2026 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Second Base

There’s a lot of question marks at the second base position entering this season. Established veterans such as Ketel Marte and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are slated to be selected in the first few rounds of fantasy drafts, but there’s a steep drop-off after that top tier.

As we move down the draft board, there are some safe bets to contribute to various categories. Brice Turang had a breakout season in 2025, Nico Hoerner is a consistent average booster, Jose Altuve is still solid at 35 years old, and Ceddanne Rafaela can run. None of these players are certain five-category producers but will provide value in a couple of ways.

As we progress through the average draft position (ADP) results on the National Fantasy Baseball Championship (NFBC) site, there’s a mixture of young players looking to establish themselves and veterans who have some question marks. In this piece, we’ll identify some players who are going outside of the top 250, on average, that could provide value.

In 10-12 team leagues, these second basemen will likely be roster depth or free agent fodder. They could be eventual options at a middle infield slot or a respectable bench option in deeper leagues.

Let’s dive into some second base sleepers heading into the 2026 season.

Brendan Donovan: Batting Average Booster — No. 289 NFBC ADP

In each of his first four seasons in the major leagues, Brendan Donovan has batted at least .278. That standard may seem insignificant to your grandfather, but that’s a well-above-average mark to sustain over an extended period these days. His move from St. Louis to Seattle may not help him from a power perspective, but being in a better lineup should boost his counting stats.

Donovan has only reached the 600-plate appearance (PA) plateau once, in 2024, where we saw him hit 14 home runs. Last season, in 515 PA, Donovan hit 10 long balls. There’s below-average power production here, but his double-digit homer projection is forecasted to be better than the likes of Hoerner, Luke Keaschall, and Xavier Edwards.

Currently being selected as the 22nd-best second baseman (2B22), the projections agree that he will provide greater value at this draft position.

ATC, which is considered a good aggregate of all projection systems, believes that Donovan will finish as 2B18. Steamer, which weights past performance heavily, sees Donovan as 2B14. OOPSY, which tends to prefer younger players with bat speed, is lower on Donovan (2B23).

Even if you side with the pessimistic projection on Donovan, he isn’t a bad pick at this price.

Can Coors Field Boost Willi Castro’s Production? — No. 321 NFBC ADP

Willi Castro has hit at least eight home runs and stolen at least nine bases in each of the past five seasons. In 2023, Castro stole 33 bases but has since posted totals of 14 and 10. After signing with the desolate Rockies this offseason, there’s reason to believe that he could receive ample playing time and run more frequently.

Castro has spent much of his career as a super-utility man, which has granted him eligibility at second base, third base, and outfield for fantasy this season. Castro has 42nd-percentile bat speed, which has allowed him to post double-digit homer seasons in back-to-back years. Unfortunately, he still wasn’t hitting the ball hard consistently — his average exit velocity was in the bottom nine percent of big leaguers last season.

Calling Coors Field his home park this year should help him have a decent floor of non-zero power production. The opportunity for a higher ceiling could come from being aggressive on the basepaths, too. OOPSY boasts the highest stolen bases mark for Castro at 16, but he has above-average sprint speed and we’ve seen him double that total recently.

Castro is a deep-league, late-round pick, but he’s one that has a chance to provide some value.

Andrés Giménez Could Be a Late Option for Finding Steals — No. 332 NFBC ADP

I had to deliberate between a few options to decide which player deserves this last spotlight.

Nolan Gorman has a clear path to playing time and has shown power. Jeff McNeil is a steady veteran moving to friendly hitting confines in Sacramento. Ultimately, I landed on Andrés Giménez, because if you’re anything like me, you may tend to chase the best overall hitters early in drafts and find yourself short on stolen bases later.

Giménez, who should be Toronto’s Opening Day shortstop with the departure of Bo Bichette, has shown a tendency to run. Prior to the 2025 season, Giménez had stolen 30 bases in back-to-back campaigns. He swiped just 12 bags in 101 games with the Blue Jays last year.

Currently being selected as 2B28, some projection systems forecast him to be more valuable.

ZiPS DC, which alters ZiPS projections by using curated depth charts, likes Giménez as 2B15. ZiPS DC projects Giménez for a .249 average with 14 homers and 22 steals. THE BAT X, which relies heavily on batted-ball metrics, is low on Giménez, but still forecasts him to finish as 2B22.

There’s not a lot of upside with Giménez, but there is potential for him to exceed his draft value at this spot.