If you’re a manager ahead of the 2026 fantasy baseball season, you need to know that whoever you choose with your first-round pick will be the identity of your roster. Your first-round pick is also the player you’re going to build your roster around.
If you’re lucky enough to pick in the top three, you can choose any of Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, or Juan Soto. But what if your first-round pick falls in the bottom half of the first round?
Granted, there’s a lot of quality in those spots as well, including elite hitters such as José Ramírez, Elly De La Cruz, Julio Rodríguez, and Ronald Acuña Jr. But you can target a pitcher as well, and in this case, we’ll see what the optimal scenario is to build a roster centered around Paul Skenes as your first-round pick.
Selecting Skenes in the latter half of the first round is an excellent move if you’re looking to secure an ace for your staff right away. Elite starting pitching is a scarce commodity in fantasy baseball, and if we’re being realistic, Skenes is only one of three pitchers who are clear first-round selections, with Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet being the others.
The numbers don’t lie. Skenes won the NL Cy Young in 2025 after receiving all 30 first-place votes following a season in which he posted a 1.97 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP alongside a 216:42 K:BB across 187.2 innings.
How to Build Your Fantasy Baseball Roster Around Paul Skenes
What you do in the upcoming rounds is just as important. You need to balance your roster because, after all, fantasy baseball is a game of volume, and you need players who can contribute at a high level on a steady basis. Skenes is a starting pitcher, so at best, he’ll only be on the mound once per week, and twice if you’re lucky in some weeks.
With the second-round pick (assuming you’re playing in a snake format of 12 teams), you’d be selecting in the range of the 15th or the 17th pick. With that selection, picking another pitcher would be a massive stretch, so this is the perfect time to select the hitter who will anchor your lineup. If you’re looking to acquire a balanced, all-around competitor, someone like Fernando Tatis Jr., Gunnar Henderson, or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would be a strong choice.
However, if your strategy is to select from strength in a scarce position, you could select the best catcher on the board in Cal Raleigh if he’s still available. Raleigh led the majors in homers last season with 60 and is one of the best hitters in the majors.
The fact that he continues to have eligibility at catcher makes it even better. In an ideal world, you’d be opening your draft with probably the best pitcher and also the best catcher in the game.
That means the third round will be the ideal moment to draft another capable hitter, assuming you’re selecting around the 32nd to 35th range. At that time, players like Yordan Alvarez, Zach Neto, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, or Pete Crow-Armstrong could all be available. All of those players are capable of launching at least 25 homers while contributing in other categories as well.
The same could be the case in the fourth round, though that might also be the time to add an elite reliever.
If you’re looking to add a reliever, look for Edwin Díaz or Mason Miller to be available. But the fourth round could be an excellent moment to add another star hitter, or maybe another pitcher to complement Skenes at the top of your rotation. If you choose to do the latter, Max Fried, Logan Webb, and Jacob deGrom are all valuable options for the fourth round.
Whatever strategy you decide to follow, drafting Skenes in the first round could be an excellent move if you’re looking to open your roster with a starting pitcher. He has earned the right to be considered one of the best starters in the game after his excellent 2025 season.
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