The AL Central figures to be one of the worst divisions in baseball ahead of the 2026 season, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be completely useless from a fantasy baseball perspective.
Despite featuring two teams that are deep into their respective rebuilding processes, and one with limited payroll and not enough talent outside of a future Hall of Famer at third base, there’s a ton of value you can take from teams in the AL Central ahead of your drafts. Here are three bold predictions about what might happen in the AL Central in the 2026 fantasy baseball season.
Why Jac Caglianone Will Hit Over 25 Home Runs in 2026
It’s not a stretch to say Caglianone was a bust in 2025. Following a long-awaited promotion to the majors in order to inject some much-needed power into an anemic Kansas City Royals lineup, Caglianone posted a .157/.237/.295 line with a .532 OPS across 232 plate appearances in the majors. That’s bad, no matter how you look at it, but things look different for the promising slugger in 2026.
Caglianone enjoyed a hot start with the Royals in spring training and carried that into the World Baseball Classic, where he went 4-for-14 with a double, a home run, four RBIs, a stolen base, and five walks across five games for Italy. It’s hard to put too much stock into spring stats or the WBC, but Caglianone looks more poised this time. He knows a thing or two about overcoming struggles as well.
He hit .236 in the Arizona Fall League right after college before mashing the Triple-A level with a 1.131 OPS across 129 plate appearances in 2025. He should see consistent playing time in right field, and with the Royals adjusting the dimensions of their park for this 2026 season, look for Caglianone to make the most of that change. He’s a strong bet to hit over 25 homers as long as he stays healthy and proves he can indeed adjust to big-league pitching.
Colson Montgomery Will Establish Himself as a Starting Fantasy Shortstop
Montgomery might be one of the few players Chicago White Sox fans are looking forward to seeing play in 2026, alongside perhaps Munetaka Murakami. The former first-round pick made his major-league debut last season and turned quite a few heads, hitting .239 with 21 homers, 55 RBIs, 43 runs scored, and an .840 OPS across 284 plate appearances and 71 games. While he’s not expected to be a 40-homer shortstop, he certainly has enough power and contact skills to be a significant threat in the batter’s box.
Montgomery’s lone knocks from a fantasy perspective are a relatively low batting average and that he doesn’t steal many bases. However, he won’t need to do that as much if he hits around 30 homers with an OPS over .800 on a steady basis. Shortstop is the most talented position in fantasy baseball ahead of the 2026 season, but if Montgomery carries his 2025 form into the 2026 season, look for him to become a top-15, or even top-12, player at the position as the campaign progresses.
Why You Shouldn’t Sleep on Minnesota Twins Pitcher Zebby Matthews
Yes, the numbers look woeful on Matthews after he posted a 5.56 ERA and an 88:24 K:BB across 79.1 innings in 16 big-league starts with the Minnesota Twins in 2025. Yes, he was sent to Triple-A to start the season while Mick Abel secured a rotation spot. However, the stuff is clearly there for Matthews.
He simply needs to know how and when to use it to his advantage. But pitchers with this kind of stuff more often than not end up figuring things out. Matthews must be better with his fastball, as opponents hit well off his offering last season, but once he solves that, he shouldn’t have problems not only sticking in the rotation but earning a prominent role as well.
The Twins don’t have anything to play for this season, so they should have a pretty long leash on Matthews again in 2026. If he shows improvement over his 2025 numbers, he could be a sneaky addition off waivers as the season progresses, and he might secure a role near the top of the Twins’ rotation in the process.
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