Fantasy Baseball Week 1 Stock Watch: Early Risers and Fallers

The sample size is small for the 2026 fantasy baseball season. These players are rising and falling in the early rankings.

Mar 28, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers (23) celebrates hitting a grand slam against the Toronto Blue Jays during the seventh inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images | Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images

Fantasy baseball is underway as we are in the first full week of the MLB season. Certain players are off to hot starts while others are ice-cold, stuck in Winter. Time will shift the stock of many of these players, but for now, we find early risers and fallers in fantasy baseball. Check out our Week 1 stock watch report.

Fantasy Baseball Risers

Shea Langeliers is the C1 in fantasy baseball, batting .375 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI's in 16 at-bats. Langeliers has been deemed a breakout candidate in 2026, and this output only helps that hypothesis.

Jose Altuve may be loved and hated, but he is batting .412 with 2 home runs and 1 stolen base. Altuve is the 2B1 in fantasy baseball, and given his raw ability, Altuve can easily stay up there.

Brendan Donovan is hot with the Mariners, batting .444 with 2 home runs, 4 RBI's, and 1 stolen base. Donovan sits right behind Altuve as the 2B2 in fantasy baseball. As part of an elite offense, Donovan can very well maintain his ranking.

Chase DeLauter is the early leader in the clubhouse for the NL Rookie of the Year. DeLauter has 4 home runs, despite batting an average of .286 thus far. His ownership has now risen to over 72% in fantasy baseball.

Christopher Sanchez rang in his first start of the season with 6 IP, 3 hits allowed, and 10 strikeouts. Sanchez is going to gun for the Cy Young this season.

Kevin Gausman struck out 11 batters in 6 IP, doing so against a top-10 Athletics offense.

Cam Schlittler has Yankees fans glowing, as he wants 5 IP, 1 hit allowed, and 8 strikeouts. His WHIP amounted to 0.19.

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Fantasy Baseball Fallers

Brent Rooker is off to a poor start, batting .176 as the DH20 in fantasy baseball. Better days are likely ahead, so panic not.

Oneil Cruz headlined a disaster in the field on Opening Day. He also proves to be a near-disaster in the batter's box, batting .143 through 4 starts, with zero extra-base hits.

Jacob Wilson is 1-for-17 in his early MLB season, striking out in 5 of those at-bats. Like Rooker, the season is young, so panic not.

Paul Skenes will probably be just fine, but he is the 2nd-worst starting pitcher through 1 start, with -17 fantasy points and a 67.50 ERA in 0.2 IP.

Zac Gallen is a volatile player in 2026. He can be elite or quite bad. Start No. 1 was bad, with 4 IP and 4 earned runs. It could be worse, but it was not good and gives us pause for his upside.

Ranger Suarez is off to a bad start in Boston, with 4 IP and 4 ER on 7 hits, thus earning a loss to his profile. Suarez may have a come-down-to-earth season.