6 League-Winning Fantasy Baseball Pitchers: Jeremy Heist's High-Upside Draft Targets

March 23, 2026

Jeremy's 6 league-winning pitchers, fantasy baseball breakouts, values, studs to provide massive return on value in 2026 including Cole Ragans, Eury Perez, and more.

Every year, a handful of pitchers take a significant step forward to become fantasy aces, and identifying them in your drafts could help you win your league. For example, Bryan Woo, Cristopher Sanchez, and Jesus Luzardo all broke out in 2025 and are all being drafted within the top-20 pitchers for 2026.

In this piece, I'll break down six pitchers who have a good chance to outperform their ADP by a significant margin and help you bring home your league's championship trophy. All ADP referenced in this article is taken from Yahoo! drafts, but these players will have value no matter which site you're drafting on.

Be sure to follow RotoBallerMLB on X for all of our league-winning content and me, @heistjm, for any questions! Without further ado, let's jump into my league-winning pitchers for 2026.

Cole Ragans, SP, Kansas City Royals

Yahoo ADP: 50

It may seem like Cole Ragans is already too highly regarded to be a league-winning value with an ADP of 50 as the 12th starting pitcher off the board, but he is one of a handful of pitchers who have the upside to challenge Skubal, Crochet, and Skenes in fantasy value. 

He was drafted as the eighth-best starting pitcher in 2025, but unfortunately posted a 4.67 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 61 2/3 innings in a year heavily impacted by a rotator cuff strain. For as bad as that seems, it would be easy to make the case for Ragans being the unluckiest pitcher in all of baseball last season. The lefty put up a 2.45 xFIP and 2.52 SIERA that would still suggest he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball, and those numbers are actually better than he did in 2024 when he posted a 3.14 ERA. 

Even though he got unlucky in ERA, that didn’t prevent him from displaying dominating strikeout stuff. The 28-year-old punched out 98 batters, which translated to a 38.1% strikeout rate. Not only did that lead all starting pitchers who threw at least 60 innings in 2025, but it was the seventh-highest strikeout rate by a starting pitcher in MLB history of those who threw at least 60 frames in a year.

While it’s unrealistic to expect him to keep up a rate like that over the course of a full season, it still shows that he is one of the best strikeout pitchers in the game at the moment.  If you need even more of a reason to draft Ragans, he has come into spring showing a velocity bump across several of his pitches.

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans was cooking on Saturday against the Rockies, with the four-seam (+1.7), slider (+2.1), and changeup (+1.3) showing velocity gains across 27 pitches.

Ragans pumped four-seamers in the zone 47% of the time while generating 6 out of… pic.twitter.com/vKGrMMNDo5

— Corbin (@corbin_young21) March 1, 2026

The injury risk is his biggest downside, but it’s important to note that he wasn’t recovering from the injury this offseason. He was fully healthy by the end of 2025, even coming back to strike out 22 batters in 13 innings over three appearances to close out the season. If he manages to avoid any new injuries in 2026, he has as good a shot as any to finish as a top-five starting pitcher.

Eury Perez, SP, Miami Marlins

Yahoo ADP: 119

Eury Perez was regarded as one of the most premier pitching prospects in the sport throughout his rise through the minor leagues, which culminated in a 3.15 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 19 games started for the Marlins in 2023. However, his momentum was unfortunately stopped due to Tommy John surgery that knocked him out for all of 2024.

He returned last season and started 20 games for Miami, posting a 4.25 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with 105 strikeouts and 32 walks in 95 1/3 innings. 

While that may not seem all that special, those ratios were skewed by a rough four opening starts, which is understandable given he was shaking off the rust from elbow surgery. In the 22-year-old’s final 16 starts of the year, he put up a much better 3.86 ERA and a minuscule 0.96 WHIP. With a fully healthy offseason to rest and prepare for 2026, Perez still has that same top-five pitcher upside that he did before the surgery. 

The righty features a 97.9 mph average fastball that ranks in the 94th percentile and struck out 27.3% of the batters he faced in 2025 (81st percentile). His biggest weakness was a 46.5% hard-hit rate, which is problematic when combined with his low 31.4% ground-ball rate. However, luckily, his home park is favorable to flyball pitchers. 

The flamethrower tossed 118 total innings last year, including his rehab starts, so it’s likely that the Marlins will try to manage his workload to some extent. That same thing can be said for almost every young pitcher, and he’ll still be a great value at his draft cost if he takes a step forward as an ace, even if it’s only with 160 innings pitched.

Nick Lodolo, SP, Cincinnati Reds

Yahoo ADP: 135

Nick Lodolo enjoyed the best season of his career in 2025, posting a 3.33 ERA and 1.08 WHIP with 156 strikeouts and 31 walks in 156 2/3 innings pitched. He’s struggled with injuries in the past, but managed to fight through a blister and groin injury throughout the year to make 28 starts. 

While it was great to see the lefty stay healthy and deliver great ratios, he didn’t flash the same upside he did as a rookie in 2022 when he struck out 131 batters over 103 1/3 innings. However, what his season-long numbers don’t show is that he actually improved in the strikeout department as the season went on. The 28-year-old put up an unimpressive 21.9% strikeout rate in the first half, which translated to 97 punchouts in 106 2/3 innings.

However, in the second half, his strikeout rate rose to an excellent 29.6%, and he struck out 59 in 50 innings. 

Lodolo was also one of the best pitchers in terms of walk rate, as his 4.8% mark ranked in the 95th percentile. If he can carry over his second-half strikeout gains into 2026 while maintaining his improved control, he could take another leap forward to be a top-20 starting pitcher for fantasy.

Ryan Pepiot, SP, Tampa Bay Rays

Yahoo ADP: 151

Ryan Peiot was solid overall in 2025, posting a 3.87 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with 167 strikeouts in 167 2/3 innings. While that’s nothing groundbreaking and somewhat in line with what he has done in past years, it’s important to note that his home park was George M. Steinbrenner Field. Due to damage to Tropicana Field, the Rays played in the Yankees’ spring training ballpark, which has the same dimensions as Yankee Stadium.

But now, with the Rays headed back to the Trop, the righty could have a chance to take another step forward. 

The short porch in their temporary home certainly didn’t do Pepiot any favors in preventing many home runs, but that’s not the only benefit of moving back to Tropicana, as it is also known to be a great park for strikeouts. It may seem odd to think about how venues can change strikeout tendencies, but it’s a big factor that is often overlooked.

Many hitters have cited issues with seeing the ball in the field due to the batter’s eye and lighting, and the domed stadium creates a climate-controlled environment that helps pitchers maintain consistency in their pitch movements. 

Pepiot’s whiff rate dropped from 29.9% to 26.0%, and his strikeout rate fell from 26.3% to 24.6%. If those return to those previous values, it could help him break out in 2026. That’s not to say that he will return to Tropicana and instantly transform into an ace, as he still is primarily a two-pitch pitcher in terms of effectiveness.

However, his slider has good movement, and if he can take that pitch to the next level, he could quickly become a league winner at his price tag.

Zack Wheeler, SP, Philadelphia Phillies

Yahoo ADP: 138

This one is pretty obvious and hinges entirely on his health and effectiveness following his return. Zack Wheeler was one of the best pitchers in baseball and on his way to a potential Cy Young Award in 2025, posting a 2.71 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with 195 strikeouts in 149 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, he landed on the injured list in mid-August and ultimately required surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. 

It’s scary to draft a 36-year-old recovering from a major surgery, but the upside of a top-three starting pitcher is still there. He is set for a 40-pitch outing in a minor league spring game soon, and the most likely outcome appears to be a late April or early May return. Of course, once he does make it back, the concerns will shift to his effectiveness.

It’s never a guarantee that players make it back to their previous form after surgery, especially for something like thoracic outlet syndrome. The good news is that this was the venous version of the thoracic outlet issue, which is considered less severe than the other variant that affects the nerves. 

Zack Wheeler facing hitters at Phillies camp pic.twitter.com/zPmfPvGnfr

— Jim Salisbury (@JimSalisbury215) March 18, 2026

2026 could be a complete disaster for Wheeler, or he could immediately step back in as a fantasy ace. The veteran’s current ADP of 138 is a pretty fair price to pay for a potential league-winner, especially in shallower leagues where it’s easier to find pitchers on the waiver wire to wait for his return. 

MacKenzie Gore, SP, Texas Rangers

Yahoo ADP: 146

For anyone who drafted MacKenzie Gore last season, you definitely felt like you had a league-winner through the first half of the season. He posted a 3.02 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP with 138 strikeouts in 110 1/3 innings before the All-Star break, before completely collapsing with a 6.75 ERA and 1.70 WHIP in the second half. 

The good news is that he flashed the upside of what he is capable of, and now he’ll have a chance to figure out how to do it over a full season with the Texas Rangers. He was traded there this offseason, and not only will he get more wins with his new team, but he'll also get different coaching that can hopefully help him maximize his potential. 

MacKenzie Gore is the 1st pitcher to 100 Ks this season!

(MLB x @loanDepot) pic.twitter.com/ML8oQQ5Gia

— MLB (@MLB) May 30, 2025

There’s no guarantee that this will stick for 2026, but Globe Life Field has also become a shockingly friendly stadium for pitchers in the past two years. There is no confirmed cause that anyone has identified yet, but for whatever reason, the ball just has not been flying as far there. In terms of park factors, it graded as the worst offensive park in the entire league in 2025. 

If that trend continues for the upcoming season, it could be another thing that works in the 27-year-old’s favor to help him finally take a step forward as an ace. The Rangers clearly think he’s better than he was in the second half of last year, because they wouldn’t have traded for him otherwise.

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