Top 5 This Week

Related Posts

Way Too Early Rankings – Outfield: National League

Fantasy Baseball
Dave Funnell
Author: Dave Funnell
8 min.read
Juan Soto 2026 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Rankings OBP

Welcome to the Way Too Early Rankings – Outfield: National League Edition for December 2025. Here, I will go over my Top 10 at the outfield position from the National League, reviewing what we’ve seen this past season, what we’re looking for this offseason, and what we can expect in 2026. I will be doing this for every position, so get ready for the ride.

What?! Your fantasy baseball league wasn’t hosted on Fantrax this past season? Preposterous! Check out what the Fantrax MLB Commissioner has to offer and we think you’ll be singing a different tune for the 2026 MLB season.

Past rankings:

Catcher  |  First Base  |  Second Base  |  Third Base  |  Shortstop  |  Outfield Part 1  |  Outfield Part 2  |  Utility  |  Starting Pitcher Part 1  |  Starting Pitcher Part 2  |  Closers  |

Way Too Early NL Outfield Rankings

1. Juan Soto – New York Mets

Juan Soto came to the Mets last season and had himself a career-best season in terms of both power and speed. He finished the year just two steals away from a 40/40 season, becoming a five-category monster in the process. Is this something that we should expect moving forward? It’s hard to believe that he will continue to run like this, as his 2025 season accounted for 40% of his career steals. That said, the Mets themselves did a tremendous job of succeeding along the basepaths last year, getting caught stealing just 18 times as a team. As such, they made the most of their opportunities and could continue doing so. All in all, Soto is someone to draft in the first round and feel good about your selection. He walks so much that, if he continues to run, he could be the top player in fantasy for 2026.

2. Ronald Acuna Jr. – Atlanta Braves

This was actually more difficult to rank than I originally believed it to be, simply because of the injury history of Ronald Acuna Jr. Yes, he has been on the Injured List for two major ACL tears and has missed significant time in the process. And while those two injuries can and should be put behind him, they do linger as things that could spill over into his 2026 production. However, the ceiling here is so high, as we saw in 2023 when he stole 73 bases and hit 41 home runs. However, that season should be considered an anomaly, simply because we haven’t seen anything close to that again in his career. Conversely, perhaps the reason we haven’t seen anything close to that is because of those significant injuries. See how we continue to flip-flop, as this feels like the chicken and the egg argument? For now, Acuna will go second, but this may change closer to Opening Day.

3. Corbin Carroll – Arizona Diamondbacks

Corbin Carroll has done an incredibly good job of making people forget about his shoulder concerns from years ago. It’s been two and a half seasons of solid play since he popped his shoulder in that at-bat back in 2023. In fact, over the past two seasons, he has played in 93% of his team’s games and given us a 30/30 season. Last year, he raised his batting average back up to .259, despite his increased strikeout rate, but that came with a career-high 31 home runs. He’s young enough and talented enough to leap forward in his progression in 2026.

4. Kyle Tucker – Chicago Cubs

Kyle Tucker, as a member of the Chicago Cubs, was somewhat disappointing last year. He finished the 2025 season with his lowest total home runs hit since the shortened pandemic season in 2020, despite playing in 136 games. Sure, the park profile wasn’t ideal for his skill set, but as one of baseball’s best players, he should have been able to overcome it. That said, when healthy, he’s a five-category player with tremendous roto value, as his overall numbers should provide stability. His injury woes in recent years do raise a level of concern, as he is unsigned at the time of this writing.

5. Jackson Chourio – Milwaukee Brewers

Jackson Chourio entered the 2025 season with the hope of some improvement, but instead, he finished with an eerily similar stat line to his rookie year of 21 home runs and 21 stolen bases, albeit with fewer games played. While some may see this as a disappointment, I see it as growth: he was able to maintain that level of consistency following a rookie campaign, adjust to the pitcher’s adjustments, and finish with a very productive line. Chances are that the soon-to-be 22-year-old outfielder will become the player we all hoped he would be sooner or later, and 2026 might just be his breakout season. I’m willing to bet on him.

6. Fernando Tatis Jr. – San Diego Padres

Fernando Tatis Jr. is a statcast darling, as his page lights up the way like Rudolph’s nose did for Santa. However, at the end of the day, he does have a significant injury history, which could result in a setback at any time. But more important than that, for all the hype and promise, ever since his suspension for PEDs, he’s averaged 24/24 per season, with a .266 batting average and just 133 games played. That’s very good and useful, just don’t expect what we saw before his missed the 2022 season.

7. James Wood – Washington Nationals

James Wood can not be as bad as his second half would indicate… right? Let’s put it this way: as of games played before Independence Day, the 23-year-old was hitting .294 with 23 home runs and 12 steals. He was looking like the future of the league coming full circle in the present, and then something happened. He wound up hitting .225 the rest of the way with just nine home runs and three stolen bases. Additionally, he finished two strikeouts shy of the all-time single-season record, making him famous for all of the wrong reasons. He’s had too much success in the minor leagues to be this bad, and I’m betting on a bounce-back, simply because people will be scared off by that second-half tumble.

8. Pete Crow-Armstrong – Chicago Cubs

On the flip side, Pete Crow-Armstrong cannot be as good as his first half would indicate… right? Known primarily for his speed and his glove, the soon-to-be 24-year-old hit .188 over the final two months of the season with minimal power and speed, coming back down to earth after a blazing first few months where he could do no wrong. His underlying metrics scream even more regression, as his chase rate, whiff rate, and walk rate are all incredibly low (in terms of where they should be), showing that perhaps he got lucky in the first half of the season. This offseason will be a telling one to see if he can learn from his mistakes and bounce back.

9. Seiya Suzuki – Chicago Cubs

Seiya Suzuki had a bit of a power breakout this past year, finishing with a career-high 32 home runs and 151 games played. Part of the reason for this surge was the fact that he stayed healthy. In fact, 2025 was the first season of his career where he was not placed on the Injured list. His increased pull rate coincides with his huge pulled air rate, showing a tendency to try to use more power in his approach. This seemingly went alongside his massive drop in batting average of almost 40 points. As it stands, it’s hard to know which version of Suzuki is back for 2026, but both have been productive. Either we get a high average with a moderate power version, or we get a high-powered hitter with a lower batting average. Both have their uses on the right fantasy teams.

10. Michael Harris – Atlanta Braves

If this list had been written at the midway point of last season, Michael Harris wouldn’t be anywhere close to being in the Top 10. However, a resurgent second half led to a final line that looked like his usual productive self. In fact, the 24-year-old finished his season with a career-high in home runs and tied his career-high in steals. He is the textbook representation of a rotisserie player, where his overall line doesn’t tell the entire story. The biggest takeaway here is that Harris needs to walk more. For someone who runs often as he does (26 stolen base attempts), finishing with just sixteen walks is unacceptable. If he can wait for his pitch and get on base with more frequency, a 30-40 stolen base season is happening. That said, for now, insert him into your lineup and wait for the final result.

Quick Hits

Oneil Cruz took a nose dive in production last season, dropping his batting average to an even .200 while raising his strikeout rate to 32.0%. Despite that, he still managed to hit 20 home runs and steal 38 bases, a year after hitting .259 on the season. If he can raise his BABIP (which was 30 points lower than his career-low), there’s a significant chance he finishes 25/40 and makes his high ADP worth the price of admission… Kyle Stowers finished his 2025 breakout season with 25 home runs, making him a candidate for best fantasy value of the year. His 27.4% strikeout rate is concerning, mind you, but his xBA on all pitch types is very encouraging… Is Teoscar Hernandez bouncing back in 2026, or is he on a downward slide into obscurity? While he did finish with 25 home runs and a career-best 24.5% strikeout rate, he doesn’t do much else except hit the ball hard when he does make contact. Declining bat-speed for three years is something to note… Andy Pages finished the season with 27 home runs and 14 steals, but a very low walk rate isn’t an ideal pairing for consistent success. Still, he’s likely good enough to return value on rostering him, with a chance for a step forward.

Fantrax is one of the fastest-growing fantasy sites in the fantasy sports industry, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. We are the most customizable, easy-to-use, and feature-rich platform in the industry, offering the greatest fantasy experience for your dynasty, keeper, redraft, and best ball leagues. Fantasy sports doesn’t sleep, and neither does Fantrax, with seasons running 365 days a year. Take your fantasy leagues to the next level now at Fantrax.com!

Fantasy Baseball
Previous article
Brock Purdy - Dynasty Fantasy Football
NFL DFS Late Slate Picks Week 15
Next article
Elmer Rodriguez Cruz Dynasty Baseball Profiles
2026 Dynasty Baseball Prospects: Daily Write-Up Series #121 Elmer Rodriguez Cruz
Dave Funnell
Dave Funnell
Dave has been playing fantasy baseball for many years and plans on doing so for many more.

Share your take!

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Popular Articles