Top 10 Starting Pitchers With Strikeout Upside
9. SP Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
222 Strikeouts
Chris Sale Fantasy Baseball Player Outlook
Based on his command stats, Sale was the same pitcher in 2024 as in his prime. The only difference was his downgrade in innings pitched per start (2024 – 6.1 ~ 6.9 from 2013 to 2017). Atlanta unlocked the life of his pitches in the strike zone last season, and he avoided any major injuries. From 2020 to 2023, Sale was only on the field for 31 starts (11-7 with a 3.93 ERA and 182 strikeouts over 151.0 innings). He is a tempting arm based on his career body of work and rebound season, especially playing in a high-scoring offense. With 32 starts, his overall stats still show room for improvement. Sale is the third pitcher in the top six ranked arm to have a significant jump in innings (68.2).
-93d081519425a2ac5afbaba6a5df6de3.jpg "Matt Brandon")
Matt Brandon has worked in the Fantasy Sports / Sports Media industry for over a decade including stints at Scout Media, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, DrRoto.com, Fantasy SP, FullTime Fantasy, and more. Brandon produced Top-10 rankings in FantasyPros’ nationwide contest three years in a row. He has taken down a few big DFS tournaments on FanDuel and DraftKings but his bread and butter is season-long fantasy football, fantasy basketball, and sports betting. Brandon bleeds blue for his New York sports teams: the New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, and New York Mets.
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.