Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher ADP Report: The Big Three and Beyond

Let's continue our dive through the fantasy baseball average draft position list by going over starting pitchers.

We have tackled shortstops, third basemen, outfielders and designated hitters, and also looked at things overall. Keep checking back for more!

More fantasy baseball average draft position data can be found on FantasySP. Draft Genius now has custom head-to-head scoring options and on demand AI expert help for every pick.

The Big Three

The top-three pitchers off draft boards are options in the first round.

Detroit's Tarik Skubal leads the way, going at pick 6.5 on average. Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes is next, going at pick 6.75 on average. Boston's Garrett Crochet is going at pick 10.63 on average. They are the sixth, seventh and eighth picks overall.

Skubal has been dominant over the past two seasons, posting a 2.30 earned run average over 62 starts and 387 1/3 innings. Skubal has 469 strikeouts along the way. I think he's the top fantasy pitcher (although it's close) and could justify taking him starting at pick three.

Skenes has been dominant in his first two MLB seasons, posting a 1.96 ERA over 55 starts and 320 2/3 innings. He has 386 strikeouts so far. He's right there with Skubal, but on a worse team and working less innings, that's where Skubal gets the advantage in my eyes.

A move from the White Sox to the Red Sox helped Crochet become a high-end fantasy pitcher. He had a 2.59 ERA over 32 starts last season. Crochet struck out 255 batters over 205 1/3 innings. He's a top-end pick, and I actually prefer him over Skenes, but he, Skenes and Skubal all are deserving of top-10 picks.

More Top-30 Options

Los Angeles Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the fourth starting pitcher off draft boards, going at pick 15.88 on average.

He starred in his second big league season, posting a 2.49 ERA over 30 starts, while striking out 201 batters over 173 2/3 innings. Yamamoto is expected to do more for the coming season, and he could even outperform his high ADP if he stays healthy all year.

Philadelphia's Cristopher Sanchez is going at pick 23.38 on average, while Seattle's Logan Gilbert is at pick 24.88 on average.

Sanchez has been good over the past three seasons, but he took his pitching to a new level when he posted a 2.50 ERA over 32 starts last year. Sanchez struck out 212 batters over 202 innings. He's worthy of a high-end pick, and also could outperform his ADP, so I like his value.

Gilbert has been steady over the past four seasons, with ERAs under 3.73 in each campaign. He had a 3.44 ERA over 131 innings, while striking out 173 over 25 starts last season. If Gilbert stays healthy, he could be another top-five fantasy SP.

Houston's Hunter Brown (26.63 ADP), Seattle's Bryan Woo (26.88), San Francisco's Logan Webb (27.13) and New York Yankees' Max Fried (27.88) are four pitchers bunched up and going in the top-30 picks.

Brown is another hurler who took his game to the next level last season. Over 31 starts, he had a 2.43 ERA and 206 punchouts over 185 1/3 innings. If he takes another step forward in 2026, he has top-five fantasy SP upside.

Woo has been dominant over the past two seasons. He posted a 2.94 ERA over 30 starts last year, while striking out 198 over 186 2/3 innings. Woo might be in the shadow of Gilbert in Seattle, but he's another elite fantasy pitching option.

Webb continues to eat innings and deliver consistent results for the Giants. He had a 3.22 ERA over 34 starts, while striking out 224 batters in 207 innings last year. Webb might not be the flashy young pitcher anymore, but he gets the job done usually and is a great fantasy pick.

Fried had a career year with the Yankees in 2025, earning 19 wins and posting a 2.86 ERA over 32 starts - he had 189 strikeouts over 195 1/3 innings. Even some regression from last year puts Fried in a spot to finish among the best starting pitchers in the game.

Other Top-100 Pitchers

We've gone over 10 pitchers already, and now are going to start rolling through the names quickly. Nos. 11-28 on the ADP list are still within the top-100 picks.

Atlanta's Chris Sale is going at pick 35.5 on average. He's been a dominant pitcher over his career, but injuries continue to hold him back a bit. That makes Sale a riskier pick and a big risk vs. reward guy.

New York Mets' Freddy Peralta is sitting at pick 37 on average. He's coming off a great season with Milwaukee and now will help headline the New York rotation - we'll see how he handles the spotlight.

Cincinnati's Hunter Greene checks in at pick 39.38. He's been stellar over the past two years, but also missed starts in both campaigns. Greene is a riskier pick as a result, but when healthy, he's one of the top arms in the game.

Texas' Jacob deGrom is at pick 45.13 on average. deGrom was stellar across 30 starts last season - injuries have been his biggest detriment over his career, but he stayed healthy last year. He's another big risk vs. reward pick.

Toronto's Dylan Cease is at pick 50.5, while Detroit's Framber Valdez is at 52.25 and Minnesota's Joe Ryan sits at pick 54.63.

Cease is coming off a bad season, but now joins a stacked team and has a good chance to bounce back. Valdez joins a new team for the first time in his career, so we'll see how he fares after Skubal in that rotation. Ryan has been good over the past two years and turned in a full year in 2025, so he  could be in store for another career year if he stays healthy.

Kansas City's Cole Ragans (58) and Seattle's George Kirby (62.88) are the next two pitchers on the ADP list.

Ragans regressed last season and missed a lot of time, but fantasy owners apparently see him bouncing back in 2026. Kirby missed starts as well and regressed from past seasons, so he's another bounceback candidate.

LA Dodgers Blake Snell (70.13), Toronto's Kevin Gausman (71), Philadelphia's Jesus Luzardo (73.38), San Diego's Nick Pivetta (73.63) and Atlanta's Spencer Strider (75.63) are all in the 70s.

Snell excels when healthy, but he's missed a ton of starts over the past couple years, making him a riskier pick. Gausman has been pretty consistent over the past five years, making him a good value pick in my eyes.

Luzardo bounced back in a healthier 2025 campaign, and could be headed toward a career year in his age-28 season. Pivetta had his career-best season in 2025, but on the wrong side of 30, he's more likely to fall off than keep improving. Strider struggled when he was healthy in 2025, so we'll see if he can regain his form from a few seasons ago.

Atlanta's Spencer Schwellenbach is at pick 83.88 on average, but that's falling quickly as he's already on the 60-day injured list. We'll see where he eventually settles.

Boston's Sonny Gray (90.25), Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler (97.25) and Baltimore's Kyle Bradish (99.63) round out the starting pitchers in the top 100.

Gray struggled across 32 starts for St. Louis last year, but has a better outlook with Boston for 2026. Wheeler was great again last season, but an injury concern has his draft stock down to kick off 2026. Bradish has made 14 starts over the past two years, so fantasy owners are looking for him to just stay healthy, and the results should follow.

More SPs on the ADP List

Seattle's Luis Castillo (102.25) and Tampa Bay's Ryan Pepiot (108.33) are the pitchers who round out the top-30 SPs on the ADP list. Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski (113.38) is next.

Cleveland's Tanner Bibee (121.2), Texas' Nathan Eovaldi (121.88), Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow (121.88), Yankees' Cam Schlittler (123.71), Cleveland's Gavin Williams (125.63), Milwaukee's Brandon Woodruff (125.88), Cincinnati's Chase Burns (127.38) and Minnesota's Pablo Lopez (129.63) are all in the 120s.

Boston's Ranger Suarez (132.29), Mets' Nolan McLean (134.5) and Texas' MacKenzie Gore (135.86) are in the 130s, while San Diego's Michael King (141) and Yankees' Gerrit Cole (147.4) are in the 140s.

Toronto's Trey Yesavage (150.2), Yankees' Carlos Rodon (150.8), Cincinnati's Nick Lodolo (151), Arizona's Zac Gallen (151.33), Tampa Bay's Drew Rasmussen (151.88), Chicago Cubs' starters Shota Imanaga (153.38), Edward Cabrera (153.67) and Matthew Boyd (155.2), Cincinnati's Andrew Abbott (156.75), Houston's Tatsuya Imai (158.25), Dodgers' Roki Sasaki (158.33) and Cubs' Cade Horton (159.5) are in the 150s.

San Francisco's Robbie Ray (160.71), Philadelphia's Aaron Nola (161.33), Dodgers' Emmet Sheehan (162.43), Detroit's Jack Flaherty (163.2), Baltimore's Trevor Rogers (164), Cubs' Justin Steele (165), Miami's Sandy Alcantara (166.83) and Pittsburgh's Bubba Chandler (168.33) sit in the 160s for now.

Toronto's Shane Bieber (171.83), Arizona's Merrill Kelly (172) and Kansas City's Kris Bubic (176) are in the 170s. 

Detroit's Casey Mize (180), Baltimore's Chris Bassitt (180.5), Kansas City's Noah Cameron (181), Tampa Bay's Shane McClanahan (186.5), White Sox' Davis Martin (188) and Athletics' Jeffrey Springs (189) close out the pitchers listed on the ADP list so far.