Drafting top-line starting pitching is often the forgotten component of a fantasy baseball team. Early in the draft, many managers focus on everyday players when building their teams. As a result, the top-tier pitchers are gone. Consequently, managers have swung and missed the chance to draft an ace in the first three rounds.
Because of this, many of Major League Baseball’s elite starting pitchers have been selected. For example, the 2024 strikeout leader, Tarik Skubal/Detroit Tigers, 228k, rookie phenom Paul Skenes/Pittsburgh Pirates, 170k in 133 innings pitched, and the Philadelphia Phillies Zack Wheeler, 224k, amongst others. According to Yahoo Sports, the average cost of selecting one of the top starters in an Auction/Salary Cap format is $30. As a result, the 2nd tier starting pitchers are the fantasy manager’s only affordable option for frontline hurlers.
2nd Tier Starting Pitching Options
Don’t worry fantasy baseball managers. There are valuable 2nd tier starting pitcher options for your fantasy team. In this tier, pitchers were slow starters in 2024. Similarly, a pitcher who ranks in the 2nd tier missed a portion of the season due to an injury. Thirdly, pitchers in this category had a career year after moving to a new team via free agency or trade. The Top 2nd tier starting pitchers, as a whole, have much-needed fantasy statistics, including strikeouts, wins, ERA (earned run average), and WHIP (The sum of a pitcher’s walks and hits, divided by his total innings pitched). A fantasy manager can pay $8 to $10 less for 2nd tier starting pitchers. The lower overall ranking allows the manager to focus on drafting his fielders first knowing good quality starting pitching is still available.
Writermiker’s Best 2nd Tier Starting Pitchers
Garret Crochet
Starting pitchers Garret Crochet/Boston Red Sox, is riding on that fine line between the first and second tiers. Garret Crochet struck out 209 batters having walked only 43 in 146 innings for the Chicago White Sox, the worst team in MLB history. Now traded to the Red Sox, baseballreference.com projects Crochet to have continued fantasy success. Although pitching in the hitter-friendly Fenway Park, he is still projected to strike out 160-plus batters with a similar WHIP ratio. In 2024 his WHIP was 1.07. And potentially more wins for his fantasy team playing for a Boston team with a better defense and a potent offense.
Blake Snell
Blake Snell continues his West Coast tour of National League teams, having previously played for the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. In 2025, Snell signed a free-agent contract to play for the LA Dodgers. Snell remains a 2nd tier starting pitcher candidate due to only pitching over 130 innings twice in his career. Yet his strikeouts-to-walks ratio is low with Snell projected to strike out 160 batters in limited innings. An excellent WHIP in 2024 of 1.05 should keep the runners off the bases. Snell is a two-time Cy Young Award winner. There is potential to match career win numbers pitching for a dominant Dodger team. Undoubtedly, the results of the 2025 season will decide whether Snell jumps up to the 1st Tier of fantasy starters.
Cole Ragans
A veritable 200k Club of 2nd-tier starting pitchers offers more opportunities to build a winning fantasy rotation. The 2024 season 200k Club includes Cole Ragans (Kansas City Royals) and San Diego Padres pitchers Dylan Cease and Michael King.
Cole Ragans ranks in the 2nd tier but is easily a top-ten starting pitcher. In addition, he finished fourth in voting for the 2024 American League Cy Young Award. The left-handed Ragans stuck out 223 batters while winning 11 games for the Royals in 2024. Statistically, he ranks right up there with Tarik Skubal and Zack Wheeler in strikeouts and innings pitched. But you can get him cheaper because his ERA and WHIP are slightly higher. For this reason, he is a must-draft up-and-coming ace. In 2025, ESPN projects Ragans to continue his strikeout pace with 225k adding 14 wins for your fantasy team.
Dylan Cease and Michael King A One-Two Strikeout Punch?
Dylan Cease put up great fantasy pitching numbers last season. 2024 was a rebound season for Cease with 14 wins, 224k, and a WHIP of 1.07. For this reason, Cease is well worth drafting in the opening rounds and could be the ace of your fantasy pitching staff. He is a durable starter throwing a career-high 189 innings in 2024 and at least 32 starts in each of the last four years. While ESPN projects Dylan Cease to match his 20024 numbers, Baseball Reference.com has opted for more conservative estimates of 11 wins and 198k in 2025. Both projections are excellent 2nd tier-starter stats for the fantasy manager to build his staff around.
However, if you missed drafting Dylan Cease, his teammate Michael King is a good fallback option. The Padre’s number two starter posted a comparable fantasy line to Cease in 2024. In the 2024 baseball season, King’s fantasy numbers were top-notch for a 2nd tier starting pitcher. Statistically, his pitching categories Wins 13 and 201k in 173 innings pitched ranked right up there with 1st tier starter Corbin Burnes/Arizona Diamondbacks. Notably, a sub 3.00 era of 2.95 across 30 starts is a rarity for a 2nd tier starting pitcher. Baseball Reference.com has deflated his statistics based on lower innings pitched in 2025. But in all actuality, Dylan Cease and Michael King could be a dominating one-two-punch starting pitching combo for any fantasy baseball team.
