The sample size is small, but I’d like to highlight a few players who are starting the 2026 season on a bender! I’ll also call out that I used Fangraphs for stats, as they provided the wRC+ stat, and I love using this to evaluate hitters.
When looking at the WAR stat, I typically use bWAR or Baseball Reference, but I was lazy and did not want to go back and forth for this piece.
Let us start with a hitter on a struggling team…
Shea Langeliers - Athletics (Yahoo #5 Player)
Langeliers is picking up right where he left off last season. He finished the 2025 campaign with 31 bombs and 72 RBI. I do like the Athletics’ offense even though they are starting slow, very slow. This leads me to believe that the RBIs will gradually increase for Langeliers, who has been a monster at the plate.
Jacob Wilson (.200), Tyler Soderstrom (.174), Brent Rooker (.167), Denzel Clarke (.143), Lawrence Butler (.083), Jeff McNeil (.077), and NICK KURTZ (.059) are all way more talented than what they are displaying on the field right now. Look for Langeliers to cool down, but the numbers to stay somewhat consistent as this Athletic’s lineup gets into form.
2026 Stats - 24 AB | 5 R | 5 HR | 8 RBI | 0 SB | 1 BB | .375 AVG | 1.400 OPS | 297 wRC+ | 0.7 fWAR
Jose Altuve - Houston Astros (Yahoo #4 Player)
Not shocked at all about this one. Altuve has a borderline Hall of Fame case. It will come down to how he finishes his career and how voters view the Astros’ cheating scandal. At age 36, Altuve is putting up some impressive numbers.
It definitely helps having a healthy Yordan Alvarez back in the lineup after missing most of 2025. Plus, I feel that the Houston Astros are kind of similar to the Space Jam Monstarz when everyone is healthy and hitting in stride.
Just look at the lineup right now. Carlos Correa (.296), Christian Walker (.320), Yordan Alvarez (.417), Isaac Paredes (.227), plus contributions coming from a young & talented Cam Smith, in which Houston has high hopes!
Look for Altuve to have a spectacular season…again, if the Astros stay healthy in 2026.
2026 Stats - 23 AB | 8 R | 2 HR | 3 RBI | 1 SB | 8 BB | .348 AVG | 1.168 OPS | 237 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR
Joey Wiemer - Washington Nationals (Yahoo #3 Player)
At age 27, Wiemer has already found himself in his 5th MLB organization. Is he finally breaking out? I mean, this guy was a Brewer to start his career, and they typically identify talent as good, if not better than anyone in professional baseball.
Maybe he can be a spark plug for this abysmal Nationals lineup?!?
2026 Stats - 17 AB | 7 R | 2 HR | 4 RBI | 0 SB | 5 BB | .588 AVG | 1.741 OPS | 367 wRC+ | 0.8 fWAR
Liam Hicks - Miami Marlins (Yahoo #2 Player)
This is probably the most unprecedented player on this list. On one hand, I shouldn’t be surprised as the Marlins are humming to start the season and the Peter Bendix machine is starting to roll. On the other Hicks has seemingly come out of nowhere.
He played 119 games last year for the Marlins and generated a sneaky 1.3 bWAR while hitting .247 on the year. He is already halfway to his home run total from 2025 (6). With the dual position eligibility between 1B and C, Hicks is not only a great option to have in the everyday lineup, but also a weapon for fantasy baseball should the bat continue to mash even with an expected regression at some point.
2026 Stats - 15 AB | 6 R | 3 HR | 12 RBI | 0 SB | 1 BB | .467 AVG | 1.659 OPS | 330 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR
Yordan Alvarez - Houston Astros (Yahoo #1 Player)
Not much to say here about the lineup that I didn’t mention under Altuve. Alvarez is and was widely considered one of the most feared hitters in all of baseball. People forgot about how good he was as he was injured pretty much all year, last year!
I’d go as far as to say that the top-3 most feared hitters in baseball are Ohtani, Judge, and Alvarez. (no specific order!)
2026 Stats - 24 AB | 8 R | 3 HR | 6 RBI | 1 SB | 6 BB | .417 AVG | 1.480 OPS | 302 wRC+ | 0.8 fWAR