Over the weekend, I asked the RotoWire staff for their favorite sleepers and busts for this season. Throughout this week, I'll share our team's picks across a series of four articles, starting today with hitter sleepers.
The players are listed in order of their ADP in the RotoWire Online Championship. I've included each writer's explanation for their pick from their response to my email, as well as a link to their writer page here at RotoWire so you can check out all of their work.
Intro by Erik Halterman
Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Hitters
Bryson Stott, 2B, Phillies (ADP 187)
At a thin second base position, finding later value is paramount. Swing changes last year in an effort to pull the ball more led to a .307/.376/.508 slash line over Stott's final 57 games with seven homers and 10 steals, and a 20-homer, 30-steal campaign could be in reach for the 28-year-old if those improvements carry forward. — Erik Siegrist
Jac Caglianone, OF, Royals (ADP 191)
Caglianone will ride the Team Italy vibes into the 2026 season! Or, from a more logical perspective, he was a top-10 pick in 2024 and slugged his way through the minors to get a chance with the Royals in 2025. Yes, he struggled, but he had a .172 BABIP, and this year I expect that taste of MLB action will help him adjust. — Chris Morgan
Munetaka Murakami, (1B)/3B, White Sox (ADP 208)
A couple years ago he hit .318 with 56
Over the weekend, I asked the RotoWire staff for their favorite sleepers and busts for this season. Throughout this week, I'll share our team's picks across a series of four articles, starting today with hitter sleepers.
The players are listed in order of their ADP in the RotoWire Online Championship. I've included each writer's explanation for their pick from their response to my email, as well as a link to their writer page here at RotoWire so you can check out all of their work.
Intro by Erik Halterman
Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Hitters
Bryson Stott, 2B, Phillies (ADP 187)
At a thin second base position, finding later value is paramount. Swing changes last year in an effort to pull the ball more led to a .307/.376/.508 slash line over Stott's final 57 games with seven homers and 10 steals, and a 20-homer, 30-steal campaign could be in reach for the 28-year-old if those improvements carry forward. — Erik Siegrist
Jac Caglianone, OF, Royals (ADP 191)
Caglianone will ride the Team Italy vibes into the 2026 season! Or, from a more logical perspective, he was a top-10 pick in 2024 and slugged his way through the minors to get a chance with the Royals in 2025. Yes, he struggled, but he had a .172 BABIP, and this year I expect that taste of MLB action will help him adjust. — Chris Morgan
Munetaka Murakami, (1B)/3B, White Sox (ADP 208)
A couple years ago he hit .318 with 56 home runs, netting a Triple Crown and an MVP in Japan. He was just 22 years old. He slipped after that and has fought through a lot of injuries, but I'm sure the Sox are hoping for the best, too. He played third base in Japan but is expected to move over to first base in the States. If he can cut down on the strikeouts, he could be a big basher. — Brad Johnson
Kazuma Okamoto, 3B, Blue Jays (ADP 213)
For a power hitter, Okamoto doesn't strike out much. That should help his transition to the majors. With the potential for him to hit in a favorable spot within Toronto's lineup, I like his chances of providing value. — Mike Barner
JJ Wetherholt, (2B)/SS, Cardinals (ADP 232)
As a self-proclaimed prospects guy, I have to plant my flag with one of my favorite prospects in recent memory: Wetherholt. He hasn't made his big-league debut yet, but the 23-year-old slashed .306/.421/.510 with 17 homers, 28 doubles, 59 RBI and 23 stolen bases across 109 games between Double-A and Triple-A last season and is already off to a scorching start this spring with a .921 OPS in 12 Grapefruit League appearances. Wetherholt appears on track to take over as the regular second baseman in St. Louis and offers a uniquely high floor for a rookie while still boasting an exciting ceiling thanks to his polished, well-rounded skill set. — Jeremy Schneider
Max Muncy, 3B, Dodgers (ADP 245)
Muncy was a different player once he had his eyes checked last season. He closed the year hitting .278/.416/.594 (good for a 1.010 OPS) across his final 62 games. It also doesn't hurt his RBI opportunities to hit behind superstars like Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Kyle Tucker. Why is he going after pick 200 at a weak third base position? — Joel Bartilotta
Jake Burger, 1B, Rangers (ADP 246)
Nothing about Burger has changed from a year ago when he was getting drafted 100+ picks higher, other than that he had a disappointing 2025 season. He averaged 31.5 homers with a .250 AVG from 2023-2024 and the Rangers are going into the year with him as the everyday 1B and potential cleanup hitter. — James Anderson
Burger's home park in Texas isn't ideal, which has suppressed his ADP to an extent (his injuries in 2025 are also a big factor), but it's tough to find bats with 30+ home run power where Burger is going in drafts. — Ryan Rufe
Alec Bohm, 3B, Phillies (ADP 256)
Bohm's groundball rate spiked in 2025 as he provided underwhelming production, but his quality of contact was consistent to previous seasons. If he can get just a bit more lift, it wouldn't be surprising to see him get back to around 15-20 homers and close to 100 RBI, like he did in 2023 and 2024, especially if he's kept in the middle of the lineup. — Evan Hauge
Justin Crawford, OF, Phillies (ADP 267)
Crawford has no major-league experience, but the Phillies have made it clear since the start of the offseason that they were handing him the center field job this year, and the recent PED suspension for Johan Rojas means it will probably be an everyday role for Crawford, not merely the large side of a platoon. Crawford has almost zero power, topping out at nine homers in the minors, but he actually makes fairly hard contact, he just pounds it into the ground as much as anyone in baseball. Tons of hard grounders should lead to a high BABIP and thus a high batting average, and he's a good bet to reach 30 steals, as he's swiped at least 40 bags in each of his three full seasons in the minors. — Erik Halterman
Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers (ADP 270)
The Tigers have a loaded roster, yet McGonigle is playing so well (now ranked second in AL Rookie of the Year odds) that he may end up as the starting shortstop on this World Series contender. Even if he's called up after Opening Day, McGonigle should be a strong fantasy producer for most of the season. — KC Joyner
Masyn Winn, SS, Cardinals (ADP 292)
I've found myself this draft season targeting volume-driven profiles more than I have in past years. You're not going to win with a roster full of those types, but when you're in the middle of your draft, they're usually the right choice over a higher-upside bat with warts. Winn doesn't pop in any one area offensively, but I do think we could see a stolen bases spike in 2026 now that he's got a healthy knee, and he'll be a leadoff hitter who just steadily piles up numbers. — Ryan Boyer
Andres Gimenez, 2B/(SS), Blue Jays (ADP 328)
Gimenez had 80 steals from 2022 to 2024, but two separate leg injuries hampered his running game and his hitting in 2025. Gimenez will be in a loaded offense once again this season, and healthy legs should allow him to return to 20-plus steals in 2026 and resume his production levels from the previous three years. A repeat of 2022 is not out of the question. — Jason Collette
Austin Martin, OF, Twins (ADP 361)
Martin got regular duty in the final two months of last season and made the most of it by hitting .282 with a 113 wRC+ and 11 steals in 50 games. As a right-handed batter in a lefty-heavy outfield, he could get more at-bats that expected and be a sneaky source of steals in deep leagues. — Peter Schoenke
