One thing you can never have too many of for fantasy baseball is strong starting pitchers. Whether you’ve already stocked your team with strong options or whiffed on early-round aces, hunting for value at the back end of your draft to add depth and upside to your rotation is critical. Getting the right fantasy baseball sleepers at starting pitcher can literally carry your team to the championship, so let’s take a look at a few SP who I think can outperform their current ADP (average draft position).
To maximize our coverage of fantasy baseball sleepers, we’re splitting starting pitchers into an American League section and a National League edition. In this post, we’ll focus on three starters from the NL.
Whether you play your fantasy baseball by leaning into season-long leagues, DFS contests or DraftKings Best Ball, DK Network will have you covered throughout the upcoming season. I began this series with fantasy baseball sleepers at catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base, the outfield in the American League, and the outfield in the National League. In this post, we’ll look at my top three SP sleepers from the NL coming into spring training.
Nolan McLean, New York Mets
After the top few tiers of starting pitchers are off the board, one of my favorite sleepers to emerge as an ace this season is Mets SP Nolan McLean. McLean is the top pitching prospect and the No. 6 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
The 24-year-old righty started last season in Double-A and pitched 113 2/3 innings in the minor leagues, working to a 2.45 ERA, 3.66 FIP and 10.06 K/9 in his 21 games. Once he arrived with the Mets, he was even more effective, compiling a 2.06 ERA, 1.04 WHIP. and 57 strikeouts in 48 innings over eight starts in the majors.
McLean doesn’t rely primarily on an overpowering fastball, since it usually sits around 95 miles per hour, but his excellent control and elite spin rate make his sinker and curveball both wipeout pitches. In his eight games, he only allowed more than two earned runs in one game, closing out the year with a career-high 11 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings against the Cubs.
The Mets upgraded their rotation this offseason, adding Freddy Peralta in a trade from the Brewers. Behind Peralta, though, McLean will likely be the team’s second starter coming into the year. Across the board, he has very strong projections and brings an extremely high ceiling.
While he isn’t a true deep sleeper since he’s getting so much hype, if you can land him outside the top 25 starting pitchers off the board, his upside could make him an excellent value. While young starting pitchers are volatile, McLean’s early success last season and his prominent position on a strong team in contention are positive signs that he could quickly ascend to true ace status this season.
Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs
Another one of my favorite fantasy baseball sleepers to watch for emerging as a top option this season is Cade Horton of the Cubs, who is currently going as the No. 44 starting pitcher, per his ADP.
Horton made his MLB debut last May, well before McLean, and he worked 118 innings in his first MLB season. He started 22 of his 23 games and compiled a 2.67 ERA, 3.58 FIP and 4.27 xFIP. He averaged just under a strikeout per inning (97 strikeouts in 118 innings), and finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting.
While his strikeout rate isn’t eye-catching in his rookie year, some of that may have been because he tries to work efficiently and pitch to contact to go deeper into games. He also had a higher strikeout rate as he settled into the majors.
He had one awful start against the Astros in Houston at the end of June, allowing seven runs in four innings. After that outing, though, he went an extremely impressive 8-2 with a 1.36 ERA and 2.96 FIP over the last three months of the season. He allowed two runs or fewer in 12 straight games to end the year on a dominant run.
The 24-year-old may not be able to keep up that pace, based on his batted-ball metrics, but even with a little regression or an outlier or two, he should be a very valuable fantasy baseball producer where he’s going in drafts right now.
Like McLean, he’ll be asked to hold a main rotation spot on a contending team, and he’ll be backed by a good offense. The reports out of spring training have been glowing, and he looks ready to build on his strong rookie campaign with another big year. He’s not as proven as some of the other options around his ADP, but his ceiling is a front-of-the-rotation arm, with the only real negative that his strikeout rate isn’t quite as high as other true aces.
Robby Snelling, Miami Marlins
Looking toward the end of most standard-sized drafts, Robby Snelling’s ADP is over 300, but he could end up being one of the top late-round fantasy baseball sleepers available. The Marlins didn’t give Snelling a call last year, so the 22-year-old lefty will be making his MLB debut when he makes his first MLB appearance this season.
The Marlins created space for their well-stocked farm system of arms by trading Ryan Weathers to the Yankees and Edward Cabrera to Horton’s Cubs this offseason. The big name everyone is excited about is Thomas White, who is going earlier in drafts and may have a higher long-term ceiling. Snelling, though, could be the better value, since he is available much later and has shown better control through his rise through the minors.
Coming into spring training, MLB Pipeline ranked Snelling as the No. 39 prospect in baseball. He is the Marlins second-highest prospect in those rankings behind only White and just ahead of Owen Caissie, who was the main acquisition in the Cabrera deal. Snelling was also a trade deadline acquisition, joining the Marlins as part of the trade that sent Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing to San Diego in 2024.
Last year, Snelling started in Double-A with Pensacola, where he was solid with 85 strikeouts in 72 1/3 innings on his way to a 3.61 ERA, 2.91 FIP, and a 1.22 WHIP. He was even better after his promotion to Triple-A, though, where he posted a 1.27 ERA, 2.62 FIP, and a 0.99 WHIP for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. In his 63 2/3 innings in Triple-A, Snelling racked up 81 strikeouts and only issued 17 walks.
With opportunity available, Snelling and White could both earn spots in the rotation out of spring training, or either could get called up early in the season. While his raw stuff isn’t as good as White’s, his excellent control should make him ready to contribute at some point this season, and he has shown a high strikeout ceiling in his climb through the minors.
If you’re looking for a late-round fantasy baseball sleeper with breakout potential, Snelling is definitely a name to watch, especially if he has a strong spring and earns a spot in Miami’s new-look rotation.
