3/14/2026 – Literally just wanted to update Hunter Greene before heading to Houston for the Italy-PR WBC game. More thorough update coming next week for the final push of draft season!
3/20/2026 – Finally update before draft season. I’m sorry I didn’t log every change, but I swept the entire board. I cut it back down to 170, focusing on expected rotations plus a handful of prospects and injury guys. I will answer as many questions as I can in the comments this evening, tomorrow morning, and then I’ll do another sweep Sunday morning. Good luck in the final big draft weekend!
Ranking Methodology
ADP is based on 30-day rolling NFBC Online Champions Leagues.
$ Values are based on standard 5×5 12-team league using the FanGraphs Depth Charts and these Auction Calculator settings. They default to a player’s most valuable position, so if the first base list includes a catcher, it will show that player’s value at catcher.
ADP and $ Values are updated as of the last update date on this post.
Change is the difference in rankings since the last update
5-game eligibility was used for these lists to cast the widest net.
Here is the opening look at the top 150 pitchers for the 2026 season. I’ll have plenty of updates including some tier updates/changes as I dive deeper on players and figure out better fits for them. I will eventually expand the list, too. I cut it at 150 for now just to have an endpoint, but I have something like 264 ranked. Drop a comment if you have questions on anyone, even if I haven’t written them up yet, but check back regularly for more profile additions.
Jan. 6th: First big update brings an expansion, lots of ranking changes, and tons of new profiles. Starting from this update forward, I will track the guys who change but there were just so many with this update that I didn’t end up keeping track of everything.
Jan. 21st: Smaller update here refreshes the ADP & dollar values along with some of the recent moves plus a handful of new profiles. We’re supposed to get a bad ice storm here in Austin this weekend and anyyyy measure of inclement weather can eat up our garbage electrical grid so I’m reluctant to guarantee a weekend update because of that.
Feb. 5th: If you’re coming on the morning of the 5th looking for the update promised in my chat yesterday, it’s being moved to the afternoon.
Feb. 25th: Huge update with tons of news, Spring Training starting, a few more key signings, and many added profiles!
Mar. 5th: Several new profiles added of interesting mid-to-late round targets who could pop off this year, plus a lot of rankings movement as I continue to battle test them in drafts of various formats.
Mar. 14th: Just a quick update to get Hunter Greene updated. I’m headed to Houston for Italy-Puerto Rico today so I’ll get a more thorough update out early next week for the final big draft week!
Mar. 20th: Huge overhaul. Shortened the list back down to 170, but I didn’t track all the changes and new profiles. You can definitely do a Ctrl-F search for “Mar. 20th” to get the those updates and then there’s a bunch of new profiles, too.
Paul Sporer: Hey y’all!! Thanks for coming out. Last big draft weekend coming up, I’ll have a sizable SP rankings update coming. Likely tomorrow, no later than Friday AM.
1:03
Bria: Do you have any long term health concerns about Crochet?
1:06
Paul Sporer: Not any more than every SP which is to say yes, I do, it’s just not actionable. Knowing that literally every pitcher can and at some point almost certainly WILL break leaves me focused way more on skills over health. Obviously, guys currently dealing with injuries, freshly back them, or with an extensive history of them carry extra risk, but there is no such thing as a safe pitcher, so gimme the best skills. (This doesn’t mean stacking Rodon, Snell, Cole on a team, but rather not eschewing a more talented but higher injury risk guy for a lesser talented guy and the myth of safety)
1:06
Matt: Joined a league with a FAB this year for the first time – I’m usually in Ottoneu/dynasty world. How do you recommend approaching FA? I’m usually VERY active on the wire, so will try as many $0 bids as possible, but how should I think about allocating my dollars? Is it mostly impact call-ups?
1:07
Paul Sporer: Yeah impact call-ups and injury replacements. Spamming the mid and lower tier bids is usually the better option v. the big budget players. Rarely do the triple-digits really deliver. Doesn’t mean you NEVER go for ’em, but be very smart about when to take that shot.
1:07
Chuck: How high would you go on Palencia in a 6×6 format with saves and holds separate cats?
As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment below with fantasy questions.
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Paul Sporer: Hello everyone, thanks for coming out!
1:08
Yo, Lertz: Seeing a couple of big bold predictions for Rafaela from your colleagues this season. Do you also think he takes another step forward with the bat?
First pick: 6×6 ops league. Judge or ohtani who ya got for pick 1?
1:10
Paul Sporer: I’m an Ohtani at 1 type of guy, but I don’t think it’s *wrong* to prefer Judge
1:10
Ceddanne’s Agent: You and Zimmerman both on the Ceddanne train! Feels bankable — you’re a dreamer and Jeff’s stone cold, and you still arrive at the same spot. Love it.
I’ve got 10 coming with one per position at C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, RP plus two at both OF and SP. While the first one will be catcher, we’re not going around the horn in that order, rather we’ll get spicier as we go through these in a Hot Ones-esque sort of way. You may have a different spice meter and I’m happy to hear if you think I have one firmly out of place.
C: Will Smith is the #1 Catcher on the Player Rater
How He Gets There: Mostly just by being himself. His career high 153 wRC+ last year came in just 110 games which relegated him to C7. His .345 BABIP seems ripe for regression against a .285 career mark, but he hit the ball much better last year to fuel that surge. It wasn’t just a bunch of bleeders and doinkers driving some extra hits in a sub-500 PA sample. I see him holding at least some of those gains while returning to the >500 PA plateau and easily paying off that C9 pricepoint. The competition is a bigger hurdle for this one than Smith’s skill but that’s also why it’s my opening salvo. They’ll get spicier!
