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Shortstop fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts, values for the middle rounds of 2026 drafts. Discounted SS with upside include Jacob Wilson, Bo Bichette, and more.
RotoBaller's award-winning team continues to create fresh fantasy baseball content to help you crush your upcoming drafts. Today, we provide some of our favorite middle-round shortstop fantasy baseball sleepers, values, and targets with upside for 2026 fantasy baseball drafts. Shortstop is loaded this year, and there are plenty of solid options if you miss out on the first tier.
The middle rounds of the fantasy draft are essential for any fantasy baseball draft, as it's about the time to decide when to select emerging prospects, overlooked veterans, or even players returning from injury. Below are some cheaper shortstop options for you to consider drafting in your season-long leagues this season. Are their ADPs undervalued? Will they make significant fantasy contributions? Read on to see our outlooks for each SS option.
The five SS fantasy baseball outlooks below are meant to give you a taste of the in-depth analysis you receive with our industry-leading 2026 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit. Be sure to save 30% on any MLB Package today to start reading all of our in-depth 2026 player outlooks and many other premium articles and tools, including Team Sync, the Live Draft Sync assistant, Custom Rankings Service, and so much more. Let's win some leagues in 2026!
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Shortstop Fantasy Baseball Draft Values
Trevor Story, SS, Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story is fresh off his best season in a Boston uniform, hitting 25 home runs with 91 runs and 96 RBI. He made American League history by stealing 31 consecutive bases to start the season before finally being (barely) caught on September 17 by Shea Langeliers.
His resurgent year comes after several freak injuries have ruined his time in Boston, with a fractured left shoulder in 2024, an elbow ligament issue in '23, and a hairline fracture in his right wrist back in '22. Even with good health, there's no going back to the bar set by his times at Coors Field, but the naysayers must now find a new slant after this top-25 fantasy season (per Yahoo 5x5 scoring).
13 hitters increased their Exit Velocity 50 (EV50) and average exit velocity on flyballs and line drives (EV on FB/LD) by 3 mph or more in each category in 2025 compared to 2024.
Notables include:
-Brooks Baldwin
-Addison Barger
-Bretty Baty
-Will Benson
-Ben Rice
-Trevor Story… pic.twitter.com/HDnjFixkPF— Corbin (@corbin_young21) February 16, 2026
At 33 years old, we may start to see some decline, but everyone's expectations still appear modest. His sprint speed mirrored his mark in 2021 after a dip in '24, and his average exit velocity was the highest of his career. Story was going late in drafts last year, but now his ADP sits near pick 100.
Is one healthy year in his last four seasons enough for you to hop on board? Early ATC projections have him swatting 20 homers with 23 steals over 139 games, which is 26 more than he was given going into '25.
-- Nick Mariano - RotoBaller
Jacob Wilson, SS, Athletics
Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson had a phenomenal rookie season and was rewarded with a seven-year extension, finishing tied for the second-highest batting average in all of baseball at .311, while registering a .348 wOBA and 121 wRC+. The former first-round draft pick even surprised with 13 home runs despite a sixth percentile barrel rate (2.2 percent), and perhaps could have hit a few more if not for a fractured forearm due to a hit-by-pitch that cost him a month of the season.
Athletics, SS Jacob Wilson reportedly agree to 7-year extension, per multiple reports including MLB's @MartinJGallegos. pic.twitter.com/pQzEVHBjse
— MLB (@MLB) January 30, 2026
The right-handed hitter recorded the second-lowest strikeout rate among qualified hitters last year and, along with a 99th percentile Whiff%, expects him to continue to hit for a high average as he's done for his entire professional career to this point. While that is a plus, the 23-year-old is a good-not-great contributor in the other meaningful fantasy categories, so his price is cheap in drafts.
Think along the lines of a .300-15-70-70-5 season, which has the 2025 All-Star going around pick 165 overall per NFBC ADP, which is a great value considering RotoBaller has him ranked at 143 overall.
-- Jarod Rupp - RotoBaller
Bo Bichette, SS, New York Mets
Shortstop Bo Bichette was one of the top hitters on the open market this season and finally found a suitor in the New York Mets. The Mets inked the star infielder to a three-year, $126 million contract. However, entering 2025, Bichette's fantasy stock was at an all-time low following a disappointing 2024 season. In 2024, Bichette turned in a career-low .225/.277/.322 line with only four home runs and five stolen bases.
However, the 27-year-old quickly got back on track in 2025, which netted him the massive contract. With the Blue Jays, Bichette posted a much higher .311/.357/.483 line with 18 home runs and four stolen bases. Under the hood, Bichette generated a .353 xwOBA (83rd percentile) and a .295 xBA (95th percentile).
Additionally, he posted a career-best 14.5% K%, a stark drop from the 19.1% and 19.0% he held in 2023 and 2024. Even though his move to Citi Field may slightly hinder his upside (as the stadium's overall Park Factor for right-handed hitters is lower than Rogers Centre in Toronto), he will join a top-heavy lineup that will keep his counting stats high. Batting alongside Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, and newly-acquired Luis Robert Jr. gives Bichette the upside to tally a 90+ run and 90+ RBI season.
While he is going off as the No. 12 shortstop in NFBC drafts (102.3 ADP), he will pick up third base eligibility in the opening week as he is slated to cover the hot corner in New York. Even though his speed upside is low, he is a high-end four-category contributor with elite batting-average upside and could see a career-high in counting stats.
-- Andy Smith - RotoBaller
Dansby Swanson, SS, Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson registered the first 20/20 season of his career in 2025, swatting 24 long balls and stealing 20 bases. Despite tallying 77 RBI and 84 runs scored as well, a low .244 batting average and below-average walk rate of 7.3 percent left the former first-overall MLB draft pick with an uninspiring .310 wOBA and 99 wRC+.
While some peripheral numbers indicate things could have been better, including a .269 xBA, .474 xSLG, and .344 xwOBA that all ranked 77th percentile or better, there likely isn't much upside to last year's stats. Even so, the 2x All-Star posted the best barrel and hard-hit rates of his career, and he's got enough speed and baserunning prowess to produce another 20/20 season in 2026.
Although the pick isn't going to be exciting, the 31-year-old provides multi-category production at a reasonable price, with an NFBC ADP of 145, right where RotoBaller ranks him.
-- Jarod Rupp - RotoBaller
Willy Adames, SS, San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames' first year of the seven-year, $182 million contract he signed with the team in December 2024 was something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the shortstop hit 30 home runs (becoming the first Giant to reach that threshold since Barry Bonds in 2004), and provided 94 runs, 87 RBI, and 12 stolen bases.
Unfortunately, that production came along with an abysmal .225 batting average stretched over 686 plate appearances. While that figure was certainly disappointing, it wasn't entirely surprising given his track record (Adames has hit .238 or worse in three of the last four seasons). If fantasy managers can offset Adames' batting average, they can look forward to his contributions in the counting categories in 2026.
Last year marked the third time in the last four seasons that Adames recorded at least 30 HR and 83 runs, and it was his fourth consecutive season with at least 80 RBI. Adames comes in at 122 overall in RotoBaller's early rankings, just behind his NFBC ADP of 118. Adames is a good fallback option at shortstop for fantasy managers who can find a way to offset his weak batting average.
-- Dan Stephens - RotoBaller
Who Should I Draft Tool
Not sure who to draft? Use our free Who Should I Draft tool.
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Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four MLB players at once, and then click the Who To Draft? button to see who the recommended draft picks are based on fantasy baseball rankings, projections and more.
Improvements For Who Should I Draft? We have lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your 2026 fantasy baseball drafts. You'll see MLB player tiles with stats and projections, ADPs, and news -- enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their preseason fantasy baseball rankings and projections based on their research, and update it constantly throughout the preseason. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players that are ranked.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy baseball managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's roto leagues (rotisserie) scoring, or points leagues scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are two small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Draft Searches. Curious to see some tough draft decisions for 2026? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Draft? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at, including recent trending player names who are seeing increases or decreases in their draft values. Click any of the links to see the results and recommendations.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2026 drafts:
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