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Zach looks at 3 starting pitcher fantasy baseball breakouts, sleepers with good recent results in 2025. Are Bryce Elder, Michael Soroka, Colton Gordon for real?
As we continue into the long, hot days of summer and the heart of the fantasy baseball season, almost every team is in the market for extra options in the starting rotation. Even if you have managed to sidestep all the injuries, building depth at the position is important as you prepare your team for the stretch run. Throughout the season, different starting pitchers set up with impressive starts, but fantasy managers have to evaluate and decide if good starts are the beginning of a reliable pattern or if the pitchers are likely to struggle as the season continues.
In this piece, we will take a look at three pitchers who have surprised with some strong showings over the last few weeks: Atlanta Braves right-handed pitcher Bryce Elder, Washington Nationals right-handed pitcher Michael Soroka, and Houston Astros left-handed pitcher Colton Gordon.
Should fantasy managers be looking to snag these arms from the waiver wire? Or are they headed for trouble going forward despite their recent success? Let's dive in and take a look!
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Bryce Elder, Atlanta Braves
2025 Stats: 57 1/3 IP, 4.08 ERA, 3.70 SIERA, 1.17 WHIP, 21.0% K%
22% Rostered
Elder started the year in Triple-A with the Gwinnett Stripers but has spent most of the year filling in the major league rotation for the Braves due to multiple injuries. He has made 10 starts overall, going 2-3 with a 4.08 ERA, 4.30 FIP and 7.7K/9. He was hit hard early in the year, but he has improved in his last few outings.
On Saturday, Elder turned in his best performance of the season, going eight innings against the Giants and allowing just three hits and one run, with a season-high 12 strikeouts.
Bryce Elder's 12 Strikeouts. 😯 pic.twitter.com/u83aVmYu9h
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 8, 2025
Elder got a no-decision in that game, but he got plenty of fantasy owners' attention as well and has become a hot add. For the season, though, his numbers are still too shaky to be someone I'm fully ready to buy into. He only had more than six strikeouts in one other start this season and had not pitched more than six innings in any start. He gave up 3+ runs in six of his nine outings and has allowed a 46.1% hard-hit rate and 9.0% barrel rate.
Elder has flashed upside in the past but has never been able to sustain that success. Last year, he went 2-5 in 10 starts with a 6.52 ERA and 4.56 FIP. He had great starts against the Marlins and Brewers but also gave up at least six earned runs in four of his last eight starts.
He has avoided any ugly starts like that this year, but still gets hit around too much to count on as a regular part of your rotation in standard leagues.
Verdict: To me, Elder is a streaming play. If he's in a good matchup or you can afford an ERA hit at the end of week, he can be usable in favorable matchups. His strikeout potential is real, as you can see in the highlight above, but he also gets hit around too often to be a play every week until he sustains this recent surge.
Michael Soroka, Washington Nationals
2025 Stats: 42 IP, 5.14 ERA, 4.65 FIP, 1.12 WHIP, 22.8% K%
10% Rostered
The Braves drafted Soroka five years before they drafted Elder, and the righty worked his way to the majors by 2018 at the age of just 20. He went 13-4 in 29 starts in 2019 with a 2.68 ERA and 3.45 FIP and looked on his way to being a front line starter for years to come. He finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting that year behind Pete Alonso.
His promising career got derailed, though, in 2020 when he went to cover first base against the Mets and ruptured his Achilles just three starts into the pandemic-delayed season. After nine months of rehab, he re-injured the Achilles while walking on the field in Atlanta. After another surgery and recovery, he ended up missing all of the 2021 and 2022 season.
He pitched seven games in 2023 for the Braves with a 6.40 ERA and 6.56 FIP before the team traded him to the White Sox before 2024. Last season he went an ugly 0-10 with a 4.74 ERA and 4.95 FIP in 79 2/3 innings while making 25 appearances, including nine starts.
This last offseason, Soroka signed a one-year deal with the Nats, looking for a chance to turn things around. He has been much better this season so far, going 3-4 through eight starts after taking the loss on Thursday. He has a 5.14 ERA and 4.65 FIP while also putting together 40 strikeouts in 42 innings.
Soroka's best start of the year was last Friday against the Rangers, when he went six scoreless innings and gave up just two hits with a season-high seven strikeouts.
🔥 Michael Soroka ante Rangers:
- 6.0 IP
- 2 H
- 0 ER
- 1 BB
- 7 K
- Wpic.twitter.com/W7gxlVfKpp— 👑 Los Reyes del Jonrón ⚾️ (@reyesdeljonron) June 7, 2025
He wasn't able to build on that in his Thursday afternoon start, though, giving up four runs on three hits and lasting just five innings in an afternoon matchup with the Mets.
Verdict: Soroka's command has been good all season, but he has given up multiple runs in every one of his starts aside from that one against the Rangers. He doesn't have quite as much strikeout upside as many available options, either, so aside from streaming him in great matchups, he's probably best left on waiver wires at this point.
He's a great story of endurance, and hopefully, he can find his way back to that elite pre-injury form. He's still only 26 years old, so he still has time since he arrived in the majors so young. Until he shows continued success for a few starts, though, he isn't an option I'd advise using unless you're desperate for innings towards the end of a scoring period.
Colton Gordon, Houston Astros
2025 Stats: 5.11 ERA, 3.32 SIERA, 1.38 WHIP, 23.6% K%
2% Rostered
Gordon is the only lefty on this list, and the one with the least major league experience. He was an eighth-round pick by the Astros in 2021 and climbed his way through the minors over the last four seasons. He started this year in Triple-A with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, where he was impressive enough to earn a promotion for his major league debut in mid-May.
Before getting the call to join the Astros, Gordon made eight starts in Triple-A, going 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA, 4.30 FIP, and 1.20 WHIP. He totaled 43 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings, including 22 strikeouts in 18 innings in his last three starts prior to promotion.
Things didn't go smoothly for the 26-year-old in his first four starts. He gave up at least three runs in each outing and didn't pitch longer than 5 1/3 innings. He had 20 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings but also gave up four home runs and a 38.1% hard-hit rate.
In his most recent start last Friday, he had his best performance in the majors. He still only went five innings, but held the Guardians to just one run on seven hits while picking up five strikeouts.
Congrats to Colton Gordon (@ColtonZimGordon) on securing his first MLB win tonight!
5 IP | 7 H | 1 ER | 0 BB | 5 K pic.twitter.com/s1kSOk2YTe
— Florida Baseball ARMory (@ArmoryFlorida) June 7, 2025
Gordon had good swing-and-miss stuff and continued to be especially effective against left-handed hitters. He's still making the adjustment to the majors and will need to be more efficient to go deeper into games if he wants to be a regular fantasy option. His 5.11 ERA and 1.38 WHIP show it hasn't been a seamless transition, for sure, but his underlying metrics show that he has pitched better than his ERA shows.
Verdict: His next start is scheduled for Friday against the Twins, and he makes a solid streaming option in that contest. He's a deep-league matchup play for now, but someone who is definitely worth keeping an eye on for as long as he holds a rotation spot.
The Astros have multiple proven starting pitchers working back from injury, but Gordon should have a few more weeks before any are ready to return. If you need a stopgap for a few weeks or a streaming option for Friday, Gordon has enough upside to be worth a look. He's not low-risk, but he also has a higher ceiling than Elder or Soroka, based on their longer track records of sketchy results.
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