2026 Position Previews: Outfield, Part 1
An in-depth look at the outfield position for fantasy baseball leagues in 2026
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Outfield and starting pitcher are the big ones. Starting pitcher is a little bit more fun to do than outfield; this one can be a slog. So I’m getting it done early on.
Remember that I’m doing big tiers and then smaller sub-tiers inside of them. It makes it a little bit easier.
Tier One
Tier 1.1
Aaron Judge
Juan Soto
You could put Aaron Judge in his own tier, I suppose. Nobody is ever taking another outfielder ahead of him, but we’ll put Soto & Carroll with him just to keep it a little bit spicy.
In most cases, the league settings don’t really matter in the first round. These guys are usually so studly that no change to the league setting can change that. That’s not quite true with Juan Soto. That guy takes a lot of walks. I wouldn’t make any drastic changes, but maybe you bump him down a slot or two in the first round. He’s hit 40 homers in two straight and has hit .275 or higher in two of the last three. So he’s good across the board. But he could hit .260 again with just 10-15 steals rather than the 38 from last year, and that would have him coming up short of #4 overall value.
Tier 1.2
Corbin Carroll
Ronald Acuna Jr.
Julio Rodriguez
Kyle Tucker
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Jackson Chourio
We have a clump of 30-30 threats. These are pretty great consolation prizes in the first or second round. They all have great floors and huge ceilings.
Corbin Carroll feels like a nice get in the second half of the first round. He showed elite bat speed last year, which I don’t fully understand with his frame. So he now has a 50+ steal season and a 30+ homer season under his belt. I’m not sure if he can ever do those two things at the same time, but the guy is a sure-fire stud, and there are multiple ways he can return first-round value.
The hesitation with Ronald Acuna is about the two ACLs he’s torn. I imagine he’ll be fine; we just have to wonder if the stolen base attempt rate will come back. He was above 30% before the latest injury, and in his return last year he came to 7%. With an offseason to fully recover, I think we’ll get back to at least 15% next year, but it’s no slam dunk. He slugged .518 with a .935 OPS while shaking off the rust. He’s one of the best baseball players to ever exist, so I don’t think you’ll be mad at using a first-round pick on him, but it’s possible that the knees keep him away from being a true tier-one player from here on out.
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