With Spring Training underway in Arizona and Florida, it’s time for another exciting season of MLB Best Ball contests on DraftKings. Whether you’re just starting your prep or fine-tuning your rankings, this post will point out some of the top options to look for as pitcher Best Ball targets in 2025 from the National League.
The Best Ball Lobby on DraftKings includes contests at a wide variety of price points and several different league sizes. If you’re unfamiliar with the Best Ball offering from DraftKings, check out this helpful information sheet that explains all the ins and outs of both Tournaments and Sit & Go’s. Most of the biggest contests are 12-player leagues, but there are also three-player and six-player Sit & Go’s if you want a shallower and quicker draft.
However you decide to get in on the Best Ball action, check out these three pitchers from the National League that I’m targeting at their current ADP. If you’re looking for more starting pitcher coverage, check out my AL SP Breakouts, AL SP Sleepers, NL SP Breakouts and NL SP Sleepers from earlier this spring.
Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks (ADP: P10, 49.5 overall)
Burnes is going off the board as the 10th starting pitcher selected, but he clearly has the potential to outproduce that draft spot. In 12-player leagues, he’s a strong SP1 available at the start of the fifth round, meaning you’ve probably already snagged four top hitters. In six-player leagues, he can be an SP1 or a very strong SP2, and even in three-player leagues, he should be drafted in a default starting spot.
Despite his strikeout rate dropping the last few seasons, Burnes has remained very durable, making 28 starts or more in four straight years with double-digit wins in each season. He had a career-best 15 wins in 2024 while posting a 2.92 ERA, 3.55 FIP, and 8.4 K/9. On the road, he held opponents to a .187 batting average and posted a 0.90 WHIP, so getting out of Camden Yards could help him.
Last year in Baltimore, Burnes had issues with his cutter for the middle part of the season, but he tweaked the pitch before his last five starts and locked in to go 3-2 with a 1.20 ERA, 2.77 FIP and 9.3 K/9. His strong finish could be a sign that he’s ready to return to Cy Young form if that pitch can be similarly effective to start the season.
Burnes wanted the ball early in Spring Training to get ramped up for his first season with the Snakes, and he looked impressive, needing just 16 pitches to strike out the side against the Rockies.
His durability and elite ceiling give him top-five upside, and getting him as the No. 10 pitcher off the board makes him one of my top Best Ball targets on the mound.
Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins (ADP: P42, 134.9 overall)
Alcantara is going after 40 other starting pitchers are off the board, but that number could climb if he continues to show well in Spring Training. The 29-year-old comes with some risk, to be sure, as he returns from missing an entire season, but he also brings an extremely high ceiling.
He won the Cy Young in 2022, going 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA, 2.99 FIP and 8.2 K/9. He took a step back in 2023, going 7-12 with a 4.14 ERA, 4.03 FIP and 7.4 K/9. In October of 2023, he underwent Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss all of 2024. Since he’s 16 months past his surgery, he comes into Spring Training ready to roll, but question marks definitely still remain.
He looked outstanding in his first appearance, reaching 99 MPH and throwing 13 of 17 pitches for strikes. Alcantara looked like his 2022 Cy Young self in that brief look and reminded everyone of his upside.
Before the surgery, he was a workhorse who was very durable and racked up plenty of strikeouts. He should be the Marlins’ ace and anchor the rotation this season, and there have been no reports that he’ll be on any kind of limitations.
The upside Alcantara brings as the 42nd pitcher off the board makes him one of my top Best Ball targets. Even in 12-player leagues, he isn’t going off the board in a starting spot. However, the ceiling he brings if in top form makes him stand out at this point in Best Ball drafts.
Nick Pivetta, San Diego Padres (ADP: P57, 172.7 overall)
Late in drafts, Pivetta makes a lot of sense. In 6-player leagues, he can be a last-round addition if you need pitching depth, and he’s a solid mid-round pick as a fourth or fifth starter in 12-player leagues.
The reason I’m high on Pivetta is his high ceiling compared to the other options in this range. Pivetta is moving from Fenway Park to Petco Park, which is a huge upgrade in Park Factor.
In each of his last four seasons in Boston, the 32-year-old pitched at least 140 innings for the Red Sox. He went a combined 35-41 with a 4.33 ERA and 4.20 FIP. In three of those four seasons, Pivetta had a K/9 over 10, including last season, when he racked up 172 strikeouts in 145 2/3 innings. His 4.14 ERA last season was a little unlucky according to advanced metrics, which gave him a 3.51 xERA.
Pivetta’s recent success in the past two years has mostly been due to his impressive breaking pitches. His curveball was very effective and played well off his sweeper, which he introduced in 2023.
During several stretches over the last few seasons, Pivetta has gone on runs of dominant starts with high strikeout totals. If you’re drafting him in a non-starting spot, those dominant stretches of “spike” performance can boost him into your starting lineup while his rough patches will be absorbed into the bench in most cases.
He’s the kind of high-upside pitcher I like to have in my best ball targets for the later rounds, and his new park with a solid defense behind him should help him continue to find success in 2025.
