2026 Fantasy Baseball Top 300: Ronald Acuña Jr. joins top three; Joshua Báez, Pedro Ramírez debut

Here's our rest-of-season Top 300. Expect this space to be updated every Monday. Players are ranked for 5x5 mixed leagues using a one-catcher format. I include the mixed-league disclaimer because I do reward upside, particularly past the top 200 or so.

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2026 Fantasy Baseball Top 300 overall ranks

**Updated Aug. 17**

August 17 Notes

Falling off: Dansby Swanson (151st), Nick Kurtz (179th), Justin Wrobleski (221st), Nolan Arenado (258th), Kyle Karros (274th), Devin Williams (275th), Cole Young (281st), Jake Mangum (283rd), Jake Bennett (289th), Abner Uribe (290th), Noelvi Marte (291st), Moisés Ballesteros (295th), Mauricio Dubón (296th), Joc Pederson (300th)

- Obviously, I should have included Joshua Báez last week. While the Mariners and Rockies held off on promoting Kade Anderson and Charlie Condon as soon as their 2027 rookie eligibility was guaranteed last Friday, the Cardinals did call on Báez, who responded by homering in his first three major league at-bats. Báez can't be trusted to hit for average right away, but homers are a given and he'll likely steal some bases, too. The one annoying thing is that he'll probably sit once per week to stay under 130 at-bats, which is the other qualification for him remaining a rookie next year.

- The Cubs' Pedro Ramírez is the second highest debut this week, placing at No. 215 as a result of Dansby Swanson's oblique strain. The Cubs seem optimistic that Swanson will be back before season's end, but Ramírez should be worth playing in the meantime.

- I guess I shouldn't be after how Terry Francona used Sal Stewart down the stretch last season, but I'm still rather stunned about how the Reds have handled Héctor Rodríguez, sitting him against three straight right-handers just because he's off to a 2-for-24 start. Maybe things will get better once the Reds are willing to admit they're completely out of contention, but it's not a good sign that Francona apparently prefers Michael Toglia right now.

- The Nationals' decision to start the process of moving CJ Abrams to second base opens the door for a Seaver King promotion. The 2024 first-round pick has definitely made a case in hitting .316/.398/.529 with 14 homers and 11 steals between Double- and Triple-A this year. However, with a lockout looming, the Nationals have some extra incentive to keep him down. Like Condon, King doesn't need to be added to the 40-man roster until after the 2027 season, and players not on 40-man rosters will still be expected to play in minor league games next year if there's a work stoppage. Kade Anderson also doesn't need to go on the 40-man this winter, but the equation should be different for a contender like the Mariners.

- I considered adding Zac Veen, but the Rockies face lefties in four of their six home games this week and then go on the road next week. Veen homered in his first two games after being called up last week, but he is likely to be a platoon guy for the most part.

August 10 Notes

Falling off: Hunter Greene (122nd), Trey Yesavage (131st), Nick Pivetta (255th), Cooper Pratt (260th), Josh Jung (271st), Griffin Jax (273rd), Jorge Soler (280th), José Caballero (289th), Zac Thornton (293rd), Dylan Beavers (294th), Vaughn Grissom (296th), Brett Baty (298th), Carter Jensen (299th), Andrew Kittredge (300th)

- Thornton and Grissom are still in the next 10, along with Justin Crawford, Zack Gelof, Michael Soroka, Ezequiel Tovar, Ryan Waldschmidt and Marcus Semien. Guardians callup Angel Genao was pretty close, too, but his short-term upside is fairly limited; he's probably not going to make a big impact in terms of homers or steals.

- The list of players more disappointing than Gunnar Henderson this year is a very short one. His down 2025 was still far better than this and had an explanation in the form of a shoulder injury that he never talked about until after the season. Will we find out there's a similar problem this year? He had big issues with strikeouts early in the season, but that hasn't remained the case since April, which somehow now stands his best month of the year; he hit .214/.283/.481 with nine homers and a 30.5 percent strikeout rate in 31 games through the end of April. He's come in at .213/.298/.347 with nine homers and a 20.2 percent strikeout rate in 86 games since. His expected stats from the last couple of weeks are about as good as they've been in months, but it's not translating; he's 2-for-22 despite having nine hard-hit balls this month. I don't think a late turnaround is hopeless, but, obviously, I'm not ranking him in the top 20 any longer.

- Jackson Jobe, who debuts at No. 220, was very impressive in his first start back from Tommy John, throwing five scoreless innings against the Giants and averaging 98.3 mph with his fastball. That's 1.8 mph better than in his 10 starts before getting hurt last year. He was also up to 90 mph with his slider. He'll probably be somewhat inconsistent the rest of the way, but he seems worth taking a chance on anyway, and his stock for 2027 is climbing.

- Also encouraging in the velocity department: Joe Musgrove averaged 94.7 mph with his fastball in 3 1/3 innings for Triple-A El Paso on Sunday. His career average is 92.9 mph. It's taken him a long time to turn the corner after Tommy John two years ago, but he could prove to be very useful in mixed leagues next month. He debuts at No. 293 for not.

- I wouldn't immediately grab anyone in the Mets bullpen with Devin Williams on the IL due to a shoulder strain, but it's definitely worth noting that Kodai Senga has been treated as one-inning guy in his last two appearances. He retired six of seven batters in the series against the Guardians and was throwing 96-99 mph in the process.