Last week, I reviewed the 30 pitching predictions I made well before the peak of the 2026 draft season. Now, it is time for the hitters. To review what was said about each of these predictions, please go back and revisit the articles from the offseason:
All ADP mentions are the ADPs are from the 240 RotoWire Online Championships (RWOC) this year while rankings are from our Rotowire rankings.
A Grades
Richie Palacios will be a top-350 player: This one took some time to materialize, but Palacios is going to finish the season inside the top 250 thanks to a very strong second half. He has not excelled in any single category, but he has 10 homers, 15 steals and 50-plus runs and RBI while hitting a serviceable (these days) .234 in 329 plate appearances. He lost his outfield eligiblity for 2027, but his growth these last two months makes his roster spot look much more secure than it did earlier this summer.
Sal Stewart will be a top-15 first baseman and the NL Rookie of the Year: Stewart did me 14 better as he is the top-ranked first baseman this season and a lock for Rookie of the Year. Not bad for a player who went 167th in RWOCs because his path to playing time was not quite certain. Talent won out and Stewart has an excellent chance of finishing inside the top 10 overall and is
Last week, I reviewed the 30 pitching predictions I made well before the peak of the 2026 draft season. Now, it is time for the hitters. To review what was said about each of these predictions, please go back and revisit the articles from the offseason:
All ADP mentions are the ADPs are from the 240 RotoWire Online Championships (RWOC) this year while rankings are from our Rotowire rankings.
A Grades
Richie Palacios will be a top-350 player: This one took some time to materialize, but Palacios is going to finish the season inside the top 250 thanks to a very strong second half. He has not excelled in any single category, but he has 10 homers, 15 steals and 50-plus runs and RBI while hitting a serviceable (these days) .234 in 329 plate appearances. He lost his outfield eligiblity for 2027, but his growth these last two months makes his roster spot look much more secure than it did earlier this summer.
Sal Stewart will be a top-15 first baseman and the NL Rookie of the Year: Stewart did me 14 better as he is the top-ranked first baseman this season and a lock for Rookie of the Year. Not bad for a player who went 167th in RWOCs because his path to playing time was not quite certain. Talent won out and Stewart has an excellent chance of finishing inside the top 10 overall and is going to be a first-round pick in a lot of 2027 drafts.
Colson Montgomery will be a top-15 shortstop: Montgomery is currently 14th in the shortstop rankings despite his .205 average because of his 31 homers, 87 RBI and 71 runs scored. Montgomery has exceeded all his counting category projections while falling well short of the batting average projections due to the 216 strikeouts he has amassed this season.
Jac Caglianone will be a top-40 outfielder: Jac Cags is currently 25th, as he did in fact bounce back as I expected him to in the prediction. Caglianone has always responded to statistical adversity the next season and his ugly 2025 had his ADP at 175 in RWOCs while he will finish the season inside the top 90 overall. He was a bargain in 2026 but will be skyrocketing up charts this winter after this fantastic rebound season in which he hit .282 with 23 homers, 71 RBI, 68 runs and seven steals.
Josh Bell will be a top-20 first baseman: Bell will finish the season as the 16th-ranked first baseman after being drafted in 66 of the 240 RWOCs. Bell never did get his annual mid-season trade, but he has hit 20 homers, driven in 91 runs, scored 76 runs and hit .258 while being more valuable for fantasy managers than Freddie Freeman.
Dominic Canzone will be a top-60 outfielder: Canzone will finish just outside the top 40 for outfielders thanks to his 22 homers, 72 RBI, 57 runs scored and a .261 batting average. He and Randy Arozarena did their part in the Seattle offense while most others have struggled throughout the season. Canzone still has his issues against lefties, but he showed his stuff against righties this season.
Jake Burger will be a top-200 player: Burger is going to finish inside the top 100 with 27 homers, 88 RBI, 69 runs scored, four steals and a .233 batting average. His value has been in his volume as his next game played will be his 150th.
Gabriel Moreno will be a top-six catcher: Moreno is fifth at the position despite the time missed due to injury. He has led all catchers with a .307 batting average along with 15 homers, 75 RBI, 67 runs scored and six steals. He blew away his projections across the board and has done incredibly well for someone who was the 13th catcher in most drafts. This and the Sal Stewart prediction are the two I am most proud of for hitters because my closing line for Moreno was, "I am expecting career highs in all the counting categories for Moreno, who was already bringing an excellent batting average from the catching position." If he can steal one more base in this final week, he will have exceeded his career best in all five standard categories.
B Grades
Nasim Nunez will be a top-25 shortstop: Nunez is currently 29th, but he has delivered in the one area we needed him for: steals. Nunez is currently tied with Chandler Simpson for the major-league lead at 46 but is going to win the NL stolen base crown, though the rest of his batting line is brutal. Nunez's .210 average, one home run and 36 RBI were tough to roster anywhere but NL-only leagues where the steals were necessary, and his 53 runs scored is the fewest runs scored for anyone with at least 45 steals in a season since Esteury Ruiz had 47 runs with his 67 steals back in 2023.
Brice Turang will be the best second baseman and in the overall top 25: This was really close, as Turang is 29th overall and third at his position, but only because Fernando Tatis Jr. gained second-base eligibility out of nowhere this season. Otto Lopez is the only other natural second baseman to surprass Turang in value this year. This really should be a B+ grade, as it was that close to becoming reality.
Travis Bazzana will be a top-24 second baseman: Bazzana got a late start to the season but has still finished 28th overall at second base. There has been enough counting-category production for him while he has hit right at the league average, but the overall lack of performance in the Cleveland lineup this year hurt his production.
C Grades
Jose Caballero will three-peat as the AL stolen base champ: Caballero is currently fifth in the American League with 32 steals. He could have potentially given Simpson a run for his money had Caballero not gone into the tank at the plate. He has attempted just three steals in September and has been caught twice while hitting .194/.278/.290 down the stretch.
Cam Smith will be a top-60 outfielder: Smith is currently 71st, but a final series in Sacramento could help push his final value up a bit. The .209 batting average is the ultimate value killer here because the 20 homers, 62 runs scored and 11 steals helped his cause.
D Grades
Justin Crawford will be a top-60 outfielder: Crawford came into the season projected to hit ninth in a loaded Philadelphia lineup, but his overall numbers disappointed. He has hit .265, but 16 steals in 20 attempts is well below expectations for his speed. Perhaps the managerial change impacted this, because Crawford had seven steals in nine attempts before June and has attempted just 11 steals since June 1.
Alex Bregman will not hit more than 20 homers: This was looking like an A or B grade through July when Bregman entered August with 11 home runs. He then went on an August tear, hitting 12 homers, and he tacked on three more in September before taking a foul ball off his cheekbone the other day to end his season.
Teoscar Hernandez will not be a top-200 player: This may be too tough a grade because Hernandez is currently 179th overall and was outearned by his surname namesake Heriberto Hernandez this season. Teoscar had an ADP of 124 in RWOCs and went as high as 53 in one of them. By that measure, he was a disappointment, but there was still four-category production from this aging bat.
F Grades
Pete Alonso will not hit more than 30 homers: The Polar Bear hit 39 and 40 as I was writing this review, making my prediction look worse. I overestimated the impact of the park change and the pressures of a new large contract on him as he has been a monster and will finish the season inside the top 20 overall.
Jurickson Profar will be a top-25 outfielder: Profar apparently enjoyed his first PED suspension so much that he decided to do it again. Idiot
Maximo Acosta will be a top-400 player: Both Heriberto Hernandez and Otto Lopez were right there, but I had to get too cute with the Miami prediction. Acosta did not make the roster and was a disaster in Triple-A Jacksonville around multiple injuries.
Jorge Polanco will drive in at least 100 runs: Speaking of injuries...I swear I did not consult with the Mets to convince them to replace Alonso with Polanco. These were impossible shoes to fill, but Polanco was an unmitigated disaster this season and was more helpful to the club when he was on the injured list than when he was in the lineup. This is easily the worst of the 60 predictions.
Romy Gonzalez will be a top-24 second baseman: Gonzalez went down very early with an injury and was quickly surpassed on the depth chart by younger players with more upside. He spent more time in Triple-A than on the major-league roster this season.
Daulton Varsho will be a top-25 outfielder: So much for contract years and adjusted fences helping players. Varsho had a terrific half season in 2025 coming off his shoulder surgery, but like many Toronto players, he dealt with a serious World Series hangover this year and regressed back to some previous career norms and then some. The trade to Houston made things even worse.
Joey Bart will be a top-24 catcher: Bart ended up spending time with three different franchises in 2026 helping to cover various injuries, but he did very little in his 44 games played.
Victor Scott will lead the NL in steals: Scott has 34 steals in 2026, but 23 of them occurred in Triple-A. It could be argued that pitchers should have hit in his stead when he was in the majors because his .190/.269/.252 line almost makes me yearn for the pre-universal DH days.
Gleyber Torres will be a top-10 second baseman: Torres has been fine this season — when he has played. He has appeared in 94 games around multiple injuries, but his value has always been about volume, and he simply lacked that this season.
Jeff McNeil will set a career high in homers: McNeil is blessed with a wonderful home park, yet he chose to choke way up on the bat and hit for average. He has hit .271 with just two of his eight home runs at home, but his .321 second-half batting average has been quite helpful in some leagues.
Nolan Schanuel will be a top-20 first baseman: A mid-August injury shut down what ended up being yet another carbon-copy season for Schanuel. There just isn't enough loft in his swing to make him anything more than a below-average fantasy first baseman.
Blaine Crim will be a top-500 player: Crim did not make the Colorado lineup and ended up re-signing with Texas before jumping over to the KBO this season.
Ramon Laureano will be a top-40 outfielder: Laureano did not do much when he was healthy, but the torn labrum in his right hip could be to blame, as he attempted to play through it until finally giving in to the surgical option in early June, ending his season.
Willy Adames will be a top-eight shortstop: Adames, like most of the San Francisco lineup, underperformed this season. He has hit 21 homers this season but has driven in just 51 runs while scoring 62, and his .230 batting average hides the roller coaster that was his monthly batting average: .197, .292, .198, .207, .263. He has not played since August 19 due to a sprained left elbow after an awkward slide into home.
I need to revisit my biases against ballpark changes and first-year free agents after seeing how well Alonso and Bregman did this season. I would say I should trust old man skills better, yet Hernandez was a disappointment compared to his draft-day price while Polanco fell off a Dale Murphy-like cliff in a hurry. The kids were mostly alright, but the reliance upon speed to push some of these predictions was, in hindsight, too risky.
I hope this exercise these past two weeks has been helpful to you and that I have not lost too much of your trust in these predictions for 2027. Next week, I will be writing about how I either finally won AL Tout Wars, or how I lost my handle on first place in the final days of the season. Wish me luck!
