No matter how attentive we are as fantasy managers, there will always be players whose performances fly beneath our radar.
For example, over the past five weeks, one right-handed pitcher finds himself the No. 5 scorer at his position (with 119 fantasy points), ahead of universally rostered individuals who have been plenty productive in their own right during that time span, such as Zack Wheeler, Max Fried and Logan Webb.
Yes, Ryan Pepiot of the Tampa Bay Rays has performed as well recently as nearly any other pitcher in the game besides Cy Young Award favorites Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes. Yet, unlike all of the other names we’ve mentioned so far, Pepiot finds himself available as a free agent in more than one-third of ESPN leagues. Beyond that being an easy thing to correct if you’re in any of those leagues, that percentage hints at a great buy-in opportunity via trade in formats where Pepiot is rostered.
The Rays’ move to more homer-friendly George M. Steinbrenner Field, where its 117 Statcast HR factor (meaning it inflates homers by 17% compared to an average park) this season alone is considerably greater than Tropicana Field’s 98 factor over the previous three years, could have helped contribute to Pepiot’s modest roster rate. As one of the league’s more fly ball-oriented pitchers (a 28.6% rate since the start of 2024 ranking as the 31st-highest among 104 qualifiers), it’s only natural that Pepiot might have been perceived as more of a “bust candidate” (especially in home starts) than your average pitcher.
But, just as he did during his breakthrough 2024, Pepiot has made further adjustments this season that make him an intriguing long-term target in fantasy. Most notably, he’s pouring more pitches into the strike zone than ever before and his 54.5% zone rate is more than 5% greater than his 2024 number. In June alone, he has upped his average fastball velocity to 95.3 mph, his highest number in any single MLB month. Pepiot has also been much more consistent with his location this year than last, walking two or fewer hitters in each of his past 13 starts, after walking three or more in 16 of his first 39 career big-league starts.
Best yet: Pepiot has thrown at least 96 pitches in each of hls last four starts, despite playing for the notoriously matchups-oriented Rays, and he should be much more equipped to breeze past the 160 IP mark for the season after totaling only 130 in his first full season in the team’s rotation. About the only thing separating him, whether by perception or true rest-of-year value, from a similarly skilled, much more heavily rostered righty in Luis Castillo, is the innings total.
I see top-25 fantasy starter’s value in Pepiot the rest of the way — and he’s not the only such underappreciated starting pitcher fantasy managers can pick up or attempt to acquire at a discount rate. Let’s take a look at a few more pitchers you should be targeting for your teams.
Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners: A longtime personal favorite, Woo’s perennial obstacle to superstardom has been injuries, but in his defense, he has now gone 11 months since his last trip to the IL — and it has been 13 months since he’s missed time due to any arm issue. Since his return from that most recent absence, Woo ranks 11th in fantasy points (402, across 29 starts), and he ranks fourth during that same span with 11 outings worth at least 20-plus points.
As seems the “Mariners way,” his control is elite (an MLB-leading 3.3% walk rate between this and last season) and he’s pouring his four-seam fastball in at an elevated, career-high 95.5 mph. Woo might be regarded a top-10 fantasy starter — perhaps a Logan Webb type — if not for his injury history. But aren’t all pitchers inherently injury risks to some degree? Woo is 91.5% rostered in ESPN leagues, but should be universally on teams.
Jesus Luzardo, Philadelphia Phillies: Which is scaring fantasy managers off more: the back-to-back disastrous (minus-20 or worse in each) starts he made on May 31 and June 5, or an injury history that includes three trips to the IL in the past three seasons alone? Take out Luzardo’s two-start blip and he’d be tied for 14th among starting pitchers in fantasy points. While cherry-picking outings is usually an exercise in folly, another way to illustrate this is to note that he has made 10 starts of 15-plus fantasy points, which is tied for seventh-most in the league.
Luzardo is throwing about as hard as he ever has at the MLB level (96.4 mph). He’s also getting top-shelf grades for the performance of his sweeper and, in fact, has a Statcast expected ERA that checks in 0.60 lower than his actual number. Oh, and he’s a free agent in nearly one-quarter of ESPN leagues.
Will Warren, New York Yankees: One of the most beneath-the-radar breakthroughs of 2025, Warren ranks fifth in K/9 ratio (11.47) and 10th in K-rate (29.7%) among pitchers who have made at least 10 starts. And, to illustrate the importance of those strikeouts in fantasy terms, only 20 pitchers have more than his 10 outings with double-digit fantasy points.
Warren’s four-seam fastball already grades as one of baseball’s very best and, if he gains even a little more command of his high-spin sweeper, he’d quickly soar into the top 40 at his position. Perhaps fantasy managers should still approach his matchups with caution (which is why he’s still out there in nearly 75% of ESPN standard leagues), but he’s a pitcher who should have much more broad fantasy appeal than that number indicates.
Matthew Boyd, Chicago Cubs: Here’s yet another pitcher who brings with him the injury question, having totaled only 202 2/3 MLB innings over the last four seasons due to persistent elbow issues that ultimately led to a June 2023 Tommy John surgery. Still, Boyd has been remarkably effective since his return to action late in 2024. Across 23 starts between this and last season, he has a 2.80 ERA, a 1.14 WHIP and 13 outings worth at least 13 fantasy points.
Boyd’s four-seam fastball is averaging a career-high 93.1 mph, and he’s getting better than 30% whiff rates with both his changeup and slider. We’ll see how equipped he is to make it through the full 162-game schedule after going five years between 100-IP campaigns, but the Cubs are doing a good job of not asking an excessive amount from him. At the very least, he needs to be rostered in more than the 62.3% of leagues in which he is currently — at least for as long as he continues to pitch this well.
