Every year, fantasy baseball championships are won and lost in the middle rounds of drafts. While early-round stars provide a strong foundation, the real difference-makers often emerge from the mid-tier selections-players who exceed expectations and deliver massive value at a discount.
To help you identify this year’s potential breakout stars, we’ve gathered insights from our Featured Pros, who have pinpointed the best mid-round league winners for 2025 fantasy baseball drafts. These are the players poised to outperform their draft position and give your fantasy baseball team a serious edge. Let’s dive into their expert fantasy baseball picks!
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Fantasy Baseball League Winners: Pitchers
Which pitcher currently going in the middle rounds (Picks 60 – 120 in FantasyPros Consensus ADP) could end up being a league-winner who significantly outperforms their draft slot?
Hunter Greene (SP – CIN)
“Hunter Greene’s ADP is 94th overall, and I think that’s multiple rounds too low. The ballpark is less than ideal, and the Reds aren’t expected to be great, but Greene was really good in 2024. He threw a career-high 150.1 innings, had an ERA of 2.75 and a WHIP of 1.02, and his expected numbers from Statcast weren’t too different than his results. Greene’s proStuff+ also leads all pitchers this spring, so by at least one metric, he’s carrying it over. Oh, and he’s still just 25 years old. Greene going in the late 8th round is one of my values this whole draft season.”
– Ryan Wormeli (FantasyPros)
Zac Gallen (SP – ARI)
“I recognize 2024 was a letdown for those that drafted Zac Gallen, but his previous two seasons were elite. At 110 overall, I’m shocked at the discount you’re getting on him. He has 200-strikeout upside, a career 3.29 ERA, and 1.14 WHIP. Gallen will get plenty of run support and now can work as the #2 with Corbin Burnes coming to town. He’s a better ROI at cost than Burnes, in my opinion, and could easily be a league winner.”
– Joe Pisapia (FantasyPros)
George Kirby (SP – SEA)
“Let’s go crazy here and take a guy who is already an ace being drafted at a discount. George Kirby has understandably seen his ADP fall 30-something spots because he’ll start the season on IL. But his absence is mostly precautionary, and there’s little reason to suspect he won’t deliver SP1 production from mid-April on, now at an SP2 cost.”
– Pierre Camus (Fantasy Endgame)
Walker Buehler (SP – BOS)
“Walker Buehler – The 2024 season totals were not great, but Buehler found himself in the playoffs with a 3.60 ERA and a return of his stuff. Now with the Red Sox, Buehler has a chance to stack starts and wins. This spring, he’s had three starts over 10 innings with 11 strikeouts and just one walk. If Buehler returns to the form we saw in the playoffs, he could carry a fantasy rotation at an almost free draft cost.”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)
Joe Ryan (SP – MIN)
“These rounds are a hot spot for burgeoning aces and injury risks with league-winning upside. Among them, Joe Ryan offers plenty of potential outside the top-100 picks. Drafters seem more interested in other starters around the same range, including Twins teammate Bailey Ober, but Ryan ranked ninth in K-BB% (23.0) and 10th in SIERA (3.28) among SPs with at least 100 innings last year. He was approaching ace territory before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in early August. There are certainly health worries for a 28-year-old yet to make 30 starts or exceed 162 innings in a season, but good luck finding an SP3 or SP4 without any workload or performance concerns.”
– Andrew Gould (FantasyPros)
Spencer Strider (SP – ATL)
“Spencer Strider is the low-hanging fruit here. His days of being drafted outside the Top 100 are numbered. After he took the mound this week and looked most of the way back, fantasy managers saw what they were looking for and will be more willing to take the big swing on a potential league-winner like Strider. When healthy, he might just be THE best pitcher in baseball. And now that he is already back on the mound, it doesn’t seem like he is going to miss a ton of time anymore. The only questions now are how high you’re willing to take him in these final-week drafts and who else in your league is looking around the draft room and wondering the same thing. In my rankings, I have him knocking on the door of the Top 50 now. ”
– Mike Maher (FantasyPros)
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