Fantasy Baseball 2026: Five Hitters Who Changed Their Stance - and What It Actually Means

If you've ever watched a game and noticed that a hitter has made a change to their batting stance, Baseball Savant's Batting Stance Leaderboard can help quantify what you're seeing with your naked eye. Several fantasy baseball hitters, including Fernando Tatis Jr., Jordan Walker, Nico Hoerner, Nolan Schanuel and Cole Young have tweaked their batting stances with varying degrees of success this season. Let's take a closer look at some of those changes and analyze if it has helped or hindered their 2026 fantasy baseball value.

How Baseball Savant Made Batting Stance Changes Measurable in 2026

Baseball Savant's new Batting Stance Leaderboard tracks a hitter's Depth in the Box, (how far behind the front of the plate a batter stands), Distance off Plate (how far off the "inside" edge of the plate a batter stands), Distance Between Feet (distance between a batter's feet in his stance), and Stance Angle (how open or closed a batter's feet are to the pitcher).

Fernando Tatis Jr.'s 27-Degree Stance Closure and the Early 2026 Results

Fernando Tatis Jr. has significantly closed his batting stance this season and he's placing his feet slightly closer together by about four inches, and the results have been disastrous for fantasy baseball managers rostering him.

Tatis Jr.'s hard-hit rate and bat speed have slightly increased since 2025, but his new batting stance has caused his launch angle to plummet to a microscopic 0.9. With a career-high 53.4% groundball rate, and his tendency to pull the ball less, it's no wonder that he hasn't hit a home run in his first 53 games.

ATC projections predict that Tatis Jr. will eventually rediscover his power bat and expects him to hit 18 home runs in his final 106 games of the 2026 season. Based on his early-season power outage the 2B/OF-eligible Tatis Jr. seems like a perfect buy-low player, but he still has good trade value in some Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues. He was involved in recent one-for-one trades for Bryan Woo, Shane McClanahan, Gerrit Cole and Gunnar Henderson.

Jordan Walker Narrows His Base by Almost 8 Inches and Delivers on Prospect Promise

I wrote about Jordan Walker's mechanical adjustments and how they've helped his production in a previous article here but his Batting Stance Leaderboard Profile provides additional details regarding recent changes he's made to his stance. Walker is keeping his feet closer together by almost eight inches and that is causing him to stand up straighter in the box and is helping him improve his balance.

He's also lowered his hands which has helped him take shorter and more compact swings. Walker's Baseball Savant Batting Stance profile also shows that he is standing further back in the batter's box and that he's also closed his stance angle from 17 to eight degrees. These changes are helping him drive the ball with more authority.

He's pulling the ball in the air more this season and at the same time increasing his barrel rate by just over 50%. Walker has hit 15 home runs in his first 51 games, putting him on a 47-home-run, 162-game pace. He has also shown marked improvement in the following areas:

Quieter Stance Experiments from Nico Hoerner, Nolan Schanuel and Cole Young

Nico Hoerner isn't standing as far behind the plate as he used to, and he is positioning his feet almost five inches further apart from each other compared to last season. The widening of his stance is helping Hoerner's balance and helping him shorten his swing.

There's been a slight increase in his power production thus far. He didn't have a home run through his first 54 games in 2025, but he already has four this season. However, his .252 BA is his second lowest since 2020. On a positive note, Hoerner's .289 xBA suggests that his quality of contact is better than that shown by his surface stats.

Nolan Schanuel has made small refinements to his batting stance which have included keeping his feet closer together, tweaking his posture, and adjusting his hand positioning and hip rotation. His goal is to increase his bat speed and launch angle while maintaining his elite plate discipline and contact rates.

His launch angle, which has risen throughout his career, has actually decreased so far this season, but Schanuel's hard-hit rate and bat speed have increased slightly since 2025. He's hit slightly more doubles (12 vs. 9) and one more home run (4 vs. 3) compared to last season, but unfortunately his walk rate and OBP have decreased, and his chase rate and strikeout rate have increased.

Cole Young is using a wide-open stance this season, and it has helped increase his power-related production. He already has more doubles (10) in fewer games (56) than last season (seven doubles in 77 games) and is one home run shy of eclipsing last season's four-home-run total.

How to Apply 2026 Stance Data to Your Fantasy Leagues

Fantasy baseball managers can use Baseball Savant's new Batting Stance Leaderboard metrics in their player evaluation process to determine if hot streaks, or even slumps, can be linked to intentional changes to a hitter's process.

What These 2026 Stance Changes Mean for Fantasy Baseball Moving Forward

If a player's production is suddenly and unexpectedly above average, and it could be tied to a specific change, then there's a good chance that the uptick in production is sustainable.

Batting stance adjustments can also help predict changes in offensive production. For instance, batters who stand closer to the plate or deeper in the batter's box tend to pull the ball more often and that could lead to an increase in home run production. On the other hand, you might want to avoid fantasy baseball hitters who make too many frequent batting stance changes because they could continue to slump until they discover the "Goldilocks stance" that's just right.

Questions About Batting Stances, Answered

What are 2026 fantasy baseball stance changes and why do they matter now?

For the first time Baseball Savant tracks exact stance angles, foot width and load position. These 2026 fantasy baseball stance changes let managers see whether adjustments produced real gains in hard-hit rate or expected stats before traditional stats catch up.

Did Fernando Tatis Jr.'s closed stance help or hurt his 2026 fantasy value?

Tatis Jr. significantly closed his stance and posted slight increases in hard-hit rate and bat speed, but through his first 53 games he had zero home runs, a lower launch angle and a higher groundball rate.

How did Jordan Walker's narrower base affect his 2026 performance?

Walker reduced the distance between his feet, improved his balance, shortened his swing, increased his barrel rate and produced stronger power numbers early in 2026.

Are subtle stance tweaks like those from Nico Hoerner and Nolan Schanuel still fantasy relevant?

Yes. Hoerner widened his stance while Schanuel adjusted posture, hand position and lower-body mechanics. Both produced measurable changes in contact and power outcomes despite avoiding dramatic overhauls.

How can advanced fantasy players use Baseball Savant stance data weekly?

Managers can track stance metrics alongside player performance to identify whether hot streaks or slumps are connected to intentional mechanical changes.

Will Cole Young's stance adjustment make him a 2026 fantasy baseball sleeper?

Cole Young's wider-open stance has coincided with improved extra-base production, including more doubles in fewer games and nearly matching his previous home-run total.

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 1:04 PM.