Kyle Stowers, 2026 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Oh, guess what, snitches? We’re done with the fantasy baseball rookies and onto the 2026 fantasy baseball sleepers! Can I get a what-WHAT?! No, the 2nd “what” is louder, not from the standing position. That’s what caps mean:  louder. You thought caps meant it was said while wearing a baseball cap? You have a malfunctioning brain. Okay, forget it! I’m moving on! One ground rule about fantasy baseball sleepers says you can’t question my fantasy baseball sleepers. I kid, kinda. You can question them if you want, but please keep in mind the caveat: There’s many different types of sleepers. One kind of sleeper is the guy who is drafted in the last round of a 30-team league. Another type of sleeper is the guy who is drafted around pick 85 overall, because he can return value that is better than pick 85. So, is Kyle Stowers going to be drafted around pick 7,000 out of 7,001? No, guys and five ladies. He’s not that type of sleeper. Maybe last year he was that type of sleeper. Stowers is the type of sleeper who has already broken out and a lot of people may not realize it. He’s the type who I will be drafting around the top 75, will be drafted after that in most leagues, and will return more value than his draft spot. The “more value than his draft spot” is really all sleepers are. So, please, don’t say Kyle Stowers is not a sleeper. If he’s not a sleeper, then draft him in the 2nd round. So, what can we expect from Kyle Stowers for 2026 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

PSYCHE! I’m going to begin rolling out my 2026 fantasy baseball rankings on the Patreon starting today. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out next month. Anyway II, the Kyle Stowers sleeper:

“Kyle Stowers broke out already.” That’s Paraphrasing Previous Paragraph Grey. Get your PPP loan from Grey, because he needs to say that a few more times. “Kyle Stowers broke out already.” What’s that? He’s already broken out? Whoa, first I heard it! Left fielder barrels:

Sorted by HardHit%:

Barrels for all players across every position:

Had to lower it to 250 batted ball events to make sure Kyle Stowers would show up, so smaller sample size, but large enough sample size that it works — that’s what she never said, which is not very nice of her. Here he is:

Kyle Stowers hit .273 vs. breaking pitches, .288 vs. offspeed and .295 vs. fastballs; .253 vs. lefties with no power (1 HR), but he hit well enough on average vs. lefties that a platoon doesn’t seem incoming. Against everything and everyone: 61/25/73/.288/5 in 399 ABs with his season cut short by an oblique injury, that will be healed by 2026. Under hood, he had a 10.5 BB% and 27.4 K% as a 27-year-old, but most importantly, because the Orioles don’t understand how to develop players, this was his first real chance in the majors. “Should we let prospects actually hit vs. MLB pitchers? That would mean we have to promote them…Hmm…” That’s the Orioles’ front office. On the Marlins? Ha! Wait, I have one more for you — HA! They’ll let Kyle Stowers get 600 ABs, if he stays healthy and a “Daddy’s throwing you into the water for a sink or swim demonstration” Stowers has already proven he can swim.

Coming up, Kyle Stowers was pegged (hey now!) as a guy with 50-grade power and speed. The latter point first. His speed seems pretty mediocre now. 27.1 ft/sec. and a bit below average. Could he have The Naylor-27 propel him to a 30-steal season? Anything’s possible, but 5-7 steals looks a lot more likely. By the way, I was just looking at his MiLB numbers and, as a 22-year-old — five years ago! — he went 27/8/.278 in 449 ABs, hitting .272 in Triple-A, and the O’s squandered that for how many years? They are the worst organization. They rebuilt for seven years and never promoted guys! Awful! So mad! That’s what these staccato exclamations indicate.

Now, about that power?

KYLE STOWERS
WALK-OFF BLAST
ARE YOU KIDDING?! ? pic.twitter.com/V9AF0js8a6

— MLB (@MLB) July 19, 2025

Looks easy to me. Looks, actually, like his number one attribute and he’s got a lot of attributes. His career (Career!) HardHit% is 50.4%. Only 22 players last year had a 50% HardHit rate. Stowers 52% HardHit rate last year, was 13th best (sorted by 450 PAs). Above him, are all names you want or have massive holes in their game (swing) like Oneil Cruz. Kyle Stowers is the 1st 2026 fantasy baseball sleeper because he’s the most obvious slam dunk. A guy who is a star, who will be drafted below where he should go, because he’s actually a top 20 outfielder disguised as something below that. For 2026 fantasy baseball, I’ll give Kyle Stowers projections of 86/33/104/.272/7 in 588 ABs with a chance for even more!