Every fantasy baseball expert enters the season with conviction. Some calls age beautifully. Others deserve to be buried quietly and never spoken of again.
As we near midseason, FantasyPros’ Featured Pros are doing something most analysts avoid: owning both. They have put 12 preseason predictions under the microscope, giving our experts the chance to take a well-earned victory lap on their sharpest calls and eat a little crow on the ones that didn’t pan out.
Fantasy Baseball Preseason Picks Reviewed (2026)
Nailed It
Give us your best ‘I told you so’ moment — who did you believe in before the draft that’s rewarded your faith?
Andy Pages (OF – LAD)
“Andy Pages has been all that and more for me this season, which is great since I have him in 90% of my leagues. In a dominant but aging Dodgers lineup, the 25-year-old was poised to collect counting stats galore in 2026. What I liked about him coming into the year was that he got 624 plate appearances for L.A. in 2025, meaning Dave Roberts kept finding him a spot in the lineup, no matter how crowded it was with current and former All-Stars. Pages leads MLB with 53 RBIs while also collecting 14 home runs, 7 stolen bases, and 38 runs scored. He is also slashing .283/.330/.522, meaning he is contributing across all categories for those who targeted him. Pages currently sits at VBR8 among hitters, and I ranked him 45 spots higher than ECR during draft season.”
– Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)
Chase Burns (SP – CIN)
“I pretty much had Chase Burnson every must-draft, ‘my guys, ‘ or best value article or episode we could put together. Burns has more than lived up to the ADP with his 7-1 record, 2.05 ERA, and almost 30% K-rate and now looks like a top-10 fantasy pitcher.”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B – TOR)
“Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Everyone under the sun ranked Vladdy as the No. 1 or No. 2 first base option; his ECR was No. 1 1B. Not BEAST DOME. Vlad was the No. 6 first baseman; no site was lower. I wrote an article calling him the BUST of the Year and attributed it to the fact that he has only had one season of true power back in 2021 (48 HR). Since then, he has struggled to reach that 30 HR plateau. I said do not draft him at all, and as we approach the mid-way part of the season, Vlad is at 3 HR and 25 RBI. Absolute dumpster fire and an easy reason why anybody that has Vlad will not be in the running for a Championship.”
– Muntradamus (Beast Dome)
Kyle Harrison (SP – MIL)
“Kyle Harrison has proven to be a league-winning option without paying such a hefty price in drafts to begin the season compared to other pre-season top-tier pitchers. The left-hander has offered strong command, allowing two earned runs or fewer in 11 of his 12 starts to go along with an 11.6 K/9. The left-hander continues to utilize his repertoire to reward fantasy managers with elite swing-and-miss stuff as well, posting a 33.3% chase rate and 29.5% whiff rate while also holding opposing batters to a barrel rate of 7.4%.”
– Chris Schommer (FantasyPros)
Miguel Vargas (1B, 3B – CWS)
“On my most important keeper-league team, my partner and I selected Miguel Vargas and Kyle Harrison very late (and Dillon Dingler as a bench player). That funky team has been a lot of fun because the bottom half of the roster is strangely outplaying the top half. Harrison and Emerson Hancock are two examples of how spring stats can lead you to breakouts (Jake Bauers also checks in, though I didn’t listen). More obviously, I called Kyle Schwarber a perfect second-round pick, and he’s been exactly that.”
– Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
Zack Wheeler (SP – PHI)
“I understood the trepidation behind drafting Zack Wheeler when his timetable was somewhat unclear as he was returning from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. But as we got closer to draft season, it seemed as if we would only have to wait one month to stash one of the best pitchers in the game. I ranked Wheeler higher than the consensus and personally took him in a couple of leagues as soon as I could, and he’s been even better than expected. Not only does he currently own a 2.22 ERA and 0.85 WHIP, but he’s also gone at least 6 innings in every start since his 2026 debut, squashing any doubts about innings limitations. I named him as one of my “Players You’ll Regret Passing On,” and that has proven more than true.”
– Pierre Camus (Fantasy Endgame)
Shortstops
“The Shortstop Spot and Chase Burns – Heading into draft season, I had two major priorities. One, Chase Burns. I loved his K/9, his overall “stuff,” and I always target players who flashed the prior season but who haven’t fully broken out yet, with the expectation that this year they make the leap and become an elite player at their position. That was Burns in 2026. He checked all the boxes and has come through in spades. 88 strikeouts in 75.2 innings pitched, an ERA of 2.14, and a WHIP of 0.99. My second “I told you so” was avoiding the high-cost shortstops and “settling” for second or even third-tier shortstops. Bobby Witt, Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, Gunnar Henderson, and even Trea Turner all have to be considered disappointments with extremely low batting averages. CJ Abrams has been the best SS in Fantasy, while Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards are both potential 20/20 SB/HR guys with batting averages over .300, something that separates them significantly in a category that is extremely difficult to be good at in today’s game. Even Colson Montgomery, with an ADP of 181, has 16 home runs, leading that position in the category. If I’m going to brag, I may as well do it big, giving you a plethora of “I Told You So” moments when asked for one favorite. I can’t help myself, so please indulge my vanity. You’re welcome for completing the task in the spirit in which it was intended. Pssssst.. By the WAY. Cal Raleigh has seven home runs, a batting average of .161, and is currently on the IL. I called all of that. He is the biggest “I TOLD YOU SO” of the season by any analyst so far. I can’t stop. Two more words. Dylan Cease.”
– Chris Mitchell (FantasyData)
Failed It
What’s the preseason call that you’re hoping everyone forgot about by now?
Tyler Glasnow (SP – LAD)
“Tyler Glasnow winning the CY Young. While the season started out hot for Glasnow, starting 3-0 with a 2.72 ERA, most notably 49 strikeouts in 39 innings. Unfortunately, the one thing that has ruined Glasnow’s career continued to ruin his career again in 2026: injuries. What was supposed to be one missed start after a back tweak has now turned into a 60-day IL trip. Every year, it seems I get burned on Glasnow; his draft price will continue to drop every year because of the trend, as he has never reached over 22 starts in a season. One of these days, it will work out for the stud; however, next year, he will be 33 years old, and time is ticking.”
– Muntradamus (Beast Dome)
Jacob Misiorowski (SP – MIL)
“While my answer to this should be Vinnie Pasquantino, I’d like to also take a giant L for underestimating Jacob Misiorowski’s dominance in 2026. For whatever reason, I hesitated on Miz because I thought his walk rate last season (11%) might keep trending higher, and his pitches were getting smacked around a bit more than I liked (37.5% hard-hit rate). I just wasn’t sure the 24-year-old could make the leap without losing some of his strikeouts, and/or MLB batters would start to figure him out. Whoops. The 24-year-old has a 38.4% K-rate, reduced his walk rate to 7.3%, and has been completely overwhelming to opposing hitters from the jump. He is currently the top starting pitcher by VBR on the season, and I was
– Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)
“There was that big glob of good young pitchers right outside the top-100. I hung my hat on McLean and Burns, but really looked to fade Jacob Misiorowski, and really wish I hadn’t. His ability to keep throwing strikes and not walk guys had me curious if he’d be up and down all year. Well, it’s been nothing but up. ”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)
Masyn Winn (SS – STL)
“Masyn Winn SS St. Louis Cardinals – Sticking with my “Buy Cheap but Buy Good at SS” philosophy, I thought Masyn Winn had a shot to be a sneaky nice value with a Draft-Day ADP of #291. Two home runs, five stolen bases, and a .231 batting average, 212 at-bats later, and he’s waiver wire fodder. He’s got the athleticism and the potential, but when you don’t make contact and you don’t get on base, it’s tough to make a Fantasy team, never mind win a Fantasy title for one. A Swinnnng and A Misssss there. I don’t think Nolan McLean and Jesus Luzardo are calls to be ashamed of. That being said, their ERA’s and WHIP’s are a bit of a disappointment that in another five or six weeks, could be calls I’d like to forget, although I think they still have a chance to be “I Told You So’s” just as easily.”
– Chris Mitchell (FantasyData)
Geraldo Perdomo (SS – ARI)
“I targeted Geraldo Perdomo as a regress-and-win player, someone who would give back some of his 2025 stats but keep enough good stuff to validate his ADP. Instead, his pop has disappeared (not that surprising), and his average has tanked (surprising, given his contact rate and more walks than strikeouts). At least his bat has perked up in June, and I think he’ll still run. I’m not completely giving up yet, but my March hopes are shredded for good. More frustrating, I called Manny Machado a perfect third-round pick, but he’s been a mess.”
– Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
Tatsuya Imai (SP – HOU)
“Tatsuya Imai has not been worth the spring-training hype to this point. The rookie has fought issues with command even after overcoming a stretch on the injured list, posting a 15.3% walk rate and 47.1% hard-hit rate. Signs are pointing towards improvement, holding opponents to two earned runs or less in each of his last three trips to the mound, but the steep price paid in drafts has not been justified to this point.”
– Chris Schommer (FantasyPros)
Austin Riley (3B – ATL)
“Austin Riley was bound to have a bounce-back season, right? Yet, here we are in June, and he’s hitting all of .209 with 8 homers despite the Braves being one of the best offenses in the majors all season long. It’s hard to understand how he could continue to decline despite being 29 years old and not having suffered any significant injuries as of late, but it doesn’t seem as if he’ll be a league winner after all. Although I did get the part about the career-high in stolen bases right!”
– Pierre Camus (Fantasy Endgame)
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