Cubs' Pitchers Fantasy Baseball Preview | Shota Imanaga, Ryan Pressly, Justin Steele, Porter Hodge, Jameson Taillon and More

Let's continue our fantasy baseball team preview series by looking at the Chicago Cubs. We'll look at the team's pitchers first, then discuss the best hitters in another story.

We've covered the Royals (hitters and pitchers), Dodgers (hitters and pitchers), Rangers (hitters and pitchers) , 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 Chicago pitchers on the ADP list.

Shota Imanaga is first up, going at pick 74.25 on average. Justin Steele is next at pick 102.05.

Reliever Ryan Pressly appears at pick 142.4, while fellow reliever Porter Hodge is at pick 159.13.

Imanaga was great during his first MLB season.

In 29 starts, Imanaga had a 15-3 record and 2.91 earned run average. He struck out 174 batters over 173 1/3 innings.

That win-loss record might be hard to replicate going forward, but if he posts similar ERAs, Imanaga could still deliver big seasons. He should be able to pitch deeper into games this season, which could increase his inning and strikeout marks.

Honestly, I think Imanaga is a big draft steal for 2025 and think he's highly underrated. He had a good first MLB season and should be good again in 2025. Imanaga was a top-10 fantasy scorer in points leagues last season, yet is going 22nd among SP this season. I don't really get it, but would be thrilled to take Imanaga around his ADP, or even a round or so earlier.

Steele was pretty good across his 24 starts in 2024, so it's a bit of a surprise to see him going as late as he is.

Steele had a 3.07 ERA, but just a 5-5 record. The win-loss record should improve in 2025 if he keeps his ERA around a similar mark. Steele also had 135 punchouts across 134 1/3 innings.

I see a lot of fantasy value if you are able to grab Steele around that ADP. He is a good third or fourth fantasy starter, and has upside to be one of the better options in the MLB if he can stay healthy all season.

Pressly is the team's projected closer - he took the job away from Hodge when he was traded to Chicago in January. Pressly lost his closer role in Houston last season after Josh Hader was acquired, so this is sort of similar.

Pressly has been a dominant closer in the past though, so it makes sense why he'd get the job over Hodge. In 59 games last season, Pressly had a 3.49 ERA, 2-3 record and four saves, along with 58 strikeouts over 56 2/3 innings.

Hodge was great across 39 relief appearances in 2024. He was 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA and nine saves. Hodge struck out 52 batters over 43 innings.

Pressly should be the closer to open the season, so he should be the only Cubs' reliever worth drafting in standard leagues. Hodge would have to replicate his ERA and up his strikeout marks to be a standard league option as a non-closer.

Pressly is a fine pick where he's being taken. There's not a ton of risk attached, and he could greatly outperform that pick if he's the closer all year. Hodge should only be rostered in deeper leagues to kick off the season, but would be a nice fill in if Pressly ever is injured or loses the job.

Other Starting Options

According to FanGraphs, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea are the team's other three projected starting pitchers for the start of the season. Javier Assad is another option, but is dealing with an injury right now. Keegan Thompson is the projected long reliever.

Hodge is the top setup man for Pressly, and Ryan Brasier is the other projected setup man. Tyson Miller, Nate Pearson, Caleb Thielbar and Julian Merryweather are other projected bullpen arms.

I don't see any of the relievers outside Pressly and Hodge being good fantasy assets in 2025. Some might be options in deeper leagues, but nobody sticks out right now.

I'm a bit surprised to not see Taillon on the back end of the ADP list.

In 28 starts last season, Tallion went 12-8 with a 3.27 ERA. He struck out 125 batters over 165 1/3 innings. Those strikeout numbers are way down from his career, so there's bounceback potential.

Sure, I'd rather have him in just deep leagues to start the season, but I think he's a standard league streamer from opening day on. He could become a keeper if his strikeouts improve and his ERA remains close to last year.

Boyd is a bit of an unknown, and has made no more than 15 starts or appearances since 2019. 

In eight starts for the Guardians a season ago, Boyd went 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA. He had 46 punchouts over 39 2/3 innings.

Boyd might be capped with his innings at the start of the season, but he's an intriguing deep-league option, especially if he can stick in the rotation. He might eventually work himself into standard league streaming territory too.

Rea won 12 games a season ago with the Brewers, but will need to pitch well to avoid moving to the bullpen.

Rea went 12-6 across 27 starts and 32 appearances last season. In 167 2/3 innings, he struck out 135 batters.

He's a deep-league option to kick off the season, and maybe could be used as a streaming option in standard leagues right away too. The deeper the league gets, the more valuable Rea becomes, even if he eventually shifts to the long relief role.

Top Prospects

Cade Horton is the only Cubs' pitching prospect ranked in the top 100 to begin the season. He sits 51st.

Brandon Birdsell and Jack Neely are two more of the team's pitching prospects ranked inside the top 30 who are expected to pitch in the big leagues in 2025.

Horton has a 3.15 ERA across 30 starts in the minor leagues across two seasons. He has 157 strikeouts, 40 walks and a .205 average against him across 122 2/3 innings.

If Horton doesn't make the team out of spring training, he might be the team's first callup if a starter gets injured or is struggling mightily.

Birdsell has a 3.41 ERA across 50 starts and 51 appearances in the minor leagues. He has pitched 243 innings, accumulating 231 strikeouts and just 63 walks. Birdsell has a .251 average against him.

Neely pitched in six games for the Cubs in 2024, allowing six earned runs. He struck out seven batters along the way. In 169 minor league innings, Neely has a 2.77 ERA, 271 punchouts, 64 walks and a .195 average against him.

Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown, Luke Little and Daniel Palencia are among the pitchers in camp with the big league team and are all age 25 or below. All of those guys pitched for Chicago in 2024.