2026 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers – Starting Pitchers

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  • By SportsEthos Staff

    Last Updated on January 26, 2026 3:41 pm by Paul Williamson | Published: January 26, 2026

    Every year, there are plenty of arms that gain all kinds of hype and intrigue based on either joining a new ball club, a late season pitch mix change or a bunch of peripherals that point to much greener pastures ahead.

    But how do managers cut through the noise and land on who they want to draft?

    That’s where we come in.

    Take a look at what arms we feel are going to be great value based on their current ADP.

    NOTE: ADP comes from the NFBC Draft Champion leagues.

    Larry Vannozzi

    Drew Rasmussen – ADP – 159.76/P66

    Rasmussen was a health question mark entering 2025 after he missed most of the previous two years with injuries. The Rays managed his workload in 2025 by limiting him during several mid-summer games (12 innings total in five consecutive starts) but Raz still threw a career-high 150 innings.

    Although he had a below average strikeout rate, he had outstanding ratios (2.76 ERA; 1.02 WHIP) despite pitching at Steinbrenner Field and finished as a Top 75 player. He is poised for a slightly greater workload in 2026 with the added benefit of returning to pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field. Even if his ratios slip a little, he’s likely to be far better than his January 14 ADP of 146.

    Bryan Woo – ADP – 45.25/P14

    How can the 14th highest ranked player from last year be a sleeper, you ask? Well, how can the 14th highest ranked player have an ADP of 43 as of January 14? We had injury reservations about Woo entering 2025 but he put those to rest with a full healthy season. For the past two seasons, the man’s ERA has been under 3.00 and his WHIP has been under 0.95.

    Sold!

    Jeff Clowers

    Eury Perez – ADP – 95.06/P36

    When it comes to highly-regarded young starting pitchers, you can make a reasonable case that Eury Perez is the most-likely to challenge Paul Skenes for the top spot in dynasty rankings.

    We’re still a season or two away from that discussion since Perez has pitched just 95.1 innings over the past two years while he recovered from Tommy John surgery, but the production he’s shown early in his career suggests he’s on a path to being a perennial All-Star.

    A 4.25 ERA during his return in 2025 masks a 3.19 xERA that more closely aligns with his true talent level. Looking to the Pitching+ metric since we’re working with limited sample sizes, Perez’s 110 places him among the top-10 starters in the league, tied with Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

    The chances of Perez eclipsing 150 frames this year is unlikely as the Marlins will want to keep their prized pitcher in good health but the rates he’ll give you in that span should be elite.

    Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz – ADP 632.57/P213

    ERC is absolutely one of my “plant your flag” type players currently.

    I’ve written about him a handful of times this past year and even recently went more in-depth on him during a recent prospect podcast with Ethos’ own Anthony Kates – so check that out if you haven’t already. I’m a big fan of prospects that manage to reach new levels of success when promoted to a higher level of the minors as it goes to show they’re adept at adjusting and can take on more difficult competition while not being overwhelmed by the challenge.

    That exact scenario happened in 2025 for Rodriguez-Cruz – in this case, a jump to Double-A for the first time – where he managed a sterling 22.1% K-BB%, 1.04 WHIP and 2.64 ERA (2.28 FIP). That earned him a late season cup of coffee at Triple-A once the Double-A year ended, going to show the level of belief the organization has in him.

    Though not expected to open the year in the rotation, he’ll likely be among the first callups if injury reinforcements are needed in the Bronx – something that seems likely considering the histories of players like Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon. The recent trade for Ryan Weathers makes the hill to climb slightly steeper but at this late of a draft pick, you could do a lot worse than a dart throw on a player who could be this coming year’s Cam Schlittler.

    Nathan Baker

    Kodai Senga – ADP – 349.73/P114

    Much like many of his Mets teammates, Kodai Senga season ended in a disaster last year, after his attempted (premature) return from a hamstring injury yielded eight starts and a 6.56 ERA, terminating in him agreeing to a demotion to the minor leagues. In his 14 starts before the injury he had a league best 1.39, allowing just 55 hits in 77 innings, and he was good enough before going on the shelf that his ERA on the season still ended up at a respectable 3.02.

    After two straight injury plugged seasons, it would be reasonable to worry about the injury risk, but at pick 350, there’s very little risk involved, for a pitcher who can pitch like an ace when healthy. He’s expected to be fully healthy going into 2026, and if his stuff returns to his pre-IL quality, there’s no reason why he can’t produce to the high level he has for most of his professional career; unless the Mets decide to replace him, in which case Jack Wenninger’s rise to stardom will have first been reported right here.

    Ryan Weathers – ADP – 417.66/P130


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    January 26, 2026, 3:41 pm