Fantasy Baseball 2026 – Top 35 Third Basemen (3B) for OBP Leagues (Rankings & Commentary)
Last Update: January 20, 2026. Top 37 Third Basemen (3B) with commentary. For full update log, please scroll all the way tf down.
The third base position going into the 2026 fantasy baseball season isn’t really that deep past the top six or so, even with the addition of two intriguing imports from Japan. Not counting the dudes from the NPB, there are four or five stars at the top, power bats with varying degrees of unpredictability in their home run totals in the middle, and a bunch of interesting but ultimately boring multi-position options to fill out your roster in deeper leagues. Because there’s a steep drop-off after the first five or six third baseman, you may want to consider paying a premium price for the third baseman you want.
Top 13 Third Basemen for OBP Leagues
1. José Ramírez
What a good player José Ramírez is. Great expected batting averages and long history of double-digit walk rates (DDBB%), and he’s hit between 24 and 39 home runs in the last five years, with 20 to 44 stolen bases to go with them. He’s entering his Age 33 season as best third basemen in baseball, and we need to start talking about his Hall of Fame chances. Ramírez ended 2025 with 57.6 bWAR, exactly as much as Willie Stargell has in 8 less seasons, and another typical season would put him ahead of guys like Mike Piazza and Todd Helton and Vladimir Guerrero. For 2026, though, he’s very much worth a first round pick on Draft Day.
2. Jazz Chisholm Jr. — (2B/3B)
Even with all the playing time he’s missed, Jazz Chisholm has posted HR/SB numbers in the double digits every season of his career. Jazz is also finally staying healthy (at least compared to his past), averaging 138.5 games and 576 plate appearances his past two seasons, and it’s not a coincidence that they’ve been his two best seasons. Jazz will turn 28 in February and he comes with 2B/3B eligibility, making him a very valuable fantasy asset in 2026. That plus SB give him the edge over the guy below him.
3. Junior Caminero
Can you name the third baseman that turns 23 in July / Below average walk rate but slugs five-thirty-five / Caminero! Caminero!
4. Manny Machado
Manny Machado will turn 34 years old in July, and not only is he showing no signs of decline, he even posted the second-highest average exit velocity and second-highest hard-hit% of his career. Machado has hit at least 27 home runs and driven in at least 91 RBI five seasons in a row, and has a very solidly average 8.1% career walk rate. If you’re looking for a reason to not draft Manny Machado, well, I guess he’s not getting any younger.
5. Maikel Garcia — (3B only)
ESPN requires that a player appear at the position in 20 games to be eligible for that position next year. Maikel Garcia was a Swiss-army knife of eligibility in 2025, but he will enter 2026 as only a third baseman. Maikel had 17 games at shortstop and 11 games at second base and another 7 games in the outfield, so he may be eligible for additional positions in your league. As far as Maikel Garcia’s hitting profile goes, there’s a pretty good hitter developing here. Maikel is hard to strike out and doesn’t chase out of the zone much, leading to 90th percentile expected batting averages, and he’s stolen at least 23 bases for three seasons in a row. He will turn 26 in March, and some of those 39 doubles he hit last year could turn into home runs.
6. Alex Bregman
Alex Bregman will be 32 in March, and his OPS was like two hundred points lower in the second half (.727) than it was in the first half (.926). Otherwise, he was the same Alex Bregman, and even got his BB% back up to the double digits. Alex’s extreme fly ball ways will lend itself to certain parks better than others, but his new home with the Chicago Cubs doesn’t seem to influence his home run totals in one direction or the other according to his expected home runs by park.
7. Austin Riley
The power metrics on Austin Riley’s Statcast page still suggests a lot of home runs and his average exit velocity is still in the 92nd percentile, but he lost like 50+ points of xSLG last year, perhaps having something to do with the sports hernia he had surgery for in August 2025, in addition to the lower abdominal discomfort he was experiencing in July. Riley will be 29 in April, and while core injuries can be a bitch, there’s some bounce-back profit here. He’s expected to be ready by spring training, so monitor how he’s doing and his ADP. We all like to say that spring training doesn’t matter but if Austin Riley is mashing and hitting home runs and doubles, that’ll be a good sign.
8. Max Muncy
Note the purple! In my personal spreadsheets that I’ve been using to prepare for my drafts the last few years, I have been changing the text color for strong-side platoon hitters to purple. Purple means the hitter is best deployed (and often is so by the team) vs RHP. Purple bats can be plenty useful in deeper leagues, but require a bit extra planning and mindfulness of opposing SP.
Bang bang bang, he did it again. Max Muncy kept on mashing righties to the tune of a 923 OPS in his Age 34 season, and even posted an incredible 16.5% walk rate, the best of his career in a long history of DDBB%, and behind only the elite company of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Ronald Acuña. He’s still hitting the shit out of the ball, and this kind of power-and-walk combo tends to age well. However, you need to roster another third baseman to slot in when the Dodgers face a left-hander. Otherwise, Max Muncy is an elite bat in fantasy baseball in leagues that use OBP, and that’s why he’s so high here.
9. Eugenio Suárez
This is where the quality of very good fantasy third basemen falls off for me.
Idc about strikeouts that much, especially when it comes to fantasy baseball, but Eugenio Suárez has led the league in that three times and he’ll turn 35 in July. Suárez has also seen his history of healthy DDBB% drop to 7.7% in 2024 and 7.0% last season, which means he is now below-average in that regard. I know he hit 49 home runs last year but his age and declining walk rate and that boatload of strikeouts gives me a very very very long pause. This looks like a collapse waiting to happen.
10. Bo Bichette — (SS and eventually 3B)
Where in the world is he going to play?!?! The New York Mets signed Bo Bichette even tho they already have shortstop covered by Francisco Lindor and second base covered by Marcus Semien, so it sounds like he’ll be manning third base, and Bo’s xHR in Citifield would’ve been four less than his actual. Since he’ll almost certainly gain multi-positional eligibility, he should move up this list a few spots but gee whiz what a weird weird signing. The lol Mets keep lol’ing.
Anyway, there seems to be an air of disappointment hanging around Bo Bichette, despite submitting a season that was worth 3.8 fWAR in 139 games. Idk if we will see a fantasy season like he had in at Age 23 in 2021, and I definitely do not care for his BB% (and he’s had bad years with his BB%), and the SB are almost non-existent these days (just 4 last year). That said, his Statcast says that Dante Bichette‘s kid is still the same guy who has posted OPS+ of at least 120 in five of the last six seasons. He’s about to enter his Age 28 season and has posted 98th percentile and 99th percentile xBA in two of the last three seasons. This could be the season where Bo Bichette wins a batting title.
11. Jordan Westburg — (3B only)
With just 17 appearances at second base last year, Jordan Westburg is only eligible to be placed at third base going into 2026, at least in ESPN leagues. Beyond that, I’m not sure what to make of his fantasy profile. His BB% has been under 5% in each of the last two seasons, putting him in the bottom 7th and 8th percentile among all MLB hitters. His spring speed is in the 89th percentile, but he only stole a single base last year. Jordan turns 27 in February, and missed time last year with owies to his hamstring and index finger and his ankle, in addition to fracturing his hand in August 2024. With his injury history, terrible walk rate, and less eligibility, Westburg is less appealing going into 2026 than he was going into last year.
12. Matt Chapman
Thirty-three in April, Matt Chapman is still posting excellent average exit velocity numbers, and he also posted the best BB% of his career last year, with walks in 13.3% of his plate appearances, but he hasn’t had an OPS north of .800 since the pandemic season. You likely won’t get a great batting average, but I think you can count on 20+ home runs and a pretty good on-base percentage.
13. Isaac Paredes
Isaac Paredes will turn 27 in February, and he is presently not all the way recovered from his hamstring injury, and may only be “80 and 90%” at the start of spring training. But the thing to remember about Isaac Paredes is his weird-ass swing that sends fly balls to left field for home runs — but only in a few parks like in Tampa Bay and Houston. For instance, the 31 home runs he hit in 2023 would only have been just 9 home runs in Baltimore, according to the Statcast expected home runs by park. The history of DDBB% is obviously great but if he gets traded, he plummets down this list. He can’t hit home runs anywhere other than Tropicana Field and Daikin Park, and TIL that Minute Maid Park in Houston is now called Daikin Park.
The Best of the Rest Fantasy Baseball 3B for OBP Leagues
14. Kazuma Okamoto — (1B/3B)
Turning 30 at the end of June, Kazuma Okamoto is a few years older than Munetaka Murakami, and the 6x All-Star in Japan has lead the NPB in home runs three times, and slashed 322/411/581 in 77 games last year. Okamota should also be eligible for first base (27 games last year) and third base (52 games). Murakami will have the hype and is younger, but Okamota may be the safer pick with a far more established floor. I like him better.
15. Munetaka Murakami — (3B only)
Twenty-six in February and coming over from the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Munetaka Murakami slugged .659 with 24 home runs last year and has a .394 career OBP. However, he struggles against secondary pitches and Fangraphs alluded him to Joey Gallo and even as a personal Gallo apologist who legit considers Gallo to be one of the best all-around baseball players of the 21st century, that doesn’t sound too encouraging for his fantasy prospects. The 8 games he played at first base last year means that Munetaka Murakami should only be eligible at third base in ESPN leagues, and he could be pretty popular on draft day. Be careful of overpaying for the next big import.
Since my 13-team league also has a Corner Infielder (CI) slot, at least the first few guys below will be rostered, and a few more will make sufficient bench pieces, and a few more after that will be decent fill-ins when your guy is hurt. I’m going to need to know these names on Draft Day and you should, too.
16. Alec Bohm — (3B only)
Alec Bohm won’t be 30 until August, and he only played 13 games at first base last year, making him ineligible at that position going into 2026. Bohm has never hit more than 20 home runs in a season, but he has driven in 97 runs twice batting in those robust Philadelphia Phillies lineups the last few years. I’m not sure he’ll do that again, but he should still play every day and his excellent expected batting averages boost his OBP to acceptable ranges despite his career 6.4% walk rate. Alec is a bit more valuable in real life than in fantasy, in the way that league-average bats who are still under team control are valuable, and should be a perfectly helpful corner bat in deeper leagues.
17. José Caballero — (2B/3B/SS/OF)
José Caballero (or Joey Cowboy in English) has pretty much zero power and hits lefties better than he hits righties, but that’s not why I’m rostering him. Two consecutive seasons of 40+ stolen bases (and he led the American League both times) and all that sweet-ass eligibility? Gimme gimme gimme. His walk rate was 5.6% in 2024, but DDBB% the year before and last year, so I’m going to assume that was an aberration. Mr. Cowboy is very underrated in super-deep leagues like the one I play in, so he’s a target for me.
18. Jonathan India — (2B/3B/OF)
It was not a great year for Jonathan India, as he battled owies and learning LF on the job during his first season in Kansas City. Going into his Age 29 season, though, the Royals and manager Matt Quatraro have stated he will stay at second base and play everyday, and even pointed out his “on-base and the lead-off ability.” This ranking may be more aggressive than the rest of the industry but if Jonathan India actually does lead off for the Royals, that would be an awesome complement to his 2B/3B/OF eligibility.
19. Addison Barger — (3B/OF)
*Beware of purpleness!
Addison Barger picked a good time to break out, with his 21 home runs and 32 doubles and 3B/OF positional flexibility aiding the Toronto Blue Jays on their way to the World Series. Going into his Age 26 season, his loud Statcast profile suggests he could give you more than 20 home runs again but with his 607 OPS versus LHP, you need to make sure you have someone on your bench you can plug in when the Blue Jays face a lefty.
20. Brett Baty — 2B/3B
*Beware of purpleness!
Did 2024 count as a Brett Baty breakout? At the least, it’s a level up, as he added over a hundred points of slugging, and the Statcast profile suggests he could top the 18 home runs he had last year. Brett Baty is entering his Age 26 season and was the 12th overall pick in 2019 and sometimes it can take talent a while. The 2B/3B flexibility and the opportunity for another level-up makes for a pretty compelling option on Draft Day. It would be especially cool if he leveled-up against LHP (678 OPS).
21. Colt Keith — (2B/3B)
*Beware of purpleness
He has lost his 1B eligibility (for now) and sits against LHP, but Colt Keith batted leadoff for DET for 218 plate appearances in 2025. He’s entering his Age 24 season with 1,000 major league plate appearances under his belt, and guys like that tend to improve. He was much better vs LHP in 2024 (305/352/366) even if he couldn’t slug a lick and the Tigers believed in him enough to guarantee him a $28M before he was called up for the 2024 season, so the upside potential is certainly here. But for now, Colt Keith is the epitome of a league-average bat and he will help you with his modest counting stats (esp. if he continues to lead off) and positional flexibility in deeper leagues, so long as you mind his purpleness.
22. Matt Shaw
Going into his Age 24 season, Matt Shaw has demonstrated the 90th percentile sprint speed to steal like 20 bases, but all of the blue on his Statcast profile says he doesn’t hit the ball very hard at all, and his BB% was around league-average 8.7%. Drafting him is a bet that his power will come sooner rather than later, and he also just lost the starting job to newcomer Cub Alex Bregman.
23. Mark Vientos — (eventually 1B probably)
Mark Vents is entering his Age 26 season following a disappointing follow-up to his breakout 2024 season where he smashed 27 home runs and OPS’d 838. The power metrics on his Statcast says he can still bang some, and he did have a fantastic July with a 988 OPS and 8 home runs. Vientos appeared at first base for just three games there last year so he probably won’t be available there in your league, but the clusterfucky Mets may play him there a lot as they attempt to recreate Pete Alonso in the aggregate.
24. Carlos Correa — (3B/SS)
Going into his Age 31 season, Carlos Correa doesn’t have as loud a Statcast as he used to, but he’s also just one season removed from a 905 OPS, albeit in limited playing time. He’s almost always mashed, and with his career 10.3% walk rate setting a strong foundation of hitting, he’s still young enough to have another productive season in him, and the SS/3B will help.
25. Zach McKinstry — (SS/3B/OF)
Zach McKinstry will be 31 in April, and he had a heck of a career year last year, making the All-Star team and winning the Silver Slugger award as a utility player with a 771 OPS that was like 120 points higher than his career-best. With his positional flexibility and DDSB, McKinstry has a lot of value in deeper fantasy leagues, but his walk rate has never been exceptional and his .438 slugging last year was propped up by 11 triples. He’s an overachiever, and overachieving baseball players tend to have a fun but short window of productivity.
26. Miguel Vargas — (1B/3B)
Miguel Vargas is entering his Age 26 season having wrapped up 101 wRC+ season in the purgatory of the Chicago White Sox offense. Vargas managed to score 80 runs batting within the first four spots of that lineup with a near DDBB%, so there’s some fantasy value here in deep OBP leagues, especially with his positional flex.
27. Ryan McMahon
*Beware of purpleness!
A lot of the fantasy value Ryan McMahon provides is consistency and volume. He’s played more than 150 games five seasons in a row and has hit at least 20 home runs in each of them while posting a DDBB% pretty much his entire career. He’ll be entering his Age 31 season, he can still hit the ball pretty hard and he’ll be part of a very good New York Yankees lineup, all reasons to think he’ll be productive next year. But he can’t hit LHP and he had a 654 OPS in 99 plate appearances in his new home ballpark.
28. Sung Mun Song — (2B/3B)
Sung Mun Song is new to Major League Baseball and signed with the San Diego Padres. He will turn 30 in August, and it remains to be seen how his KBO game will play stateside but in his last 1248 plate appearances the last two seasons, he’s hit 45 home runs, stolen 46 bases, scored 191 runs with 194 RBI to go along with a DDBB% that was much much much improved from previous seasons. It’s an impressive leap, and he will probably have to level up his game once again to make it in MLB, but in the meantime, he may be a pretty useful roster piece as the Padres plan on playing him all over the diamond, including maybe the outfield.
29. Royce Lewis
I mean we have to keep bringing this guy up until he either breaks out or fades away, right? Royce Lewis was the first overall pick way back in 2017 and he won’t turn 27 until June. Some of the projection systems seem optimistic that he could be a league-average bat with 20 home runs and 10 stolen bases with a below-average BB%. The upside and profit potential is certainly here but his history of injuries and meh-ness is a headache if you’ve had the displeasure of rostering him in the past.
30. Noelvi Marte — (3B/OF)
*Beware of purpleness
This will be Noelvi Marte’s Age 24 season, and while youth is certainly on his side, the formerly highly-rated prospect hasn’t shown much in 725 big-league PA so far, neither statistically nor Statcastly. Some might be encouraged by the .448 slugging, but I’m a lil discouraged by the.413 xSLG. Noelvi has wheels, though (89th percentile sprint speed), so there could be a 20/20 season here to go with his positional flex but he also OPS’d 562 against LHP last year so Cincinnati may be inclined to platoon him. And if he stays in Cincinnati, he’ll likely lose his 3B eligibility to the entrenched Ke’Bryan Hayes, but that’s a thought for your 2027 fantasy baseball season.
31. Willi Castro — (2B/3B/OF)
Turning 29 in April, Willi Castro’s splits have been all over the place over his career, and last year his OPS was nearly 100 points higher against LHP than it was against RHP. He’s also routinely submitted exit velocities in the 10th percentile, and has never come close to matching the 33 bags he stole in 2023, before or since. Now a Colorado Rockie, Willi Castro is currently penciled in as their third baseman, but has positional flexibility that could be pretty useful if the Denver air helps his game even a lil bit.
32. Josh Smith — (1B/3B/SS/OF and prolly 2B)
*Beware of purpleness!
Josh Smith will be 29 in August, and was a very useful Swiss Army knife in deeper leagues last year, what with his handy positional flexibility and his near-DDBB% and leading off for the Texas Rangers for 398 plate appearances. However, Josh Smith cannot hit LHP at all. In fact, he’s so bad against them that his .224 slugging managed to be like 50 points lower than his OBP. Thing is, the Rangers already need caddies for Joc Pederson and Evan Carter so Mr. Smith may see more time against left-handers than is good for him, and the arrival of Brandon Nimmo could put an end to his leadoff days.
33. Caleb Durbin
If Caleb Durbin can get his 2B eligibility (10 games in 2025) back and post a DDBB% like he did in the minors, he’ll be a lot more useful but it’s hard to get excited about a 5’7″ third baseman that slugs under .400 with a below-average BB%. Durbin had arthoscopic elbow surgery on Oct. 30 and is expected to be ready by spring training, and he will 26 in February.
34. Ke’Bryan Hayes
The son of former big leaguer Charlie Hayes, Ke’Bryan Hayes’s reputation as a stalwart defensive third basemen looms so large that it’s a bit of a surprised he’s only won two Gold Gloves. Ke’Bryan’s bat, tho, has a lot of catching up to do, even after over 2500 career plate appearances going into his Age 29 season. Since after the pandemic season, he’s only had one season where he was anywhere close to league-average, and the 178 plate appearances he accumulated after his trade to the Cincinnati Reds only yielded an OPS+ of 78. I would love for Ke’Bryan Hayes to at least make an All-Star team or two while he still has some prime years left but time is certainly running out.
35. Connor Norby
Connor Norby has the kind of sprint speed (86th percentile) to nab double-digit stolen bases but his strikeout rate is high and his walk rate is low and he OPS’d 584 versus LHP last year. He’ll turn 26 years old in June and while he’s had some good minor league numbers, his major league hitting profile doesn’t inspire encouragement. His 2025 ineffectiveness may be the result of a trifecta of left-side injuries he was IL’d for (quad strain, wrist inflammation, oblique strain), but idk, something tells me he’s the kind of Quad-A bat that eventually goes to Japan or Korea.
36. Nolan Arenado
The decline of Nolan Arenado continues. Nolan will be 35 not long after Opening Day and while he’s still hard to strike out and his superlative defense keeps him in the lineup, the power profile has all but completely evaporated and his walk rate has been below 7% for three consecutive seasons. If that weren’t enough, he OPS’d just 640 against RHP in 2025. Even in a deep league with corner infielder and utility slots, there’s no reason to draft or roster this guy in 2026.
37. Marcelo Mayer
*Beware of purpleness!
I imagine Marcelo Mayer will get some attention on draft day, as the 4th overall pick of 2021 made his long-waited debut in 2025. Mayer was very meh, with w80 wRC+ in 136 plate appearances and a 30% strikeout rate, much higher than his minor league rates. He was especially bad against LHP, slashing an abysmal 154/185/231 and the Red Sox may be inclined to platoon him, furthering diminishing any fantasy value Marcelo Mayer has in 2026.
Where are the rest of your Fantasy Baseball 2026 rankings by position?
Stay tuned! I’ll be adding all the positions and updating them throughout the winter. Don’t forget to bookmark this page and stay tuned for updates throughout the offseason until Opening Day!
UPDATE LOG
- December 10, 2025: Top 13 Third Basemen posted with commentary.
- January 5, 2026: Tier 2 added. Top 29 Third Basemen with commentary.
- January 13, 2026: Top 35 Third Basemen with commentary.
- January 20, 2027: Top 37 Third Basemen with commentary.
Cover Image Credit: public domain via Wikimedia Commons
*****This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. Thank you for reading Content Bash!*****
