Fantasy Baseball Third Base Breakdown: Early 2026 Standouts & Struggles

Let's dive back into a fantasy baseball position breakdown here by looking over third basemen.

We have looked at catchers and first basemen so far. Check back for more position breakdowns in the coming days, weeks and months.

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Top Third Basemen

Believe it or not, but the top-scoring fantasy third baseman is Chicago White Sox' Miguel Vargas (at least using ESPN settings). He could also be utilized at first base, so Vargas has been a sneaky-good fantasy asset so far in 2026.

Cincinnati's Sal Stewart is second, and just one fantasy point behind Vargas. Stewart is also eligible at first base, so he too is a valuable fantasy asset, and has been a pleasant surprise so far.

Cleveland Jose Ramirez is sitting in third, even though he's started the year slow by his standards. In time, I expect Ramirez to rise as a fantasy asset, but if this is his low point, you can see why he's such a valuable fantasy asset.

Detroit's Kevin McGonigle is eligible at third base on ESPN. He also has shortstop eligibility, so he's another good fantasy asset. McGonigle sits fourth among fantasy third baseman at this point in his rookie year.

Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero is in fifth at the position right now. He too has been a bit underwhelming so far, but to have him still in fifth shows just how good of an asset he is.

Underperforming Third Basemen

San Diego's Manny Machado was the third fantasy 3B taken after Ramirez and Caminero, but Machado has struggled for most of the season. He sits outside the top 20 at the position, which is super surprising given his consistency over the years.

Chicago Cubs' Alex Bregman was the fourth fantasy third baseman taken on average in drafts this year, and he's outside the top 10 right now. He's a couple good weeks away from getting back to where he was drafted, but he's underwhelmed and underperformed so far.

Atlanta's Austin Riley was the fifth fantasy third baseman taken this year. Right now, he's sitting closer to 20th at the position, so he too has struggled and underwhelmed. We'll see if he can get back on track.

New York Mets' Bo Bichette was primarily a shortstop earlier in his career, but has added third base eligibility. He was the seventh fantasy 3B taken, and right now, he sits outside the top 25 at the position. So he too has underwhelmed, like many Mets' hitters and players have.

Cincinnati's Eugenio Suarez was the eighth fantasy third baseman off draft boards on average. An injury has hurt his cause, and he's not even a top-50 option at the position right now. There's time to turn his season around, but Suarez is looking like a massive draft bust so far.

Position Fantasy Outlook

The fantasy third base position has been pretty weak overall this season. No offense, but Vargas leading the way so far explains that pretty well.

Guys like Ramirez and Caminero should rise to the top of the fantasy leaderboard in time. Another I like as a future top-end option is Maikel Garcia.

Guys like Vargas, Stewart, McGonigle, Munetaka Murakami, Max Muncy, Josh Jung, Ernie Clement, Kazuma Okamoto and others will factor into things as well. Some of those guys aren't owned in all leagues, so look into adding them if you'd had issues at third base this season.

Unless you have a big name like Ramirez or Caminero, there's a lot of different ways you could approach the position right now.

If you took another big name like Machado, Bregman Riley, Bichette or Suarez, you are probably looking for third base help right now. Those guys should all improve in time, but in the meantime, you might want to look elsewhere for fantasy help.

You could look to flip those guys since they are bigger names. You'd be selling them a bit low, but maybe you can add a better fantasy 3B now, and still get enough back to offset down years from the top-end picks.

If you skipped third base for the most part in your fantasy drafts, you might be lucky enough to roster a guy like Vargas, Stewart, McGonigle, Murakami or others. Those guys are getting the job done for now, but their long-term outlooks are murky, as not many have a ton of success in their careers.

So I'd be rostering multiple third base options in case one of them falls off over time. Just be prepared to pivot if your daily starter now starts falling off.

Third base is a rollercoaster right now, so it's a position to constantly be monitoring and adjusting, if need be.