Pitching is a huge part of success in fantasy baseball. Whatever format you prefer, having the right pitcher at the right price is a huge key to putting your team on the pathway to success. The starting pitcher market is also extremely volatile from year-to-year with injuries, young stars, and new locales changing the market on a regular basis. This year, several studs are returning from injury near the top of the rankings, while some great values are available later in drafts. Finding just the right arms to build around is critical to fantasy baseball success, so let’s take a look at my top three fantasy baseball sleepers from the pool of NL starting pitchers.
Whether you prefer season-long leagues, DFS contests, or DraftKings Best Ball, DK Network will have you covered throughout the upcoming season. To begin our coverage, we went through potential breakouts at each position: AL SP Breakouts, NL SP Breakouts, AL OF Breakouts, NL OF Breakouts, Catcher Breakouts, 1B Breakouts, 2B Breakouts, 3B Breakouts and SS Breakouts. In my NL starting pitchers, I highlighted Cristopher Sanchez, DJ Herz and Bubba Chandler as potential breakouts. In addition to those three players, here are three more fantasy baseball sleepers I’m targeting at SP from the National League.
MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals
Gore will turn 26 before the season starts, and the big lefty is just entering his prime. He starts the year as the ace for a young Nats team on the rise, and he’ll look to build on a strong finish to 2024 and take the next step as a fantasy contributor. Gore’s ADP places him outside the top 60 starting pitchers being drafted, which makes him a great sleeper.
The Padres drafted Gore with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft and traded him to Washington as a key piece of the Juan Soto deal. Gore has pitched two full seasons with the Nats, with a 4.42 ERA, 4.89 FIP, and 10.0 K/9 in 2023 followed by a 3.90 ERA, 3.53 FIP and 9.8 K/9 last season. He made 32 starts last year and went 10-12 with 181 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings.
Gore really showcased his upside over his final seven starts. His stuff has always been excellent, but his control has been inconsistent. He dramatically improved that over his last seven starts. In 2023, he had a 9.8% walk rate, and in his first 25 starts last year he had a 9.5% walk rate. In his last seven starts, though, he cut that all the way to 6.9% and had zero or one walk in four of those outings.
His better control yielded outstanding results with a 1.55 ERA, 3.26 FIP, and 45 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings. They weren’t easy matchups, either, since he faced the Yankees, the Phillies, and the Braves (twice).
If he can build on that momentum and keep that control, Gore will be one of the best fantasy baseball sleepers in all of baseball at his ADP, and he’s one of my favorite options to target once the top 50 starting pitchers are off the board.
Kyle Harrison, San Francisco Giants
Harrison is another young lefty who could deliver on his promise and be one of the best late-round fantasy baseball sleepers. He’s still just 23 as he enters his second full season in the MLB, and he’ll have to earn his spot in the San Francisco rotation in Spring Training.
Last year, he finished 7-7 in his 24 starts and finished the year with a disastrous 7.76 ERA over his last six starts, giving up eight home runs in just 26 2/3 innings. The youngster seemed to run out of gas once the calendar hit August, and his velocity dropped sharply.
Before that rough patch, Harrison had a strong stretch of 13 starts in which he went 4-3 with a 3.18 ERA, 3.62 FIP, and 8.4 K/9. He allowed zero or one run in seven of those 13 outings with 5+ strikeouts in eight of those starts. Just before the wheels fell off in August, he had a three-start stretch with 20 strikeouts in 17 innings while giving up only a total of two runs on seven hits.
This spring, the good news for Harrison is that his velocity is back!
Kyle Harrison, who had a noticeable dip in velo last year, says his velocity is back where he wants it. He’s corrected issues with his delivery that occurred with ankle and shoulder injuries last year.
— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) February 12, 2025
Throughout his rise to the majors, Harrison showed impressive strikeout potential. In 2022 in Single-A, High-A and Double-A, he had a 14.8 K/9 in 113 innings. He made 20 starts in 2023 at Triple-A and posted a 14.4 K/9. Even in his first taste of the MLB in 2023, he had a 9.1 K/9 rate, so last year’s 8.5 K/9 rate should be something he can build on.
In most formats, he’s only a late-round pick, and his upside is still extremely high if he can shake off last year’s limp to the finish line and translate his success to the MLB level. He’s one of my favorite late-round fantasy baseball sleepers since he has a high ceiling even though he comes with some boom-or-bust risk.
Clay Holmes, New York Mets
The Mets signed Clay Holmes from their crosstown rivals this offseason with the plans of converting him to a starting pitcher. Depending on your league format, his relief pitcher eligibility could even add to his value as one of this year’s late-round fantasy baseball sleepers.
Recently, there have been plenty of successful conversions from relief pitchers to starting pitchers including Seth Lugo, Michael King, and Reynaldo Lopez. Holmes will look to follow that path after working out of the bullpen for the last three seasons for the Yankees. Last year, he went 3-5 with a 3.14 ERA, 3.02 FIP and 9.7 K/9. He had an “unlucky” .322 BABIP against him, which should allow him to improve his overall numbers even if he stays at the same level.
There are concerns that he has only used three pitches most of his career, but he has been working on a four-seam fastball and a changeup that he will continue to experiment with in Spring Training. Seth Lugo also added to his arsenal when he converted successfully to a starting pitcher in his 30s and Holmes could be following the same path.
Holmes has never pitched more than 70 innings in a season, so there could be some growing pains. However, he is reportedly ahead of schedule in his move to the rotation and with a strong lineup behind him, he could end up being a late-round steal and one of this year’s top SP fantasy baseball sleepers.
