Sleepers

Griffin came into 2025 with high expectations as one of the toolsiest prospects in the lower levels, but he exceeded the hype, even as the consensus top prep position player from the 2024 First-Year Player Draft. Known for his plus-plus speed, premium athleticism and physical 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame, Griffin looks the part of a future superstar in fantasy and real life. He slashed .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs, 65 steals and a 21.7 percent strikeout rate as a 19-year-old playing 50 games at Single-A, 51 games at High-A and 21 games at Double-A. His wRC+ actually climbed with each promotion, culminating with him being 75 percent better than the average Double-A hitter despite being the second-youngest hitter with 80 plate appearances at the level, behind only Leo De Vries. There were questions about Griffin's hit tool as an amateur, but now the only real question is when he'll make his big-league debut in 2026. Despite the fact he hasn't played at Triple-A, Griffin is already one of Pittsburgh's best position players, and the two sides may work on a contract extension this winter/spring that would accelerate his timetable. He can play anywhere on the diamond but has seen the most work at shortstop.

After returning from a hybrid Tommy John and internal brace procedure, Sheehan pitched brilliantly for the Dodgers, posting a 2.93 FIP over 73.1 regular-season innings in 2025. He finished with seven innings of one-hit ball and 10 strikeouts in his final start before transitioning to short relief ahead of the postseason. The right-hander showcased standout swing-and-miss ability with his four-pitch mix, and the slider and changeup were particularly impressive. A sixth-round draft pick in 2021, Sheehan is another developmental success story for the organization. While he's tentatively expected to re-enter the rotation in 2026, it's possible Sheehan's not a full-time starter throughout the entire campaign, as the Dodgers could take measures to manage his innings.

Imai is looking to become the latest in a growing group of Japanese starting pitchers to successfully make the jump from NPB to MLB. He had an outstanding 2025 season for the Saitama Seibu Lions, with career bests in both ERA (1.92) and WHIP (0.89). NPB is in a dead-ball era right now, with league-wide ERA dropping to 3.01 last year, so those figures are a little less dominant than they may seem, but they came with career bests in both K% (27.8%) and BB% (7.0%). That latter is particularly notable, as Imai struggled significantly with control early in his career and had never previously produced a BB% better than 9.8%. Imai is undersized at 5-foot-11, but he has decent fastball velocity (94.8 mph), a five-pitch mix and a deceptive, low-slot delivery. If the command gains stick around, he should be able to get big-league hitters out, though don't expect dominance on the same level as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had three straight seasons with an ERA south of 1.70 before making the leap.