Every MLB season, we get new prospects making Opening Day rosters but this year feels different. The youth movement in 2026 has thrust some of baseball’s top prospects into the spotlight early on as we navigate the first full week of the season. As the season progresses, we’ll see more and more of these prospects called up. We’re even seeing these players signing long-term contracts before even taking a step on an MLB field.
And speaking of which, it was reported Thursday that the Pirates are already calling up (no, really) the No. 1 prospect in all of MLB, Konnor Griffin. He’s expected to play in Pittsburgh’s home opener against the Orioles on Friday. What a world!
As teams get smarter, bringing prospects up earlier, fantasy baseball managers also need to adjust — not just in dynasty leagues but in redraft leagues as well. Think of it as a chance for a brand-new draft pick in the middle of the season. If a prospect is called up, you need to be ready to rush to the waiver wire to grab them, regardless of whether you think they’re good or not. Because just getting that chance could mean fantasy gold.
Anyway, here we’re checking in on some of the top prospects in baseball and how they’re faring early on for fantasy baseball in the 2026 MLB season.
Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers (MLB.com rank: No. 2)
McGonigle was able to do enough this spring to get onto Detroit’s Opening Day roster as the starting shortstop, no easy feat. Through six games in Yahoo points leagues, McGonigle is the SS7 with 56.1 fantasy points. The past two games, he’s been moved up the lineup into the 2-hole, which should only increase his fantasy value. All this and he’s still yet to hit his first major league dinger.
JJ Wetherholt, 2B/3B/SS, Cardinals (No. 5)
There are going to be a lot of names on this list you may not have heard of. Wetherholt likely won’t be one of those names. The No. 7 overall pick back in 2024, Wetherholt blew through the minors to make his MLB debut at 23 years old. With tri-positional eligibility and a spot at the top of the St. Louis order, Wetherholt has posted startable fantasy numbers at all three positions. It may take a bit for his power to come around; he hasn’t homered since the opener. But Wetherholt should be a great supply of runs with a decent average.
Bubba Chandler, SP, Pirates (No. 9)
Control continues to be an issue for Chandler, who made his 2026 debut on Tuesday against the Reds. While the top pitching prospect didn’t allow any hits or earned runs with six strikeouts, he also walked six batters. A double play in the third inning saved what could have been a disastrous start to the season for Chandler. But his stuff is elite. His fastball, slider and curveball got Stuff+ grades of 100 or higher on FanGraphs.
Carson Benge, OF, Mets (No. 14)
Benge is someone who could be off the fantasy radar soon. Mets fans were thrilled to see him on the roster from Day 1. But outside of the opener, Benge has struggled. Besides that homer against the Pirates on March 26, the youngster has gone 2-for-16 with just two hits and five strikeouts. Benge was benched in favor of Tyrone Taylor against a lefty on Wednesday and could be in more of a platoon the rest of the season (if he isn’t sent down).
Sal Stewart, 1B, Reds (No. 20)
We never want to overreact this early into the season but Stewart is tracking toward being a league-winning draft pick/pickup. He was virtually undrafted in most Yahoo leagues with an ADP of 207.4 and he’s still available in a quarter of leagues.
In points formats, the Reds’ cleanup hitter is the 1B2 and he’s top-five in category leagues. Stewart has scored a run in five straight games and has a hit in all of but one contest so far this season. He also has seven walks and has struck out just three times in 26 plate appearances.
Andrew Painter, SP, Phillies (No. 26)
A 2021 first-rounder, Painter made his long-awaited MLB debut on Tuesday against the Nationals, tossing 5.1 innings of one-run ball with eight Ks and just one walk. If Painter keeps this up, his rotation spot should be safe even when Zack Wheeler is ready to return. Scott Pianowski dove into Painter’s debut a bit more here.
Owen Caissie, OF, Marlins (No. 40)
You look up and down the Miami lineup and consistently go, “Who?” But don’t look now, the Marlins are 5-1 atop the NL East and have scored the third-most runs (33) in the NL so far this season. Caissie is a big reason why, driving in eight of those runs, with at least one RBI in five of six games. At 22% rostered, Caissie is worth an add in deeper formats, though OF remains a lush position.
Chase DeLauter, OF, Guardians (No. 44)
The No. 44 prospect on MLB.com, DeLauter was out of the lineup on Wednesday due to a foot injury. He’s also cooled off a bit since his hot start in which he belted four homers in the first three games of the season. If DeLauter can shake off this foot issue, he remains a strong addition batting out of the 2-hole, a prime slot ahead of José Ramírez for Cleveland.
Justin Crawford, OF, Phillies (No. 51)
I’m going to write this sentence just once, okay. Justin Crawford is the son of former Rays great Carl Crawford. Alright, now that we got that out of the way, let’s look at what the Phillies outfielder has done so far in 2026.
The answer: not much. He’s batting ninth and Philly is off to a slow start offensively with just 23 runs in six games. Crawford does have hits in four of five games, one of those a huge walk-off RBI single on Wednesday to help the Phillies rally and win in extras. He isn’t providing much fantasy value but is worth monitoring.
Parker Messick, SP, Guardians (Graduated)
The 25-year-old got a taste of the big leagues in 2025, leading to high expectations going into this season. He was solid in his first outing of the season, holding the mighty Dodgers to zero runs on five hits with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Messick had a whiff% of 25 and swinging strike% of 52.6 while L.A. had a hard hit percentage of just 13.3. If Messick is on your waiver wire, run, don’t walk to get him.
Brandon Sproat, SP, Brewers (No. 96)
Sproat got shelled in his first start of the season, allowing seven ER on just six hits (three HRs) with four walks against the White Sox last Sunday. His Stuff+ still looks solid so maybe this was just a blip on the radar. Take away the long balls and Sproat wasn’t too bad. He’ll have a chance to bounce back Saturday in Kansas City.
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