Padres' Pitchers Fantasy Baseball Preview | Dylan Cease, Michael King, Robert Suarez, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and More

Let's continue our fantasy baseball team preview series by looking at the San Diego Padres. We'll look at pitchers first - check back for the hitter writeup.

We've covered the Tigers (hitters and pitchers), Marlins (hitters and pitchers), Blue Jays (hitters and pitchers), Brewers (hitters and pitchers), Astros (hitters and pitchers), Cubs (hitters and pitchers), 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 San Diego pitchers on the ADP list, led by Dylan Cease. He's going at pick 27.56 on average.

Michael King is next up, going at pick 68.96 on average. Closer Robert Suarez is at pick 95.59. Nick Pivetta (176.8) is a late option in standard leagues, while Jason Adam and Yu Darvish are outside standard league picks most often.

Cease was great in his first season with San Diego.

In 33 starts, Cease with 14-11, but with a 3.47 earned run average. He struck out 224 batters over 189 1/3 innings.

Another similar season is what you should be expecting out of Cease, who is in his age-29 season. I think his ADP is fair, and getting him to lead your fantasy rotation is a fine option. I even think there's room for him to exceed the pick a bit.

King also was in his first season with San Diego, and he also was a full-time starter for the first time.

In 30 starts and 31 appearances, King went 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA. He struck out 201 batters over 173 2/3 innings.

King probably deserves to go earlier in fantasy drafts this season, but you shouldn't complain if you get him around that ADP. He's a fine second fantasy starter, and fantastic third starter. I see his fantasy ceiling being higher than his ADP.

Suarez was great as the team's closer in 2024, so he'll go into 2025 with that role again.

In 65 appearances, Suarez earned 36 saves and nine wins. He lost three games, posted a 2.77 ERA and struck out 59 batters over 65 innings.

Replicating the win-loss record might be tough, but getting as many saves seems doable again. You'd like to see his strikeout numbers go up, but if he keeps his ERA below 3, that doesn't matter as much. It's always a risk drafting a closer in the top-100 picks, and while I'd prefer Suarez a round or more later, I'm OK taking him at his ADP.

Pivetta is entering his first season with San Diego.

In 26 starts and 27 appearances with the Red Sox last season, Pivetta had a 6-12 record and 4.14 ERA. He struck out 172 batters over 145 2/3 innings.

The strikeout numbers stand out, and make Pivetta at least a standard league streaming option all season. He could become a season-long keeper if he lowers his ERA a bit. Pivetta needs to be rostered for every start in any leagues deeper than a standard setup.

Adam is the top setup man for Suarez. He pitched for the Rays and Padres a season ago.

In 74 appearances, Adam had a 7-2 record and 1.95 ERA. He also struck out 81 batters over 73 2/3 innings.

Non-closer relievers usually aren't the best fantasy assets, but Adam has a case to be rostered. I still wouldn't roster him in standard leagues, but in a bit deeper league, I'm all for utilizing him. He'd be a must add if Suarez ever goes down with an injury, because he'd likely take over as the closer.

Darvish was only able to make 16 starts in 2024.

He went 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA, so it's a shame he couldn't get in a full season. Darvish had 78 punchouts over 81 2/3 innings.

I'm a bit surprised Darvish isn't going closer to Pivetta's pick, but durability issues are clearly holding him back. He's a standard league streaming option right from the start of the season, and should be rostered in deeper leagues as long as he's healthy.

Other Starting Options

According to FanGraphs, Kyle Hart is the only projected starting pitcher we haven't discussed yet.

Ron Marinaccio is the projected long reliever. Joe Musgrove is another starter, but is likely going to miss the entire season.

Hart hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2020. In 26 starts in the KBO last season, Hart went 13-3 with a 2.69 ERA, so he's getting another crack at the big leagues this season.

You'll want to temper expectations for Hart, but he's got deep-league value and standard league streaming potential if he can put up decent numbers early on.

Marinaccio hasn't started over his 101 MLB games over the past three seasons, so don't expect him to be a long-term starting option if another starter is struggling or hurt.

It's a shame Musgrove is out for the season, because he's been a solid fantasy asset over the years. If he somehow returns late in the season, he'd have standard league streaming value, if he isn't a full-on keeper.

Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon, Yuki Matsui, Alek Jacob and Wandy Peralta are the other projected bullpen arms. Bryan Hoeing and Sean Reynolds will be other options once they return from early-season injuries. Estrada is the top fantasy option in that bunch, but is just an option in deeper leagues.

Top Prospects

San Diego doesn't have a pitching prospect on the top-100 list.

Braden Nett, Bradgley Rodriguez, Tyson Neighbors, Juan Nunez, Reynolds, Francis Pena, Omar Cruz and Ryan Bergert are top-30 prospects of the team with 2025 ETAs.

Nett has a 4.07 ERA across 108 1/3 minor league innings the past three years. He also has 123 strikeouts, 79 walks and a .209 average against him.

Rodriguez has a 3.66 ERA across 86 minor league innings. He's also got 102 strikeouts, 47 walks and a .193 average against him.

Neighbors has pitched just 4 2/3 minor league innings so far. He had nine punchouts, four walks and a .263 average against him.

Nunez has 230 2/3 minor league innings under his belt. He's posted a 3.32 ERA, 288 punchouts, 107 walks and a .215 average against him so far.

Reynolds made nine MLB appearances in 2024, posting a 0.82 ERA across 11 innings. He struck out 21 batters, while walking five and having a .238 average against him. In 203 minor league innings, Reynolds has a 4.92 ERA, 243 strikeouts, 130 walks and a .238 average against him.

Pena has a 3.36 ERA across 120 2/3 minor league innings so far. He also has 123 strikeouts, 43 walks and a .238 average against him.

Berget has 318 minor league innings under his belt. He's posted a 4.27 ERA, 356 strikeouts, 121 walks and a .250 average against him so far.

Luis Patino, Austin Krob, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nunez are other pitchers age 25 or younger who are in big league camp this spring.