You can never have enough starting pitching in fantasy baseball. Unfortunately, we fantasy baseball managers have gotten used to receiving unexpected injury updates regarding starting pitchers already on our fantasy rosters. Blake Snell, Hunter Greene, and Quinn Priester are just three of the fantasy baseball starting pitchers who’ll start the season on the IL, and as Opening Day approaches, there will be more. 

You’re never truly alone in your fantasy baseball draft room when you’ve got Fantasy Alarm's Ultimate Cheat Sheet and Fantasy Alarm’s Top 2026 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings by your side. If one of your favorite deep sleeper fantasy baseball starting pitchers suddenly lands on the IL, just check out our Cheat Sheet and Player Rankings pages for late-round options that can help you win your league’s championship. These are a few of my favorites. 

Kris Bubic – health concerns appear to be behind him

  • Team: Royals
  • 2026 ADP: 188

Bubic wasn’t picked until the 19th round of one of my most recent 12-team league drafts. There are some concerns due to his injury history. Bubic had Tommy John surgery in 2024, and his 2025 season was cut short in late July due to a left rotator cuff strain. 

When he was on the mound last season, he delivered. He compiled a 2.55 ERA and a 1.178 WHIP. Bubic’s velocity on almost all his pitches returned to pre-TJ surgery levels, and he also struck out a batter per inning. 

Bubic appears healthy and has looked good this spring. He’ll be pitching his home games in the potentially more hitter-friendly Kauffman Stadium this season, but his ability to induce ground balls is another aspect of his profile that returned after his TJ surgery and should help him keep the ball in the park.

 

 

 

Matthew Boyd – another year removed from TJ surgery

  • Team: Cubs
  • 2026 ADP:  207

Boyd seems undervalued this season. Based on his ADP, you can expect him to be drafted in the 18th round of a 12-team league. I’ve seen him hang around until the 19th round in one of my drafts, and someone picked him up for just $4 in the recent 12-team expert LABR mixed auction draft.

At 35 years old, Boyd is one of the elder statesmen in this article, but he’s coming off one of his best big-league seasons. After injury-plagued 2023-2024 post-TJ surgery seasons, Boyd threw 179.1 innings in 2025, his most since 2019. The average velocity on his sinker was his highest ever, and the velocity on his fastball and slider were his highest since the 2017 season. Boyd won 14 games in 2025 and posted a 3.21 ERA and 1.091 WHIP. His 7.7 K/9 was a bit lower than usual, but as this article is being written, he’s already struck out seven batters in his first 4.2 spring training innings. The Cubs believe his 2025 season is repeatable and have named Boyd their Opening Day starter.

Clay Holmes – another solid season is on the horizon

  • Team: Mets
  • 2026 ADP: 284

After spending much of the previous three seasons as the Yankees’ closer, Holmes was converted to a starting pitcher in 2025. He made 31 starts. Holmes pitched well in his first 17 outings, averaging 5.5 IP per start and posting a 2.99 ERA. He might have run out of gas as he hit a rough patch in the middle of the season, but Holmes recovered and had a 2.95 ERA in his last nine appearances.  

Holmes has had a very good spring, and if you include his efforts in the WBC, he has 13 strikeouts in his first 10.2 IP. With a full season as a starting pitcher under his belt and the reintroduction of his curveball to his pitch arsenal, just about all the major projection models expect Holmes to have another fine season with a sub-4.00 ERA in 2026.  

 

 

 

Cody Ponce – 2025 breakout potential

  • Team: Blue Jays 
  • 2026 ADP: 287

When Ponce last pitched in the big leagues in 2021, he finished the season with a 7.04 ERA and a 1.748 WHIP. He’s reinvented himself since then, and in his 2025 season pitching in Korea for the KBO, he compiled a 1.89 ERA and set the record for most strikeouts in a single season with 252.  Ponce has developed a pitch mix that includes a four-seam fastball that can reach 98 mph, a cutter-shaped fastball, and a hard “kick” changeup. 

As this article is being written, he’s only thrown six innings this spring, but he hasn’t walked a batter and has struck out five. His ADP has started to rise, but if you’re lucky, you can probably still pick him up in the 20th round of a typical 12-team draft. 

Braxton Ashcraft – lost in the shuffle between Skenes and Bubba

  • Team: Pirates
  • 2026 ADP: 293

When most fantasy baseball managers think of Pirates starting pitchers, names like Bubba Chandler, Mitch Keller, and some guy named Paul Skenes come to mind. Ashcraft, who is expected to open the season in the Pirates’ starting rotation, is ignored, and he shouldn’t be. He split his time between the starting rotation and the bullpen in 2025, and while Ashcraft pitched well in both roles, he was much more effective when used as a starting pitcher.

Role

ERA

IP

WHIP

K/9

SP

2.16

33.1

1.140

9.5

RP

3.22

36.1

1.349

8.9


 

Ashcraft induced a high rate of ground balls and also generated plenty of swings and misses last season. His curveball, slider, and sinker were his best offerings, and while his four-seam fastball was a bit more hittable than the rest of his pitches, it topped out at 97 mph. Most projection models have him making over 20 starts and compiling an ERA in the 3.60 to 3.85 range. Based on his ADP, he may be available as late as the 25th round in 12-team drafts.

 

 

 

Justin Wrobleski – competing for a rotation spot with the Dodgers

  • Team: Dodgers
  • 2026 ADP: 489

Roster Resource has Roki Sasaki penciled in as the Dodgers’ fifth starter, but with the terrible spring Sasaki has had so far, he might not be in the rotation come Opening Day. Wrobleski, on the other hand, has looked great this spring. He hasn’t given up a run or a walk in six IP and has struck out four batters.  Wrobleski has a good five-pitch mix, including a four-seam fastball that can touch 98 mph, a cutter, slider, curveball, and sinker. Wrobleski may face competition for the final spot in the Dodgers rotation from Ben Casparius, who is known for throwing a fastball that can reach 100 mph. However, Wrobleski's experience as a long reliever and his extensive pitch mix likely provide him with an advantage over Casparius, who appears to be better suited for a bullpen role. Wrobleski should be considered as a final round dart throw pick in drafts, but pitching for a team that’s expected to win a lot of games again in 2026 makes him a dart throw with big-time upside.