To help you prepare for your fantasy baseball draft, we are providing Bobby Sylvester’s 10 pitcher sleepers entering the 2020 season. Below the sleepers, you’ll find Bobby’s top-300 fantasy baseball rankings. And be sure to also check out Bobby’s 10 hitter sleepers.
Prep for your draft with our award-winning fantasy baseball tools 
Chris Archer (SP – PIT)
There is no one who will deny that Chris Archer was extremely disappointing last year, or even the four seasons prior, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be willing to draft him with a 27th round ADP. He still has top 30 starting pitcher upside as evidenced by his tremendous end of 2019.
Dylan Bundy (SP – LAA)
Bundy has been rotting away in Baltimore’s hitter-haven the last few years and in front of some truly terrible infield defenses. Now that he is moving to Los Angeles, we may finally seem him attain some of the potential we’ve been chasing all these years. There is little risk in taking him at the end of your drafts.
A.J. Puk (SP – OAK)
Puk isn’t even the most exciting rookie pitcher in Oakland’s rotation this year but he is a 6’7″ lefty with absolutely electric stuff. He has dominated at stints in the minor leagues and was accordingly a top prospect prior to his injury. If you need a 6th starting pitcher late into drafts, it makes sense to take a shot on Puk who hasn’t legitimate breakout potential.
Garrett Richards (SP – SD)
Richards has spent a lot of time on the IL but all he has done since 2014 while he is on the mound is post brilliant ratios. In 89 starts during that time, he has a 3.23 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. Even if he ends up with just 60 innings early in the year, he’ll outproduce his late-round ADP.
Ross Stripling (SP – LAD)
When the Dodgers traded Stripling, he soared up draft boards but now that the deal was canceled, he may very well return to the bullpen. We’ve seen this before though, and he is likely to end up with 100+ great innings regardless. With his price tag being what it is, fantasy owners are getting a downright steal because of the lofty upside.
Dylan Cease (SP – CWS)
Cease struggled in his 73 inning MLB debut. His ERA ended up at 5.79 thanks to 15 homers and 35 walks in 73 innings. In fact, his Triple-A numbers weren’t all that impressive either, but this has more to do with raw ability and what is likely to come with increased opportunity and seasoning. Cease has tremendous velocity which should be deadly paired with a slider that allowed a .243 wOBA and a changeup that allowed a .183 wOBA. In fact, three of his breaking balls generated 27% or higher whiff rates. Pitchers with that type of stuff don’t often struggle for long.
Josh James (SP – HOU)
James still has legitimate ace upside if he can harness his arsenal and find his way into Houston’s rotation. There is a chance this fireballer breaks camp in the rotation and if he does, we may just be looking at 200+ strikeouts in 2020. After all, his on-paper ratios may not seem great from 2019, but his xWOBa was above the likes of Mike Clevinger, Stephen Strasburg, Blake Snell, and Walker Buehler. I don’t need to tell you that this means he has ace stuff. But folks, he just might be the best pitcher in the Astros rotation this year if they give him the ball in the first inning.
Alex Reyes (SP – STL)
With Miles Mikolas now dealing with a forearm injury, it seems likely that he will miss some time or even be shut down. That leaves the final spot up for grabs between Kwang-Hyun Kim, Reyes, and Daniel Ponce de Leon. Among them, Kim is considered the frontrunner, but Reyes is far and away the most talented. In fact, he has been receiving rave reviews from the coaching staff already and they’ve said all winter that they’d love to have him in the rotation if he was healthy and his velocity was back to where it should be. If Reyes wins this job, he could be the breakout ace of the year for fantasy teams.
Elieser Hernandez (SP – MIA)
If you need a deep name for your drafts, Hernandez was much better last year than his 5.03 ERA indicates. In fact, his .290 xWOBA was better than Kershaw, Bieber and Nola’s. His 9.3 K/9 weren’t too shabby either, and seeing as though he was one of the top pitchers in the minors before his debut should have fantasy owners drooling for 2020.
Bobby’s Top-300 Fantasy Baseball Rankings
ADP – Average Draft Position
Practice fast mock drafts with our fantasy baseball software
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | SoundCloud | Stitcher | TuneIn
