Fantasy Baseball Trade Tips: 8 starting pitchers who could be valued incorrectly and how to approach their markets

The starting pitcher market is more difficult to manage than that at any other position. The nature of the position — appearing on the mound once every five games — makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction when assessing a statistical profile. And the frequent long-term injuries add to the cloudy nature of our favorite mound men. Here are a few hurlers who could be valued incorrectly on the Yahoo Trade Market.

Sell High

Chase Burns, Reds: Burns is a terrific young pitcher who will likely be drafted as an ace next year. But there are reasons to believe that his 2026 value is currently at its peak. The right-hander has benefited from a 93.4% strand rate that is 7.3% higher than that of any other qualified pitcher. Even with his skills, that rate will likely drop by 10%, which will push his 2.00 ERA closer to the 3.00-3.30 range of his ERA estimators. It’s also fair to worry about a restriction of innings in the second half for someone who threw 109.1 frames between the minors and majors last year.

Eduardo Rodríguez, Diamondbacks: Rodríguez was mentioned in this space a few weeks ago and remains an obvious sell-high candidate. His 2.27 ERA ranks sixth in baseball, but all of the popular ERA estimators assign him a mark north of 4.00. The southpaw struggles to collect whiffs (18.0% strikeout rate) and has average control (9.8% walk rate). Rodríguez will soon experience regression on his .251 BABIP and 86.9% strand rate. Wise managers will trade him for anyone who they see as a roster mainstay.

Nick Martinez, Rays: Martinez has plenty of similarities to Rodríguez as someone who should be traded for anything of value. The 35-year-old has logged a 2.73 ERA that doesn’t resemble his 4.60 xERA, mainly thanks to an 83.2% strand rate. His swing-and-miss skills are far below average (15.1% strikeout rate), and in the long run they will be too low to be offset by strong control skills (4.7% walk rate). Regression has already started to set in, as Martinez has posted a 6.04 ERA in June.

Sell Low

Michael King, Padres: Although he recovered with a strong start on Monday, King has been a mess of late, posting a 5.08 ERA and 1.34 WHIP over his past six starts. His swing-and-miss skills have completely disappeared over that stretch (5.1 K/9 rate), and his control skills have been subpar all season. This is the second straight year that King has logged an ERA that is roughly a full run lower than his ERA estimators. Fantasy managers should get what they can for the right-hander before his numbers take another tumble.

Buy Low

Bryan Woo, Mariners: Woo has been inconsistent this season en route to posting a 3.94 ERA that is more than a full run higher than the mark he produced across the 2024 and 2025 campaigns. His strikeout skills were surprisingly concerning early in the season, but he has fixed that problem and has posted an 11.1 K/9 rate across his past eight starts. The added whiffs have helped Woo to log a 3.38 ERA and 0.94 WHIP over that stretch. The right-hander with a strong supporting cast and pitcher-friendly home park is back to being an ace and could be acquired for a slight discount right now.

Landen Roupp, Giants: Roupp has middling ratios (4.15 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), which should make him easy to acquire in every league. Those who take a deeper dive on the 27-year-old will see that he has been impacted by a .317 BABIP and has earned ERA estimators in the range of 3.00-3.40. Roupp has also been saddled with a 65.7% strand rate that is the sixth lowest among qualified pitchers, and once his luck turns around, he could be a reliable fantasy starter thanks to his heavy groundball lean (49.8%).

Buy High

Drew Rasmussen, Rays: Rasmussen is a fantasy ace who may not be valued at that level on the trade market. He has dominated the ratios categories for years, posting a 2.62 ERA and 0.88 WHIP since the 2021 season. His value was previously capped by a lack of innings, as the Rays limited him to short starts during a 2025 season in which he logged 150 frames over 31 outings. The reins have been loosened this year, as Rasmussen has logged at least six innings in nine of his 15 starts and has finished the seventh inning in four of his past six outings. Now able to work deep into games in front of a Rays team with a winning record, Rasmussen is the total package.

Reid Detmers, Angels: After years of giving hints that he might be good, only to burn fantasy managers as soon as they bought in, Detmers may have finally turned the corner. The southpaw with stellar swing-and-miss skills (27.2% strikeout rate) has been on fire over his past six starts (2.31 ERA, 0.72 WHIP). Although his value is rising, Detmers still may not be valued to the level that he deserves. After all, he was toiling on the waiver wire in Yahoo leagues with a 5.07 ERA one month ago.