The top fantasy baseball pitchers will be my last fantasy baseball rankings list before the start of the 2024 season. Pitcher is a tricky position when it comes to fantasy baseball for many reasons. The first of those reasons is because in most leagues you need seven pitchers on your roster, unlike other positions where you only need one, or at most two players, at a position. This can lead to fear of missing out when it comes to draft strategy. In most leagues, when a few pitchers start getting drafted early and above their average draft position, you will often see this become a trend throughout the early and middle rounds of your draft. the other dilemma you likely face is how you balance starting pitchers with relievers on your roster.
There are a couple of spoilers from the list I will mention before you dive into the top nine fantasy baseball outfielders of 2024. The first is that this list will not include Shohei Ohtani. He did finish comfortably atop all fantasy baseball pitchers in 2023 with 828 points. He placed 284 points ahead of the next closest starting pitcher. I will not be including him because he won’t be pitching this season while recovering from an elbow surgery. This list will also not include Gerrit Cole. At the time of writing this article, it is expected that Cole will miss one or two months while battling an elbow injury. Cole finished 2023 as the second-highest-scorer among fantasy baseball pitchers for 2023 with 544 points.
1. Spencer Strider– Atlanta Braves
The number one fantasy baseball pitcher of 2024 according to average draft position is Spencer Strider. With an average draft position of 9.4, he will likely be selected at the very end of the first round of most drafts. There is a chance you can get him at the turn early in the second round.
Strider finished atop all starting pitchers last season in strikeouts (281). wins (19), win percentage (.792), strikeouts per nine innings (13.55), While also finishing inside the top five in hits allowed (146), earned runs allowed (80), and hits allowed per nine innings (7.04).
While Spencer Strider is young, he has shown tremendous potential and fantasy production in his first two seasons. Strider has amassed over 200 strikeouts in each of his first 2 seasons. This, combined with his 19 wins and only five losses was a good enough combination for a third-place finish among fantasy baseball pitchers in 2023.
2. Corbin Burnes– Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles recently acquired the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2023 Burnes finished 11th among fantasy baseball pitchers. According to average draft position, Burnes will be the second pitcher drafted in most fantasy drafts. With an ADP of 21.6, he is projected to be an early third-round pick. However, there is a chance he will be selected much earlier. If you want him on your team, don’t be afraid to select him in the second round.
Burnes finished inside the top ten among starting pitchers in innings pitched (193.2), runs allowed (77), earned runs allowed (73), and ERA (3.39). He also finished inside the top five for hits per nine innings (6.55), WHIP (1.07), and hits allowed (141).
Over his six-year career, Burnes has been very consistent. In 4 out of his six seasons, he has pitched at least 28 games. In each of his last three seasons, he has won at least ten games and struck out at least 200 batters. Due to his consistency, this is a player I would have no problem drafting higher than his average draft position.
3. Zach Wheeler– Philadelphia Phillies
After Burnes, the next pitcher to be selected in most drafts will be Zach Wheeler. In 2023, Wheeler finished as the ninth-highest-scoring fantasy baseball pitcher with 444 points. Going into 2024 he currently has an ADP of 27.6. On average, he is being selected toward the end of the third round. However, much like other pitchers you will see on this list, there is a chance he will be selected much higher than this. I have seen him being drafted as early as the beginning of the second round.
Wheeler finished 2023 inside the top ten among starting pitchers in strikeouts (212), wins (12), win percentage (.667), games started (32), walks allowed (39), hits per nine innings (7.88), walks per nine innings (1.83), and home runs allowed (20).
In four of the last five seasons, wheeler has appeared in at least 26 games. He also won a minimum of 11 games and struck out a minimum of 163 batters. As long as this trend continues, he should find himself inside the top ten fantasy baseball pitchers at the end of the 2024 season.
4. Kevin Gausman– Toronto Blue Jays
The next pitcher to be selected in most drafts will be the seventh-highest-scorer among fantasy baseball pitchers from 2023. Kevin Gausman currently has an ADP of 32. This means he is currently being selected at the beginning of the fourth round. Gausman has yet to make a Grapefruit League appearance as he battles shoulder fatigue. However, he has been throwing bullpen sessions as recently as Tuesday, March 12th. If his shoulder continues to feel good, the next step is for him to throw live batting practice. He is currently listed as day-to-day but is optimistic about his chances of being ready for opening day.
Last season, Gausman finished top ten among starting pitchers in wins (12) and runs allowed (72). He also finished top five in strikeout per nine innings (11.53), ERA (3.16), home runs allowed (19), and earned runs (65).
Over his last three seasons, Gausman has pitched in at least 31 games and won at least 12 games in each season. He has also struck out at least 205 batters and never gave up more than 20 home runs in each of these seasons.
5. Luis Castillo– Seattle Mariners
With an ADP of 34.4, Luis Castillo will be the fifth starting pitcher drafted in most fantasy leagues. Castillo finished sixth among fantasy baseball pitchers in 2023 with 458 points. The 2023 AL all-star is expected to finish once again inside the top ten among pitchers in terms of fantasy production.
Luis Castillo finished top ten among pitchers in games played (33), strikeouts (219), wins (13), innings pitched (197), hits allowed (160), runs allowed (81), earned runs (73), ERA (3.34), and strikeouts per nine innings (10.01), hits per nine innings (7.31).
Going into his second full season with the Mariners many fans are hoping that Castillo continues to show the dominance he has portrayed in 2023. As the ace of what should be a very strong starting rotation and potential playoff-contending lineup for the Mariners, Castillo should continue to win plenty of games and strike out a lot of batters. This should result in him once again finishing as a top-ten fantasy baseball pitcher in 2024, with the potential for a top-five finish.
6. Yoshinobu Yamamoto– Los Angeles Dodgers
The 25-year-old Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto is set to make his MLB debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fans are expecting big things from Yamamoto in 2024. While he won’t be the opening day starter, he is expected to make his debut in game two against the Padres on Thursday, March 21 in Seoul, South Korea.
Yamamoto dominated Japanese professional baseball over the last four years. In his last four seasons in Japan, he never won less than 15 games. In those four seasons, he threw a total of 14 complete games, striking out no less than 169 batters every year. Over this span, he also never had an ERA higher than 1.68 and never gave up double-digit home runs.
The current ADP for Yamamoto has him being selected in the middle of the fourth round. His current ADP is 36.4. However, there is a very high chance he will be selected before round four. I have seen him being selected as high as the first round in my drafts.
7. Zach Gallen– Arizona Diamondbacks
Entering his sixth season in the MLB, Zach Gallen has an ADP of 38. This means he will likely be the seventh pitcher selected in most fantasy drafts. Gallen was named a 2023 NL all-star and Diamondback fans are hoping for another productive season for Gallen in 2024. At the same time, fantasy managers are hoping for a similar level of fantasy production from him in the upcoming season. Gallen finished 2023 as the fifth-highest-scoring fantasy baseball pitcher.
Zach Gallen finished 2023 as the top starting pitcher in the MLB for games played (34). He also had a top-three finish in strikeouts (220) wins (17), win percentage (.680), and innings pitch (210). while this is impressive, he also finished top ten in walks per nine innings (2.01), WHIP (1.12), ERA (3.47), and walks allowed (47).
Over the past two seasons, Gallen has been dominant for the Diamondbacks. Over this span, he has never finished with less than 31 games played, 12 wins, and 192 strikeouts. With an ADP of 38, he is being drafted somewhere near the end of the fourth round of most drafts. While this is true, I have seen him being selected as high as the second round in some of my drafts.
8. Pablo Lopez– Minnesota Twins
The eighth pitcher being taken in most drafts is Pablo Lopez of the Minnesota Twins. Lopez finished 2023 as the tenth-highest scorer among fantasy baseball pitchers with 438 points. With an ADP of 38.8, it won’t be long after Gallen is taken before Pablo Lopez will be selected. An ADP of 38.8 means he is likely to be selected towards the end of the fourth round. However, I have seen him drafted as early as the second round.
Lopez finished the 2023 season top ten among starting pitchers in games played (32), innings pitched (194), walks allowed (48), strikeouts per nine innings (10.86), and walks per nine innings (2.23). He also had a top-three finish when it comes to strikeouts (234).
Over his six-year MLB career, Lopez has seen constant improvement on a year-by-year basis. As he enters his third season as a staple in the Twins pitching rotation, fans are hoping that improvement continues into the 2024 season. Seeing as he finished as a top-ten fantasy baseball pitcher in 2023, an improvement this season could see Lopez catapulting himself into a top-five finish in terms of fantasy points in 2024.
9. George Kirby– Seattle Mariners
coming off of most draft boards as the ninth pitcher selected will be another Seattle Mariner. Luis Castillo’s teammate George Kirby is currently being selected very early in the fifth round with an ADP of 40.2. Kirby finished as the fifteenth-highest-scorer among fantasy baseball pitchers in 2023 with 410 points. This was one spot ahead of another one of his Mariners teammates Logan Gilbert.
In 2023 Kirby finished with 31 games played, 13 wins, 190.2 innings pitched, 22 home runs allowed, 19 walks allowed, 172 strikeouts, and an ERA of 3.35. His fantasy production saw a major increase from his first to second year in the MLB.
With such a massive production increase from year one to year two, many fans are hoping for another increase in the 2024 season. If his production increases in 2024 the same way it did from 2022 to 2023, we could see Kirby finish as an elite fantasy baseball pitcher in the 2024 season. Kirby is an intriguing young talent that fans are looking forward to watching for years to come.
Late-round sleeper
My late-round sleeper could be considered more of a mid-round sleeper for this list. My sleeper for this season is Logan Gilbert. As I stated in a previous paragraph, Gilbert finished the 2023 season as the sixteenth-highest scorer among fantasy baseball pitchers. With an ADP of 68, he is currently being drafted late in the seventh round.
Over the last two seasons, Gilbert has finished with 32 games played and 13 wins in each season. In those two seasons, he did not pitch less than 185 innings. He also struck out over 170 batters in each of those seasons. His WHIP of 1.07 was good enough for a top-five finish among starting pitchers. He also gave up only 34 walks and this was also good enough for a top-five finish among starting pitchers in 2023. His consistency over the last two years leaves fans and fantasy managers hopeful for what’s to come from the 26-year-old right-hander.
This concludes my fantasy baseball pitchers rankings for 2024. As of now, we are less than a week away from the start of the MLB season. The Dodgers and Padres will kick off the MLB season in Seoul, South Korea on March 20th. However, the official opening day for most teams will be March 28th. Get your drafts done and your lineups set, because the MLB season is right around the corner and will be here before you know it.
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