It’s key to any successful fantasy baseball season to correctly identify sleepers and breakouts. For more of each, check out our infield breakouts story here and our infield sleepers story here.
Andrew Vaughn, 1B, Brewers (216 ADP)
Expectations were high when the White Sox tabbed Vaughn with the third overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, but his progress was stalled in Chicago — and he hit a .189/.219/.314 wall on the South Side last summer. But Vaughn’s bat magically healed after a trade to Milwaukee — he gave the Brewers a .308/.375/.493 slash, with nine homers and 46 RBI in 64 games. He was a top-65 fantasy hitter over the final three months of the year.
Sometimes players need a change of scenery or a new set of guideposts, and the Brewers have been so shrewd with their under-the-radar player evaluations in recent years, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. A decade ago, we’d regularly talk about backlining Tampa Bay — the Rays didn’t have a ton of resources but they seemed to use them smarter than anyone else. That’s how I feel about the Brewers now.
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Even if you fall short of my Milwaukee optimism, you can at least rally behind a post-hype sleeper who’s settling into his age-28 year. The timing appears right for Vaughn to take a step forward, and the cost is absurdly low.
Sal Stewart, 1B, Reds (205 ADP)
The Reds always seem to have too many options for too few offensive slots, so it’s generally a nervous exercise to promote one of their less-established players. But Stewart got our attention during an 118-game romp through the minors last year (.309/.383/.524, with 20 homers at two levels). The Reds used him off-and-on during a September call-up, and although Stewart had 15 whiffs against just three walks, at least his connections were loud (five homers, .545 slugging).
I’d like to hear some Terry Francona confirmation on Stewart’s role and batting slot before I jump into this recco with both feet, but Stewart at least carries plenty of plausible upside entering his age-22 season.
Shea Langeliers, C, Athletics (66 ADP)
Coming off a pair of productive seasons, Langeliers is a step away from a Cal Raleigh-esque campaign. The slugger was dominant in the second half of 2025, when he used improvements in fly ball rate and pull rate to hit .328 with 19 homers and 45 RBI in 57 games.
He boosted his year-over-year batting average by more than 50 points, thanks to a vastly improved 19.7% strikeout rate. Langeliers barrels up the ball often, is part of a rapidly improving lineup and calls home to a hitter-friendly venue. He could produce 35-40 homers and 100 RBI.
Miguel Vargas, 1B/3B, White Sox (206 ADP)
For the deep-league crowd, I offer Vargas as a late-round breakout candidate. The 26-year-old who debuted way back in 2022 finally played a full season in 2025. The results were respectable but not impressive. Still, we saw some improvements, most notably major strides with a strikeout rate that was cut to 17.6%. Vargas has always produced many fly balls (career 50.3% rate) and respectable exit velocities but has been saddled by a lowly lifetime 7.3% HR/FB rate. That mark will finally push past 10% this year, which will give Vargas 25-homer potential.
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