Rangers' Pitchers Fantasy Baseball Preview | Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Martin, Cody Bradford, Kumar Rocker and More

Let's wrap up our fantasy baseball team preview on the Texas Rangers by looking at the team's pitchers. We already looked at hitters in another story.

We've covered the Nationals (hitters and pitchers), Orioles (hitters and pitchers), Reds (hitters and pitchers), Red Sox (hitters and pitchers), Mets (hitters and pitchers), Twins (hitters and pitchers), Giants (hitters and pitchers), Athletics (hitters and pitchers), Pirates (hitters and pitchers), Mariners (hitters and pitchers), Rockies (hitters and pitchers), Rays (hitters and pitchers), Braves (hitters and pitchers) and White Sox (hitters and pitchers) already.

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Top Fantasy Pitchers

There's a couple Texas pitchers on the ADP list so far.

Jacob deGrom is first up, going at pick 95.42 on average.

Nathan Eovaldi is next at pick 113. Chris Martin is a late-round option for standard league fantasy owners.

deGrom has struggled with health over his career. He's made just 20 starts over the past three seasons combined, and not gone over 15 starts since 2019.

For his career, deGrom has a 2.52 earned run average and an 84-57 record. He has 1,666 strikeouts over 1,367 innings.

deGrom's upside is elite, but given his injury history, he's a very risky fantasy baseball pick nowadays. Unless I was really confident in my top-end fantasy pitchers, I am more inclined to skip deGrom and target someone else around his ADP. 

If deGrom were to fall another 15 or more picks, then I'd be a bit more inclined to take a gamble on him. Spending a pick in the first 10 rounds on him just seems like you're asking for trouble.

Eovaldi has been pretty consistent over the past several seasons. He's posted an ERA between 3.63-3.87 over the past five seasons.

In 29 starts last season, Eovaldi went 12-8 with a 3.80 ERA. He had 166 punchouts over 170 2/3 innings.

Eovaldi isn't a huge fantasy name, but he's a really consistent performer, and makes him a good value pick around his ADP. He should be a fantasy keeper all season in all leagues, and getting him around his ADP doesn't involve too much risk.

He's a player to take near the end of your fantasy rotation, but he's got a chance to outperform several pitchers going before him, and maybe a couple of your other arms.

Martin is the team's projected closer for 2025. 

Martin spent the 2024 season in Boston, appearing in 45 games.

He went 3-1 with two saves and a 3.45 ERA. Martin struck out 50 batters over 44 1/3 innings.

Martin isn't the best fantasy asset despite being a closer because of his lower strikeout numbers. I like him better as a deep-league fantasy option, but I understand wanting to take him late in a standard league draft. He is on a good team and should get plenty of save chances if he retains the job all season.

Other Starting Options

There's several fantasy players we need to look at after covering just three so far. 

According to FanGraphs, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle and Cody Bradford are projected to round out the starting rotation. Robert Garcia and Jacob Webb are listed as the top setup men for Martin, while Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Luke Jackson and Jacob Latz are other bullpen arms. 

Dane Dunning is the projected long reliever. Josh Sborz is another reliever option, but is hurt right now and likely to open the season on the injured list.

Bradford made 13 starts across 14 appearances last season. He went 6-3 with a 3.54 ERA. Bradford struck out 70 batters over 76 1/3 innings.

If he can stick in the rotation all season, Bradford has a chance to be a standard league option, especially if he keeps up last season's numbers. Right now though, he's probably a better deep-league option.

Gray made 19 starts across 23 appearances in 2024. He went 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA, while striking out 86 batters over 102 2/3 innings.

Gray has some durability issues of his own, but is another pitcher who could be a standard league streaming option at times this season. He's a better deep-league option at the start of the season though.

Mahle has made just eight starts over the past two seasons. Across 113 starts and 114 games in his career, Mahle has a 4.32 ERA and 687 strikeouts over 648 1/3 innings.

Durability is a concern here again, but with more than a strikeout per inning, he's got decent fantasy value when on the hill. He's a deep-league option to kick off the season, and could be another standard league streaming option if he's pitching well enough and facing a weak-hitting team.

Dunning would probably be inserted into the rotation if one of the top-five guys got injured. That'd be the only way Dunning would have decent fantasy value.

With Martin maybe not a locked-in closer, the setup men are worth keeping tabs on in Texas. 

Top Prospects

Kumar Rocker is the only Ranger pitching prospect on the top-100 list to open the season. He's ranked 44th.

Rocker made three MLB starts in 2024, going 0-2 but with a 3.86 ERA. He struck out 14 batters over 11 2/3 innings.

He only has 64 2/3 minor league innings under his belt, so more seasoning in Triple-A might help him. Rocker could be thrust into the rotation because of an injury, so keep a very close eye on him.

Jack Leiter, Emiliano Teodo, Winston Santos and Jose Corniell are some other members of the team's top-30 prospects from the end of last season who could maybe help out in 2025.

Leiter appeared in nine MLB games in 2024, making six starts. He went 0-3 with a rough 8.83 ERA. Leiter struck out 31 batters over 35 2/3 innings.

Leiter was a top-end draft pick in 2021 for a reason though, and Texas won't give up on him yet. If he's pitching better in the minors this season, he could get a call back up at some point in 2025.

Teodo has a 3.10 ERA across 261 2/3 minor league innings. He also has 357 strikeouts, 145 walks and a .193 average against him. Those are some good numbers, so he's worth keeping tabs on.

Santos' ETA is 2026, but given the Rangers' durability issues in the rotation with their starters, I'm not ruling out Santos. He has a 4.32 ERA across 350 1/3 innings, along with 370 strikeouts, 99 walks and a .242 average against him.

Corniell has a 4.45 ERA across 206 1/3 innings, but had a 2.92 ERA across 101 2/3 innings last season. Over his minor league career, Corniell has 234 strikeouts, 79 walks and a .226 average against him.

Dane Acker, Kohl Drake, Marc Church, Luis Curvelo, Cole Winn, Robert Ahlstrom and Skylar Hales are some other pitchers age 25 and younger who are in big league camp with the team right now.