Fantasy baseball is in full swing, and the fantasy baseball draft guide here at Fantasy Alarm is aiming to be your one-stop shop to help guide you from draft day domination to hoisting your league’s trophy by season’s end. Recent rule changes have spiked stolen base totals in the past couple of seasons, but top-tier speed isn’t as abundant as one may expect when crafting this year’s fantasy baseball draft strategy. In fact, speed is being more concentrated in the early rounds of the draft, but using Fantasy Alarm’s 2026 fantasy baseball projections, there are some hidden gems in the later rounds to help round out your 2026 fantasy baseball draft strategy.

 

 

Where Speed Shows Up in Fantasy Baseball Drafts

Drafting stolen bases can be tricky, especially because this category can swing league standings, but overprioritizing speed could leave your team vulnerable to those “trap” players, I.E. the one-trick ponies whose fantasy value is solely predicated on lofty stolen base totals. By targeting stolen bases in the right rounds, and taking advantage of current fantasy baseball average draft positions (ADP), you can build a well-balanced team that is strong in stolen bases without sacrificing elsewhere.

Let’s have some fun with our projections here at Fantasy Alarm and NFBC ADP data spanning 1/1/2026 to 2/10/2026:

  • Our top 4 projected stolen base leaders are all shortstops
  • Of our top 9 projected leaders in SBs, five (5) are drafted inside the top 10, and eight (8) inside the top 60 picks

Now, let’s extend this to the top 25 stolen base leaders by our projections:

  • Average ADP: 105.6
  • Five (5) are being drafted inside the top 10
  • Ten (10) are being drafted inside the top 25
  • Fifteen (15) are being drafted inside the top 100

In a 10-team league, 15 of our top 25 leaders in this category will be off the board at the beginning of the 11th round! In a little bit, you’ll see that there are some solid stolen base totals later in drafts, but numerous times, those players have the “one-trick pony label,” in that they can give you some speed, but they are a detriment to every other category. Taking players like this means you need to pad your other stats to ensure you can take on the liability, whether it be in terms of power, batting average, etc. 

If you want multi-category producers, whether it is batting average and speed, or power and speed, get ready to pay up:

  • Average ADP of players (per FA Projections) with 15+ SB and 15+ HR = 80.4
  • Average ADP of players (per FA Projections) with 20+ SB and 20+ HR = 43.7
  • Average ADP of players (per FA Projections) with .250+ AVG and 15+ SBs = 76.7

Of course, every year, it’s good to know where the speed is across the positional landscape. Generally speaking, there isn’t much speed behind the dish, whereas the outfield and middle infield spots tend to be flush with talent in the stolen base department. We already mentioned that our top four projected leaders in stolen bases come from the shortstop position, and shortstop and outfield is where the speed is this year, followed by second base. The corner infield spots are a bit top-heavy with speed, and behind the dish, there’s only a handful of options, and it dips further if Agustin Ramirez isn’t as willing and/or proficient as he was in 2025 (16-for-19).

PositionAverage SB total of top 10 projected players at positionMedian SB total of players projected with at least 1 SB

C

4.6

3

1B

9.3

4

2B

18.2

11

3B

12.5

7

SS

29.8

11

OF

27.1

12

 

 

Mid-Round Stolen Base Targets Outside The Top 125

Ceddanne Rafaela, 2B/OF Boston Red Sox

I would love to see Rafaela take more walks, but Boston should be in the upper-third of baseball in team stolen base attempts per game, and Rafaela logged 20 stolen bases in 2025. He posted a 92nd percentile sprint speed last season, and he posted some very, very respectable stolen base numbers as he ascended through the minor league ranks. Needs to make more contact and stay in the zone a bit more, but if 2026 is his breakout season, he has a very high ceiling in the stolen base department.

Noelvi Marte, OF Cincinnati Reds

Marte is going to be relied upon this year for the Reds, and they are expecting, and needing, a big jump from him! He joined the 10/10 club last year while hitting .263 in just 90 games, and he’s 25-for-33 on stolen base attempts thus far in his career. He posted an elite sprint speed last year (89th percentile), and further improvements in his strikeout and walk rates will help his OBP, and help elevate his stolen base floor. A cautious projection is 12-15 bags, but if Terry Francona lets some of his burners run rampant, he could push for a ceiling of 20+ as an everyday player in the top-third of this lineup.

Matt McLain, 2B Cincinnati Reds

Ah, another Cincinnati Red in Matt McLain! I’d love for Francona to run more, but despite an underwhelming year for McLain last year, lowlighted by his .220 average and 28.9 K%, he still managed to steal 18 bases (90% success rate) across 147 games. Another year removed from his shoulder issue should help, and whether you believe it or not, he posted a 93rd percentile sprint speed last year! There’s certainly some volatility here in the batting average department, but at his ceiling, McLain has the makings of a 20/20 player.

 

 

Late-Round Stolen Base Targets Outside The Top 200

Masyn Winn, SS St. Louis Cardinals

After playing banged up for most of 2025, Winn should be healthy in 2026, and he himself has said he wants to be more active on the base paths. He’ll post in above-average sprint speed with two healthy knees this year, and sheer volume of ABs should help him cross the 20+ stolen base threshold.

Josh Lowe, OF Los Angeles Angels

Oblique issues held Lowe back in 2025, but he still managed to go 18-for-22 on stolen base attempts, and don’t forget that he posted 25+ in 2023 and 2024! He’ll be on the larger side of a platoon in right field, and as long as he’s healthy, expect him to be active on the base paths. For goodness sake, he stole 12 bases over the final 56 games last season, where he posted a .193 average and .250 OBP!

Jordan Beck, OF Colorado Rockies

Beck posted an 83rd percentile sprint speed last season, and was 19-for-27 on stolen base attempts. He was more efficient in the second-half last season, going 9-for-12 over the final 64 games, and an increased walk rate down the stretch should help his OBP if he can maintain that. Of course, half of his games in Coors Field should help things, and despite not having the most prolific track record in the minors in the stolen base department, he’s come into his own at the big league level, and could flirt with 20+ swiped bags in 2026.

Daylen Lile, OF Washington Nationals

Lile is an intriguing player for fantasy this season, as he has the potential of being a multi-category producer in 2026, In just 91 games last year, he hit .299 with nine home runs, and eight stolen bases in just 91 games. His 57% success rate on stolen base attempts is a bit underwhelming, considering his 92nd percentile sprint speed, but with more growth and maturation, he should become better on the base paths. It’s not often a guy going outside the top 200 picks has a legitimate shot to steal 20+ bases and hit for a plus-average, but Lile is exactly that, and he should be a mainstay in the heart of the order for Washington in 2026.

 

 

Late-Round Stolen Base Targets Outside The Top 300

Evan Carter, OF Texas Rangers

Carter has a strong track record through the minor league ranks with his speed, and he went 14-for-16 in stolen base attempts in just 63 games last season. His offensive profile was vastly improved compared to his stint in 2024, and that 90th percentile sprint speed from last season is juicy! Popular breakout candidate in 2026 despite likely opening the year in a platoon.

Joey Ortiz, 3B Milwaukee Brewers

In terms of team stolen base attempts per game, the Brewers have been one of the more run-happy teams the past two seasons, and Ortiz figures to be an everyday player for the Brewers in 2026, likely at the hot corner. Should get SS/3B eligibility this season, and he posted an 85th percentile sprint speed last season. Ortiz has logged 25 total stolen bases over the last two seasons, but he’ll need to be better at the dish to keep his spot in the lineup, and have chances to rack up stolen bases. The strikeouts rate was down to just 14.6% last season, which is great, but his walk rate cut in half from 2024. The hope here is that the 2026 version of Ortiz is closer to the second half of last season than the first half.

Isaac Collins, OF Kansas City Royals

The switch-hitting Collins should be an everyday outfielder for the Royals, and Collins is coming off an excellent 2025 campaign where he posted a .368 OPS and 16 stolen bases with the Brewers. The Royals let their guys run, and while Collins isn’t a pure-burner, he’s opportunistic on the base paths, and that will play just fine. Some regression could be in store for Collins, particularly with his average and OBP, but he has a solid feel for the strike zone, which should keep his OBP more than respectable. Solid target in the later rounds for ABs, OBP, and stolen bases.