Each week, we’ll look at a handful of players who fantasy managers should consider picking up in deeper fantasy baseball leagues. Many of these players will have the most value in larger leagues where waiver wire options aren’t as plentiful. Still, they could also occasionally be useful additions in other, more standard-sized leagues, depending on your options at each position.
All roster percentages mentioned in this column are via FantasyPros as of Friday afternoon.
Ryan Yarbrough – 0%
Injuries have not been kind to the New York Yankees‘ rotation so far in 2025.
With Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil on the 60-day injured list, New York’s rotation has gone through some changes.
As of now, New York’s current rotation includes Carlos Rodón, Max Fried, Marcus Stroman, Will Warren, and Carlos Carrasco, though considering how Warren has yet to establish himself in the majors and Carrasco’s struggles last year, Yarbrough may get an extended look.
Recently signed by the Yankees, Yarbrough pitched to a 3.19 ERA and a 4.64 FIP in 44 appearances spanning 98.2 innings last season, split between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.
Capable of pitching in multiple roles, Yarbrough routinely soaked up multiple innings in 2024, something he’s done with regularity in his career, dating back to his first major league season in 2018.
Whether he’s starting or regularly pitching multiple innings after a starter, the 33-year-old has routinely registered quality pitcher win totals. He’s accumulated 53 since 2018 and has at least eight in seasons where he’s started at least nine times.
Whether Yarbrough eventually steps into the Yankees rotation or is needed to step in early in games if some of the team’s other starters struggle, he’s a quality option for wins for fantasy managers in deeper leagues. An added benefit is Yarbrough’s relief pitcher eligibility, which is useful if there’s a limit in your league on exactly how many starters you can have in the lineup.
Aaron Civale – 5%
Speaking of pitcher wins, another former Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher should be in line to provide some reasonably quality production this season.
Civale split last year between the Rays and Milwaukee Brewers, logging a 4.36 ERA and a 4.74 FIP in 31 starts spanning 161 innings. While the FIP was certainly not ideal, he did rattle off eight wins in 2024.
Like the Yankees, the Milwaukee Brewers have had some injuries in their rotation. Among the players currently on the injured list are Brandon Woodruff, Tobias Myers, Aaron Ashby, Robert Gasser, and DL Hall.
Add all that up, and you have a situation where Civale should be entrenched in the Milwaukee rotation for the time being behind Freddy Peralta and Nestor Cortes.
Fantasy-wise, opportunity is king here as it should lead to plenty of pitcher-win chances starting in front of a Brewers lineup that finished sixth in the league in runs scored last year and should once again provide quality run-scoring production. Milwauke is without Willy Adames, but Jackson Chourio is a potential breakout candidate, and Christian Yelich is back from an injury-shortened 2024 season.
Dean Kremer – 2%
Kremere rounds out the column as another quality option for wins. Like Yarbrough and Civale, injuries have cemented his place in his team’s rotation, or rather near the top of his team’s rotation in this case.
With Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish beginning the year on the injured list, Kremer will start the team’s third game of the season after Zach Eflin and Charlie Morton. He’ll be followed by Tomoyuki Sugano and Cade Povich in the rotation.
Kremer has been a reliable source of innings for the Orioles over the last three years, soaking up a team-high 427.2 innings, including 129.2 last season.
In 2024, the veteran pitched to a 4.10 ERA and a 4.32 FIP in 24 starts, accumulating eight wins. He struck out 123 batters while working around 51 walks and 18 home runs.
The 28-year-old didn’t overwhelm with strikeouts but did limit batters to a 35.4% hard-hit rate (76th percentile), an important skill in Camden Yards.
Still, the wins are the key here. Kremer has 29 of them since the start of the 2022 season. Among pitchers with at least 400 innings during that span, only 29 have more victories. Several notable names with similar innings volume have fewer wins than Kremer.
