Players I'm Excited to Watch in 2026 (AL Central)

White Sox

Colson Montgomery

Montgomery made a very loud introduction to the big leagues in 2025. Despite logging just 284 plate appearances, the rookie launched 21 home runs and posted a .529 SLG. He generates explosive contact when he connects and boasts elite bat speed although his average exit velocity settled at only 89.4 mph (below the 45th percentile), which is somewhat curious given the power output.

While the raw power is undeniable, Montgomery needs to work on refining his plate discipline. He posted a chase rate, whiff rate, and strikeout rate all around 30%, contributing to a .239 batting average and a .311 OBP. This has been a persistent struggle, as he recorded a 28.6% strikeout rate in Triple-A in 2024 and a 33.9% rate in Triple-A in 2025. There is no doubt he has middle-of-the-order power potential, but trimming the swing-and-miss and strikeouts would significantly raise his offensive ceiling. Defensively, Montgomery showed promise in 2025, recording 7 Outs Above Average at shortstop. 

Guardians

José Ramírez

Is there anyone who would argue that Ramírez is not on the Mount Rushmore of Cleveland athletes? After signing another extension to remain in northern Ohio, it feels necessary to highlight the future Hall of Famer.

Ramírez is coming off another outstanding season, hitting .283 with a 137 OPS+, 30 home runs, and 44 stolen bases. He earned his 6th Silver Slugger Award and recorded his 4th career top 3 MVP finish. That follows a 2024 season in which he fell 1 home run short of becoming just the 7th player in MLB history to record a 40-40 season.

Few players are as complete. Across a 162-game average over 13 seasons, Ramírez has slashed .279/.353/.504 (131 OPS+) with 29 home runs, 96 RBI, and 29 stolen bases. Though much of his power comes from the left side, he has been equally effective from both sides of the plate, posting a career .502 SLG and .857 OPS as a left-handed hitter and a .507 SLG and .856 OPS as a right-handed hitter.

He also rarely strikes out, having never posted a strikeout rate above 15% in a season. In 2025, his in-zone whiff rate was just 9.0% (13th lowest among qualified hitters). While his chase rate has dipped below the 50th percentile since 2022, he still makes plenty of contact when expanding the zone, posting only a 27.5% chase whiff rate in 2025 (12th lowest among qualified hitters).

Ramírez remains an excellent base runner with strong sprint speed that has not meaningfully declined. The only tool where he grades below league average is arm strength, which is mitigated by his elite defensive instincts. Since Statcast began tracking Outs Above Average in 2016, Ramírez has accumulated 53 OAA, the 4th most among third basemen over that span, trailing Nolan Arenado, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Matt Chapman. There are few players more deserving of their first MVP than José Ramírez. Unfortunately it won’t be easy being in the same league as Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. 

Tigers

Dillon Dingler

Dingler firmly established himself as one of the league’s top defensive catchers in 2025, winning an AL Gold Glove. Although he logged just 84 at-bats in 2024 he lost rookie eligibility after spending 63 days on the active roster. In 2025, he stepped into the primary catching role.

In his first full season, Dingler excelled defensively. He accumulated 12 Fielding Runs (95th percentile, per Statcast) and ranked among the league leaders in several categories. His 19 runners caught stealing ranked 4th in the MLB, and his +4 Caught Stealing Above Average placed him in the 85th percentile. Among AL catchers facing at least 40 stolen-base attempts, his 30% caught-stealing rate ranked first.

Dingler also had excellent command of the strikezone, accumulating 7 Framing Runs (tied for 5th most among all catchers). He particularly excelled in the Shadow Zone at the bottom of the strike zone, an area defined by MLB as “the area around the edges of the strike zone – from one baseball’s width inside the strike zone, to one baseball’s width outside the strike zone.” MLB details that pitches in the Shadow Zone are considered borderline, and the call could go either way with a major factor being how well the catcher frames it. In that area, he recorded 5 Framing Runs (tied for 4th most at the bottom of the zone) and converted 44.6% of all shadow-zone pitches into strikes (tied for 6th highest in the MLB).

His biggest defensive strength may lie in his blocking ability, where he recorded 10 Blocks Above Average (tied for 3rd most in the MLB). While his defense is clearly his calling card, Dingler held his own offensively. A .278/.327/.425 (.752 OPS) slash line is something you would take 10 times out of 10, especially if it comes with elite defense behind the plate. 

Royals

Cole Ragans

It was disappointing to see Ragans battle injuries throughout 2025, partly because he was my preseason choice for AL Cy Young. Limited to just 13 starts and 61.2 innings, Ragans has stated he is “healthy and feeling good.”

The injury context helps explain the 4.67 ERA, however his underlying metrics were electric. He posted career highs in strikeout rate (38.1%, 100th percentile), whiff rate (34.8%, 95th percentile), and walk rate, far surpassing his career strikeout rate of 29.1%. His changeup remained dominant, holding opponents to a .193 batting average and .253 wOBA (.202 xwOBA). His four-seam, changeup, and slider all generated career best whiff rates at 28.6%, 50.4%, and 43.4% respectively.

Where Ragans ran into trouble was contact quality. Opponent barrel rate and hard-hit rate both spiked significantly, despite the increase in swing-and-miss along with stable pitch velocities.

One thing that definitely took me by surprise was the drastic change in his arm slot. After sitting around 45 degrees for the past 2 seasons, his release dropped to 38 degrees in 2025. The adjustment added roughly an inch of arm-side run to his four-seam and reduced induced vertical break on his slider by about 2 inches. I am curious as to whether the change was related to compensating for his shoulder issues. It will be intriguing to see if he raises that arm slot back to where it was. I have little doubt that a healthy Cole Ragans can re-enter the AL Cy Young conversation. 

Twins

Joe Ryan

I was very surprised that Joe Ryan was not moved over the past 8 months. While his name floated around quite a bit in trade rumors, nothing ultimately materialized. Minnesota now has just one more guaranteed control remaining, along with a mutual option for 2027 that Ryan will likely decline. It will be particularly interesting to see whether Ryan remains the Twins’ ace throughout the entire season, as a trade at the deadline seems like the most logical outcome from Minnesota’s perspective.

Coming off his first all star selection, Ryan posted a 3.42 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP with an excellent 28.2% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate. Ryan’s calling card throughout his career has been his four-seam fastball, and the metrics behind the pitch are mind boggling. With extension in the 80th percentile and a 25 degree arm angle, Ryan has generated a wicked 24.6% career in-zone whiff rate on his fastball. Opponents have hit just .204 against the pitch despite Ryan throwing it 54.5% of the time across his first 5 seasons. This is particularly impressive considering the fastball averages only 93.4 mph.

Looking at the induced vertical break, Ryan’s four-seam fastball sits around 13.7 inches of IVB, a mark that would be considered merely average to below-average. The reason the pitch plays so explosively in the zone despite below-average velocity and IVB is the combination of his release height and vertical approach angle. Ryan has a very low release height of 4.7 feet on his fastball which enters the zone at around a -3.9 degree angle, where the average VAA hovers around -5.0 degrees. This flatter approach into the zone means Ryan’s fastball stays on plane longer, creating the illusion that the pitch is almost rising to the hitter.

Another major factor is his elite extension. Because Ryan gets so far down the mound, he releases the ball significantly closer to the hitter. This not only makes the pitch look harder giving hitters less time to react but it also gives gravity less time to affect the pitch’s flight, further enhancing the flat vertical approach angle. All of these factors combine to make Ryan’s fastball explode out of his hand, making it difficult for hitters to square up despite modest velocity. These characteristics are further amplified when the pitch is located at the top of the zone, exactly where Ryan like to live, often causing hitters to swing underneath it.

The effectiveness of Ryan’s fastball is further supported by the elite sweeper that compliments it. The pitch features mind boggling horizontal movement, averaging 15.8 inches of glove-side break. Ryan struck out Angels’ Kyren Paris last season on a sweeper that moved 30.5 inches glove-side, the 3rd most recorded on any pitch by a right-hander since 2019. Being able to tunnel a fastball that appears to rise with a sweeper that can move more than 2 feet at times, creates one of the most devastating 1-2 pitch combos in the league.