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Due to a broken hand and ankle sprain, Yordan Alvarez played in just 48 games in 2025. He excelled when healthy but frustrated Fantasy Baseball managers when he was not. Now heading into 2026, his ADP is 31.4. The question needs answering: Is Yordan Alvarez being slept on? Find out the answer to this question and much more in the 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Strategy article.

As always, the outfield is the most loaded and stacked position in baseball. This year, 29 outfielders are in the first 100 picks according to Fantasy Six Pack’s ADP tool. However, the sheer number of players to choose from makes it harder to pick the perfect match. I typically go for the best available, but will occasionally reach for a breakout candidate or a player on the rise.

There are two common strategies for drafting outfielders: drafting a star to hold your position down, then filling the rest of your team out before going back to outfield. For instance, you might draft Kyle Tucker in the second round, then wait until rounds 10 and 11 to select someone like Taylor Ward and Lawrence Butler, who are currently going for good value. This 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Strategy gives you the star to pair well with supplemental pieces.

The second strategy is to wait until the fourth round to select your top outfielder and go from there. This strategy lets you build up at other positions while still getting a potential star outfielder such as Roman Anthony, Wyatt Langford, Riley Green, or Jarren Duran. Whichever 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Strategy you choose, it’s crucial to use ADP pockets to fill your outfield.

2026 Positional Draft Strategy Guides

2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft StrategyIs Yordan Alvarez Being Slept On?

The big question for 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Strategy is Yordan Alvarez. As I mentioned above, Alvarez missed over two-thirds of the season with a broken hand and a sprained ankle. I believe this is steering Fantasy Baseball managers away and causing his ADP to slip to the potential sleeper point. However, when he finally returned to action, he showed up ready to dominate. In 19 games, he slashed .369/.462/.569 with a .200 ISO, .435 wOBA, and 185 wRC+. Then Alvarez suffered what the Astros’ General Manager described as a “freak injury“: a season-ending ankle sprain.

All-in-all, the slugger slashed .273/.367/.430 with a .158 ISO, .338 wOBA, and 118 wRC+ in his combined 48 games of 2025. He smashed 6 home runs and 8 doubles. Not bad, but it is a career-low batting average, slugging percentage, ISO, wOBA, and wRC+.

In 2025, only one hitter met each of the following thresholds (Min. 150 PA)

Avg EV>92.0 MPH
Barrel%>12.0%
Hard Hit%>50%
Z-Contact%>88%
K%<17.0%
BB%>12.0%

Yordan Alvarez is a must-draft at his early 40.8 NFBC ADP#FantasyBaseball pic.twitter.com/sTzLtHcPuP

— Owen Hurd (@Owen_FBB) January 25, 2026

Historical Track Record

Put it all together, and Fantasy Baseball managers have a sour taste in their mouths. However, I think they need to take another bite. Alvarez is one of the best hitters in MLB. His career numbers are insane. Since his MLB debut in 2019, Alvarez is 2nd in OPS (.961), 6th in ISO (.276), 3rd in wOBA (.402), and 2nd in wRC+ (163). On top of this, he ranks 7th in batting average (.297), 4th in on-base percentage (.389), and 3rd in slugging percentage (.573). He is the only player in this span to have fewer than 700 games played but more than 155 home runs.

ProjectionsYearABHHR2BAVGOBPSLGOPS20224701443729.306.406.6131.0192026 Projections4761393227.292.387.556.943

Looking at his 2026 projections, I can see another reason his ADP is not as good as I expected. His projected batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage are all lower than his career averages. This decrease is related to a drop in hits, home runs, and doubles. He also projects to have just 476 at-bats, which amounts to about 135 games.

Answer to Is Yordan Alvarez Being Slept On

Now we can use health as a reason to project him missing games; however, Manager Joe Espada has already said most of Alvarez’s at-bats will come as the designated hitter. Being solely used as the designated hitter will significantly reduce his chances of injury. So if the superstar is projected to miss about 25-30 games but ends up only missing a few, the sky is the limit, and we may have a new challenger for the American League MVP.

My answer to the main question for the 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Strategy is a resounding yes. I believe Alvarez is being slept on in terms of projections and ADP. When healthy (and he is starting the season healthy), Alvarez is a top-5 pure hitter in the game. Alvarez’s ADP is 31.4, but it should be closer to Kyle Schwarber‘s 19.2.

Draft Strategy

The most important part of the 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Strategy is the strategy itself. As I mentioned earlier, there are multiple strategies when drafting outfielders, but no matter which one you use, targeting players in ADP value pockets is crucial. I am going to list a few pockets and who/what you can pair them up with. Remember, the most important rule is to understand your league rules. The next important thing is to use Fantasy Six Pack’s ADP tool, Draft Cheat Sheets, Projections, and Rankings. After understanding your league rules, apply them to these valuable tools and create a personal set of rankings.

For the most part, we have three different types of outfielders: batting average/on-base kings, power hitters, and speedsters. Some do a combined two of these, some even do all three, but everybody has their primary niche. Fantasy Baseball managers can spread these categories out evenly or play heavily into one or two of them. For each ADP pocket, I will try to list one player for each category. This will help you decide whether to stack a category or spread it out. I will only be analyzing picks after 24.

Tier 1 Picks 29-35: Yordan Alvarez (AVG/Power), Pete Crow-Armstrong (Power/Speed), James Wood (AVG/Power/Speed)

Tier 2 Picks 50-65: Roman Anthony (AVG/Power), Riley Greene (AVG/Power), Wyatt Langford (AVG/Power/Speed), Cody Bellinger (AVG/Power)

Tier 3 Picks 73-86: Maikel Garcia (AVG/Speed), Tyler Soderstrom (Power), Seiya Suzuki (AVG/Power)

Tier 4 Picks 125-138: Brandon Nimmo (AVG/Power), Taylor Ward (Power), Jo Adell (Power), Lawrence Butler (Power/Speed), Andy Pages (Power)

Tier 5 Picks 148-168: Noelvi Marte (AVG/Power/Speed), Ian Happ (OBP/Power), Steven Kwan (AVG/Speed), Mike Trout (Power), Chandler Simpson (AVG/Speed), Jurickson Profar (Power)

Tier 6 Picks 203-216: Addison Barger (Power), Daulton Varsho (Power), Giancarlo Stanton (Power)

Tier 7 Picks 224-241: Sal Frelick (AVG/Speed), Jose Caballero (Speed), Anthony Santander (Power), Mickey Moniak (AVG/Power), Heliot Ramos (AVG/Power), Kerry Carpenter (AVG/Power), Jac Caglianone (Power)

Tier 8 Picks 250-294: Daylen Lile (AVG/Speed), Wilyer Abreu (Power), Brendan Donovan (AVG), Jung Hoo Lee (AVG), Evan Carter (Speed), Cedric Mullins (Speed)

Tier 9 300 and beyond: Victor Scott II (Speed), Justin Crawford (AVG/Speed),

Possible Combinations

Take it all in, I know it’s a lot of players. Keep in mind, this isn’t every single outfielder available; these are my favorites. Most have a proven track record or some prospect pedigree to base their future success on. These are also not my overall rankings, or tiered rankings, but strictly based on ADP. If you build some combination of these guys for your outfield, you will have a successful season.

For the 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Strategy, we want to think about those tiers above. And then do our best to make combinations that make sense and will provide your team with not only a high floor but a high ceiling. I tend to go with a diverse spread of categories. If Alvarez is my first outfielder selected, then I want to ensure I pair him with at least one speedy outfielder. If Crow-Armstrong is my first, then I want a high-average outfielder.

That’s my strategy, but some like to go heavy in one or two categories. For example, Alvarez, Anthony, Trout, and Barger could be an all-power lineup.

Players on the RiseAddison Barger, Toronto Blue Jays

ADDISON BARGER
PINCH-HIT
GRAND SLAM#WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/REg58MNosp

— MLB (@MLB) October 25, 2025

Barger enjoyed a sneaky breakout in his second MLB season. Slashing .243/.301/.454 eith a .211 ISO, .322 wOBA, and 107 wRC+. He smashed 21 home runs and 32 doubles, in addition to scoring 61 runs and 74 RBI.

Despite the breakout, his ADP is 203.6. This ADP ranks behind Dylan Crews, Bryan Reynolds, Brenton Doyle, Chandler Simpson, and Steven Kwan. The only player I’d consider drafting over Barger in this tier would be Kwan. However, that mainly depends on what I’m looking for at that draft spot. Kwan will provide a better batting average and on-base percentage, while Barger will provide the slugging and RBI.

The biggest knock on Barger is the ability to hit versus lefties. He slashed .217/.270/.337 against them in 2025. However, Barger played well against lefties in the World Series last year. His biggest was a grand slam off Anthony Banda in game 1. He hit a single off Justin Wrobleski in game 3. Then hit two singles and walked off Blake Snell in game 5, and recorded a 9-pitch walk against Snell in game 7.

He showed great promise and typically got the best of the Dodgers’ left-handers in the series. Overall recording a .367/.441/.583 triple slash in the postseason, including three home runs and four doubles. His ADP may be 203.6, but anything after 150 is fair game to select him.

Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals

The 2025 Utility Silver Slugger winner is on the rise in St. Louis. Burleson is heading into 2026 with a set position for the first time in his career. Typically playing some combo of first base, outfield, and designated hitter, he is now going to be the Cardinals’ everyday first baseman. With the Cardinals’ current state of affairs, Burleson is now the best player on the team, and if he remains healthy, he will start in at least 150 games, if not all 162.

To earn the Silver Slugger, Burleson slashed .290/.343/.459 with a 124 wRC+. In 139 games, he hit 18 home runs, 26 doubles, scored 54 runs, and had 69 RBI.

Overall, Burleson has great contact and above-average power. He should be in line for another good year. I project 20+ home runs, 25+ doubles, 70+ runs, and 70+ RBI. However, his ceiling is 30+ home runs and 30+ doubles, all posting a batting average above .275.

Jac Caglianone, Kansas City Royals

I’m a big fan of Caglianone, so I wanted to include him here; however, Joe Bond gives excellent analysis on him in the 2026 Fantasy Baseball First Base Draft Strategy article.

Players on the DeclineMike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

Mike Trout is not playing in the WBC because he was deemed unlikely to be insured early in the process, per @Alden_Gonzalez pic.twitter.com/MQygueZwgZ

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 6, 2026

My least favorite part of any 2026 Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy is highlighting players on the decline. Placing Trout on the declining list almost feels like a formality. He is not the same caliber of player he used to be, especially in terms of speed/stolen bases, and strikeout rate. He, however, still has plenty of pop in his bat. The future MLB Hall-of-Famer hit 26 home runs across 130 games in 2025.

For 2023 and 2024 combined, he had fewer plate appearances than in 2025 but hit more extra-base hits in those two injury-riddled seasons. This decrease caused his slugging percentage to drop from .504 in those years to .439 in 2025.

It’s always possible that Trout can bounceback in a similar fashion to George Springer. I think every baseball fan in the world would love it if that happened, but it just feels unlikely.

Jasson Dominguez, New York Yankees

Let’s be clear: this isn’t to say Dominguez, as a player, is declining. His skills are actually improving, and after a strong 2025, he has a bright future in MLB. However, his Fantasy Baseball redraft value has declined this season. The decline is due to the Yankees’ offseason moves.

The Yankees re-signed Cody Bellinger, Jose Caballero, Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham, and Amed Rosario. All of this combined, and now it’s been reported that Dominguez could begin the season in the minor leagues. I get that the Yankees are trying to win, and having veteran talent and veteran bench players is a good way to do that. But Dominguez has nothing left to prove in the minors. In fact, he’s proved to be a major-league talent and deserving of a spot on the 26-man roster.

The only thing that could increase Dominguez’s value this season is an injury or a trade. Dominguez has a ton of trade value and could snag a hefty return for the team. However, until that happens, his 2026 Fantasy Baseball draft stock is declining.

One Deep SleeperJustin Crawford, Philadelphia Phillies

The 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Draft Strategy would not be complete without highlighting the son of Carl Crawford and the Phillies ‘ first-round pick from 2022. Crawford is likely to be the club’s starting center fielder on opening day. He does need a productive spring training to make it, but everything about the 22-year-old says he is ready. In 112 Triple-A games last year, he slashed .334/.411/.452 with 7 home runs, 23 doubles, 88 runs, 47 RBI, and 46 stolen bases. It’s been three straight seasons of very similar production as well.

Justin Crawford’s career minor league stats:

1,304 AB | 420 H | 70 2B | 17 3B | 19 HR | 177 RBI | 145 SB | 129 BB | 268 K | .322/.385/.446
pic.twitter.com/aDpUpKQcnH

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) February 6, 2026

Heading into 2026, I can see that he has very similar production in the majors. Think Chandler Simpson, but with a little more power and a little less speed. The reason Crawford is a sleeper and Simpson is not? Simpson’s ADP is 163.4. Crawford’s ADP is 315.5. If Crawford impresses in spring training, his ADP will obviously rise. However, as of now, he is the biggest sleeper in the outfield for Fantasy Baseball.

I haven’t even mentioned that he plays for the Phillies and is projected to hit 9th in the order. This spot will put him right in front of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper. He might score 90 runs if he gets on base at a .350 rate.