Dane Dunning

30-Year-Old PitcherSP

Texas Rangers AAA

2025 Stats

W-L

0-0

ERA

0.00

WHIP

0.00

Rest-of-Season Projections

W-L

ERA

WHIP

Unlock Our Projections

2025 Fantasy Outlook

Dunning began the 2024 season in the rotation, but was 4-6 with a 4.73 ERA after 12 starts and was pushed to the bullpen for the remainder of the season. Dunning got his strikeouts as a starter (26.7 percent rate) but a 15.1 percent K-BB percentage and a 1.7 HR/9 did him in. He also had a .206 average against and a 1.25 WHIP in that time, but struggled mightily to keep runners from scoring due to the homers. The move to the pen did not improve anything, as the homers continued, but his strikeouts declined and the league hit .331 against him out of the pen. Dunning, like Chris Bassitt, hasn't met a pitch he doesn't like to throw, as he threw seven different offerings last season in an effort to find something that worked. The problem is nothing worked too well long-term, and the league pounced on the mistakes. As bad as 2024 was, he still had a good 2023, but Dunning's true talent level is as a back-end starter, and for 2023 to happen again, everything has to go his way. That is simply asking too much of someone with his below-average stuff. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Rest of Season

From Preseason

#362

ADP

League AAA

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man No

Height 6'4"

Weight 200

DOB 12/20/1994

Drafted 1st Rd 2016

Outrighted to Triple-A

PTexas Rangers AAA

March 25, 2025

The Rangers outrighted Dunning to Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

ANALYSIS
Dunning passed through waivers unclaimed, with his $2.66 million salary likely being a major reason why. He will remain in the organization and could be used in the Round Rock rotation.

Read More News

Pitching Stats

Loading Pitching Stats...

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2024 MLB Game Log

Calculate Stats Over Time

Just click on any two dates.

Scoring

FanDuel

DraftKings

Yahoo DFS

Sorare

Loading Pitching Game Log...

2023 MLB Game Log

Calculate Stats Over Time

Just click on any two dates.

Scoring

FanDuel

DraftKings

Yahoo DFS

Sorare

Loading Pitching Game Log...

2022 MLB Game Log

Calculate Stats Over Time

Just click on any two dates.

Scoring

FanDuel

DraftKings

Yahoo DFS

Sorare

Loading Pitching Game Log...

2021 MLB Game Log

Calculate Stats Over Time

Just click on any two dates.

Scoring

FanDuel

DraftKings

Yahoo DFS

Sorare

Loading Pitching Game Log...

2020 MLB Game Log

Calculate Stats Over Time

Just click on any two dates.

Scoring

FanDuel

DraftKings

Yahoo DFS

Sorare

Loading Pitching Game Log...

Minor League Game Log

Calculate Stats Over Time

Just click on any two dates.

Loading Minor League Pitching Game Log...

Left/Right Pitching Splits

Since 2023

-9%

BAA vs RHP

2025

No Stats

2024

-2%

BAA vs RHP

2023

-14%

BAA vs RHP

	BAA	Batters	K	BB	H	2B	3B	HR
Since 2023vs Left	.267	544	105	56	127	23	3	21
Since 2023vs Right	.242	599	126	39	133	23	1	17
2025vs Left	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2025vs Right	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024vs Left	.263	203	44	23	46	11	1	10
2024vs Right	.258	218	47	17	51	8	0	8
2023vs Left	.270	341	61	33	81	12	2	11
2023vs Right	.233	381	79	22	82	15	1	9
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Home/Away Pitching Splits

Since 2023

-17%

ERA on Road

2025

No Stats

2024

-5%

ERA at Home

2023

-30%

ERA on Road

	ERA	WHIP	IP	W	L	SV	K/9	BB/9	HR/9
Since 2023Home	4.71	1.27	122.1	9	6	0	7.4	2.5	1.9
Since 2023Away	3.90	1.38	145.1	8	8	0	8.1	3.8	0.7
2025Home	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2025Away	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024Home	5.16	1.39	45.1	2	4	0	9.7	3.2	2.2
2024Away	5.44	1.49	49.2	3	3	0	7.6	4.3	1.3
2023Home	4.44	1.19	77.0	7	2	0	6.0	2.1	1.8
2023Away	3.10	1.32	95.2	5	5	0	8.4	3.5	0.5
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Prospect Rankings History

Advanced Pitching Stats

Loading Advanced Pitching Stats...

Defensive Stats

Loading MLB Defensive Stats...

Stats Vs Today's Lineup

Want more matchup stats?

View Dane Dunning vs. Batter Stats

Loading Matchup Stats...

Rangers Depth Chart

Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.

Subscribe Now

Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Dane Dunning See More

The Z Files: Normalizing the ATC Pitching Projections

17 days ago

Todd Zola tries to remove volume from the equation when determining the value of pitchers, and finds that the market may have over-corrected on Logan Webb.

Spring Training Job Battles: AL West

23 days ago

Spots are up for grabs around the American League West, including in the Rangers rotation, where the young and talented Kumar Rocker may face an uphill battle to break camp in the majors.

Mound Musings: A Look at Pitching in the AL West

36 days ago

Brad Johnson tackles the American League West, where he anticipates good things from starting pitcher Hunter Brown.

AL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week

222 days ago

Erik Siegrist takes a look at the latest wave of young talent to hit American League rosters, headlined by the Rays' Junior Caminero.

Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

2022

2021

2019

2018

2017

Dunning pushed his way into the Texas rotation early last year when Jacob deGrom was shut down in April because of an elbow injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery. Dunning pitched well enough to continue filling deGrom's shoes in the first half of 2024, with the Rangers also needing coverage for Max Scherzer (back) and Tyler Mahle (elbow) -- both on similar recovery timelines as deGrom. A heavy sinker-slider pitcher who relies more on inducing soft contact than strikeouts, Dunning doesn't have the highest fantasy ceiling at age 29. He should be a nice source of wins, though, as he reprises a regular rotation role with the reigning World Series champions, and he could offer ERA and WHIP help in favorable matchups. Draft him late in deeper mixed leagues. Put him on a streaming watch list in shallower formats.

Dunning had a bit of a Kruger effect in 2022 attempting to be more than his stuff really is. In a perfect world, he is a back-end starter for single league formats, but the only redeeming value he offered in fantasy leagues last season was 137 strikeouts in 153.1 innings of work. Those strikeouts came with significant ratio damage and just 4 wins in 29 starts. His slider remains a very plus pitch for him, but his other offerings lag behind the slider and none of them show any sign of improvement. He did tweak his utilization a bit last season, but there was little change to his overall results. He is not a mixed league option with only one pitch functioning at even an average level. Texas has reshaped its rotation with the additions of Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovalid, likely leaving Dunning to compete with Jake Odorizzi for a potential No. 6 spot and spot starts. Dunning may now begin the campaign as a long reliever.

Dunning throws a collection of pitches, none of which are above average. His modus operandi is keeping opposing hitters off balance and trusting his defense. His favorite weapon of choice is his sinker, so an improved infield defense behind him should help matters somewhat this season. Looking at the fact he also has 30% or greater whiff rates on his slider, changeup and curveball makes us wonder whether he could find more success adjusting his pitch utilization. Like many young pitchers, Dunning leaned on his fastball when behind in the count and the league hit a healthy .351 while slugging .544 off the fastball in those counts. The pieces are here for him to take a step forward with some adjustments, but the overall lack of pure stuff limits how high he can climb.

Dunning missed the entire 2019 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery but was thought of highly enough within the White Sox organization to earn a big-league callup last season despite having never pitched beyond Double-A. The vote of confidence paid off as Dunning enjoyed a fine rookie campaign, posting a 3.97 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over seven starts (34 innings). The numbers mostly hold up; the right-hander's 4.16 xFIP closely trailed his ERA and his 24.6 K% was in line with his minor-league rate. Though Dunning doesn't possess a dominant fastball, he mixes up four pitches well, which helped him generate a satisfactory 11.4 SwStr% last season. His 9.2 BB% needs to come down and the .239 BABIP is unsustainable, but Dunning's feel for pitching provides him a moderate floor. He should fill a mid-rotation spot for Texas, who parted with Lance Lynn to land Dunning in an offseason trade.

Dunning was shut down in late June with a right elbow strain, but was back for instructional league, so he appears to have avoided Tommy John surgery, for now. Prior to the injury, he was cruising in his first taste of Double-A, with a 2.40 FIP, 26.3 K% and a groundball rate just a hair under 50%. That success oversells his stuff to some degree. He has a legitimate four-pitch mix, but lacks a the type of electric arsenal we would typically associate with a pitcher who has struck out more than 10 batters per nine at every full-season stop (which he has done). His low-90s sinker is effective, and his slider can flash plus, but with just fringe-average command, it's the type of repertoire typically found in a No. 4 starter. Already 24 years old and without a significantly high ceiling, Dunning does not need to be universally rostered in dynasty leagues, particularly with last year's elbow injury portending the eventual need for some sort of procedure.

The third returning piece for Chicago in the Adam Eaton trade, Dunning was unproven heading into 2017, but he quickly established himself as a future rotation piece. He has a solid four-pitch mix, and could end up with anywhere from three to zero plus pitches. His ability to sequence and locate his offerings allowed him to dominate hitters at High-A. Dunning ranked third in the Carolina League in strikeout rate (26.4 percent) and K-BB (19.4 percent). Double-A should present a valuable challenge, as his repertoire may not lead to the same gaudy strikeout totals against more advanced hitters. Entering his age-23 season, there won't be much margin for error in the minds of dynasty-league owners, as most of his contemporaries are already at Triple-A or knocking on the door of the big leagues. If he continues to command his mid-90s sinking fastball and his slider and curveball continue to miss bats, a future No. 3 starter could quickly come into focus.

On a loaded pitching staff at the University of Florida last season, Dunning got somewhat overlooked, but he showed enough upside for the Nationals to nab him with the 29th overall pick in the draft. A 6-foot-4 right-hander, his success on the mound comes more from the deception inherent in his mechanics and killer changeup than it does from an overpowering fastball, but that arsenal allowed him to make a solid pro debut between the GCL and short-season Low-A. Whether he's able to become a reliable starting pitcher in the majors depends on the development of his breaking pitch, a slurvy offering which at this point lags well behind his low 90s fastball and change, but his college experience out of the bullpen will serve him well if that ends up being his ultimate role. Traded to the White Sox in the Adam Eaton deal, the 21-year-old is still a few years away from being a factor for Chicago, so he's get plenty of time and plenty of chances to work on that breaking pitch before his role is finalized.

More Fantasy News

Placed on waivers

PTexas Rangers AAA

March 23, 2025

The Rangers placed Dunning on outright waivers Sunday, allowing him to be claimed by other teams, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.