2026 Fantasy Baseball Season in Review – Corner Infield Studs

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  • By Paul Williamson

    The corner infield provided plenty of value from key names this year to with its fair share of duds (which you can check out here)

    So who were the key studs from 2026?

    How much faith can managers have in them for 2027? Let’s dive in.

    Ben Rice – New York Yankees

    Rice was nice in 2026.

    41 homers, 105 runs, 97 RBI, .264/.363/.534 slash line, .384 wOBA, 149 wRC+.

    He was scary good and what makes it even scarier is… there is an argument to be made that we have not see his ceiling yet.

    He returned a great 14.3% barrel rate and 48.6% hard–hit rate which was actually a step back from the 15.4% barrel and 55.8% hard-hit from 2025.

    This was because his bat speed dropped a tick  to 72.6 MPH and his fast swing rate (FastSw%) dropped over 10 points to 24.3%.

    We also saw a regression in his hit tool from an 80.4% contact% to 76.2% and a swinging strike rate (SwStr%) that went up to 10.3%.

    He also was a bit unlucky in the second half as his hard-hit rate went up to 50.0% and his xStats didn’t drop that far off but the average was .242 (.260 xBA), SLG was .441 (..497 xSLG) with a .349 wOBA (.374 xwOBA).

    Ben Rice performed like a first round pick this year and has clear room to grow.

    He should have been better in the second half, he has shown an even better bat speed in the majors and a better hit tool than what he showed us this year.

    It is far from unreasonable to think Rice can reach 50+ homers with a .280 average with even more runs and RBI with a fully healthy Aaron Judge hitting around him in the lineup, something he did not have this year.

    Rice will and should be a first round pick in 2027 and just how early in the first round is the only question. I see him more of a top-12 dude than top-6, though a case for top-6 isn’t unjustifiable.

    Pete Alonso – Baltimore Orioles

    Death, Taxes and Pete Alonso.

    He hit 43 homers this year with 100 runs, 113 RBI with a .267 average.

    Taking out 2020, Alonso has never had less than 34 homers, 87 runs and 88 RBI.

    The only thing that has been a bit inconsistent has been the batting average, though it only dipped below .260 twice in 2023 and 2024.

    He consistently limits the K% to the 22-24% range and did so again with a 24.1% K% this year. He did return a career best 11.6% BB% but has no seen that number be worse than 9.4% just once (8.6% in 2025).

    A significant improvement we have seen from him starting in 2025 to 2026 is in his hard-hit rate and exit velocity as he now has two years of 54%+ hard hit rate and 93+ MPH avgEV.

    This has come from two straight 33% squared up contact rate (SqUpCon%) campaigns which is when a player gets the highest possible exit velocity out of a swing by ‘squaring up’ the ball on contact.

    Alonso is as safe as they come in the second round of drafts and there is no reason to not expect more of the same out of him in 2027.

    Junior Caminero – Tampa Bay Rays

    Caminero is 22 years old and already as two consecutive 40+ home run seasons with 100+ RBI. He added on a .276 average this year with 100 runs..

    Not that he was bad in those categories in 2025 (.264 and 93) but still worth while improvements.

    There was some fear surrounding him entering 2026 with the move back to the Trop but he actually was better at home than away with a .279 isolated power (ISO)  at home vs. .220 on the road. He has had a .934 OPS vs. an .838 mark away from Tampa.

    Much like Rice from above, the scariest part of Caminero is that there is room for improvement.

    His bat speed is amongst the best in baseball and yet his quality of contact is great, not among the game’s elite.

    He has a bat speed of 79.5 MPH with an 84.9% on the FastSw%.

    But the avgEV of 92.7 MPH with a hard hit rate of 49.6% do not reflect that. His bat speed and FastSw% allows for him to be near 60% on the hard-hit rate with a 95 MPH avgEV.

    The problem lies with a subpar 29.5% SqUpCon%. The Rays are about as analytically driven as any team in baseball (sorry Cameron Maybin) and will surely work with Caminero on getting more balls squared up.

    Even modest improvements in that metric will unlock a 55-60 homer campaign for him. And at age 22, he has  time to learn and grow. I think 35 homers is this dude’s floor with a good hit tool that should allow him to bat at least .250.

    His ceiling is the best hitter in the world.

    That is a first round pick.

    Sal Stewart – Cincinnati Reds

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    October 21, 2026, 7:30 am