Preseason Prep – February 22, 2026
Paul Skenes, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Skenes’ talent is not something up for debate. He’s a ground ball getter, who punches out tons of guys, and limits contact. It’s only been two seasons, but it’s only a moderate hyperbole to say he’s on pace to be the greatest pitcher of all time. The question is where should he be going in drafts? At his 10 ADP, it’s just tough for a pitcher to sneak into the mid first round. We don’t see that too often, mainly due to the fear of injury risk that position players simply don’t have. This year, I find myself taking him slightly above ADP because I think the hitters around that area are not as tempting. Elly De La Cruz and Julio Rodriguez are trendy, but they don’t have upper echelon contact. I’d simply prefer the better player over them, who is Paul Skenes.
Marcelo Mayer, 2B/3B, Boston Red Sox
Mayer is a deep-league reach, coming off the board as the 2B-27, but given his minor league performance, draft capital, and age, I believe a breakout is not off the table. Mayer got 136 PAs last year before an injury ended his season in the summer. He displayed good bat speed, which allowed him to hit 51% of balls hard, but also a strong 36% LASS, which is a deadly combination. He also hit too many groundballs and whiffed at 48% of breaking pitches. He just turned 23 this summer, so the age-adjustment is certainly in his favor. There are plenty of holes in his profile, but a bench stash in a deeper league isn’t a bad idea.
Max Muncy, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers
Muncy is undervalued once again, especially in points leagues. His 16.5% walk rate is top of scale, and his 51% hard hit rate across 388 PAs last year is such a sweet combination. He’s posted a 31% Pull-Air rate in back to back years. If he wasn’t on a team crowded with superstars, he’d be a lot more famous. Draft him.
Carter Jensen, C, Kansas City Royals
The Royals’ top prospect slashed .300/.391/.550 in 69 PAs in his 2025 cup of tea. In short, it could not have gone better. 21% barrel rate. 42% LASS. 17/13 K/BB %. Although it’s a super small sample, he immediately dominated. The more entertaining statistics is his 21% pull air rate. Now, before we go crazy, Jensen never struck out below 21% in the minors, so to see 17% in the majors means the small sample size is surely deceiving us. At the same time, he never walked under 8.8%, so I’m very intrigued in points leagues. He’s coming off the board as C-19, and there isn’t the same kind of upside around him at the position.
Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Detroit Tigers
I wrote up Torkelson as a continued breakout pick in 2024, and he proceeded to have the worst year of his career. Well, we’re back! Tork has had an up and down career, but there are certain things he simply does too well as a hitter for me to ignore. For starters, he posted career highs in Pull Air rate (31%!!!) walk rate (11%), and LASS (39%). His .407 xwOBACON might be underwhelming given his hype, but it’s still strong. This is a very strong 80-30-80 candidate once again, and 1B-16, he’s cheap.
JJ Wetherholt, 2B, St. Louis Cardinals
While Whetherholt has not officially made the roster, the Cards don’t exactly have a lot of competition in his way. Wetherholt slashed .306/.421/.510 in 496 upper minors PAs in 2025, and just almost walked more than he struck out. His 17 HR and 23 stolen bases are really enticing for fantasy. He’s not necessarily a flyball hitter (43% GB rate), but he can pull the ball (42.5%), so there are the makings of a homerun floor. Given how thin the position is this year, I think it is absolutely worth rostering him in the event he makes the team.
Jacob Wilson, SS, Athletics
Wilson was on track to win AL Rookie of the Year until his teammate Nick Kurtz got in the way. Nonetheless, it was a remarkable rookie season for the son of a former big leaguer. Wilson’s knack for contact makes him impossible to strikeout (7.5%), but Wilson unfortunately only employs contact and not discipline. As a result, he only walks at 5.2% and puts a lot of poorly contacted balls into play. His 1st percentile bat speed, 1st percentile EV, 2nd percentile hard hit rate, and 20th percentile LASS should absolutely strike fear into you. His .302 xwOBACON is remarkably low. At SS-18, it’s tough to put him on my no-fly list, as he isn’t pricey anyways, but if you roll the dice just know there is no power and no stolen bases coming.
Jeremy Pena, SS, Houston Astros
Pena put together respectable offensive seasons in 2023 and 2024 after a mini breakout as a rookie in 2022. 2025 was a career year for him, as he set career highs in hard hit rate (43%), xBA (.270), and xwOBA (.334). A slightly lower career LASS (31%), and average bat speed mean there is a ceiling to what Pena can do. He has gone double-double in the HR and SB category all four years of his career, but doesn’t possess enough physical tools to creep above what we’ve seen. He’s a what-you-see-is-what-you-get player, which is still useful and affordable at SS-13.
Emmet Sheehan, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
For how good his 2025 was, Sheehan really gets no flowers. Across 73.1 innings, he posted a 31% K rate, driven by both 90th percentile chase and whiff rates. He is tough to hit for a starter! xERA (3.00) and xFIP (3.37) agree, citing his ultra low GB% and high Pull-Air % against rates as issues. Across a full season, there are simply too many flyballs allowed for him to post a sub-3.00 ERA, but I think we can still get a mid-end SP2 for pretty cheap at his SP44 price.
Noah Cameron, SP, Kansas City Royals
Cameron bursted onto the scene in 2025, posting a 2.99 ERA in 138.1 IP. However, under the hood, he was much more mediocre than stellar. Cameron’s 4.07 xERA and 4.10 xFIP suggest some insane luck. An 84% LOB probably contributed to that. Cameron is able to limit hard contact (37% HH, 6.3% Barrel), and is average at getting the ball on the ground. He is mediocre, but mediocre is productive when it comes to starting pitching. He simply allows way too many balls in play to be a sub-3.00 ERA starter, do not draft him chasing that statistics.
Jonah Tong, SP, New York Mets
Tong was all the hype going into 2025, but was absolutely horrible in his 18.2 IP as a big leaguer. His .421 xwOBACON and 14% barrel rate against are big yikes. The good news is that Tong didn’t get hit around because his stuff doesn’t play, he got hit around because he was absolutely serving up meatballs over the middle of the plate. He still threw hard (95 mph) and his stuff still showed plenty of ride. He is the same prospect and player as he was when he had hype in 2025. At SP-112, he’s one of my favorite picks in this deep range.
Ivan Herrera, C, St. Louis Cardinals
It is very difficult for me to pass on Herrera at his C-12 ADP. He broke out in his first full season last year, slashing .284/.373./.464. Herrera does it all. A .412 xwOBACON and low 19% K rate make him relevant in all formats. 74.4 bat speed gives him plenty of power. The 19 homers were not a fluke. I’ve been drafting a lot of him.
Rafael Devers, 1B, San Francisco Giants
Devers had all the drama in the world around him last year, and his horrific first week of the season didn’t help. That being said, the drama means absolutely nothing. In fact, you’d be surprised to learn that Devers set career highs in hard hit rate (56%), walk rate (15%), EV (93.5), and barrel rate (16%). I’d bet that would surprise a lot of people. Elite hitter, everything else is noise. Feel free to take him at his 41 overall ADP.
Spencer Steer, 1B, Cincinnati Reds
Steer posted a 20-20 season in 2024, making him a tempting draft pick in 2025. He did NOT reward his truthers, swiping only 7 bags and posting a meager .238/.312/.411 slash line. Steer doesn’t actually have any power, he just has a sky high pull-air rate. His 87 EV, .293 xwOBA, and 70.9 bat speed indicate that more power is not coming out of his 5’9 frame. He also got much more aggressive this year, posting a career high in swing rate and 1st pitch swing rate. This could be the reason for his career low walk rate of 9%, and lesser SB total. He has an sub-optimal decision/impact profile, and I’ll be passing on him a lot.
Kyle Manzardo, 1B, Cleveland Guardians
Manzardo has been a data-darling for a long time, so plenty of words have been said about him. I’m here to get this out of the way early this year. Manzardo’s strong 37% LASS, 12% Barrel rate, and 24% Pull-Air rate mean the homers are coming, and they did in 2025. Both his strikeout rate and walk rate improved from 2024 to 2025, a good sign for the 25 year old. Manzardo’s 30% groundball rate is miniscule. It’s suspiciously low, to the point where his .224 xBA can only mean he hits a lot of easy popups as well, which is unusual for someone with this solid juice. There must be a swing issue. Either way, Manzardo is a great bet for 25+ homers.
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