As MLB Opening Day draws near and fantasy baseball draft season wraps up, I wanted to give some of my fantasy baseball bold predictions for second base! We’ll uncover some names who could be great values, or maybe even notable busts, at their respective fantasy baseball average draft position! By doing so, we can find the best targets for our team and draft the players set to outperform their projections and finish ahead of their fantasy baseball positional ranking. Whether you are reading these bold predictions to help with your drafts, fantasy baseball trades, or even some player futures, enjoy these bold predictions for the 2026 fantasy baseball season!

Jose Altuve Finishes Outside the Top-8 Second Basemen in 2026

Aside from 2023, Altuve continues to be durable, playing in 140+ games in four of the last five seasons. His 26 home runs in 2025 were his highest in a season since 2022, but his .265 average was his lowest since the COVID season. Beyond that, his stolen bases were down, and an already low average exit velocity dropped to the lowest of his career last season (85.1 mph). Unfortunately, the buck doesn’t stop there. His barrel rate of 6.2% was his lowest of the last half-decade, and his .237 xBA, .384 xSLG, and .300 xwOBA were his worst marks, again, since the COVID season.

I don’t expect him to have a big resurgence in the stolen base department, and I believe his home run total will be below 20 this season. He’s no longer a ~.300 hitter, and with some youth infusion at the position, is a .260 average with 17 home runs and seven stolen bases going to be a top-five performer at this position?

I’ve been fading Altuve all draft season, so I’ll double down on that here.

 

 

 

Matt McLain Hits .255+ and Joins The 25/25 Club

He’s the trendy breakout pick at second base right now, and a phenomenal spring training hasn’t helped in keeping his ADP suppressed. Check out his ADP trend chart, courtesy of NFBC:

After missing all of the 2024 season, McLain played in 147 games last year, slashing .220/.300/.343 with 15 home runs and 18 stolen bases. He plays in a great park for right-handed hitters, and per Baseball Savant’s Park Factors, over the last three years, only Dodger Stadium has been better for right-handed power! Another year removed from injury, I expect some offensive resurgence for McLain, and if he can shave a few percentage points off his strikeout rate, that will lead to more contact, and I’d expect far better luck than last year’s .292 BABIP.

Cincy will let him run, and based on his 93rd percentile sprint speed last season (90th percentile in 2023), they would be wise to let him do so. At his ceiling, he’s a top-three second baseman in fantasy baseball this season, and a 25/25 season could be looming, especially if he carries over the spring numbers into the regular season (.676 wOBA, 1.637 OPS over 44 ABs).

Luisangel Acuna Steals 40+ Bases

Elite speed led to some gaudy numbers for Acuna at the minor league ranks, and we got a little taste of it last year when Acuna was with the Mets. Across 95 games last season, Acuna went 16-for-17 in stolen base attempts, flashing 97th percentile sprint speed. For what it’s worth, his sprint speed last year was the same as Chandler Simpson's.

The White Sox are going to give him a regular role, and so far in spring, he has five stolen base attempts in 12 games! There are some questions about his offensive profile, but he had a strong walk rate in the minors, and the hope is that continued development in the batter’s box will lead to a higher OBP, and in turn, more opportunities to run.

Chicago also attempted stolen bases at one of the lower rates in the league last season, but Will Venable should take a long, hard look at his lineup and realize that they are going to need to get creative to manufacture some runs amidst a potentially powerful, yet strikeout-prone lineup.

 

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