Fantasy Baseball Draft Day Cheat Sheet: Everything you need to know before Opening Day drafts Rankings, tiers, sleepers, injury updates, and strategy tips to help you dominate your draft. By Chris Towers Mar 13, 2026 at 10:38 am ET • 11 min read You wake up in a cold sweat, as a horrifying realization comes to mind: It's Draft Day, and you haven't done any research. It might just be a nightmare, but maybe it's your reality. We've all got busy lives, and maybe the Fantasy season is sneaking up on you. Hey, it happens, and that's what the Fantasy Baseball Today team is here to help you out with. We've spent the past six months getting our rankings ready for Draft Day, and we've done plenty of research on the way there. And today's newsletter is all about sharing that with you. This is the second biggest draft weekend of the year, and as such, it's time to give you everything we've got. That means links to absolutely everything you need to know before you draft, whether that draft is in seven hours or you're taking it right up until Opening Day. There's still time, even if the clock is now ticking. Before we get to that, though, here's a rundown of the latest news and notes you need to know about from the past few days before you draft: The latest on Corbin Carroll , Francisco Lindor , and Jackson Holliday's recoveries from hamate bone surgery Carroll actually played in a spring game Wednesday, serving as the designated hitter just over a month after he had surgery to remove the hamate bone in his right hand. He will use a different bat handle for the time being, but already had a batted ball of 113.6 mph in his first game , so the raw pop is still there. He acknowledged he'll be playing through some pain, and I worry that could limit him early on. But if he's been cleared by doctors and will have a week-plus of spring action to get ready, I think you have to more or less draft him as if the injury is in the past. That means right around the 1-2 turn, if not earlier, if you are feeling really adventurous. Lindor has been playing in minor-league games this week and continues to insist he'll be ready for Opening Day . At this point, that timeline seems realistic, so who am I to doubt him? Holliday is seemingly less certain that he'll be ready for Opening Day despite having the surgery around the same time as Lindor and Carroll. He's also significantly cheaper and has seen his price impacted by his injury even more, so he remains a viable choice around 175 in many drafts. Hunter Greene has elbow surgery to clean up loose bodies from his right elbow. He'll be out until July at the earliest, and any setback would put him out until the second half, so you'll have to figure out if your league circumstances will allow you to stash him. He went 351st in our NFBC Online Championship draft Thursday, but that's a league without IL spots, so he might be worth taking earlier in other leagues. Spencer Schwellenbach is on a similar timetable to Greene, but it's harder to buy into him coming back in the second half and making an impact when he broke down last season and couldn't even get through a few weeks of Spring Training before needing surgery. I won't take him until Greene is off the board, at least. Blake Snell probably won't debut until May . He threw a bullpen session Thursday, and manager Dave Roberts acknowledged he's basically at the start of his spring progression, which will likely include six weeks of ramp-up. Snell has been held back after he finished last season with shoulder soreness, but as far as we know, he is healthy right now. He's gotta fall out of the top 150 before I'll look his way. Josh Hader will open the season on the IL. He's coming back from biceps tendinitis, and while he threw his first bullpen session Tuesday, he only hit 87 mph . He has a long ramp-up ahead of him, so expect Bryan Abreu to close for the Astros for April, at least. Even getting five saves out of him early on would be enough to make him worth a top-175, especially given the risk of setbacks for Hader that could make Abreu a top-12 closer for a long time. Nick Pivetta is dealing with arm fatigue. It doesn't sound like a terribly serious issue -- in fact, there's a chance it's just a delay of a few days, and we'll forget about all of this come April. But it's enough to drop Pivetta down a few rounds. I won't take him until after the 100th pick. Jeremy Pena suffered a fractured finger tip and is without a timetable to return. That might mean Opening Day is a possibility, but my guess is it'll be longer than that. That should give Isaac Paredes a chance to play every day, with Carlos Correa sliding over to shortstop at least to start the season. Konnor Griffin is challenging for an Opening Day job, as is Kevin McGonigle . Both have been pretty productive so far this spring, but McGonigle has probably been a bit better overall. At this point, I'd put it at a coin flip for each to make the roster, but unfortunately, that's just a gu