4 MLB Spring Training Risers (Fantasy Baseball)

Spring training stats are mostly meaningless, but playing time, usage and lineup spots can be useful information. Players who are buzzy and end up with tremendous or terrible springs are also hard to ignore. Every player seems to be in the best shape of their life or on track to come back from an injury. But how do we separate fact from fiction? This piece will look at players who are trending up heading into 2026 based on where they finished their fantasy baseball season in 2025. The average draft position (ADP) data referenced below is courtesy of the National Fantasy Baseball Championship (NFBC).

Fantasy Baseball MLB Spring Training Risers

Fantasy Baseball Risers

Mookie Betts (SS – LAD) | NFBC ADP: 53.9

There’s a lot of positive spin on why Mookie Betts could revert to a top-30 player. He lost nearly 20 pounds early in 2025 due to a severe stomach illness and later fractured a toe. He also cited the mental strain of learning a new position (shortstop) while dealing with the pressure of being a defending champion.

Those health issues and positional issues appear to all be behind him. The addition of Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers’ lineup is expected to provide better protection and more RBI opportunities, as Betts is slated to hit third behind Shohei Ohtani and Tucker. That’s the good news.

There aren’t many other places Betts can go but up after a career-worst .258/.326/.406 slash line with a .148 ISO in 2025. Projections across the board are calling for him to hit 24 home runs, drive in 95 runs and hit .275.

All of Betts’ expected numbers in 2025 were wildly higher than his actual production, so there was also some bad luck mixed into the health problems. If some of those things course-correct this year, Betts will be elite again, and drafters are starting to notice.

Austin Riley (3B – ATL) | NFBC ADP: 69.6

The big question surrounding Austin Riley in 2026 is about health. Can he stay on the field? Production has never been the issue with Riley when healthy, but staying on the field the last two seasons has been his weakness. Riley played in at least 159 games for three straight seasons before 2024.

Riley had at least 30 home runs, 90 runs and 90 RBI in those three seasons, but the injury bug hit in 2024. He has played 110 and 102 games over the last two seasons. He has not reached 20 home runs or 60 RBI in either of those seasons. Can he bounce back and produce like before? The injury history says he might have been fluky.

In 2024, he broke a hand on a hit-by-pitch, but that has now fully healed. In 2025, he had an abdominal injury, but he had surgery in August and seems to be fully healed. Fantasy baseball managers are taking advantage of the dip from his high ADP over the last three seasons and taking him outside of the fifth round in 12-team leagues.

If Riley can get back to form, he is right in his prime hitting years. Fantasy managers can expect another 30-90-90 season in the top half of the Atlanta Braves’ batting order.

Matt McLain (2B – CIN) | NFBC ADP: 188.2

All Matt McLain has done during spring training is hit .545 with four home runs, 11 RBI and a 1.751 OPS. It’s been a crazy good start for a player who was largely written off after a down 2025 after he missed 2024 with injuries.

Last season, McLain was a consensus top-100 pick after hitting 16 home runs and stealing 14 bases in two-thirds of a season in 2023. He also hit. 290 that season and slugged .507, and managers were hoping for a repeat. In 2025, those numbers plummeted to .220 and 343, respectively, which tanked his draft capital.

McLain has shown this spring that the power is back, and he is also striking out in fewer than 10% of his plate appearances. If he keeps this up, he is going to end up being drafted inside the top 150 before the end of spring training. Just in the last week, his ADP has dropped to pick 179. Smart managers should take advantage.

Konnor Griffin (SS – PIT) | NFBC ADP: 204.7

Top prospect Konnor Griffin has already blasted three massive home runs this spring and has a .923 OPS. He looks like the elite offensive force evaluators have seen for years.

The real question is whether Griffin will crack the Pirates’ Opening Day roster and spend the season as the team’s starting shortstop. At pick 185 and with his pedigree, it may not matter if Griffin starts in the first game or the 25th game; he is good enough to return value in just 130 games.

The risk, of course, is that Griffin is just 19 years old and played in just 21 games at the Double-A level. There is always a risk of young players falling on their faces, but Griffin is supposed to be one of the special ones. Drafters are starting to take notice, as his ADP has been creeping up.