Kings of Command: Breakout pitchers to draft in fantasy baseball

The 2024 season saw the fewest pitchers ( 21 ) working at least 180 innings in any non-shortened season in history.

Among the generally undrafted players in ESPN leagues who scored at least 350 fantasy points, 10 of the 14 such players were pitchers.

Among them were both Cy Young Award winners ( Chris Sale , Tarik Skubal ), both Reliever of the Year Award winners, and every one of the four relief pitchers who earned a Cy Young vote.

Chris Martin's 2.66 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 66 holds are all top-10 numbers among relievers with at least 200 IP over the past five seasons combined.

Chris Paddack's slider and changeup generated at least a 43% whiff rate in 2024 ( MLB rates on each were 34% and 31% ) Pfaadt 's 64.5% strand rate and315 BABABABA last season were second and fifth -worst among ERA qualifiers.

Puk 's 95-96 mph fastball and slider generate excellent whiff rates, fueling a hefty number of strikeouts.

Puk and Justin Martinez should form a formidable, underrated one-two -punch at the back end of the Diamondbacks ' bullpen.

Sanchez is one of the game's more underrated pitchers.

Schwellenbach didn't even make his first pitching start until 21 months after being drafted.