9 League-Winning Fantasy Baseball Pitchers: Nick Mariano's High-Upside Draft Targets

March 20, 2026

Nick's 9 league-winning pitchers, fantasy baseball breakouts, values, studs to provide massive return on value in 2026 including Cade Horton, Cade Cavalli, more..

We’ve spent all offseason constructing our player takes and whittling down the draft board to guys who we consistently click on. Now, it’s time to reveal which pitchers I’ve been keying in on throughout my drafts that I believe will propel me to championships. Some will be players who are going in the 100s that can return top-25 value, while others are for deep-leaguers.

This column will highlight my favorite targets across the spectrum that I’m leaning on for the 2026 season. We’ll utilize NFBC ADP for March, with the idea being that these arms will supply loads of surplus value to push us over the edge. I’m not here to split hairs within the top 100, so we'll hit on middle/late picks with a few late fliers sprinkled in.

Be sure to follow RotoBallerMLB on X for all of our league-winning content, and feel free to hit me @NMariano53 to litigate any of these picks. Let's see what arms we can get after building around a Trevor Story-led offense, eh? On with the show!

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Cam Schlittler, SP, New York Yankees

NFBC ADP: 125

After throwing 164 IP across all levels and the playoffs, Schlittler continued to prove that he rises to the moment. In two postseason outings, he shoved with a perfect 14:0 K:BB over 14 1/3 IP, allowing one run against Boston and Toronto.

His 114 Stuff+ grade ranked sixth among 153 SPs with at least 70 frames under their belt, with a league-leading 121 cutter and a 140 slider that trailed only Garrett Crochet (141).

Cam Schlittler's cutter could be absolutely nasty for him in 2026.

Look at how a high fastball sets up a cutter that gets a swinging K. Hard to tell which is which out of hand. pic.twitter.com/JJSiDVr2ar

— Ryan Garcia (@RyanGarciaESM) March 7, 2026

He’s kept that up this spring, striking out 10 with one walk over six innings. The stud averaged a notch over 98 mph with the fastball and sinker on March 11, maxing out at 99.8. If he's exceeded expectations in becoming a full "pitcher" vs. "thrower," then we're feasting.

Ryan Pepiot, SP, Tampa Bay Rays

NFBC ADP: 130

Pepiot’s home run problems were exacerbated by playing at George M. Steinbrenner Field, with 17 of his 26 HRs allowed in 2025 coming there. He also made a career-high 31 starts, but clearly wore down while pushing to new limits.

The righty finished the first half of the season with three consecutive quality starts only to record none in the second half, eventually resting in September due to “general body fatigue.” He made two more starts after that, giving up seven runs in 4 2/3 IP.

This writer believes that the HR problem will be helped by moving back to Tropicana Field, and then a full offseason to regain endurance might help him maintain form throughout the season. He won’t jump to “ace” levels without improving his slider usage against righties, but we’re still excited.

Griffin Jax, RP, Tampa Bay Rays

NFBC ADP: 180

If Jax weren’t on the Rays and had a conventional path to closing, where would his ADP have settled? It was 2024 when he made the leap into RP stardom, posting a 2.03 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 2.15 SIERA, and 29% K-BB rate with 10 saves and five wins.

Last year, he posted a similar 2.35 SIERA and 27.6% K-BB rate, but his BABIP jumped 99 points, the HR/FB rate and line-drive rates effectively doubled, and three horrible outings tanked his 4.23 ERA.

Tampa Bay acquired him at the deadline and got to tinkering, which led to fewer changeups and sweepers alongside more four-seam fastballs and cutters. His final 10 games were scoreless, with six hits scattered around a 12:2 K:BB. With Edwin Uceta (shoulder) unavailable to start the year, Jax could become the alpha closing committee chair.

Cade Horton, SP, Chicago Cubs

NFBC ADP: 198

Try to tamp down spring excitement as you may, Horton sitting around 96 mph, hitting 98.6, and getting whiffs on 21-of-41 swings over 72 pitches against a lefty-stacked Astros lineup will tip the scales. Drill down on the changeup, and you get an 11-of-15 whiff rate!

One can see how his 47.8% whiff rate on the pitch sat as third-best last year, which helped keep lefty bats in check. Will he bump last year’s 13% usage rate up in Year 2? On top of that, he must learn to be more consistent with the four-seamer and avoid leaving his sweeper over the zone.

Cade Horton’s changeup was a huge weapon against left-handed hitters last season.

.120/.185/.160 Opp Slash
81.7 EV | 18.2 Hard-Hit%
47.2 Whiff% | .163 wOBA

He actually posted a lower FIP vs LHH than vs RHH. pic.twitter.com/1cqs4C9MbC

— Carson Wolf (@TheWrigleyWire) February 2, 2026

Cade Cavalli, SP, Washington Nationals

NFBC ADP: 295

Cavalli has endured quite the odyssey to reach being Washington’s Opening Day starter in 2026, but the 2020 first-round pick is here nevertheless. Tommy John and a dead arm period didn’t stop him from reaching back for over 100 mph in his first start of 2025!

There were great moments, but the overall 4.25 ERA/1.48 WHIP and 18.3% K rate over 10 abbreviated outings (48 2/3 IP) didn’t move fantasy needles. Righties crushed him with a .990 OPS, though that includes things like a .448 AVG against the knuckle curve (.290 xBA…still bad, but not THAT).

A healthy offseason has given him a chance to finally beef up his pitch mix with big-league technology and attention, rather than simply working on “health.” This has led to a turbo slurve and one-seam sinker entering the arsenal. The 9:2 K:BB over nine scoreless spring frames may only be a glimpse of success to come!

Matthew Liberatore, SP, St. Louis Cardinals

NFBC ADP: 340

After years of push-pull over his MLB role, Liberatore was finally given a full starting chance last season. On the surface, this was a middling effort (4.21 ERA, 1.31 WHPI, 18.8% K%, 12.7% K-BB%).

However, you must keep in mind that he was a swingman the year before, totalling only 86 IP, and his velocity saw a clear decline in his first complete SP campaign. The ~95 mph heat turned into 93. The 3.08 ERA (2.72 FIP) and 56:9 K:BB over the first two months fell apart.

Some of that is the inevitable MLB chess game of adjustments between pitcher and hitter, especially against a young arm. But like Pepiot, we expect Liberatore’s conditioning to be better this time around. He’s also adding a splitter to help get whiffs and get another north-south attacker.

Matthew Liberatore's splitter, brought to you in part by Trey Yesavage. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/67kluYef0Z

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 2, 2026

JR Ritchie & Didier Fuentes, SP, Atlanta Braves

NFBC ADP: 475 & 575

Atlanta will be without Spencer Schwellenbach (elbow) and Hurston Waldrep (elbow) for much of the year, and few would call Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, or Reynaldo Lopez trustworthy for a full season at this point. Grant Holmes still has immense upside that I’ll target, but Bryce Elder is not enticing.

The door may be open for either Ritchie and/or Fuentes, Atlanta’s No. 2 and 3 respective prospects per MLB Pipeline, to make an early impact. Ritchie is two years older, but also dealt with a 2023 Tommy John surgery that evened the developmental curves. He is not on the 40-man roster, while Fuentes is.

Now, Fuentes got hit around during his 2025 MLB cup of coffee, but that’s the wrong focal point for someone who rose from High-A to the MLB in his age-19/20 season. Unless you’re Mark Bowman, who seems to relish bashing the rookie and must feel great watching Fuentes rip off a 9:0 K:BB with five near-perfect innings (one HBP).

Fuentes sits in the upper 90s with his fastball and now has a new gyro slider that earned four whiffs, three for strikeouts, on six swings against the Yankees on March 13. The splitter still needs to grow into a reliable No. 3 pitch.

It’s also possible that Atlanta utilizes one or both of them as long men in the bullpen, much like how Strider was brought up. Joey Wentz could’ve filled the role as well, but a torn ACL only furthers the need for big-league reinforcements.

Drew Anderson, RP, Detroit Tigers

NFBC ADP: 550

Anderson was the second-best pitcher in the KBO behind Cody Ponce, ripping off a 245:51 K:BB in 172 2/3 IP thanks to a filthy kick change. It took four years overseas to unlock his potential, and now he’s ready to redeem himself after five MLB years with three teams, which led to a 6.50 ERA/1.58 WHIP/14.7% K rate.

Perhaps he winds up earning a starting role at some point (we know his arm is built up!), though a bullpen role would let him electrify his arsenal. We’ve seen him tip over 98 mph this spring en route to a beautiful 17:4 K:BB in 12 1/3 IP of one-run ball.

Detroit’s closer hierarchy is stacked with Kenley Jansen, Will Vest, and Kyle Finnegan. If Anderson does well, it should inspire the Tigers to let him start rather than feel pressed for bullpen depth. Guys like Jackson Jobe, Reese Olson, and Troy Melton will miss significant time. Would Anderson earn a look before Sawyer Gipson-Long came up?

No matter the role, getting 70-100 IP out of Anderson could prove to be a mighty push for our fantasy squads. And there’s room for more in his tank if Detroit finds itself with a rotation vacancy.

My FrankenAce dream is pairing Anderson with Grant Taylor, Jeremiah Estrada, or Garrett Cleavinger (if I don’t get Jax, or maybe even if I do!) and getting 160 IP, 200+ Ks, and pristine ratios.

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