One of the most satisfying aspects of being a fantasy baseball manager is finding that overlooked player who has an unexpected strong season and ends up helping lead your team to a championship. Fantasy Alarm's Ultimate Cheat Sheet  and Fantasy Alarm’s Top 2026 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings are great resources for identifying fantasy baseball players who have untapped potential and they’ll help you assess their value on draft day. 

I previously wrote about fantasy baseball outfielders on the rise but as spring training winds down there are several other outfielders competing for jobs that you should know about. The outfielders featured in this article are deep sleepers who are young, talented and have major potential upside. Most importantly you can probably pick up most of them with one of the last picks in your fantasy baseball drafts.

 

 

Justin Crawford – Elite Stolen Base Skillset

There is a lot to like about Crawford’s skillset. He’s a speedster who doesn’t strike out much and that’s helped him compile a career minor league .322 BA and .385 OBP. He’s also a very good defensive outfielder and that should help tip the scales in his favor of making the Phillies Opening Day roster. He’ll likely start the season batting in the lower part of the Phillies’ lineup but with his elite OBP skills, the Phillies might choose to slip right behind Trea Turner and just ahead of  Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. In that scenario Crawford could potentially be a good resource in the runs scored category, which is often tough to fill.

Chase DeLauter – Emerging Power and Elite OBP skills

DeLauter is fighting for an Opening Day spot in the Guardians’ outfield and the way he’s played this spring he’s got a very good chance of being in the middle of the team’s lineup at the start of the season. DeLauter, who became just the sixth major leaguer to make his debut during the 2025 postseason, has a tremendous hit tool, but a series of lower body injuries has plagued him throughout his brief minor league career.

DeLauter has a career .302 BA and .888 OPS in parts of three minor league seasons. His above average strike zone judgment makes him a good contact hitter and while he’s not a stolen base threat, his quickness should help him to cover a lot of ground in centerfield for the Guardians. DeLauter is still growing into his power but has already hit 20 HR and 40 doubles in 138 minor league games. His .384 career OBP could potentially make him very valuable in leagues that track OBP instead of BA.

 

 

Jordan Lawlar – Redemption in the Outfield

Perhaps Lawlar’s path to an everyday role lies in the outfield and not in the infield. Including Lawlar in this article might be pushing it since he’s only played three games in the outfield in his professional career, the Diamondbacks are considering using him in the outfield this season. Lawlar is a post-hype sleeper who has a minor league career .298/.395/.515 triple-slash, but his bat falls asleep every time he gets a chance at playing in the big leagues. In fairness, he’s only had 108 major league PA across parts of two seasons but in that brief time he battled injuries and only batted .165 while compiling  a .478 OPS. 

His defense has been a bit shoddy, and Geraldo Perdomo has established himself as the Diamondbacks’ shortstop of the future, so Lawlar is being given the chance to utilize his speed in centerfield this spring. As this article is being written, Lawlar is pounding the ball and has four HR, and a .323 BA in his first 31 spring training at bats. Even though it seems as if we’ve been waiting for him to emerge as a fantasy baseball star for a long time, Lawlar is just 23 years old. 

Cam Smith – Post Hype Sleeper

Last year at this time Smith was a budding star who was about to get thrown into the deep end of the pool without his swimmies. The Astros thought Smith was ready for the big leagues after having only played 32 minor league games, of which only five were at the AA level. He got off to a terrible start and had a .205 BA in his first 27 games. Smith batted .335 with a .873 OPS in his next 48 games, but slumped badly to end the season, batting just .153 in his final 59 games. 

Smith was overwhelmed last season, as shown by his 27.8 K rate but his bat speed was above average and in the 84th percentile, per Statcast. He’s having a good spring, and Smith has another opportunity at earning every day at bats in the Astros’ outfield. Most projection models expect him to reach double digit HR and with his sprint speed in the 95th percentile, Smith has a chance to reach double digits in stolen bases as well.

 

 

Jordan Walker – One Last Chance

Even though Walker will be just 24 years old on Opening Day, this may be his last chance to claim a spot in the Cardinals’ outfield. The Cards handed him a starting job last season but injuries and regression in his contact skills contributed to a disappointing season in which he batted just .215 and compiled a .584 OPS in 111 games. Walker’s 2025 strikeout rate (31.8) increased for a second straight season and his ground ball rate (47.9%) continued to be above average. The lack of lift in his swing capped his HR production. He hit just six last season.

Walker claims to have found an issue in his swing while working at Driveline in the offseason. He also focused on agility training and better nutrition to prepare for the 2026 season. Walker still has good underlying skills. His bat speed was in the 99th percentile last season and his hard-hit rate and average exit velocity were in the 91st and 87th percentile, respectively. Unfortunately, Walker has struggled so far and hasn’t had an extra base hit in his first 30 spring training at bats. If the Cardinals opt to leave Walker off their Opening Day roster that could lead to giving Joshua Baez a chance to show what he can do in the big leagues. Baez hit 20 HR and stole 54 bases in 117 games between the Cardinals high A and AA teams last season. He’s having a good spring, and you can probably grab him with the last pick of your upcoming fantasy baseball drafts. 

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