2026 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Preview: Sleepers, breakouts, busts, ranking the top 12 and more
A complete position breakdown on what you need to know before you draft
By
Chris Towers
•
4 min read
Second base is neither the deepest position in Fantasy – that would be shortstop – nor is it the shallowest – that would be third base. You won't find many legitimate superstars at second base at the top of the draft – Jazz Chisholm and Ketel Marte might be the only players picked in the first four rounds in most drafts – but you shouldn't have trouble finding useful options throughout the draft.
Of course, to a certain extent, that depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for power, well, second base doesn't really have much of that at any point in the draft – there were only six second basemen with more than 19 homers in 2025. The days of Mike Moustakas spending enough time at second to qualify ended with the shift ban, and that, along with the de-juicing of the baseball around the same time, shifted slugging away from second base, and I don't expect it to come back.
But as long as you know to get your power elsewhere, you can find something to be happy about at second base. That usually comes in the form of production in HR and SB in the high-teens to low-20s, hence the lack of superstar appeal, but you can really find at least useful contributors all over the draft here.
Because of that, I do think second base can be less of a priority than third base if you're playing the positional scarcity game. According to FanGraphs.com's Player Rater tool, second base had just one more $10 player than third base last season (seven vs. six), but was much deeper with useful starter types; Ernie Clement, the No. 7 3B by this measure, was about $1 less valuable than Luis Garcia, the No. 15 2B.
Now, it's worth noting that this dynamic is different in H2H points leagues than it is in Roto; those broad-based skill sets can allow for the likes of Luis Garcia or Matt McLain to remain pretty useful in Roto even if they disappoint, as both did in 2025, while neither was worth much in a points league. So, the strength and depth of 2B kind of depends on what your league looks like – in a 10-team H2H points league, prioritizing one of those difference makers early on might need to be more of a priority than in a 15-team categories league, where you should be able to find more useful options deeper in leagues.
It's kind of an Island of Misfit Toys position nowadays, in other words. Few players at 2B truly stand out, but there are enough interesting, potentially useful options that you don't necessarily need to make it a priority on Draft Day. You should be able to find something later on at second base, in a way that I don't think is true at 3B. Getting difference makers elsewhere is a bigger priority for me than it is at 2B, at least.
Here's what you need to know about second base for 2026:
Consensus Top 12
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Here's the question with Chisholm: After he played 147 and 130 games over the past two seasons, does he carry significantly more injury risk than your typical player? If so, you're going to be scared off drafting him in the second round no matter what his production looks like. If you think his chances of making it through 140 or so games are basically the same as any other player's, well, you're getting a guy whose 162-game pace since joining the Yankees is 39.6 homers, 46 steals, and 194 runs and RBI combined. Heading into a contract year, I think a 40-40 ceiling is on the table.
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Marte's skill set is probably a bit safer than Chisholm's, who carries some batting average risk with him. But Marte is already 32 and has injury concerns of his own after missing 62 combined games over the past two seasons. You'll get a strong batting average and close to 30 homers from Marte, along with some of the best run production numbers at the position, but he won't steal any bases and has that injury risk, pushing him to the third round range. If he falls that far in a points league, consider it a gift.
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The struggle with Turang is this: He took a real step forward in 2025 as a hitter, but it's not clear how real it actually is. He upped his average exit velocity from 87 to 91.1 mph, going from a legitimately below-average mark to 75th percentile in the majors – and it came with similar bat speed improvements that make it easier to buy in. The underlying numbers mostly back the breakout up, as his expected wOBA jumped from .302 to .335 despite a 5.8% increase in strikeout rate. Despite all that, Turang only actually hit for any kind of real power during August, when he clubbed 10 of his 18 homers for the season. I tend to take the whole season at face value and think there's 20-40 upside here, but you'd sure feel a lot better about taking him if we had a larger sample size in practice.
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We know who Nico Hoerner is. He'll make a lot of contact, he'll hit for a good batting average, he'll score around 90 runs, and he'll steal around 30 bases. Will he hit for any power? He'll score around 90 runs and steal around 30 bases! It's a limited profile, and he probably doesn't have a ton of upside beyond what he's already shown, but his strengths are obvious and often hard to find outside of the top 100, making him an easy buy if you find you need what he offers.
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As part of his ongoing attempts to outrun Father Time, Altuve continues to lean into extreme attempts to wring power out of his skill set. In 2025, we saw his average exit velocity drop to 85.1 mph and his hard-hit rate to 30.9%, both of which are either the lowest or second-lowest rates of his career. He still makes a lot of contact and hits the ball in the air to the pull side, letting him take advantage of the Crawford Boxes at home. He's less productive on the road, but on the whole, Altuve remains a solid option at second base. It's just a question of how long the 35-year-old can keep getting away with this trick. The signs of decline have been fairly gradual, but the bottom could drop out any day now, hence the solid discount in drafts.
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Based on what he did in both the majors and minors in 2025, Keaschall has the looks of a 40-plus stolen base guy who should be pretty helpful in batting average. His quality of contact left much to be desired, raising questions about whether he'll be able to provide much power, or if he's destined to be a Nico Hoerner type on a bad lineup (or worse). I think it's worth remembering that most of Keaschall's 49 games in 2025 came after suffering a fractured forearm that ultimately cost him three months. He didn't hit the ball with much authority, but he remained a productive hitter. If there's a smidge more power here now that he's healthy, Keaschall could emerge as a premium version of Hoerner, at least.
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Albies has struggled to stay healthy in recent years, but if you want a reason to be optimistic, it's this: Most of the injuries have been broken bones of varying types. Once those heal, they tend to stop being ongoing concerns, though that wasn't true for the wrist fracture he suffered in 2024, which sapped Albies' strength for much of the first half of last season. He started to look more like himself in the second half before another broken bone – this time a hamate fracture in his left hand – ended his season in mid-September. He's fully recovered from that injury and will represent the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, so we'll get an early look at Albies this spring in games that matter, but I'm more or less giving him the benefit of the doubt that he'll get back to being at least a 20-homer guy who fills out the box score.
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When he's on the field, Lowe is arguably the best power hitter at the position. He doesn't really stand out in any other way, but 30-homers and solid RBI and run numbers has plenty of value from a second baseman. The problem is he hasn't played more than 134 games since 2021, the only time he's ever done it. His trade to Pittsburgh doesn't really impact his value, though I suppose there is a chance he sits less often against lefties than he did in Tampa (though that didn't really happen much in 2025, to be fair). All in all, Lowe is a known commodity with one standout skill that nobody else at the position can really match, making him a solid mid-round pick.
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Polanco got off to a miserable start in 2025, but he eventually righted the ship and finished with his second-most homers and third-most RBI ever. You won't likely get many steals from him, and the batting average probably maxes out at "decent," but his spot hitting cleanup behind Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Bo Bichette could give Polanco a shot at 100 RBI if he stays healthy. Hopefully the move to first base helps him stay on the field a bit more often.
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Rafaela is kind of like a poor man's Pete Crow-Armstrong. He has dismal plate discipline, but is enough of a twitchy, all-around athlete to remain productive in spite of himself. Rafaela's batting average will probably always be pretty bad, and I'm not sure he has room for much more than around 20 homers, but his glove will keep him in the lineup, and you can always use a 20-20 guy, right?
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One argument against taking Nico Hoerner is, "Why not just wait 70 picks and take Xavier Edwards?" Edwards is in a worse lineup and isn't nearly as reliable a source of runs, but the batting average and steals should be pretty similar at least. It would all just be a lot more appealing if he was a threat for 40-plus steals like we thought coming off his 2024 campaign.
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Holliday will open the season on the IL after having surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone in his hand. It's a surgery that should have him ready shortly after the season begins, so the risk here isn't so much the time he's likely to miss as it is that he'll miss all of Spring Training coming into what was hoped to be his breakout season. Holliday is still just 22 and held his own last season, but he was being drafted around the ninth or 10th rounds before the injury, which assumed a big step forward. It's harder to make that assumption given the injury – though it also makes his price a lot more palatable, and the upside is presumably still there. If Holliday falls more to the 15th-round range, he'll be a nice buy.
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Don't Forget About ...
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The underlying data suggests that Semien's dropoff has been a lot less pronounced than the actual numbers might make you think. He still makes a lot of contact and still does a good job hitting the ball in the air to the pull side, an approach that should work out better in his new home park, Citi Field, than it did the past few years in Texas. I'm not convinced that a bounceback is coming, and Semien seems unlikely to hit as high in the Mets' lineup as he did in Texas, limiting the impact of the bounceback even if it does come. But a return to 20-25 homers, 10-ish steals, and solid counting stats seems reasonable to expect, with at least some room for him to beat that.
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At this point, Torres feels a bit like an also-ran in Roto, since he doesn't steal many bases or hit for much power anymore. 15-5 isn't terrible, but the biggest thing Torres has going for him at this point would seem to be that he plays every day and doesn't hurt you. But in points leagues, that might be enough to make him a viable starting second baseman, albeit a somewhat low-end one. There might be a bit more room for upside given the better underlying numbers he showed in 2025, but his home ballpark and all-fields swing make it hard for him to take advantage of it. He's just a guy at this point.
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In fact, I might just prefer Lopez to Torres at this point. Lopez has put up an expected batting average right around .270 two years in a row, and I buy him as at least a 15-15 guy. The rest of the counting stats likely won't be great in Miami's lineup, but you can envision a career year looking something like what we got from Maikel Garcia last season.
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With the Mets trading for Semien and signing Bo Bichette this offseason, Baty's path to playing time got a lot cloudier. He's entering camp battling for the right field job with top prospect Carson Benge, and I'd personally give Benge the edge. That could still leave some DH at-bats for Baty, though he'd presumably split time with Mark Vientos for that spot. Baty was a lot better in 2025 and closed the season especially strong, so if it looks like he's got the inside track for an everyday job, he could end up being a great value in drafts. I'm just not sure I see him playing every day.
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Donovan is one of those players whose whole profile would make a lot more sense if he ran a bit more. Well, he's joining the team that just turned Josh Naylor into a base-stealing threat, so maybe it'll happen to him, too! I'm not counting on that, but Donovan should be a good source of batting average, and potentially runs if he hits near the top of the Mariners lineup. As a very cheap source of batting average, Donovan makes a lot of sense in the later rounds, though you may find you just don't have any need for him if you tackled that category earlier on.
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Sleeper
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I was right to be out on McLain as a top-100 pick this time last year, but I'm a bit more optimistic about his chances for a bounce back than most. I think too many Fantasy players discounted the impact that missing an entire year coming off shoulder surgery would have on McLain, who simply didn't make enough contact for his relatively limited raw power. A full year off will do that, and he still has some reason to be optimistic – he doesn't swing and miss as much as you'd think for a 29% strikeout rate guy, and if he can cut that K rate to around 24-25%, I think there's a pretty dynamic skill set here. The power is still average-ish, but that plays at second base, especially in Great American Ballpark, and he could steal 20-plus bases, too. I think the batting average is unlikely to ever be as helpful as his .290 mark from his partial 2023 suggested, but a 20-20 hitter with a .250 average still has plenty of value, and I don't think that's asking too much.
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Breakout
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Here's the bullish case for Keaschall: For most of his minor-league career, brief though it was, he was more like a high-.100s ISO guy, including when he hit 15 homers in just 102 games in 2024. If there is actually 20-homer potential here – if his poor results and middling underlying numbers in 2025 were the result of coming back from the forearm strain – then you're talking about some serious upside. He should make plenty of contact, and he should steal plenty of bases (50-steal pace across all levels in 2025), and if we're talking about actual contributions in homers, well, that's a pretty exciting profile. I'm expecting 10 homers and hoping for 15, but I don't think that's the ceiling here.
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Bust
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I'm having trouble making sense of Rafaela's price. His final numbers in 2025 would justify his current ADP, but it feels like his skillset kinda demands a lot more of a margin for error than we're getting here. Yeah, you'll take 16 homers and 20 steals for a 10th round pick, but the truth is, Rafaela was really only useful in Fantasy for two months in 2025, from June through July, when he had 11 of his homers and seven of his steals. Outside of those two months, Rafaela was pretty much useless, and his poor plate discipline and middling batted ball skills don't exactly back up the idea that the two good months are more likely to be the norm moving forward. His defense in center field should keep him in the lineup, but it'll be toward the bottom, making his 84 runs from 2025 look especially unsustainable. Rafaela's power and speed make him a decent target in the later rounds, but his price needs to come down a lot before I can justify drafting him.
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2026 Draft Prep
Second Base Top Prospects
1. Travis Bazzana, 2B, Guardians
Age (on opening day): 23
Where he played in 2025: Rookie, Double-A, Triple-A
Minor league stats: .245 BA (302 AB), 9 HR, 12 SB, .813 OPS, 66 BB, 91 K
The first pick in the 2024 has lost some exit velocity with the transition to wooden bats and now relies on angling the ball over the fence, which hasn't been as effective. He remains enough of an on-base and base-stealing threat to matter, though, even if his power is modest.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: midseason hopeful
2. Michael Arroyo, 2B, Mariners
Age (on opening day): 21
Where he played in 2025: High-A, Double-A
Minor league stats: .262 BA (450 AB), 17 HR, 12 SB, .834 OPS, 69 BB, 104 K
Arroyo homered just twice in his 250 plate appearances at Double-A, but the venue had a lot to do with it. He consistently punches above his 5-foot-8 frame and has a clear idea what he's doing at the plate, which should lead to high contact and on-base rates.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: midseason hopeful
3. Tommy Troy, 2B, Diamondbacks
Age (on opening day): 24
Where he played in 2025: Double-A, Triple-A
Minor league stats: .289 BA (499 AB), 15 HR, 24 SB, .833 OPS, 67 BB, 98 K
Troy's stat line might lead you to believe he should rank higher than this, particularly since he was a first-round pick just two years ago, but given how hitter-friendly the Diamondbacks' top two affiliates are, fakery may be afoot. His time at Triple-A revealed only an 86.8 mph average exit velocity.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: midseason hopeful
4. Sam Antonacci, 2B, White Sox
Age (on opening day): 23
Where he played in 2025: Rookie, High-A, Double-A
Minor league stats: .291 BA (406 AB), 5 HR, 48 SB, .842 OPS, 69 BB, 73 K
Between his .433 on-base percentage across three stops, his pesky knack for contact, and his strong inclination for stealing bases, Antonacci has leadoff hitter written all over him. These slash-and-burn types have been making a comeback in recent years, and Antonacci impacts the ball well enough not to have the bat blown out of his hands.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: midseason hopeful
5. Roc Riggio, 2B, Rockies
Age (on opening day): 23
Where he played in 2025: Rookie, High-A, Double-A
Minor league stats: .262 BA (321 AB), 20 HR, 17 SB, .881 OPS, 47 BB, 83 K
Riggio's comic book name and competitive fire made him a fan favorite in the Yankees system, but he has a better chance of a future with the Rockies, who may overlook his limited defense and unfortunate platoon splits for a chance at a Brandon Lowe outcome.
Scott's 2026 Fantasy impact: midseason hopeful
