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Hitter fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts, draft values for 2026. Target these cheap later-round hitter values who can have league-winning upside in 2026.
Opening Day kicks off on Wednesday night, giving managers only a little bit left to draft their fantasy baseball teams. At RotoBaller, we provided later-round fantasy baseball draft sleepers by position and have five late-round values that could smash their ADPs. Below you will find a few of our favorite late-round fantasy baseball hitter sleepers and values -- cheap later-round draft value picks for 2026 fantasy baseball drafts. And in case you missed it, you can also check out our previously published middle-round draft values and targets series broken down by position.
Today, we look at hitters such as Chase DeLauter, Carson Benge, Addison Barger, Jonathan Aranda, and Josh Jung who potentially have late-round steals. Are their ADPs undervalued? Will these hitters provide a big return on their draft day cost? The later rounds are where you can shoot for the moon and select players with league-winning upside, take a chance on an injured star, or even an emerging top prospect. Below are some late-round options who could pay off and be a tremendous value.
The five fantasy baseball hitter outlooks for 2026 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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Cheap Later-Round Hitters With Upside
Chase DeLauter, OF, Cleveland Guardians
It felt like deja vu for Chase DeLauter last season as he yet again flashed his notable upside in between multiple trips to the IL. In just 42 games, DeLauter slashed .264/.379/.473 with eight doubles, seven home runs, and as many walks as strikeouts (24). Under the hood is even more impressive. On top of his 15.8% walk and 15.8% strikeout rates, DeLauter recorded a 83.3% zone contact rate, 81.1% overall contact rate, 51.9% hard-hit rate, and a 12.5% barrel rate.
I know it’s just Spring Training but Chase DeLauter having these exit velocities paired with a 95.3% zone contact rate is absurd. pic.twitter.com/7YaP83tyMd
— Zach (@PhenoMVP) March 23, 2026
DeLauter has a blend of contact, approach, and power that few prospects can match or exceed, and even though he didn't run much last season, there's above-average speed here as well. It all boils down to the health and how many plate appearances DeLauter can rack up this season. If the health is there, DeLauter could wind up as one of the most valuable fantasy rookies of the 2026 season.
-- Eric Cross - RotoBaller
Carson Benge, OF, New York Mets
When discussing Top-25 prospects, Carson Benge's name rarely gets brought up. That's a mistake. While there aren't any loud tools in Benge's profile, he brings a well-rounded offensive skillset with no notable red flags. In 116 games across three levels last season, Benge slashed .281/.385/.472 with 15 home runs, 22 steals, and a 150 wRC+. There were some rumblings that he was going to debut last September, but those never came to fruition.
Carson Benge will be the Mets Opening Day right fielder 👏
MLB's No. 16 prospect hit .366 with an .874 OPS this Spring Training & will debut after having just 90 Triple-A at-bats 👀 pic.twitter.com/H80GJpeWDs
— MLB (@MLB) March 23, 2026
Under the hood, Benge recorded an 80% contact rate, 13.1% walk rate, and 17.7% strikeout rate last season while flashing his above-average power with a 52.8% hard-hit rate in Triple-A. It still remains to be seen if Benge will get a chance to start regularly for the Mets early this season, but if he does, Benge has the profile to provide solid five-category production.
-- Eric Cross - RotoBaller
Addison Barger, 3B/OF, Toronto Blue Jays
Given where his ADP is, it appears that Toronto Blue Jays infielder Addison Barger's 2025 season flew slightly under the radar. In 502 plate appearances, Barger racked up 32 doubles and 21 home runs with 74 RBI, 61 runs scored, and a .243/.301/.454. Sure, that doesn't blow you away, but the metrics hint at further success in 2026, primarily in the power department. Barger recorded an impressive 11.4% barrel rate, 91.7 mph AVG EV, and a 51% hard-hit rate last season, the last two of which ranked in the Top-15 percent of hitters along with his 93rd percentile bat speed.
Barger also hit the ball at ideal angles, specifically his 43.7% air rate and 21.1% pull air rate. A 30-homer season in 2026 shouldn't be out of the question, as well as a higher batting average, as Barger's contact rates were around league average. He's a great redraft target with his ADP sitting around pick 200.
-- Eric Cross - RotoBaller
Josh Jung, 3B, Texas Rangers
Despite a spell on the injured list (IL) and a midseason demotion to the Minors, Josh Jung still played a career high 131 MLB games in 2025. Jung landed on the IL in March but returned soon after. His struggles led to a July trip to Triple-A, at which point Jung had a .237/.283/.366 slash line and 82 wRC+ (75 games). After returning to the Rangers, Jung hit .271/.308/.424 with a 104 wRC+ over the remainder of 2025 (56 games). The most promising part of Jung's season was the lack of time he spent injured. Having played just 168 games over the previous two seasons, Jung needed to prove he can stay healthy over a full season.
The wrist issues he dealt with in 2024 didn't sideline Jung last year, and the short IL stint to start the season was due to neck spasms. After showing off his potential in 2023, it's fair to believe the wrist issues have set Jung back in his career. Last year may have been the first step towards reestablishing himself as a solid fantasy option. If he's able to stay healthy and build on last year's second half, Jung could still become the star he hinted at becoming after 2023.
-- Jamie Steed - RotoBaller
Jonathan Aranda, 1B, Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda enjoyed a breakout 2025, slashing .316/.393/.489 with 14 homers in 422 PAs. Those numbers were largely predicated on a .409 BABIP backed by an unsustainable 25.9 LD% (20.6 career), so fantasy managers shouldn't expect a repeat. Aranda doesn't have an MLB-level steal and is unlikely to slug 20+ homers, limiting his fantasy juice. The Rays aggressively platooned Aranda last year, limiting him to 98 PAs against southpaws. He didn't fare too badly in that sample (.274/.378/.345 with a homer), but Tampa Bay is notorious for lineup optimizations and might limit Aranda's exposure to lefties again.
The Rays also return to Tropicana Field this season, a stadium that has historically skewed pitcher-friendly after spending 2025 in a minor league park. He lost eligibility after not appearing in a single game at 2B in 2025. On the bright side, Aranda projects in the middle of Tampa Bay's order and should improve on last season's 25.4 K% given his 29.7 percent chase rate and 11 SwStr%. Aranda is best seen as a volume play with platoon risk who should help with average, runs, and RBI, making his 184 ADP in March a fair value.
-- Rick Lucks - RotoBaller
Who Should I Draft Fantasy Baseball 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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