2026 Fantasy Baseball Season in Review – Outfield Studs

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  • By Paul Williamson

    Last Updated on October 8, 2026 4:01 pm by Paul Williamson | Published: October 8, 2026

    We already dived into the top ‘duds’ in the outfield for fantasy here, but what about the studs?

    The players broken down in this space are the dudes that, if they were on your roster, likely helped you place near the top of your standings, if not winning your leagues.

    But the question moving forward is, are they permanent studs that we can buy into for 2027 or nah?

    Let’s dive in.

    Pete Crow-Armstrong – Chicago Cubs

    He was, hands down, the best fantasy asset in 2026. If you drafted him, you had a great shot at winning your league.

    PCA followed up his 30/30 breakout 2025 with 45 homers, 41 steals, 119 runs, 107 RBI and a .280/.372/.570 slash.

    The biggest development for the Cubs superstar was how he improved his chase rate.

    After two straight years of a 40%+ outsize-zone swing rate (O-Sw%), Crow-Armstrong saw that number drop to a much better 34.0%.

    We also saw a decent improvement in his hit tool as well with an 85.4% in-zone swing rate (Z-Sw%), 75.8% contact% and 12.0% swinging strike rate (SwStr%).

    The quality of contact from him is far from surprising with a 90.6 MPH average exit velocity (avgEV), 13.3% barrel rate and 48.6% hard-hit rate as he saw a big jump in bat speed from 72.7 MPH to 75.1 MPH. The fast swing rate (FastSw%) also jumped from 28.5% to 53.6%.

    Given the jump we saw this year, it feels like his 30/30 campaign from 2025 is his floor if he were to regress and that is the type of thing you say about the top two or three picks of fantasy drafts.

    The only question surrounding PCA’s fantasy draft value is, do you draft him one overall?

    I think there is a good case to be made that he is the number one pick in 2027.

    Yordan Alvarez – Houston Astros

    Alvarez quieted all of his fantasy doubters this year. Now, doesn’t it feel weird to say he ever had any doubters? Luckily, I was not one of them so hopefully you followed suit.

    He set multiple career-highs this year with 42 homers, 105 runs, 106 RBI as he slashed .316/.432/.601 (only his .601 SLG was not a career high with a .613 SLG in 2022).

    The main thing he did this year was remain healthy all season as he turned in 692 plate appearances. He had made 598, 561, 496 and 635 PA in his previous years before 2025’s 199.

    So he always seemed to deal with something every year prior to 2025. Not much in terms of missing entire halves or full seasons but enough to be a pain in the side of fantasy managers.

    But Yordan is still on the right side of 30 and health concerns for him are (hopefully) a thing of the past as he should be considered a clear first-round selection in 2027.

    He has the whole package

    • Elite hit tool
    • Elite plate discipline
    • Elite quality of contact.

    Only thing missing are the steals but the production all around will be more than good enough to make up for it.

    Oh, and he played in 25 games in left field so he should have OF eligibility on all platforms.

    There is little doubt that he will cost managers a first-round selection in 2027 and I’ll be there ready to buy.

    Fernando Tatis Jr. – San Diego Padres

    If you would have asked me in April and May that Tatis would be written about as a fantasy stud, I’d have laughed.

    But here we are as he turned in a great fantasy year thanks to a torrid pace starting on June 1.

    In 459 PA starting June 1, he hit 24 homers with 24 steals, 75 runs, 65 RBI and a .301/.368/.549 slash.

    He finished the year with 25 homers, 38 swipes, 96 runs, 83 RBI and a slash of .289/.358/.470.

    On the year he returned a 50.6% ground ball rate but that number is a lot better after a 49.6% rate starting June 1.

    And that seems to be the redline for his home run production.

    If he can keep that ground ball rate in the high-40s range, he will be a legit power threat as that is where he has been for most of his career and he has multiple campaigns of 25+ homers, including 21 in only 438 PA.

    There are other areas in which Tatis made strides in

    First, he returned a career best 76.7% contact% and 10.7% SwStr%.

    We also saw him improve his bat speed from 74.0 MPH to 76.3 MPH with a FastSw% improved from 42.7% to 64.5%.

    Another great development was he earned second base eligibility on top of outfield. That is WONDERFUL!

    Headed into 2027, Tatis sure has the look of a rock solid five-category producer that should be targeted in the first round of drafts.

    Randy Arozarena – Seattle Mariners

    Has Arozarena earned your trust yet?

    This is Arozarena’s sixth straight 20/20 season and his second straight 25/25 season. He scored a whopping 113 runs this year with 79 RBI and his best batting average in a full season of his career at .281.

    The average is the major thing to focus on here. His power/speed combo is and always has been real.

    But his .281 average was the best it has been since 2023 after hitting .219 and .238 in 2024 and 2025. Those years he had a K% over 26% but that K% dropped to 21.6% in 2026.

    He improved his contact% to a career best (In a full year) 75.8%, though it is worth noting he chased more with a 30.7% O-Sw%.

    This helps (potentially) explain a dip in bat speed from 72.3 MPH to 70.9 MPH.

    However, I do not view this as a red flag.

    The FastSw% stayed solid as it didn’t dip too far sitting at 22.3% to end the year.

    We also still saw solid quality of contact numbers with a 43.2% hard-hit rate and 90.8 MPH avgEV, both of which are right along his career marks.

    It sure looks like he slowed his bat down intentionally in order to make more contact and improve his average while still unlocking his power swing when he needed it.

    Now is this something I’m buying next year?

    I’d say so.

    Now I’m not going to get crazy here and call him a top-50 selection. But he shouldn’t go close to pick 100 like he was in 2026 drafts.

    Somewhere between 60-75 seems reasonable to me.

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    October 8, 2026, 4:01 pm