginning in June, he's going to end up with about his usual numbers, adjusting for time missed. He'll hit the open market this offseason and may be better off getting out of Wrigley Field, where his production suffered.
8	Corbin Carroll Arizona Diamondbacks RF
An improved pull-air rate has helped Carroll unlock more power, and while his stolen bases lagged at first, they've picked up in the second half, positioning him for his first ever 30/30 campaign. That's at the low end of what we can expect from him steals-wise, but the batting average will be nothing special if he continues to sell out for power.
9	Tarik Skubal Detroit Tigers SP
Skubal has now been the game's best pitcher twice over, which makes him about as bankable as you could hope for at a position that's inherently volatile. Three starting pitchers stand out as head and shoulders above the rest, and this marks the point within the hitter ranks where you can no longer overlook that advantage.
10	Garrett Crochet Boston Red Sox SP
Skubal and Crochet are basically 1 and 1A at starting pitcher, so it stands to reason they'd be side by side even with all the positions combined. Skubal places ahead because he's likely to have a slight WHIP advantage and has twice now shown he can handle an ace workload, but Crochet may be a slightly better strikeout pitcher (emphasis on the slight).
11	Julio Rodriguez Seattle Mariners CF
Perhaps there will come a year when Rodriguez doesn't wait until midseason to find his stride, but we've seen this movie enough times to know not to apply his second-half production to his full-season projection. Still, we're talking about a likely 30/30 man whose batting average is no worse than average, though it's worth noting that his poor plate discipline holds him back in points leagues.
12	Elly De La Cruz Cincinnati Reds SS
De La Cruz seemed like he was making exactly the sort of strides we hoped for in the first half of 2025, cutting way down on his strikeouts to make his batting average no longer a liability, but then all production stopped for him in the second half. It likely has to do with a quad issue he's been playing through, but it introduces a sliver of doubt for a player who once seemed like the runaway favorite to lead the majors in steals.

Round 2

13	Paul Skenes Pittsburgh Pirates SP
The last of the starting pitchers worth drafting in the first two rounds (or the first three, for that matter), Skenes doesn't trail Skubal and Crochet in terms of upside but has been coddled by the Pirates, who are more interested in preserving his value than going places with him. The Pirates also make wins harder to come by.
14	Francisco Lindor New York Mets SS
Lindor has now delivered basically the same numbers three years in a row, coming close to 30/30 production with a fine batting average and solid run and RBI totals. He's become sort of a yeoman's pick at this stage of the draft, delivering a studly stat line but one that doesn't allow for much wishcasting.
15	Kyle Schwarber Philadelphia Phillies DH
Schwarber took a turn for the superhuman in 2025, seemingly able to crank out a home run whenever the situation called for it. The result was a career-best performance just as he's entering free agency, and while he'll be forfeiting his outfield eligibility in 2026, he's too much of a monster in three categories to pass up here.
16	Cal Raleigh Seattle Mariners C
Cal Raleigh now holds the single-season records for home runs by a switch-hitter and home runs by a catcher -- and you could argue he was an even bigger standout in stolen bases at the position! It's the sort of historic performance that's unlikely to be repeated, and yet it positions Raleigh as far and away the top catcher in Fantasy, even in spite of his flaws (namely, batting average).
17	Nick Kurtz Athletics 1B
Kurtz raced to the majors so quickly, playing just 33 games in the minors, that a reality check seemed all but certain. It lasted maybe a month before he took over as one of the game's premier mashers, complete with a four-homer game and some of the longest home runs hit by anyone all season. It's all come so easily to the 22-year-old that I'd be afraid to bet against him as the top first baseman in Fantasy, even if the strikeout rate is high.
18	Junior Caminero Tampa Bay Rays 3B
Junior Caminero's exit velocities in the minors were the stuff of legends, but it seemed like he might need some time to figure out how to angle the ball for maximum home run output. Apparently not. There may be some concern of a letdown with the Rays expected to change venues again in 2026, but even so, Caminero is the clear No. 2 at a position where so many of the standard bearers let us down in 2025.
19	Fernando Tatis Jr. San Diego Padres RF
Tatis' Baseball Savant page is still scarlet red, but by now, we should know better than to take it at face value. He just doesn't pull the ball in the air enough to deliver 30-plus homers reliably. Fortunately, he's bounced back as a base-stealer in 2025, and his newly improved plate discipline gives him a nice little bump in points leagues as well.
20	Gunnar Henderson Baltimore Orioles SS
After an impressive rookie season and even better sophomore campaign, Henderson seemed poised to enter the stratosphere this year, but an intercostal strain at the end of spring training seemed to set him on the wrong path. Ultimately, it's just his home runs that are lacking, and nothing in his underlying data set would suggest it's a long-term affliction. The 24-year-old may be a steal here.
21	Trea Turner Philadelphia Phillies SS
Even with a hamstring injury sidelining him late, Turner has delivered his most stolen bases since 2018 and remains a plus for batting average. The margin for error is certainly narrowing as he approaches his mid-30s -- and he may be the low man for home runs among everyone featured here -- but there's no reason to regard him as anything less than a stud.
22	Jackson Chourio Milwaukee Brewers CF
Though it may feel like a disappointment because of the sky-high expectations set for him at the start of the year, Chourio's 2025 has been even better than his 2024 -- and that's despite him missing almost all of August with a strained hamstring. He's about 85 percent of what Julio Rodriguez is as things currently stand, and at age 21, he's still likely to improve upon his modest exit velocities.
23	Jazz Chisholm New York Yankees 2B
Chisholm is entering a contract year, which gives him added incentive to do the thing he's never been able to do: stay healthy. His 2025 stat line isn't so different from Corbin Carroll's, particularly if you adjust for games played, and he may have the most favorable eligibility of any early rounder, qualifying at second and third base.
24	Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto Blue Jays 1B
Guerrero is struggling to measure up in home runs and is now sporting a near 1-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio -- two traits that have him trending toward being more of a Head-to-Head points standout. He's hitting about .350 in the second half, though, and batting average is a category you'll want to address early in 5x5 leagues, such as Rotisserie.

Why not ____________?

Ketel Marte Arizona Diamondbacks 2B

I had every intention of making Marte the No. 1 second baseman -- and he still is in Head-to-Head points -- but because he's just as likely to hit .275 as .295, I had to give the edge to Jazz Chisholm and his stolen bases.

Pete Crow-Armstrong Chicago Cubs CF

Crow-Armstrong is likely to finish as a 30/30 man, but the way he staggered to the finish line isn't going to inspire much confidence. His poor plate discipline does him no favors either.

James Wood Washington Nationals LF

Though it hasn't gotten as much attention as Crow-Armstrong's, Wood's second-half collapse has been just as concerning, marked by a runaway strikeout rate. He still offers first-round upside, though.

C.J. Abrams Washington Nationals SS

Abrams is yet another who seemed destined to rank higher at the midway point, and this is now the second year in a row that he's faded down the stretch. It takes a lot to measure up at shortstop, and he still falls short in batting average and home runs.

Pete Alonso New York Mets 1B

Am I so confident Alonso is better than Rafael Devers, who's now a first baseman for Fantasy purposes? What about Matt Olson or Bryce Harper, provided he stays healthy? I can't fit them all this high, and I see no reason to give Alonso special distinction.

For H2H points

Round 1
1. Aaron Judge, OF, NYY
2. Shohei Ohtani, DH/P, LAD
3. Juan Soto, OF, NYM
4. Jose Ramirez, 3B, CLE
5. Ronald Acuna Jr., OF, ATL
6. Kyle Tucker, OF, free agent
7. Kyle Schwarber, DH, free agent
8. Corbin Carroll, OF, ARI
9. Bobby Witt, SS, KC
10. Tarik Skubal, SP, DET
11. Garrett Crochet, SP, BOS
12. Cal Raleigh, C, SEA
Round 2
13. Paul Skenes, SP, PIT
14. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, TOR
15. Francisco Lindor, SS, NYM
16. Nick Kurtz, 1B, ATH
17. Junior Caminero, 3B, TB
18. Ketel Marte, 2B, ARI
19. Fernando Tatis Jr., OF, SD
20. Julio Rodriguez, OF, SEA
21. Gunnar Henderson, SS, BAL
22. Elly De La Cruz, SS, CIN
23. Jazz Chisholm, 2B/3B, NYY
24. Trea Turner, SS, PHI