Fantasy Baseball League Winners: Starting Pitchers

A majority of Fantasy Baseball Drafts will be conducted this weekend, naturally we wanted to give the people some sub top 50 picks to target on Draft Night. The list below contains players all outside the top 50 of current average draft position, with a couple of deep sleepers in the mix.

Logan Webb / San Francisco Giants

The new face of the San Francisco Giants is coming off a couple breathtaking playoff games last year against a loaded Dodgers lineup. He also has to face a tough NL West loaded with offensive firepower, but the ability to utilize a nasty Changeup/Splitter combo consistently will be essential in keeping hitters off-balance. His K/9 numbers held up last year for fantasy purposes. One concern is his ability to go late into games especially on a heavy analytics team but the new SF ace will prove his worth in 2022.

Dylan Cease / Chicago White Sox

Dylan Cease had a breakout party in 2021, especially for the fantasy baseball folk. His strikeout percentage was absolutely off the charts, and if he can find a little more control this year we should see him in the top 15 of WHIP. His fastball spin rate / velo are both in the near elite range. The 26 year old will be a steal at his current ADP of 73.1 in Head to Head leagues.

Alek Manoah / Toronto Blue Jays

Manoah’s season was unfortunately riddled with injuries last year. This year he’s slated to be a key in the Jay's rotation. The Jay’s are looking like World Series contenders and Manoah can definitely help them get there as a middle of the rotation guy. With a 3.2 ERA and 10.2 k/9 rate, we expect Manoah to have a breakout year. We expect Manoah to win 10-12 games, have a 3.3 to 3.5 ERA, and 150-175 strikeouts.

Marco Gonzalez / Seattle Mariners

Gonzales is set to be the front-man of the young Mariners rotation. Last season it felt like things were coming together at the right time and he helped lead the Mariners to a borderline playoff berth. We think he’ll blow past last season’s 143 IP and can get into the 180-200 range. He doesn’t put up many strikeouts but still maintains a respectable 3.9 ERA that we believe could be in the 3.3 to 3.5 range this season. With the re-tooled Mariner’s offense, we expect Gonzales to win about 10-12 games this year.

John Means / Baltimore Orioles

The former AL Rookie of the Year contender is set to begin this season as the Orioles Ace. Means has been unlucky the past two seasons due to injury. Our hope is that he can stay healthy to produce a 2018-like season again. The O’s are going to lean heavily on him to eat innings, but we expect him to be in the 150-180 range this season. Means carries a respectable 8.2 k/9 rate, so he’ll be able to help fill out other categories. The O’s are still very young so we don’t expect Means to win many games this year. We’re hoping for 7-10 wins.

By: Patrick McPartland & Ryan Mobley