If you have the ninth pick in your fantasy baseball league ahead of this 2026 season, you will have to do your research to determine which player might be the best option to target in the first round. We have done the research so you do not have to.
If you want to open your roster with a pitcher, you would have to check whether starting pitcher Paul Skenes or starting pitcher Tarik Skubal remains available. That is highly unlikely, so the best way to approach your roster-building process would be to draft an elite hitter who can provide value across all categories.
In that sense, two players are worth targeting with the 1.09 pick: Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz and Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez.
Should You Draft Elly De La Cruz With the 1.09 Pick?
De La Cruz can be considered one of the best shortstops in the league, but he is prone to making mistakes, can go through prolonged slumps, and his defensive play can be head-scratching at times. However, defensive metrics are not a primary concern in most fantasy formats.
When he is swinging a hot bat and at the top of his game, few players are more dynamic and dominant offensively. His numbers from the 2025 season certainly back that up. Across 162 games and 699 plate appearances, De La Cruz hit a career-high .264 with a .776 OPS while adding 22 home runs, 86 RBI, 37 stolen bases, and 102 runs scored.
He was just eight homers shy of a 30-30 season, and overall, his numbers declined compared to the 2024 campaign. The previous year, De La Cruz hit .259 but posted an .810 OPS, 25 homers, 76 RBI, 67 stolen bases, and 105 runs scored. Aside from the batting average and RBI, De La Cruz had better numbers across the board in 2024 than in 2025.
Ultimately, selecting De La Cruz with the ninth overall pick means you are probably betting on his potential to deliver a bounce-back season. You are also banking on him being an elite blend of power and speed while hitting in the middle of an improved Reds lineup.
That said, he posted a .666 OPS with a 28.2% strikeout rate in the second half of the 2025 season. He is a volatile player to select ninth overall, though the upside if he puts it all together makes him a potentially elite fantasy contributor.
The Case for Selecting Julio Rodríguez at No. 9 Overall
Rodríguez, on the other hand, is a safer option with the ninth overall pick. The star outfielder also plays a premium position, and there are plenty of elite outfielders available if you do decide to select De La Cruz. Few players in the majors have the excellent toolset of Rodríguez, who is also just scratching the surface of his potential ahead of his age-25 season.
The star center fielder played in a career-high 160 games in the 2025 regular season, hitting .267 with a .798 OPS while also adding 32 homers, 30 steals, 95 RBI, and 106 runs scored across 710 plate appearances. The batting average was a career-low mark for the fourth-year veteran, and the same goes for his on-base percentage, but he experienced an uptick in his power numbers overall compared to 2024.
He was one of only seven players to record a 30-30 season. That said, the fact that he has posted an OPS below .800 is a bit concerning regarding his ADP. Rodríguez ended the 2025 season as a top-10 fantasy player despite hitting .207 through the end of April, and he is the youngest player in MLB history with four 20-20 seasons.
He is a bit of a safer pick compared to De La Cruz, but the upside is not quite as high.
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