Mets pitcher Nolan McLean is a strong NL ROY contender, with top-15 fantasy SP upside. Ishika Samant / Getty Images
March 23, 2026 6:05 am EDT
With Opening Day 2026 finally approaching, it’s time for me to rattle off some irresponsible MLB and fantasy predictions for the upcoming season.
National League East predictionsNL East standings
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies (wild card)
Atlanta Braves (wild card)
Miami Marlins
Washington Nationals
New York Mets
Juan Soto remains one of the league’s best hitters but returns to the 15-20 stolen base range.
Fantasy managers benefit from Bo Bichette gaining 3B eligibility, as shortstop is far deeper.
Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien easily outperform their modest ADPs, but Francisco Lindor sees his power drop after hamate surgery.
Nolan McLean finishes as a top-15 fantasy SP and wins Rookie of the Year; Devin Williams bounces back and is a top-three fantasy closer.
Jonah Tong emerges as New York’s third-best starter after the All-Star break, when he requires an expensive free-agent bid.
The Mets have strong offensive and pitching depth, helping New York win a tightly contested NL East.
Philadelphia Phillies
Trea Turner has a better fantasy season than Lindor, while Alec Bohm is a sleeper at a thin third base.
Adolis García is an outfielder to target after Bryson Stott finishes as a top-five fantasy second baseman, ahead of Ozzie Albies.
Justin Crawford swipes 35 bases, while Jhoan Duran records 35 saves.
Jesús Luzardo has a superior fantasy season to Cristopher Sánchez, who goes 50 picks earlier in drafts.
The Phillies win a wild-card spot, and their ceiling will come down to Zack Wheeler’s health — returning from thoracic outlet surgery (the less severe version).
Atlanta Braves
Ronald Acuña hit 41 homers and stole 73 bases three years ago and is now further removed from his second knee surgery. He’s still just 28 years old, and Atlanta plans on being far more aggressive on the base paths this season. Acuña is a heightened health risk, but he enters the season with the most fantasy upside of any player in baseball.
Austin Riley has a better fantasy season than Junior Caminero, while Drake Baldwin finishes as a top-five fantasy catcher, ahead of Hunter Goodman.
Chris Sale is a top-five fantasy SP, but Spencer Strider sadly cannot recapture his old form.
Raisel Iglesias keeps the closer’s role all season; Grant Holmes and Didier Fuentes are deep fantasy sleepers.
The Braves enter the season as one of the consensus potential bounce-back candidates, coming off back-to-back seemingly cursed seasons with injuries. But Atlanta promptly lost Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep in spring training, when Jurickson Profar was also suspended for 2026. Their entire staff (outside of Holmes) has seen a drop in velocity this spring as well. Still, the Braves should have enough offense to win a wild-card spot.
Miami Marlins
Xavier Edwards steals 40+ bases, but Kyle Stowers doesn’t live up to his ADP (sandwiched between Michael Harris and Teoscar Hernández).
Agustín Ramírez remains productive for fantasy managers despite a poor batting average, but his shaky defense results in a move to a mostly DH role once Joe Mack is called up.
Braxton Garrett has a better fantasy season than Sandy Alcantara; Pete Fairbanks is a top-10 fantasy closer before being traded at the deadline.
The Marlins remain in perpetual rebuild mode.
Washington Nationals
James Wood has undeniable fantasy upside, but he had a 39.0 K% in the second half last year. Ryan McMahon finished with the league’s worst K rate last season at 32.3%. Wood hit .223 after the ASB despite a .362 BABIP. He shouldn’t be going ahead of Wyatt Langford and/or Brent Rooker – and maybe not even Jarren Duran. The rest of his line will be ugly, but Nasim Nuñez is the cheapest source of 30+ steals.
Cade Cavalli becomes useful in deeper leagues, but no reliever emerges as a viable fantasy closer in Washington.
The Nationals battle for the league’s worst record.
National League Central predictionsNL Central standings
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit .265 with 25 homers and 27 steals (131 wRC+) before the All-Star break last season, but he hit .216 with six HRs and eight SBs (72 wRC+) afterward. His plate discipline didn’t dramatically decline in the second half, and PCA’s elite defense ensures his name in Chicago’s daily lineup. Crow-Armstrong is this year’s biggest boom/bust fantasy pick (ADP: 30).
Alex Bregman’s fantasy value takes a hit with the move to Wrigley Field, but Daniel Palencia is a top-10 fantasy closer.
Edward Cabrera emerges as Chicago’s ace, finishing as a top-25 fantasy starter.
The Cubs likely have the best defensive team in the NL and retake the Central Division in 2026.
Milwaukee Brewers
Jackson Chourio went 20-HR/20-SB despite missing 30+ games as a 21-year-old last season, and he’s also a plus in batting average. He should be drafted as a top-15 fantasy player, ahead of Junior Caminero, Corbin Carroll, Cal Raleigh and others with higher ADPs.
Christian Yelich goes 30-HR/20-SB and is a draft-day steal, but Brice Turang disappoints fantasy managers coming off his career year.
Jacob Misiorowski becomes Milwaukee’s clear ace in 2026, finishing as a top-15 fantasy starter.
Kyle Harrison is a former prospect who’s added velocity and a new pitch. His ugly ERA in spring is accompanied by elite peripherals. Only Seattle boosts strikeouts more than Milwaukee, which also boasts a terrific pitching system. Harrison is a fantasy sleeper.
The Brewers’ future looks bright, having two of the best young prospects up the middle (Jesús Made and Luis Peña), but they fall out of the postseason in 2026.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Bryan Reynolds bounces back and is a top-25 fantasy outfielder, but Marcell Ozuna struggles to rebound with MLB’s toughest park on righty power now his home.
Konnor Griffin might have the widest range of outcomes among all fantasy players, as he could hit 15 homers and steal 40+ bases, or he could spend the first few months of the season in the minors.
Paul Skenes pitches deeper into games and records more wins in 2026, when he secures his second consecutive Cy Young Award.
Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler have real potential, so the Pirates could make a wild-card run. PECOTA and FanGraphs both project Pittsburgh to finish ahead of Milwaukee this season.
Cincinnati Reds
Elly De La Cruz posted a .621 OPS with just three homers over the final two months (52 games) last season, and it was later revealed he was playing through a partially torn quad over that timeframe. De La Cruz has also gone from a batting-average risk to having positive projections in batting average. A 30-HR/60-SB season is coming.
Eugenio Suárez experienced a huge upgrade in home parks going from Seattle back to Cincinnati, while Sal Stewart goes 25-HR/15-SB and finishes as a top-10 fantasy first baseman.
Matt McLain disappoints those who jumped his ADP thanks to a white-hot spring, as injuries continue to be a problem.
Noelvi Marte is a fantasy bust.
Chase Burns will be slow-played early in 2026, but he also has the upside to finish as a top-10 fantasy SP despite pitching in Great American “Smallpark.”
Losing Hunter Greene was a devastating blow to the Reds, who battle the Cardinals for last in the NL Central.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are missing fantasy stars, although Alec Burleson is a bit underrated.
It’s possible Jordan Walker breaks out one of these years, but he’s continued to look lost at the plate in spring training.
St. Louis’ starting staff offers little to the fantasy community (although Matthew Liberatore has emerged as a deep sleeper), while no reliever reaches 15 saves.
The Cardinals finish last in their division.
National League West predictionsNL West standings
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants (wild card)
San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
The smart money is on Shohei Ohtani to win yet another MVP award, especially with him scheduled to pitch far more in 2026. However, that will also likely result in less running by Ohtani, making Aaron Judge a viable choice as the No. 1 pick in most fantasy drafts (Ohtani is a true cheat code in ESPN daily formats).
Kyle Tucker saw a massive upgrade going from Wrigley Field to Dodger Stadium, and he’ll also join a stacked lineup. Injuries remain a concern, but I rank Tucker as a top-10 player entering 2026.
Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman prove to be terrific values, while Teoscar Hernández provides one of the biggest returns on investment in fantasy drafts. Hernández finishes as a top-15 fantasy outfielder.
No pitcher on the Dodgers reaches 160 innings, but every starter outside of Roki Sasaki is a huge fantasy help when on the mound. Emmet Sheehan’s velocity was down during his last spring start, but he finishes as a top-20 fantasy starter if health cooperates.
Edwin Díaz leads MLB in saves.
The Dodgers are comically loaded and enter about as big of favorites (+230) as possible in a sport that increases variance when its sample size drops dramatically in the postseason. Los Angeles wins the National League but loses in the World Series in 2026.
San Francisco Giants
San Francisco’s hitters are hindered by playing in a tough pitcher’s park that limits power and run scoring. Willy Adames overcame Oracle Park last year when he was the first Giant to reach 30 homers since Barry Bonds in 2004. However, Rafael Devers hit just .234 over 175 at-bats after being traded to San Francisco. The park (and dense air) may not matter to Bryce Eldridge, who possesses light-tower power and swats 25 homers as a rookie.
Conversely, Giants pitchers benefit greatly from Oracle Park and the game’s best defensive catcher. Logan Webb finishes as a top-10 fantasy SP, while Tyler Mahle, Landen Roupp and Adrian Houser are fantasy sleepers, especially in daily transaction leagues where they can be started solely at home.
Ryan Walker bounces back and records 30 saves.
San Francisco’s new manager, Tony Vitello, was an unconventional hire with zero MLB experience at any level, but the risk pays off with a wild-card berth.
San Diego Padres
Fernando Tatis goes down as the best second-round fantasy pick, and he re-enters the first next year.
Xander Bogaerts has become an afterthought in fantasy drafts, but he’s a major profit in 2026.
Michael King has a better fantasy season than Nick Pivetta, who’s drafted 50 picks earlier.
The Padres severely lack pitching depth, and Joe Musgrove’s uncertain health status is a blow to San Diego’s playoff hopes.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Geraldo Perdomo is a regression candidate who required 720 plate appearances to reach 20 homers during his career year. His new ADP (~65) looks awfully risky, especially at a loaded shortstop position.
Corbin Carroll may be an even bigger risk coming off hamate surgery, as he was vague while calling his hand injury “manageable” after recently returning to the field. I’m out at Carroll’s ADP.
Zac Gallen bounces back in an otherwise shaky rotation, while Paul Sewald leads Arizona with 20+ saves.
The Diamondbacks battle the Padres for third place in the West.
Colorado Rockies
Coors Field remains a cheat code for Rockies hitters, making Mickey Moniak, Jake McCarthy, Jordan Beck and Willi Castro all fantasy sleepers.
McCarthy steals 30+ bases, and all become even more valuable in daily transaction leagues.
Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar both bounce back, finishing as a top-25 outfielder and a top-15 shortstop, respectively.
Rockies pitchers can all be ignored thanks to Coors Field.
Colorado just hopes not to post MLB’s worst record in 2026.
More predictions
NLCS: Dodgers over Mets
MVP: Shohei Ohtani
Cy Young: Paul Skenes
Rookie of the Year: Nolan McLean
World Series: Yankees over Dodgers
Mar 23, 2026
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