We took stock of some hitters early in the season last week, and we'll shift over to pitchers this week. It's too early to draw conclusions, but we'll take a look at some fast starters in various league sizes and assess the sustainability of their performances.
Shallow Leagues
Chris Bassitt – 63% Yahoo, 90% CBS
Bassitt never stood out in a specific way during his successful run from 2019-2023, when he combined strong ratios with a lot of innings. He fell apart in 2024, which caused many fantasy GMs to write him off. Through two starts, he's averaged the eighth-most fantasy points per start (CBS scoring) and, unsurprisingly has been one of the more popular pickups on a platform that plays relatively shallow. His track record says buy in, as does his K-BB% in the short sample (27.5 K-BB%), but his velo is down and rate of hard contact up. In keeper/dynasty leagues, I'd take advantage of the final crack of a selling window. In redraft leagues, it's fine to ride him while the results are good, but his name would be in pencil on my roster rather than pen.
Drew Rasmussen – 67% Yahoo, 76% CBS Sports
Rasmussen's ability to limit runs isn't in question. He has a 2.89 ERA across 320.2 career innings. While he's split time between starting and relief, he's actually fared better as a starter. There is some question about his upside, however. He has a 21.9 percent strikeout rate as a starter, a lackluster
We took stock of some hitters early in the season last week, and we'll shift over to pitchers this week. It's too early to draw conclusions, but we'll take a look at some fast starters in various league sizes and assess the sustainability of their performances.
Shallow Leagues
Chris Bassitt – 63% Yahoo, 90% CBS
Bassitt never stood out in a specific way during his successful run from 2019-2023, when he combined strong ratios with a lot of innings. He fell apart in 2024, which caused many fantasy GMs to write him off. Through two starts, he's averaged the eighth-most fantasy points per start (CBS scoring) and, unsurprisingly has been one of the more popular pickups on a platform that plays relatively shallow. His track record says buy in, as does his K-BB% in the short sample (27.5 K-BB%), but his velo is down and rate of hard contact up. In keeper/dynasty leagues, I'd take advantage of the final crack of a selling window. In redraft leagues, it's fine to ride him while the results are good, but his name would be in pencil on my roster rather than pen.
Drew Rasmussen – 67% Yahoo, 76% CBS Sports
Rasmussen's ability to limit runs isn't in question. He has a 2.89 ERA across 320.2 career innings. While he's split time between starting and relief, he's actually fared better as a starter. There is some question about his upside, however. He has a 21.9 percent strikeout rate as a starter, a lackluster number for shallower points leagues. Given his history of arm injuries, the Rays have also understandably kept a close eye on his workload. He has worked only five innings in each of his starts this season, lowering his chances for a win while eliminating any potential points for a quality start.
Casey Mize - 49% Yahoo, 81% CBS
CBS generally caters more toward long-term leagues, so it makes sense that Mize is less available there. Even after two impressive showings, he's widely available in shallower redraft formats. Mize has allowed only one earned run across 11.2 innings, paired with 12 strikeouts. The problem is that he's also walked six and has benefited from a low BABIP and high strand rate. The hope for improvement rests primarily on a change in pitch mix, as he's introduced a slurve or curveball (it's classified differently by site). Given Mize's pedigree and potential for a step forward, I'd be interested in rostering him to see how his skills and results develop.
Mid-Sized Leagues
Max Meyer – 31% Yahoo, 61% CBS
After Meyer's showing against the Mets on Wednesday his roster rate is likely to skyrocket, so your league's next FAAB or waiver run might be your last chance to grab him. Even after undergoing Tommy John surgery and hitting the injured list with a shoulder issue late in 2024, Meyer's velocity is ticking up, and both his swinging strike rate and overall strikeout rate are in line with the days when he was one of the more hyped pitching prospects in the league. The concern is Meyer's aforementioned health history and the bad team context, but there's more than enough reason to buy in.
Jordan Hicks – 35% Yahoo, 62% CBS
Hicks is an interesting case because he fared well in his transition to a starting role in 2024 before fading down the stretch. The fact that he has experience working more innings and in longer stints is reason enough to roll the dice again. He's averaged 97.7 mph on his sinker relative to 95.6 mph in April of 2024, suggesting his arm strength and durability have improved. He's far from a sure thing, but Hicks is worth giving a second look.
Deep Leagues
Andrew Heaney – 9% Yahoo, 19% CBS
Heaney is who he is at this point in his career, but one thing has changed from his past stops. He should benefit from PNC Park, which is among the best parks at suppressing home runs around the league. The long ball has been Heaney's primary problem, so he should have the chance to at least be a useful streamer when he's throwing in Pittsburgh.
Hayden Wesneski – 18% Yahoo, 44% CBS
The Astros' rotation is a mess due to injuries, so Wesneski has a clear path to maintain his spot. That's a chance he never received in Chicago, and he's now in an organization that has developed pitching at an exceptional rate for the last several seasons. Wesneski has had mixed success in his two starts to this point in the season, and his underlying skills back that. He has an outstanding 14.1 percent swinging strike rate, though that's come primarily because hitters have been very aggressive swinging at pitches inside the zone. That could spell trouble, and quickly.
Easton Lucas – 8% Yahoo, 15% CBS
Lucas is one of the early-season names that have emerged from nowhere to at least be on the fantasy radar. There's been both skill and luck involved in his 10.1 innings of scoreless work, as he's paired a 28.9 percent strikeout rate with a .167 BABIP. The likeliest outcome is that Lucas fades as fast as he's emerged, but we have to note his strong start.
Landen Roupp – 16% Yahoo, 28% CBS
Roupp caught the eye of fantasy managers with a strong spring training performance that won him a rotation spot. He's shown the ability to rack up strikeouts and limit runs in different starts, but his results have been subpar. The skills are there for things to come together however, so now could be the time to get Roupp on fantasy rosters.
