2026 Fantasy Baseball ADP Guide: Draft Strategy (51-100)

CJ Abrams – Too High for Me

I enjoy watching CJ Abrams play and think he could grow into more production, but how much more? He doesn’t impact the baseball enough for me to believe there’s another level to his power potential. Sure, the 30-plus stolen bases are great, but I think you can find speed from other places in the draft.

The past three seasons have been right around 20 home runs and over 30 steals while hitting about .250 with a .310 OBP. The expected stats and advanced metrics aren’t doing him any favors, either. He’s seen an increase in breaking balls each years he’s been in the majors for a reason. The struggles with movement will need to improve before he can really take off.

Abrams is a fine player, but not one I’d be willing to use pick No. 51 to select. If he does get traded, and moves to second, there’s more intrigue in his fantasy baseball value. Second base does not have the number of top-end options, or depth, that shortstop has.

Shea Langeliers – Getting the Love He Deserves

Langeliers has made huge strides each year since entering the majors. He managed to cut his strikeout rate from over 30% down to 19.7% last season, which means more contact and more home runs. A catcher that will pump 30 out, steal a few bags, and hasn’t stopped improving? Sign me up.

His .277 average is a drastic jump from 2023 (.207) and 2024 (.224) but I struggle to really land on a projection. There’s still swing-and-miss, especially against offspeed and breaking balls, but he has shown improvement in those categories. If he’s around a .240 -.250 average I think his value will still hold up.

Keep in mind, the A’s lineup is no slouch. A number of players took a step forward in 2025 and are trending towards being a more complete lineup in 2026, which should give Langeliers more run production opportunities. Oh yeah, playing in a minor league park doesn’t hurt either.

George Kirby – Lean on the Track Record

For the first time in his career, George Kirby missed significant time due to injury. His first two starts back resulted in five and six earned runs, respectively, before five starts of two or less runs the following month. He had two more seven-run blowup starts the rest of the year, which feels a bit scary, but I’m leaning into the track record.

Presumably back to full health, I think Kirby will return with his elite command. That’s less baserunners and more cushion for mistakes. Each of his first three seasons saw an ERA under 3.60 with a FIP under 3.40. Last year’s was actually 3.37, which should give you some hope.

If you are unsure, think about the type of pitcher Kirby is. He relies on command with enough stuff to strike you out but also generates groundballs at a 44% clip, while playing in a park that is more pitcher-friendly. I always feel safe with that type of profile and think this is good value at 70.

Kyle Bradish – Risk vs. Reward

Bradish’s injury came after only eight starts in 2024, taking all of that season and the large majority of this past one as well. The pitcher we saw in 2023 was spectacular, so was the one we have seen in the 70 innings since. Baltimore is looking like a great team on paper and will need Bradish to return to ace form in order to be a real threat in the AL.

Of course, the risk here is injury. Well, more the results of injury. Having pitched less than 40 innings in each of the past two seasons I have to wonder how many starts Bradish will make in 2025. Even if he’s limited to a certain number of innings, I could be convinced he’s still worth the selection – he’s that good.

The 32 innings we saw last season checked a big box for me. Coming back late in the season to make six starts, all of which were two runs or less, and finish his final three starts with nine, nine, and eight strikeouts was strong. Being that sharp isn’t normal. This feels like an outlier and not the norm with injured players, which makes me more comfortable rolling the dice.

Michael Harris II – Too Many Holes in His Approach

Certain players with tools will fall into these fantasy circles where their expected stats lead the conversation. Sometimes it works out, other times it doesn’t. Harris has started to land in these conversations as his expected stats tell a different story than his raw stats, but I struggle to buy in to the level of a top 100 pick.

We know he’s not going to draw walks (career 4.1 BB%) and he’s going to chase bad pitches. The strikeout numbers aren’t egregious, but putting enough bad pitches in play won’t help, either. The 14 home runs and .845 second-half OPS are promising and show his potential, but the plate discipline was still too risky for me.

I think a 20/20 (ish) season is the best case scenario, which I would happily draft, but not at this position in the draft. Would love to be proven wrong, but the sample size of useful fantasy player compared to unusual over the past two seasons is glaring.