Elite fantasy baseball starting pitchers like Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet and Paul Skenes fly off the board within the first two rounds of most drafts. You might say they make up the Mount Rushmore of fantasy baseball starting pitchers. They’re also the top three starting pitchers on Fantasy Alarm's Ultimate Cheat Sheet  and Fantasy Alarm’s Top 2026 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings. 

However, if you don’t want to have to use one of your first draft picks on a starting pitcher and absorb the risk surrounding the position – (has anyone heard from Hunter Greene lately?) – there are several middle round starting pitcher options that can out produce their preseason ADP and lead you to a fantasy baseball championship. These are some of my favorite options.

 

 

Jesus Luzardo – Potential for Another 200K Season  

I’ve taken part in 12-team fantasy baseball drafts in which Luzardo has been selected as early as the 6th round and as late as the 9th round. That’s good value for a fantasy baseball starting pitcher whose 216 strikeouts were the fourth most in baseball last season. Luzardo rebounded nicely from an injury plagued 2024 season, winning 15 games and pitching a career high 183.2 innings. His 2.8 BB/9 was his lowest since the 2020 season. 

Luzardo’s slider continued to dominate opposing batters, but he jumped on the bandwagon and added a sweeper in 2025. It produced a 43.7 Whiff % and opposing hitters batted just .178 against it. With his 2024 health woes behind him Luzardo experienced an uptick in velocity on all of his pitches and his xERA was more than a half a run less than his actual 3.92 ERA.

With Phillies ace Zack Wheeler expected to start the season on the IL, Luzardo will be the Phillies’ SP2, right behind fellow 2025 breakout Christopher Sanchez. Health has been an issue for Luzardo throughout his career but if he avoids the IL his 2025 success is repeatable.

Framber Valdez – Model of Consistency 

Valdez has been one of the most reliable fantasy baseball starting pitchers over the past several years. In an era in which fewer starting pitchers are working deep into games, Valdez has thrown at least 176 innings and made 28 or more starts in four consecutive seasons. He won 13 games last season and has won at least 11games in each of the last five seasons. Valdez struck out 187 batters last season and has struck out between 169 and 200 batters in each of the last four seasons. 

Valdez’s 3.66 ERA was better than league average, but it was his highest since becoming a starting pitcher in 2020. However, the four commonly used ERA estimators (FIP, xFIP, SIERA and xERA) suggest that Valdez’s 2025 ERA should have been between 3.34 and 3.77 based on his underlying performance.

Valdez, who was the former ace of the Astros’ staff, now finds himself as the Tigers’ SP2 behind Tarik Skubal, but most projection models predict that he’ll post “ace-like” stats in 2026  and win between 12 and 15 games and post an ERA of between 3.33 and 3.64. 

 

 

Cam Schlittler – 2026 Breakout Potential

After making a spot start in early July, Schlitter joined the Yankees’ rotation for good later in the month. He got off to a slow start but gradually improved and by season’s end Schlittler had a 2.96 ERA, and his K rate was an impressive 10.4/9. 

His fastball velocity, which averaged 98 mph last season, was in the 95th percentile of Statcast’s pitcher rankings for 2025. Opposing hitters batted just .173 against it and also had trouble catching up to his cutter (.204 BAA).

Schlittler has a good underlying pedigree, but what stands out about him are the intangibles, including his ability to rise to the occasion. He pitched eight shutout innings and struck out 12 batters in his first playoff start against the Red Sox, his favorite team growing up. In his second playoff start Schlittler didn’t have his best stuff against the Blue Jays, but he gave up just two earned runs in 6.1 IP and again, didn’t walk a batter. With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon starting the season on the IL, the Yankees will be leaning on Schlittler heavily to start the season and based on his ability to be cool under pressure, he’s likely to deliver.

Michael King – 2026 Rebound Candidate

King missed almost four months of the 2025 season due to shoulder and knee injuries. When he was able to pitch, he was effective. The Mets lit him up for eight runs in a mid-September start, but he never gave up more than three runs in any of his 14 other starts last season. Overall, King pitched to a 3.44 ERA and even threw a rare complete game shutout last season. 

King’s four-seam fast ball was more hittable than usual (.315 BAA), but it still generated a 30% whiff rate. His secondary pitches, including a sinker, changeup, slider and sweeper, had a cumulative .201 BAA.

Since being converted to a full-time starting pitcher beginning in 2024, King has a 3.10 ERA and 1.194 WHIP. His underlying skillset, along with the fact that he’ll continue to pitch his home games in hitter-friendly Petco Park, make him a good bet to have a bounce back season if his health cooperates.

 

 

Ryan Pepiot – Will Benefit from Pitching at Tropicana Field

Pepiot is coming off a 2025 season in which he made a career high 31 starts and posted a 3.86 ERA and 1.163 WHIP. His overall stat line is impressive considering his extreme home/away splits from last season. His 4.38 home ERA in hitter friendly George M. Steinbrenner Field was almost a full run higher than his road ERA. Pepiot also gave up 17 of his 26 HR allowed when pitching at home last season.

Thankfully Pepiot and the Rays will be back playing their home games in their traditionally pitcher friendly home park in 2026. Heading into only his third season as a fantasy baseball starting pitcher, Pepiot’s spot is secured in the middle of the Rays’ starting rotation and he still has room for upside. 

He’s shown good control as a strikeout per inning pitcher in his time as a starter. With most projection models predicting that the gains he’s made over the past two seasons are sustainable, Pepiot is expected to be a potentially good contributor to your fantasy baseball team’s ERA and WHIP in 2026. 

Tatsuya Imai – Armed and Ready to Take Down the Dodgers

As I quickly discovered after sniping him in our TGFBI draft, Imai is one of @rotobuzzguy’s favorite mid-round starting pitchers. Imai joins the Astros’ starting rotation after having spent nine successful seasons playing in Japan. He’s expected to have a big role in the Astros’ starting rotation this season.

Imai is considered a workhorse, having averaged 165 IP over his last three seasons. With Japanese teams typically using a six-man rotation, durability is sometimes a concern for pitchers transitioning from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Imai's proven stamina suggests he is well-prepared for his MLB debut.

Imai’s scouting report is enticing. He features a “reverse” slider, which comes in on right-handed batters and generates a high rate of swings and misses. He also features a blazing fastball that can run up to 99 mph, and a curveball and  “Vulcan” changeup, both of  which have been very effective against left-handed batters. His control has improved over the past couple of seasons and Imai has minimized hard contact while inducing a high number of ground balls. While some Japanese pitchers have struggled in their debut MLB seasons Imai seems ready to hit the ground running and has his sights set on taking down the Dodgers!

Closing Thoughts

After the smoke has cleared in the early going of your fantasy baseball drafts and Skubal, Skenes and Crochet are off the board, there are still many good middle to late round fantasy baseball starting pitcher options for you to choose from. With the number of injuries plaguing the position over the past few seasons perhaps a strategy in which you wait before selecting the bulk of your starting pitchers is worth trying. 

There are several other fantasy baseball pitchers not discussed in this article that might be worth exploring in the middle to late rounds of drafts including Brandon Woodruff (keep an eye on his health), Luis Castillo and Edward Cabrera, to name just a few. If you check out our Fantasy Alarm's Ultimate Cheat Sheet  and Fantasy Alarm’s Top 2026 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings you’ll a lot more. However, the six starting pitchers featured in this article all have upside and could help tip the odds in favor of you winning a fantasy baseball championship.