Jac Caglianone, OF, Kansas City Royals
Caglianone went 2-4 with R, 2B, 2 RBI on two hard hit balls. I wrote about Caglianone a number of times on this site earlier in the year, and feel widely vindicated that he has finally broken out. Caglianone has top of the scale power, but is actually able to get to it in games. He reminds me a lot of Pete Alonso. Cags' .280 xBA is remarkable for someone with a 14% Barrel rate and 54.6% HH rate.Many were worried about his ability to consistently get the ball in the air and with juice, but 19.7% Pull Air and 46% GB rate have at least delayed the jury on that for now. What makes Caglianone truly scary is that his .280 xBA is just so high for someone with a 26% K rate and 27% Whiff rate. This means that Cags' quality of balls in play is truly elite. Moreso, his 39% chase rate is super high, and his 53% chase contact is below league average. His propensity to chase, if mitigated by a single percentage point or two, could bring that xBA even higher to the .290 range. Again, the fact that it currently sits a .280 in spite of those figures communicates how deadly he is with quality of contact inside the zone. You will find me hard-pressed to leave drafts without this guy in 2027.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 3B, Baltimore Orioles
CES went 2-3 with R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K on one hard hit ball. He hit a ton of homers in the minors, including 32 in 2022. That hasn't exactly transferred over to the bigs until recently. CES now has 8 homers in 141 PAs on the year, which puts him clear past 30 in a full season scale. A .454 xwOBACON, 17% barrel rate, 38% LASS, and .525 xSLG are not just great, but would make for a VERY productive fantasy player. CES came into the bigs as an offensive prospect with upside. Now that he has over 600 big league PAs underneath his belt, we have some evidence that that production could continue. He's a quiet target for me in 2027.
Roman Anthony, OF, Boston Red Sox
Anthony went 1-4 with R, HR, RBI, BB, 3 K on one hard hit ball. The ultra hyped prospect finally makes his return to the lineup, and he's been on a tear. Since returning, he's 10 for 22 with 2 HR and 2 2B. Before his injury, Anthony was posting some impressive underlying figures. A .431 xwOBACON, 50% HH rate, and 42% LASS will certainly play. My only knock on Anthony is his 13% Pull Air rate and 47% GB rate. Anthony had some troubles in the minors with hitting a lot of groundballs as well. I think it holds him back in the homerun department, unless he gets to some major power. Nonetheless, I actually think Anthony is more hitterish than the fantasy community gives him credit for. I think the injury riddled 2026 will make many fantasy managers hesitant in 2027 drafts, and I'm plenty excited to have him for a discount.
Mason Montgomery, RP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Montgomery went 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 1 K to pick up the save. Montgomery has not allowed an earned run since 7/26. He went 10.2 IP in August with 20K. The lefty just has such a clean profile. A power fastball that sits 99 with shape and rise leads the arsenal and allows him to punch out plenty of hitters (38.4%). He pairs an elite strikeout rate with a respectable ability to limit walks for a reliever (9.5) and an elite groundball rate (54%). Having your GB% and K% combine for 90% is insane. Montgomery is a complete closer from a statistical perspective. Given he projects for the same role, he's absolutely an RP I'll be targeting in 2027.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Chicago Cubs
PCA went 1-4 with a R, HR, 2 RBI, K on one hard hit ball. The NL MVP contender hit his 39th homer of the season, inching him closer to the 40 plateau. What excites me most about PCA is that he started off with a 19% Pull Air rate in 2024 (285 batted ball events), and that figure ballooned to 30% last year and now sits at 34%. His 31% GB rate and 22 LA ensure that the opportunities to hit homeruns are ample. This is a part of his game now - even though he lacks the size and physicality of hitters who normally reach the 40 HR figure. I anticipate he will continue to do this in 2027. Combine that with top of the scale speed, and PCA becomes one of the most valuable players in 2027 drafts.
This is just a small sample our daily analysis, join our member area for tools that will help you win your fantasy championship. Click here for details: http://www.insiderbaseball.
