The following starting pitchers are widely available in Yahoo fantasy formats and may be worth grabbing, depending on your league’s depth.
Aaron Ashby, SP, Milwaukee Brewers (16 percent rostered)
Ashby is a must-add in all fantasy leagues with Freddy Peralta set to miss “significant” time with a shoulder injury, as the promising young lefty is now rejoining the rotation indefinitely. Milwaukee is planning a five-man rotation too, so Ashby’s arrow is pointing up.
One of the better pitching prospects in the game, Ashby has a 2.97 expected ERA while working out of the pen and starting this season, and there’s a lot of fantasy upside moving forward. His 17 walks over 28.1 innings look like a control problem, but Ashby has hardly had trouble throwing strikes, as he ranks top-10 among relievers in CSW (and would rank second behind only Cy Young favorite, Shane McClanahan, among starters).
Ashby could be a real fantasy difference-maker now locked in the Brewers’ rotation.
Roansy Contreras, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates (21 percent)
Contreras is also one of the game’s better pitching prospects who’s about to get a bigger opportunity, as the rookie was recalled to start Tuesday’s home matchup with the Rockies (he’s an intriguing add regardless of that game’s outcome). The Pirates have somehow recorded just two wins from starting pitchers so far this season, so that category may be an issue even if the rookie impresses right away, but Contreras’ strikeout potential makes him a worthy fantasy add regardless.
Brady Singer, SP, Kansas City Royals (23%)
While his second start since rejoining Kansas City’s rotation wasn’t quite as impressive as his first, Singer has now pitched seven scoreless frames in back-to-back outings and continues to show major improvement thanks to an added changeup. Wins will likely be a problem pitching for the Royals, but Singer finally looks locked into KC’s rotation and is well worth adding in fantasy leagues. The former first-round pick has highly intriguing peripherals and appears to be breaking out.
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Alex Cobb, SP, San Francisco Giants (46%)
Immediately after Fred Zinkie astutely pointed out how unlucky Alex Cobb has been, the SP allows five runs in an inning thanks to a pop-up that had a hit probability of one percent.
Starting pitchers for the Giants have allowed a whopping MLB-high .345 BABIP, which is 60 points higher than the league average. Cobb’s ERA (6.25) and FIP (2.73) has easily the largest discrepancy among all pitchers in baseball. Make sure Cobb isn’t available in your league.
Dane Dunning, SP, Texas Rangers (16%)
Over the last five starts, Dunning has a 3.19 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP with 29 strikeouts over 31.0 innings, encouragingly pitching into the sixth inning during every game. A former first-round pick, Dunning ranks top-five in GB% and top-25 in CSW, so he deserves your fantasy attention.
Beware his next start comes against an Angels offense that leads MLB in wRC+, but Dunning is worth stashing even if he struggles in a tough matchup Tuesday night.
Grayson Rodriguez, SP, Baltimore Orioles (25%)
MLB’s top pitching prospect, Rodriguez continues to dominate Triple-A, posting a 2.70 ERA with a 38.6 K%; Dylan Cease currently leads MLB starters with a 36.8 K%. Pitching for Baltimore in the AL East is hardly ideal, but Rodriguez will be worth adding in all fantasy leagues as soon as he gets his chance with the Orioles.