Fantasy Baseball League Winners: 5 Pitchers to Target Late in Your Draft

The MLB season begins in Seoul, South Korea on March 20th so this is coming out a couple weeks earlier than usual. With the fantasy season right around the corner, we did a deep dive into late-round pitchers that are being undervalued. Here’s our list of potential sleepers that are going outside the top 35 average draft position. 

* If you want to check out a similar list we posted before the 2023 season, click here

Brayan Bello / Boston Red Sox

2023 Stat Line: 28 GS / 12-11 / 4.24 ERA / 157 IP / 132 K / 1.338 WHIP

2024 Prediction: 30 GS / 13-10 / 3.80 ERA / 175 IP / 170K / 1.2 WHIP

ADP: 238 Overall - 67 SP

Bello was a mid-season call up back in 2022 for the Red Sox at only 23 years old. The Red Sox are staring down a long season in 2024 and could be potentially finishing in last place in the AL East. They also just found out that their new free agent signing, Lucas Giolito, might be missing the whole season with a partially torn UCL. Bello has a full pitching arsenal capable of going deep into games and is now expected to be the ace for the organization this year. In 2023 he finished 10th in Wins in the AL and had respectable walk and strikeout ratios. In 2024 you can expect a full ace workload and increased strikeout numbers. Bello already has a low walk rate, so we are hoping that continues and you can get a quality ace later in the rounds to fill out your rotation. 

Michael King / San Diego Padres

2023 Stat Line: 9 GS / 4-8 / 2.75 ERA / 104.2 IP / 127 K / 1.15 WHIP

2024 Prediction: 29 GS / 12-8 / 3.51 ERA / 159.2 IP / 180 K / 1.13 WHIP

ADP: 146 Overall - 38 SP

The Padres arguably lost more essential pieces than any other team this offseason with the one shining addition being Michael King in the blockbuster Soto trade. King impressed down the stretch last year for the Yankees, in his 6 starts in September/October he rattled off an impressive: 31.2 IP - 2.27 ERA - 11.4 K/9. The high K/9 is extremely encouraging and the Padres have already stated that they plan on using him as their #3 starter this year. Our biggest worry is going to be a potential innings limit which King denied in a February interview, “That was actually one of my first questions I asked [pitching coach] Ruben [Niebla]. I said I just don’t want an innings count. I don’t want a limit.” The Padres made a true starter out of former reliever Seth Lugo last year, I expect the same with King this year.

Braxton Garrett / Miami Marlins

2023 Stat Line: 30 GS / 9-7 / 159.2 IP / 3.66 ERA / 156 K / 1.14 WHIP

2024 Projection: 30 GS / 12-8 / 160 IP / 3.30 ERA / 180 K / 1.20 WHIP

ADP: 206 - 58 SP

We were shocked when we saw Garrett going so low in mock drafts. Last year, he was an integral part of the Marlins rotation with a full starter’s workload. He finished 8th in NL pitching WAR at 3.8 in 2023. This Miami team made a surprise playoff appearance last year in a very competitive NL East. Garrett boasts some average strikeout percentages, but where he makes his money is going deep into games and limiting mistakes. Recently, the Marlins have had some injury concerns with Cabrera getting pulled from his start in spring training. Their Ace, Sandy Alcantara, is not expected to pitch in 2024 due to offseason Tommy John surgery. This sort of news will have Garrett moving up the draft boards due to a more prominent role in the team’s rotation in 2024.

Hunter Brown / Houston Astros 

2023 Stat Line: 29 GS / 11-13 / 5.09 ERA / 155.2.2 IP / 178 K / 1.36 WHIP

2024 Prediction: 28 GS / 13-9 / 3.84 ERA / 161.1 IP / 179 K / 1.24 WHIP

ADP: 176 Overall - 45 SP

I’m going to be honest I was having a hard time choosing between Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier, Brown’s heavy groundball rate was the eventual kicker for me. That ERA above 5 is hard to look at, but he had a K/9 over 10 last year and it really was a tale of 2 halves in his first full season in the big leagues.

One can say it was rookie fatigue but he had some concerning numbers at home as well, finishing with horrible numbers at Minute Maid (6.56 ERA / Allowing .816 OPS). He looks like a lock for the #3 or #4 spot in this rotation depending on the availability of Verlander, overall he has some risk involved but a potential inning eater with a high K/9 at 176th overall is a bargain. 

Kyle Harrison / San Francisco Giants

2023 Stat Line: 7 GS / 1-1 / 4.15 ERA / 34.2 IP / 35 K / 1.15 WHIP

2024 Prediction: 27 GS / 11-9 / 3.90 ERA / 149.2 IP / 161 K / 1.23 WHIP

ADP: 250 Overall - 72 SP

Yeah, yeah homer pick we know. Kyle Harrison lit the world on fire in his home opener against the Reds last season, going 6.1 Innings and recording 11 K’s without giving up a run. He’s 22 with an electric fastball that jumps opposing batters despite it averaging just 94 mph on the gun. His 2023 short stint wasn’t the most impressive due to some setbacks with his hamstring and a hand issue he aggravated in early September, but I wouldn’t doubt the kid heading into his first full season in the bigs. Fantasy wise he’s going to have to eat innings for the Giants who are waiting on multiple starters to get off the IL, and we know from his short time as a pro that the strikeout numbers will be there. In his 4 starts at home last year he ended with a 2.66 ERA and .612 OPS allowed. My main concerns will be fatigue and developing a true 3rd option on the hill, regardless he’s looked dynamite so far in camp and is a major value at pick 250. 

Deep Sleepers to watch: 

Clarke Schmidt - Overall 412 / SP 99 - New York Yankees

Frankie Montas - Overall 421 / SP 126 - Cincinnati Reds

John Means - Overall 322 / SP 90 - Baltimore Orioles

Aaron Ashby - Overall 442 / SP 129 - Milwaukee Brewers

Jack Flaherty - Overall 448 / SP 122 - Detroit Tigers

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