Top Pitcher Fantasy Baseball Prospects for 2025 Drafts

December 29, 2024

Jarod's top pitcher fantasy baseball prospects for 2025 drafts. He discusses the top MLB prospects, rookies and call-ups to make fantasy baseball impacts.

As fantasy football season winds down and the calendar flips to 2025, we look forward to another fantasy baseball season on the horizon. For those early drafters, now is the time to grab those players flying under the radar before their ADP begins to creep up.

Some of those players flying under the radar are doing so because there isn't much known about them, or they don't have a lengthy career of statistics to go off of. Many of the top fantasy baseball prospects fit into this category of overlooked players.

Some prospects, however, can and will become productive fantasy assets in the coming season. You may have already read the Top Fantasy Baseball Prospect Hitters for 2025 article, but this one will focus on pitchers rather than hitters. These particular pitchers reside within the top 300 picks of 2025 fantasy baseball drafts based on their current ADP, so let's see who's going to help us out this season!

Roki Sasaki, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Current ADP: 108

MLB Prospect Rank: No. 1 ranked international prospect

2024 NPB stats: 18 G, 111 IP, 2.35 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 28.6% K%, 7.1%

If you're reading this article, you are already doing your research, trying to find ways to get an advantage over your league mates come draft day. Congratulations, you just earned another advantage over them by learning the name Roki Sasaki.

If they don't know who he is, they will. Sasaki pitched the last few seasons for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Already well known in Japan, he made his international presence known by pitching in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alongside Shohei Ohtani.

The righty pitched a total of seven-and-two-thirds innings over two appearances in the WBC, striking out 11 batters while walking only two. The world saw him flash a fastball that reached into the triple digits while throwing a devastating splitter in the 88-90 mph range.

The 23-year-old was recently posted by Chiba Lotte, which opens a 45-day window that runs through January 23, 2025, during which time teams can negotiate for the pitcher's services (Update: Sasaki signed with the Dodgers on Jan. 22).

While the West Coast teams are the favorites to land him, all teams have a shot at procuring his services since he'll be paid from the chosen team's international signing pool money, which means he'll come cheap, and all teams can afford him.

Of course, if the 6-foot-3 hurler landed with a team like the Dodgers or Padres, the better shot he has of racking up wins, further enhancing his fantasy value.

Sasaki is expected to be a front-of-the-rotation starter wherever he goes, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect at least as good of numbers as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga put up in 2024, but this guy is younger -- and possibly better.

The whiff rate on his splitter alone is eye-popping. At a 57.1% whiff rate, it's way beyond the MLB average whiff rate on splitters, which is 34.5%. Add in a slider that sits in the mid-80s, and it's a recipe for success even against major league hitters.

Roki Sasaki, Ridiculous Splitters from his last outing. 😳

And, Fastball/Splitter overlay.

[As you probably know, he also tops out 103mph with his heater.] pic.twitter.com/DHNrRAtY1o

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 13, 2023

Sporting an arsenal that struck out 32.7% of the hitters he saw at the highest level of NPB over the last four seasons with excellent command that saw him walk just 5.7% of batters faced (27.0% K-BB%), Sasaki seems destined for stardom.

The only reason not to overspend on him is that he's never pitched more than 129 1/3 IP in a season, so his innings may be limited at some point during the season, hopefully not towards the end when managers need him the most.

As more and more managers learn about who he is, expect the young phenom's ADP to begin to creep up in the coming months as we get closer to Opening Day (it has already crept up 10 spots over the last week).

Porter Hodge, RP, Chicago Cubs

Current ADP: 181

MLB Prospect Rank: NR

2024 MLB stats: 39 G, 43 IP, 9 S, 3 BS, 19 HLD, 1.88 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 20.1% K-BB%

The Chicago Cubs took Porter Hodge in the 13th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, and early indications are that they will make a nice return on that small investment.

After a brief debut in rookie ball in 2019, Hodge did not pitch in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season, but in 2021, he began methodically working his way higher from the lower levels of the minors on the back of strong strikeout rates.

In 2023, at Double-A, Hodge transitioned from a starter into a reliever, which is where he began in 2024. The righty was promoted to Triple-A in mid-April, but despite posting a 5.74 ERA and 1.91 WHIP over 15 2/3 IP, the Cubs called him up for his big league debut on May 22.

And what a debut it was. The 6-foot-4 hurler needed just 10 pitches to dispatch the three hitters he faced, throwing one ball and nine strikes for three strikeouts and a near-immaculate inning.

Striking out the side in your @mlb debut✅

Welcome to The Show, Porter Hodge! pic.twitter.com/E0fyT4wX71

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 23, 2024

After posting a solid 26.3% K% but unsightly 15.8% BB% at Triple-A prior to his call-up, Hodge honed his craft at the major league level, increasing the K% to 31.7% while reducing the BB% to 11.6%, leaving him with a strong 20.1% K-BB%.

After the Cubs released Hector Neris on August 20, the youngster hailing from Salt Lake City earned the save for the Cubs that very same day, and from that point to the end of the season, Hodge posted a 1.32 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 21.2% K-BB% while converting eight of nine save chances.

The 23-year-old, who will be 24 when the season begins, features two main pitches -- a mid-90s four-seam fastball and a mid-80s sweeper. He's projected to begin the season as the Cubs' closer, and with Chicago currently having the best odds to win the division, it could certainly be a lucrative role.

Hodge currently has an ADP of 181, around the 18th closer to come off the board in early 2025 drafts. That's probably a fair price, but there's surely a chance to outproduce that ADP if everything falls into place.

(Update: The Cubs signed reliever Ryan Pressly on Jan. 28 which could cut into Hodge's save chances, so monitor closely; it has already depressed his ADP somewhat)

Jackson Jobe, SP, Detroit Tigers

Current ADP: 289

MLB Prospect Rank: No. 5 overall

2024 AA stats: 16 GS, 73 2/3 IP, 1.95 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 27.1% K%, 12.7% BB%

The Detroit Tigers selected Jackson Jobe with the third overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, so expectations have been high from the start. Jobe debuted in 2022, making 18 starts at Single-A and finishing the season with three starts at High-A, tallying 81 total strikeouts in 77 1/3 IP.

In 2023, he was limited to 16 starts due to a back injury. However, he was absolutely superb when he was on the mound. The former first-round draft pick posted a 2.81 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and a 30.2% K-BB% in 64 IP across various levels of the minors.

The strong K-BB% was a result of both good stuff and elite command. Over those 64 innings pitched, Jobe struck out 84 batters (32.6%) and walked a mere six (2.3%).

In 2024, the 22-year-old was limited by injury again (hamstring), missing a month and a half in the middle of the season. However, the command was not quite as sharp when he took the mound. While the strikeout stuff was still there (25.6%), the walk rate spiked (12.0%).

The good news is that the youngster threw strikes at a 65.5% rate, down from 70.0% from the prior season, but the MiLB average for starting pitchers is 62.0%, so he was still well above average.

With how much he's in the zone, view the 2024 walk rate as an aberration and not the new norm, so look for the walks to come down a bit in the coming season.

Jobe features a rising four-seam fastball that averages around 96 mph and a wipeout slider that is considered his best pitch, along with a cutter and changeup.

Jackson Jobe, 98 mph Fastball and 82 mph Sweeper/Sword (20 inches of Sweep), Individual Pitches + Overlay. pic.twitter.com/TfYOeLciF7

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 11, 2024

The righty had a late-season call-up to the big leagues in 2024, appearing in two games as a reliever and showing well (4 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1:2 BB:K). The Tigers even gave him a little postseason experience; however, he did not fare so well (1 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0:0 BB:K).

Hopefully, the postseason exposure will prove to be a beneficial experience rather than a blow to his confidence.

Jobe's innings may be limited in 2025, with the 97 1/3 IP last season between the minors and majors a high-water mark. As far as injury is concerned, at least to this point, the injuries have not been related to arm trouble.

He currently ranks as the top pitching prospect in baseball and ranked fifth overall regardless of position, so look for him to be a meaningful contributor out of the gate on a Detroit team whose arrow is pointing up.

Kumar Rocker, SP, Texas Rangers

Current ADP: 334 (ranked at 300, being drafted outside of top 300)

MLB Prospect Rank: No. 58 overall

2024 AA/AAA stats: 7 GS, 29 2/3 IP, 0.91 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, 44.3% K%, 3.8% BB%

Kumar Rocker was selected by the Mets with the 10th pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, but after reviewing his medical report, the Mets did not offer him a contract. The righty would undergo shoulder surgery a couple of months later.

Rocker went on to play in the Frontier League, pitching well enough and seemingly healthy enough for the Rangers to draft him with the third overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

However, after pitching just six games at High-A in 2023, Rocker would undergo Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss the rest of the season and most of 2024.

When he finally returned, though, he showed why the Rangers were willing to take him with such a high draft pick as he mowed down minor-league hitters while displaying strong command despite the high velocity.

7 K debut day for @KumarRocker. 🤘 pic.twitter.com/HrXnhC7g0V

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) September 13, 2024

Although his minor league career consists of just a total of 15 starts and 64 2/3 IP, the 6-foot-5 hurler owns a 2.78 ERA and 0.88 WHIP, along with a 12:97 BB:K (4.8% BB%, 38.8% K%).

Fantasy managers got a glimpse of what to expect in 2025 when the Vanderbilt product made a three-start cameo for the Rangers last season, posting a 3.86 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and a 25.5% K%. The walk rate was above average at 10.9%, but he should be able to improve upon that in a larger sample.

The 25-year-old may begin the season at Triple-A, but it shouldn't be long before an injury opens the major league door for Rocker, or he kicks it in himself, bringing along with him strong strikeout potential for fantasy.

As there often is with young pitchers, especially those coming off of injury, there could be a limit on how many innings he can pitch this season, and at this point, he might already be considered injury-prone, so caution is warranted.

But at 25 years old, he's more mature than the other pitchers listed here which should help with his confidence in the Show. And at such a cheap price, he's worth a flier at the end of most drafts.

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