There is no telling what will happen in 2027 with baseball, but we know what happened in 2026. Here are some fascinating final numbers from the 2026 season and I hope all of you had a wonderful experience playing fantasy baseball in 2026. Now, on to the playoffs.
THE DAILY SHOW
Don’t forget about FREE show, Fantasy Sports Daily, M-F, 12pm EST.
You’re really missing out if you don’t tune in to the show either on the website, on YouTube, or at your favorite podcast service.
Find the show in podcast form on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts.
Sandy Alcantara led baseball with 214 innings pitched. He also picked up three late saves. Only one other pitcher who threw 150 innings had a save – Keider Montero of the Tigers had one in his 155 innings pitched.
Nolan Arenado had one more homer than Bryce Harper (30) and he drove in nine more than Munetaka Murakami.
Randy Arozarena led the AL in runs scored with 113. He also went 26/26. That’s 2-straight seasons of 26/26. He’s also gone 20/20 each of the last six years. He’s only played 25 games in a season six times.
Aaron Ashby had 13 wins. There were 19 men who won that many games. None had half as many outings as the 75 that Ashby had. In fact, Ashby had more wins than Tarik Skubal. By the way, Tanner Bibee was sixth in baseball with 188 innings pitched and he won seven games. Reid Detmers won seven games over 185 innings for the Angels. Yes, Bibee plus Detmers had one more victory than Ashby in 283.1 more innings pitched. #WinsStinkAsAFantasyCategory
Jake Burger had one more homer than Juan Soto. He also had two more RBI than Hunter Goodman.
Alec Burleson led… baseball… with 116 RBI on his way to a .279-26-89-116-4 campaign. His previous career best was 78 back in 2024.
Noah Cameron had a wild season. In the first half he posted a 4.89 ERA and .337 wOBA against. In the second half the numbers were 3.20 and .266 as he went from being subpar in the first half to all-star levels in the second half.
Jackson Chourio has gone 20/20 each of his first three seasons for the Brewers. Only two players have had longer streaks to begin their careers: Julio Rodriguez (five years) and Bobby Witt (four years). Chourio has hit 21-21-25 homers and stolen 22-21-23 bases. It’s kinda impossible to be that consistent.
Oneil Cruz has gone 20/20 each of the last three seasons hitting 20/30 each of the last two years. He went 20/30 in 2026 in just 97 games. Give him 150 at that pace and we’re talking about 30/45 stuff.
Jacob deGrom threw 162.2 innings to give him two straight seasons over 160. The last time he did that was in 2018-19. However, he had a career high ERA of 4.20 that was, literally, 50 percent higher than his career mark entering the year (2.57). He also posted a strong 1.14 WHIP, but that mark was highest sine 2016.
Edwin Diaz continues to be over drafted. He’s gone three seasons in a row with less than 30 saves. He had actually had but seven in 2026. His last effort of 30 saves was back in 2022 (he didn’t pitch in 2023).
Kyle Freeland, for the 8th straight season, had a WHIP over 1.40 with an ERA above 4.25. He just completed a 5-year, $64.5 million deal.
Vlad Guerrero Jr. had 609 plate appearances and hit — nine home runs. Ryan Flores hit 11 home runs in 163 PAs. From 2021-25 Guerrero averaged 31.8 homers a season. In order to average 31.8 homers in 2026-27 he would need to hit 55 homers in the coming campaign. He last hit 33 homers in 2021.
Josh Hader was great (1.01 ERA, 0.76 WHIP) but he had just two more saves than Paul Sewald (26 to 24). In fact, Hader has been under 30-saves each of the last two seasons. Nine relievers have more than his 54 saves the last two years. Oh yeah, the saves leader the last two years is none other than… Aroldis Chapman with 67 (35 in 2026).
Carter Jensen became the 5th rookie catcher to go 25-75 as he went .239-27-81-70-2. The last to pull off the trick was Mike Piazza in 1993.
Manny Machado hit a ghastly .217 after entering the year with a .279 career mark. Despite the lack of hits, his run production was the same as always as he had 30 homers, 91 RBI and 82 runs scored. From 2015-25 his average year was 31 homers, 92 RBI and 85 runs scored. He’s been remarkably consistent… despite the average dip in ’26.
Nick Martinez, who just turned 36, had the best season of his career for the Rays going 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA over 180 innings after entering the year with a 4.16 ERA and never more than 11 victories. He had that massive 2026 success despite a horrendously low 15.1 percent K-rate that was dead last in all of baseball amongst guys who threw 160-innings.
There have been two relievers in MLB history to have 100 strikeouts in each of their first three campaigns out of the bullpen. Everyone knows one – Mason Miller. The other though? He’s the Guardians’ Cade Smith. Miller has 337 punchouts in 196.2 innings while Smith has 314 in 223 innings.
Matt Olson played 156 games in 2021 and each of the last five seasons that number is — 162. In every one of those six seasons he’s hit at least 29 homers with 93 RBI.
Isaac Paredes is just a guy. I wouldn’t dispute that. But, not many “guys” hit 25 homers with 94 RBI. In fact, he was tied for 15th in baseball in RBI in ’26 and only two of the men above him on that list hit fewer than 25 homers (21 for Josh Bell and Brice Turang). Further, he’s had 98-80-94 RBI each of his three seasons with 140 games played the last four seasons. Not too bad indeed.
Geraldo Perdomo was a fantasy star in 2025 (.290-20-100-98-27). He fell flat in 2026. His homers were cut in half, he lost 41 RBI and his average fell almost 30 points (.262-9-59-75-21). At least he only lost nineteen OBP points (.370).
Drew Rasmussen went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in his first season of qualifying for the ERA title. Still, remarkably, each year from 2021-26 he has posted a sub 2.90 ERA and a sub 1.10 WHIP. Every, single, year. In 2026, Cristopher Sanchez had a 2.91 ERA while Gavin Williams had a 1.11 WHIP.
Eduardo Rodriguez, in 2024-25, went 12-13 with a 5.02 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over 204.1 innings. So, of course, he went 16-7 with a 2.89 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 189.2 innings in 2026. He accomplished those numbers despite a career low K-rate thanks in no small part to a career best 80.2 percent left on base rate.
Chris Sale, for the second time in six years, qualified for the ERA title going 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA. After posting a 4.16 ERA from 2019-23 he’s somehow been at 2.36 the last three years. He’s 37 years old.
Cam Schlittler made 24 starts with 0/1 earned run allowed. The only player since 1920 to have a better mark was Sandy Koufax with 25 in 1963.
Seiya Suzuki had 182 runs+RBI. That mark is three more than Fernando Tatsi and four more than EDLC. My goodness… Josh Bell produced three more runs than Jackson Chourio and four more than Shohei Ohtani!
Paul Skenes has posted back-to-back seasons of 200 punchouts. The last Pirate pitcher to do that was 1964-66 (Bob Veale). Skenes has 416 punchouts the last two years, the 6th most in baseball in that time: Dylan Cease 454, Cristopher Sanchez 443, Jesus Luzardo 437, Tarik Skubal 427 & Gavin Williams 421.
Walbert Urena had a solid rookie campaign. He had 18 starts with 0/1 earned runs allowed which is the most for a pitcher of 22 years of age or younger since 1985 when Dwight Gooden had 19. Urena had a 2.97 ERA but his other numbers were higher: 3.29 xERA, 3.94 xFIP and 4.18 SIERA.
Miguel Vargas went .206-28-10- with 12 steals his first 291 games. In 2026, in 159 games, he went .250-33-93-106-22.
Michael Wacha was third in baseball, and led the American League, with 200.2 innings pitched. That was the first time since 2015 that he threw 175-innings… and he turned 35 in July. Despite the career-high in innings pitched, his victory total was his lowest mark in five seasons.
Jordan Walker was a homer short of a 30/20 season. He was also three runs short of a .256-30-100-100-20 season. Over his first three campaigns, spanning 1,039 plate appearances, he went .240-27-112-107-18. I hate to point it out, but after posting an impressive .887 OPS in the first half, the number sank to a poor .660 in the second half including a horrendous .519 in September.
Logan Webb had eight victories, a 4.31 ERA and 160.2 innings pitched. That was his first season since 2020 with less than 11 wins. His ERA from 2021-25 was 3.19. From 2022-25 he had thrown 192 innings each season.
I JUST MISSED A MILESTONE
1: Runs scored needed for 100 for Elly De La Cruz and Matt Olson.
1: Homers needed to reach 30 for Bryce Harper, Maz Muncy, Jordan Walker and Christian Walker.
1: Homers needed for Jazz Chisholm Jr. go to 20/40. He went 20/40 in 2024 and 30/30 in 2025.
1: Steals needed to reach 20 for Jorge Mateo, Travis Bazzanna, Cooper Pratt and Brice Turang.
1: Steals needed for Nasim Nunez to be the only man in baseball with 50 thefts in 2026.
1: The number of homers needed for Trea Turner to go 20/20. He also went 21/19 in 2024 and has gone 3-straight years failing to reach the mark after going 20/20 each year from 2021-23. By the bye, his average effort from 2024-26 was 18/25.
1: The number of victories needed to reach 15 for Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Ashcraft, Gavin Williams, Cam Schlittler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
2: RBI needed for Rafael Devers to reach 100. He needed three homers for 40.
2: Saves needed for Riley O’Brien and Mason Miller – to join Bryan Baker & Cade Smith – in the 40 saves club. By the way, Baker had a total of four saves his first five big league seasons.
Jackson Merrill just missed going 30/30 at 26/27. He had never stolen 20 bases or hit 25 homers before.
Dansby Swanson went 19/17… but he only played 126 games.
Fernando Tatis was two steals short of a 25/40 season. He’s gone 25/30 each of the last two seasons.
Brice Turang was one steal short from going 20/20. He went 18/24 in 2025 as well just missing out. His 43 steals the last two years are less than the 50 he stole in 2024. By they way, Turang was one steal from a .265-20-100-100-20 season.
MORE INFO TO KNOW…
Related articles
2026 MLB Trade Deadline
It is MLB Trade deadline day. Ray Flowers has his Red Bull, some pizza and he made sure to get good night's sleep to gear up for this special day.. When a trade happens, Ray will list the deal and fire off some initial trade deadline analysis. Rumors spreading? Ray will not that too. If…
Ceiling Hunting with Elite Running Backs 2026 – Part II
Tyler Buecher examines the elite running back landscape and their potential for putting up a ceiling fantasy campaign in 2026. You need a subscription to access this content. Choose from the following: VIP Memberships – Seasonal Annual Season-long content, draft guide, rankings, podcasts, and Discord access. $109.99 VIP Memberships – VIP Monthly Includes all plans: Seasonal, Daily, and Betting, plus exclusive tools and Discord. $99.99 NFL Memberships – NFL (All-In) $499.99 Already a member? Sign in.
Ceiling Hunting with Elite Running Backs 2026 – Part I
Tyler Buecher examines the elite running back landscape and their potential for putting up a ceiling fantasy campaign in 2026. You need a subscription to access this content. Choose from the following: VIP Memberships – Seasonal Annual Season-long content, draft guide, rankings, podcasts, and Discord access. $109.99 VIP Memberships – VIP Monthly Includes all plans: Seasonal, Daily, and Betting, plus exclusive tools and Discord. $99.99 NFL Memberships – NFL (All-In) $499.99 Already a member? Sign in.
Scott Fish Bowl 16 Draft Strategy
Tyler Buecher reviews the scoring format for this year’s Scott Fish Bowl (SFB16) and how it impacts drafting strategy at each position. You need a subscription to access this content. Choose from the following: VIP Memberships – Seasonal Annual Season-long content, draft guide, rankings, podcasts, and Discord access. $109.99 VIP Memberships – VIP Monthly Includes all plans: Seasonal, Daily, and Betting, plus exclusive tools and Discord. $99.99 NFL Memberships – NFL (All-In) $499.99 Already a member? Sign in.
Tyler’s Thoughts – 2026 NFL Mock Draft
Tyler Buecher delivers his final 2026 NFL Mock Draft pairing general manager tendencies, team needs, schematic fits, and expected draft capital. You need a subscription to access this content. Choose from the following: VIP Memberships – Seasonal Annual Season-long content, draft guide, rankings, podcasts, and Discord access. $109.99 VIP Memberships – VIP Monthly Includes all plans: Seasonal, Daily, and Betting, plus exclusive tools and Discord. $99.99 NFL Memberships – NFL (All-In) $499.99 Already a member? Sign in.
BURR: Bullpen Usage & Reliever Ratings
Bullpen Usage & Reliever Ratings, or BURR, is an idea that Flowers and Mans have been playing around with since the 2017 season. The reason for their focus is simply that bullpens are a more important part of the modern game than ever before. You know what we mean. Whereas at one time starting pitchers…