5 Early Sleepers Experts Love (2026 Fantasy Baseball)

Draft season never really sleeps — it just reloads. While the ADP crowd is busy arguing over first-round picks in January, our Featured Pros are already circling the names that could win leagues in March. We asked top-ranked analysts to share the fantasy baseball targets they’re scooping up before the market catches on. If you’re looking to get ahead of your league mates (and maybe flex about it later), these are the players to know now.

5 Early Sleepers Experts Love

Which hitter outside the top 150 overall in ECR do you expect to be this year’s biggest sleeper and why?

Daylen Lile (OF – WAS)

“The hitter outside the top 150 overall in ECR that I expect to be this year’s biggest sleeper is Daylen Lile. He’s being drafted outside of the top 150 overall with an ADP of 190. Lile has elite contact and line-drive skills. Last year, he posted one of the highest line-drive percentages in MLB, a strong profile metric that typically correlates with batting average and extra-base hits. If we look at his minor league and major league performance last season, he hit .328 across Double and Triple-A, and after getting called up last season, he slashed .299 in limited MLB action. This is impressive for someone going late in 2026 fantasy baseball league drafts. He delivers balanced production, which I strongly desire in the late rounds of my fantasy baseball league drafts. Daylen Lile may not deliver elite homer totals, but his speed and gap power can boost runs, doubles, triples, and batting average. He is a valuable 5-category contributor often overlooked in standard league drafts. In most of my fantasy baseball league drafts, most league managers focus on power bats early, leaving players like Lile, who contribute across multiple categories but lack big pop, undervalued. His strong skill indicators fit my prototypical breakout sleeper candidate.”
– Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire)

“Daylen Lile finished 2025 with nine home runs, eight stolen bases, and a .299 batting average in just a little over 300 at-bats. The young outfielder inserted himself into an outfield rotation that seemed complete. He finished 2025 with a .302 xBA, supported his contact profile. He showed the ability, despite not having big hard hit metrics, to get the ball in the air with a 15-degree launch angle and pull the ball in the air over 20% of the time. He doesn’t strike out, posting just a 16% strikeout rate, and his wheels look real, putting up a top-eight percentile sprint speed across the league. The Washington sell-off will most likely push him up the lineup for the Nationals, as current depth charts have him hitting third. Put all of this together, and we’re looking at a solid to solid+ five category player, going outside the top-200 according to ECR.”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)

Alec Burleson (OF – STL)

“Alec Burleson may not carry the same buzz as some other OF3 or OF4 options, but his profile is trending in the right direction as he enters his age-27 season. He took a noticeable step forward in 2024, appearing in 139 games while posting 18 home runs, 69 RBI, and 54 runs scored, along with a .290/.343/.459 slash line and an .802 OPS. His appeal is rooted in strong contact skills, evidenced by a modest 14.5% strikeout rate, and enough power to contribute across multiple categories. Locked into a prominent spot near the top of St. Louis’ lineup, which is admittedly not a great group, Burleson still offers inexpensive batting-average stability and quiet upside for fantasy managers in 2026 drafts.”
–Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)

Which starting pitcher outside the top 150 overall in ECR do you expect to be this year’s biggest sleeper and why?

Jack Flaherty (SP – DET)

“The pitcher outside the top 150 overall in ECR that I expect to be this year’s biggest sleeper is Jack Flaherty. Flaherty is widely considered a late-round value target, with a current ranking near 173 overall. He has previous elite performance. The 30-year-old right-hander has top-tier fantasy performance chops, including past seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA and strong strikeout totals before a down year in 2025. He also shows bounce-back potential. I believe that 2025 was an outlier. He allowed too much hard contact and posted a 4.64 ERA, but underlying skills (velocity, control at his peak, plus breaking stuff) suggest a return toward his ceiling is realistic with even modest improvements. He also has a rotation role in security. He’s expected to be in Detroit’s rotation all season long, which gives him the volume needed to accrue counting stats (wins, strikeouts) if he stabilizes his ERA/WHIP. Flaherty carries the type of profile where a few tweaks or better luck on fly-balls/HR rates could flip a mediocre ERA into a strong mid-rotation fantasy season. Being drafted late gives excellent leverage if he rebounds closer to his 2024 form rather than repeating his 2025 struggles.”
– Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire)

Zac Gallen (SP – FA)

“Most of 2025 was forgettable for Zac Gallen, and as of writing this, he still hasn’t found a home for the new season. Despite the poor year, though, I think Gallen showed signs of life to carry over to 2026. He finished the. year with a 4.82 ERA in 192 innings. He was bad in the first half of the year with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. It was almost like clockwork, though, once the trade deadline passed, Gallen went into another gear. Six of his next seven starts following the deadline were quality starts, and eight of his final 11 starts went six innings with three or fewer earned runs. Gallen’s stuff is still there, but his changeup was not, and he relies on it. If he can regain the control/swing and miss from the changeup, Gallen can return to form. He is an afterthought for most drafters as SP62 in FantasyPros ECR, but he has a big return potential.”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)

Drew Rasmussen (SP – TB)

“I feel like everyone is forgetting the Rays are moving back into their spacious, pitcher-friendly ballpark in 2026 and ranking Drew Rasmussen (ECR 168) way too low. He gave up more than 1.0 HR/9 for the first time in his career, but allowed twice as many at home in George Steinbrenner Field, which he won’t have to deal with this season. His strikeout rate is middle of the road at 21.7%, but his walk rate is an impressive 6.3%, offering a WHIP below 1.10 every year of his career. He started 31 games last season, and even though his xERA (3.43) is higher than his actual (2.76), his ERA and FIP numbers from the previous two years, when he got to pitch at Tropicana Field, were stellar. I’m targeting all of the Rays pitchers, but Rasmussen leads the way and would make a solid SP3 or SP4 on any fantasy pitching staff.”
–Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)