2026 Position Previews: Shortstop
A detailed look at shortstop for 2026 fantasy baseball leagues
View full position previews series here.
Overview
Most of the studs in the fantasy game in recent years have congregated to shortstop and the outfield. Unless they can also pitch like a Cy Young Award winner, then they just DH and everything is great.
The top 15 hitter picks this year break down like this:
Outfield: 7
Shortstop: 4
Third Base: 1
Catcher: 1
First Base: 1
DH: 1
There’s an advantage to getting ahead at the weak positions, but if you’re looking for those game-changing fantasy picks, you’re finding most of them at shortstop or outfield.
Shortstop is where the best athletes end up. This starts in Little League. Go to any kids' baseball game, and you’ll either find the best player on the mound or at shortstop. And I say that mostly because I played shortstop in Little League. Shout out to me. I couldn’t hit and was terrified of the baseball, but I played shortstop! I had this glove:
I can’t be the only kid from 1995-2005 rocking that thing, so comment below if that picture triggered some memories.
So there’s a lot to talk about today. Shortstop is loaded, and we want to get it right. Most of the time, the decision is made for you. You’ll often get a shortstop in the first 3-4 rounds, not because you’re prioritizing the position, but just because the best available player plays there.
The position is also seemingly only going to get stronger. If we look at the game’s top 10 hitting prospects:
Konnor Griffin SS
Kevin McGonigle SS
Jesus Made SS
Leo De Vries SS
JJ Wetherholt SS
Sebastian Walcott SS
Samuel Basallo C
Colt Emerson SS
Max Clark OF
Eli Willits SS
They won’t all play shortstop at the Major League level, but eight of the top ten are coming up with that as their primary position.
Let’s get into these tiers.
Tier One
1 | Bobby Witt Jr.
2 | Elly De La Cruz
3 | Gunnar Henderson
Click on any player’s name to be taken to their individual player write-up from the team previews series.
There are studs aplenty at shortstop. So it’s not a position you’ll want to wait at. It’s a tough position to wait on, even if you try, because there are so many very good options here.
You could put each of these guys in their own sub-tiers. I’d never take Elly above Witt, and I’d never take Gunnar above Elly, and I wouldn’t take anybody below this over Henderson. Don’t take this as me saying that Gunnar is just as good as Witt.
But these are studs, and I’d love to use my first pick on Witt or Elly or my second pick on Henderson.
I particularly like getting Henderson in the second round. I think he’ll have a much better year in 2026 than he did in 2025. The lineup is upgraded with Pete Alonso in town, and Gunnar has a clean bill of health. He’s ready to smash again. I think he might even make it into the My Perfect Draft post this year.
Tier Two
4 | Francisco Lindor
5 | Zach Neto
6 | Trea Turner
Lindor would’ve flirted with joining Gunnar in tier one if not for this hamate bone injury. I didn’t move him down in my shortstop ranks at all following that news, but I did move him behind some guys at other positions.
I could see ordering these three guys any way you want. If you really don’t want to risk a potential power loss from Lindor driven by that injury, you can have Turner or Neto over him - that would make sense. Zach Neto is the youngest guy here by far. He’s had a marvelous fantasy baseball career so far, and he’ll come into this year fully healthy and ready to go. But it’s not a perfect profile; there are some reasons to think we might have seen the best of him already. Check the Angels preview for more on that.
Trea Turner doesn’t have the power upside anymore. I’d be surprised if he clears 20 homers again, but his speed has not diminished, and he’s coming off another .300 batting average. So he can still do 90% of what he was doing at his peak. We just have to wonder if we’ll start rapidly descending away from that peak now (he’ll turn 33 this summer).
Tier Three
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