Redraft Workhorses for the Home Stretch

It’s Week 19 of the fantasy baseball season. It’s a sprint now. In redraft leagues, whether it’s a head-to-head or season long format, you want pitchers who are going to pitch, and pitch deep into games. 

At the same time, plenty of teams across the majors are winding down their seasons. If a team sold their stars and spare parts, they probably won’t be letting their young arms go deep into starts anymore. And if a team bought, especially if they bought a rental, expect that player to be used. 

In this article, I’m going to look at starting pitchers on teams that are in competitive playoff races that I think are either worth trading for or worth adding, focusing on some recently moved arms and other players who could potentially be available in your league. 

I’ll go division by division listing the pitchers to consider adding (which will include CBS roster rates) and trading for coming from teams that, as of Wednesday, are projected by Fangraphs to have playoff odds between 20% and 90%. 

AL Central Summer Workhorses

Anthony Kay (24% CBS): The recently repatriated Kay had a rough go in June, but has bounced back with a 3.00 ERA in six starts since July 1, backed up by a 3.94 xERA and 1.17 WHIP. Though only four of his 21 starts this season have seen him complete six innings, the White Sox will need more from Kay and won’t be afraid to ride him, despite his being under club control through 2028, as he routinely reached 130+ innings over the last two seasons in the NPB. 

Keider Montero (57% CBS): As a starter, Montero has averaged 5.6 IP/GS for the Tigers this season, which has already seen him reach a career high in the majors, and is his first eclipsing 100 innings outside of 127 innings in the minors in 2023. But the Tigers did build in a period of rest for Keider in July, having the 26-year-old throw just 13 innings out of the bullpen for the first three weeks of the month. Since then, he’s been stretched back out over three starts, including tossing six shutout innings in Sacramento in his last start. They’ll need more of that going forward.

Foster Griffin: After racking up 22 starts with an average of 5.8 innings per outing for the Nationals, the 30-year-old Griffin should do more of the same with the Guardians, who yet again find themselves on the brink of the playoffs despite a lackluster offense. Since June 1, Griffin has cut his walks below 2 BB/9 and increased his groundball rate to 49.4%, keeping hitters off balanced with a six pitch mix where only one offering, the cutter, is thrown more than 15% of the time. In that span, he has gone deeper into starts, with a 6.1 IP/GS. If you can buy high on Griffin, you can expect Cleveland and Stephen Vogt to continue letting him earn the chance for the win and quality start. 

AL West Summer Workhorses

Hayden Wesneski (18% CBS): At 28 years old, Wesneski is no longer a prospect to coddle. The Astros need him now, even fresh off of the IL, and he’s delivered so far with 5.2 innings against the Angels and 6 innings and a quality start against the Blue Jays. Thus far, he’s made a few tweaks to his arsenal. Wesneski is throwing a slower version of his signature sweeper, cutting more than 2mph off the pitch compared to last season, and it has a 110 Stuff+ so far, routinely spinning for 20+ inches of horizontal break. He gets a two-start week for Week 20, taking on the Giants on the road and Mariners at home before facing the A’s at home in Week 21. He should be started against all three, elevating him out of streamer status in all but the shallowest leagues. 

Cody Bradford (8% CBS): Like Wesneski, Bradford is coming off on the IL and being thrown into a close race for the division. And like Wesneski, Bradford is 28 years old. Time to go. An atypical starter, but typically crafty soft-tossing lefty, Bradford relies on his command to make up for a fastball that hovers around 90mph. In 76.1 innings in 2024, this helped him walk less than 5% of batters and run a 1.01 WHIP. In his first start back on Wednesday, Bradford held the Giants scoreless over 4.1 innings with five strikeouts and two walks, picking up where he left off on a rehab assignment where he compiled 16 strikeouts to just two walks over 12 innings with a 2.25 ERA. He’ll have two-start week for Week 20, on the road against the Angels and A’s, where he should find more strikeouts and lowly offenses, despite the ballparks.

NL Workhorse(s)

Brandon Pfaadt (62% CBS): Sometimes you run hot to start the season and stumble late, hurting fantasy managers who have built up trust over weeks and are thus slow to cut a tarnished asset. Other times, you’re Pfaadt, who at 27 years old feels like a washed up has been in the eyes of plenty of managers. After being demoted to the pen at the beginning of the season, Pfaadt came back on June 30 and has since pitched to a 1.55 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, averaging 5.8 innings over those 7 starts. The right-hander has made a noticeable change too, keeping his average fastball velocity down, but ramping up when he needs it, likely helping him stay in the zone more often. Ride the hot hand. Or, perhaps, trade it? Pfaadt’s next four starts are lined up to come against the Dodgers, Braves, Red Sox, and Cubs… 

Andrew Painter: Was going to make the NL list until he left his start early for hamstring tightness. The Phillies will likely look to Painter to fill in some innings around their veteran rotation, though his playoff role will be out of the pen, if at all, so he may shift back in the final week or two of the season. But it could be important for his prospect development to at least get 20-30 more innings in the majors, hamstring allowing. 

Honorable Mentions: Clay Holmes, newly with the Cubs and soon to be off the IL and Michael Soroka with the Dbacks and also on rehab assignment. And the Padres will likely ride Casey Mize and Robbie Ray, but both offer plenty of risks and are largely rostered.