The 2026 season is shaping up to be a banner one for rookies.
Normally when I put together the All-Rookie team for an upcoming season, it’s populated in large part by players who are more likely to arrive midseason than on opening day, making it questionable whether or not they’re deserving of your time in redraft leagues. But every single first-team player on the All-Rookie team this year — and most of their alternates — has a legitimate chance of making the cut. Most I would even say are favorites to do so.
Granted, I had to cheat a little. The usual cutoff for rookie eligibility is 130 major league at-bats for hitters and 50 major league innings for pitchers, and all of these players fall short of those thresholds. Some have technically lost their rookie eligibility, though, by spending too many days on the active roster. I’ve noted such cases below (and in doing so, probably used the word “technically” too much).
The focus here, just to reiterate, is redraft leagues. So much prospect coverage is geared toward dynasty play that even if you’re read up on prospects, you may be at loss for which ones can help you right now. Well, here they are, and most of them, at least to this point, are being undervalued in drafts.
That’s less true for the pitchers than the hitters.
Catcher
First base
Honorable mention: Charlie Condon, COL
Second base
Third base
Shortstop
Outfield
Designated hitter
Starting pitcher
Honorable mentions: Jonah Tong, NYM; Thomas White, MIA; JR Ritchie, ATL
Relief pitcher
Honorable mentions: Foster Griffin, WAS; Jack Perkins, ATH; Ryan Weiss, HOU
