When it comes to fantasy baseball, landing the right starting pitchers can make or break your season. Drafting an ace is crucial, but finding value arms and avoiding potential busts is just as important. To help you navigate the 2024 fantasy baseball landscape, we’ve gathered insights from our collection of Featured Pros. These experts break down the starting pitchers to target and avoid, highlighting sleepers, breakouts, and potential landmines based on performance trends, advanced metrics, and team situations. Before you draft, check out their expert takes on which arms can give you an edge-and which ones could derail your championship hopes.
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Fantasy Baseball Sleepers to Draft
Who’s your favorite sleeper outside the top 60 SPs and why?
Gavin Williams (SP – CLE)
“Gavin Williams had a rough season last year with an elbow injury that kept him sidelined to start the season. When he returned, he never looked right. Williams is healthy now, worked on his mechanics, and his fastball is generating a ton of swings and misses in the spring, and he worked on his slider. Williams has 16 strikeouts in eight spring innings. He was a first-round pick in 2021 and is only 25.”
– Adam Ronis (FantasyLife)
Jesus Luzardo (SP – PHI)
“Jesus Luzardo has always had nasty stuff from the Devil’s side and the K/9 to show for it before his injury-plagued 2024. Prior to ’24, Luzardo had maintained a K/9 of 9.00 or better, including two seasons over 10, while he struck out 208 in 2023, a number I think he will threaten (though likely comes up slightly short due to a lack of total innings) in 2025. His velocity and health are back, and he’s pitching for a contender in Philly, making Luzardo a steal as the 74th-ranked SP with an ADP of close to #250. I’d draft him ahead of Jose Berrios and Tanner Houck in the 200th overall neighborhood, just after MacKenzie Gore (another underrated Lefthander with K stuff), who is going in that same residential complex. And, when 2025 is in the books, I wouldn’t be surprised if we look back and say, “Pick No. 130ish…. ahead of Carlos Rodon and Jared Jones and Kevin Gausman. Absolutely.”
– Chris Mitchell (FantasyData)
Kumar Rocker (SP – TEX)
“Kumar Rocker may not get enough innings to warrant sleeper status, but he is literally free in drafts, and the upside is inarguable. He rocketed through the minors in 2024 and reached the majors, where he only threw 11 2/3 innings but struck out 14 batters. He has a dangerous fastball/curveball combo and could become one of the better starters in baseball if he adds a third pitch. Either way, he will rack up the strikeouts in 2025 and could become a boon to fantasy teams that roster him.”
– Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)
Walker Buehler (SP – BOS)
“I think we see a major bounce-back from Walker Buehler this season, and at SP74, he’s going late in drafts. After missing 2023 and struggling once he got back on the mound in 2024, we saw flashes of the 2021 version of Buehler in the playoffs. Now in Boston, he joins a Red Sox organization that has overhauled their pitching program and had success in 2024 with refined approaches for many of their pitchers. One major strategy Boston focused on was reducing four-seamer usage and relying more on secondary pitches to keep opposing batters uncomfortable. And good news: Walker Buehler throws SEVEN different pitches. We should see an uptick in sweeper and knuckle curve usage — two pitches he’s had success with in the past — in 2025. And while it’s a small sample size, the early results in Spring Training have been solid.”
– Mike Maher (FantasyPros)
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