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Who should I draft for fantasy baseball in 2026? Fantasy baseball outlooks for Seiya Suzuki, Ozzie Albies, Kyle Stowers, Devin Williams, Ryan Pepiot, Cole Ragans.
Who Should I Draft? Some common 2026 fantasy baseball draft decisions are regarding players like Seiya Suzuki, Ozzie Albies, Kyle Stowers, Devin Williams, Ryan Pepiot, Cole Ragans. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning teams in 2026. Draft your optimal fantasy baseball teams for 2026. Our free Who Should I Draft? tool will help make your fantasy baseball draft decisions. Compare up to four MLB players, and we tell you who to draft... all free! Make the right decisions.
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Fantasy Baseball Draft Outlooks
Below are some fantasy baseball outlooks written by our MLB team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy baseball analysis and advice on which players to consider drafting in 2026:
Seiya Suzui, OF, Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs designated hitter/outfielder Seiya Suzuki played in 151 games last season, blowing past previous career highs with 32 home runs and 103 RBI in 571 at-bats. As productive a season as it was, he stole 11 fewer bases (five) than in 2024, and his batting average dropped from .283 to .245. The double-digit steals were likely never going to stick, but the significant drop in BA is concerning. The right-handed slugger began 2025 strong, hitting .263 with a .363 wOBA and 136 wRC+ in the first half, however, in the second half, he posted a .213 BA, .310 wOBA, and 100 wRC+.
A closer look, though, reveals that despite a large drop in BA, he actually saw a slight year-over-year improvement in both strikeout rate and contact rate while maintaining a 93rd percentile chase rate to go along with a 95th percentile barrel rate. One reason for the dip could be attributed to an abnormally low BABIP, which was .282 for the season and .252 in the second half, compared to a career BABIP of .347 prior to 2025. Expect a rebound to normalcy in 2026, with an improved BA to go along with solid HR, RBI, and run totals.
The 31-year-old's poor second half appears seared into managers' minds, though, as his current NFBC ADP is around 95 overall, while RotoBaller holds a much more optimistic view, ranking him at 75 overall.
Kyle Stowers, OF, Miami Marlins
Miami Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers, who went undrafted in most leagues last year, was having a full-on breakout season in 2025 before an oblique injury ended his campaign prematurely in mid August. The left-handed slugger finished with a .288-25-73-61-5 line in 457 plate appearances (117 games), which extrapolates out to a .288-33-96-80-7 pace if given 600 PA. Not only that, he hit .364 with a 1.269 OPS in July alone, long after there was plenty of film for opposing pitchers to dissect.
A 98th percentile barrel rate should ensure the power returns in 2026, but the downside of all this production was that it came with a lot of swing and miss, registering a bottom 10th percentile Whiff% (32.5 percent) and K% (27.4 percent), so it could prove challenging to repeat a .288 average this season, although both metrics were showing improvement over his final 39 games after July 1.
RotoBaller ranks the 28-year-old at 111 overall, which makes him look like a value at his current NFBC ADP of 128 overall.
Ozzie Albies, 2B, Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies totaled 157 games played in 2025 despite a broken hamate bone causing him to miss the last week of the season, however, it was a disappointment from a fantasy perspective, and the late-season ailment was a stark reminder of how injury-prone he's become over the last few seasons. The Curacao native was drafted as the fourth second baseman off the board in 2025 drafts, but produced just a .240-16-74-74-14 line with a .295 wOBA and 87 wRC+, which was the third-lowest wRC+ of all qualified second basemen last season.
Part of the dropoff can be attributed to the switch-hitter's ineffectiveness against left-handed pitching, as he came into the season with a .336/.362/.565 slash line, .390 wOBA, and 145 wRC+ against southpaws, but produced just a .277/.296/.412 slash line, .301 wOBA, and 91 wRC+ against them in '25. While the 3x All-Star's power metrics were very low, they were never high to begin with, even in his 33-home run season of 2023, so perhaps he just needs an offseason to reset.
While there is upside potential with Albies, concerns about underperformance and injuries are reflected in both his NFBC ADP and RotoBaller ranking of 162 overall.
Devin Williams, RP, New York Mets
Devin Williams was likely one of the first relief pitchers selected in your league last season after joining the New York Yankees. With the Yankees, Williams was projected to potentially lead the sport in saves, closing for one of the top teams in baseball. However, the former Milwaukee Brewer was one of the major disappointments in fantasy as he finished the season with a high 4.79 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He earned just 18 saves across 62 innings of work. This past winter, Williams inked a three-year deal with their cross-city neighbor, the Mets, and is slated to be their ninth-inning option with Edwin Diaz now in Los Angeles.
While his surface-level statistics are not those of an elite closer, Williams showed some signs of progress down the stretch and appears poised to return to his pre-Yankee form. During his first 44 innings of the season, Williams posted a 5.73 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and a 56:17 K:BB. However, during his final 18 innings, the right-hander logged a strong 2.50 ERA with a 0.89 WHIP. During this stint, he blew only one save and struck out an eye-catching 34 batters.
Overall, he finished the season sporting a 3.02 xERA and a .192 xBA, placing him in the 88th and 96th percentiles, suggesting he was quite unlucky in the first half. Slated to be the go-to closer on a Mets team that projects to be in the Wild Card race, Williams has 25+ save upside with the potential to carry some of the best ratios and strikeout totals at the RP position.
Sitting with an ADP of 66.9 on NFBC since December 1 and going off as the RP9 makes him an intriguing option for an RP1 if you choose to fade the top options. If he can continue to build off his strong finish, Williams has a path to finishing as a top-3 option at the position.
Cole Ragans, SP, Kansas City Royals
Cole Ragans entered 2025 with high expectations, but ultimately fell short with a 4.67 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in an injury-plagued season, during which he made only 13 starts due to a groin injury and a rotator cuff strain. However, the lefty looked impressive in the three starts he made post-shoulder surgery, striking out 22 in 13 innings to close out the season. The high ERA may be the result of some pretty serious bad luck, as Ragans still posted an excellent 2.45 xFIP with an elite 38.1% strikeout rate, which were both massive improvements over his already elite production in 2024. His 14.30 K/9 was actually the highest mark posted in MLB history by a starting pitcher who threw at least 60 innings in a season.
It's not realistic to expect him to match that over the course of a full year, but it shows that he's still very much the same pitcher who flashed top-five upside the year prior. The injury history and inflated ERA are keeping his ADP outside of the top 10 starting pitchers, making him an extremely high-upside pick at that stage of the draft if you're willing to take on some injury risk.
Ryan Pepiot, SP, Tampa Bay Rays
Ryan Pepiot was solid in 2025, pitching to an 11-12 record with a 3.86 ERA, 3.92 xERA, and 4.07 xFIP over 167 ⅔ innings pitched. His 9 BB% was a little too high for his 24.6 K%, but positive regression should be in store considering his pitch mix. Pepiot's fastball averaged 95.2 mph with a solid spin rate of 2,413 rotations per minute, generating plenty of soft pop-ups (47.9 FB%, 18.8 IFFB%) to support his .258 BABIP (.250 career). The heater also boasted a 10.4 SwStr% and 58.7 Zone%. His change generated a 15.4 SwStr% with decent 46.4 Zone% and 35.1 percent chase rates.
His slider was used like a second fastball with an 11.4 SwStr%, 53.3 Zone%, and 31 percent chase rate, while his cutter was a third fastball with an 11.6 SwStr% and 59.8 Zone%. Pepiot is too much of a strike thrower to repeat that BB%, giving him WHIP upside to go with otherwise mid-rotation ratios. He's a strong value at his 149.25 ADP.
Who Should I Draft Tool
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2026 Player Decisions. Today's focus in on specific players - Seiya Suzuki, Ozzie Albies, Kyle Stowers, Devin Williams, Ryan Pepiot, Cole Ragans. These are some common searches for 2026 fantasy baseball drafts.
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 this. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2026 drafts for Seiya Suzuki, Ozzie Albies, Kyle Stowers, Devin Williams, Ryan Pepiot, Cole Ragans:
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