Corey Pieper | Tue, Feb 10th 2026, 7:13am EST

5 Late-Round Rookies to Target: Pitchers (2026 Fantasy Baseball)

All starting pitchers are volatile by nature. Significant injuries are a possibility. Just a minuscule change in mechanics can be enough to drastically affect control. Suddenly, the control falls off, and a typically reliable pitcher finds new struggles.

Rookies are also inherently volatile. For one, they may not be called up to the big leagues when fantasy baseball managers want them to be. There is nothing harder than keeping a minor league player on your bench when injuries start accumulating. Then, even the best prospects always have a chance of failure until they prove otherwise. Just ask a manager who once rostered Jarred Kelenic or Sixto Sanchez.

That means that rookie pitchers are among the toughest players to forecast in all of baseball. It is just an extremely wide range of outcomes with them. Below are five late-round rookie pitchers who could all be league winners, or could end up total zeroes.

Late-Round Fantasy Baseball Rookies to Target: Pitchers

Logan Henderson (SP – MIL)

A couple of the rookies on this list have made their Major lLeague debuts, but are still rookie-eligible and going outside the top 250 in FantasyPros ADP. One of those is Logan Henderson.

The pathway to relevance for Henderson became a bit clearer with last month’s trade of Freddy Peralta to the Mets. That opened up a spot in the rotation, and while nothing is guaranteed, given Henderson’s performance last season, he should have the inside track.

Henderson made five Major League starts with the Brewers in 2025 over three months. While he didn’t go deep into starts, he was quite impressive in each outing. In total, he finished with three wins, a 1.78 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 33 strikeouts in 25 innings. The ERA may have been a bit lucky, but a 3.02 FIP still shows that this is a quality starting pitcher.

Henderson’s 2025 season ended early with elbow inflammation. All indications are that he is poised and ready to go in 2026, making him a late-round rookie to target.

Andrew Painter (SP – PHI)

There was some excitement for Andrew Painter in fantasy baseball way back in the 2023 draft season. He has yet to debut, but that seems inevitable in 2026.

You may think that, since it has been a few seasons since the Painter hype, he is an older rookie. That’s simply not true. While he wasn’t able to reach the Major Leagues at an exceptionally young age, he will only turn 23 in April.

The issue with Painter’s emergence has been injuries. He missed all of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He tried to avoid Tommy John surgery in 2023, but it was inevitable. Instead, he delayed the surgery and cost himself all of 2024, too. He was able to return in 2025, but with seemingly diminished skills.

Painter’s 2025 surface stats were nothing impressive, but being healthy enough to pitch 118 innings (106 at Triple-A) was important. He finished with an ERA of 5.26, WHIP of 1.49, and 123 strikeouts to 40 walks. A big issue was allowing 20 home runs.

Unlike Henderson, I expect Painter will start the season back in the minor leagues. If he shows that he can get back to limiting walks and home runs, he should finally make his long-awaited debut in 2026.

Thomas White (SP – MIA)

The first of the two Miami Marlins rookie starting pitchers on this list is Thomas White.

White was nothing short of marvelous in 2025. He began his season in High-A, but progressed to Triple-A by the end of the season. He only pitched 89 innings, but the Marlins were being uber cautious with a pitcher who didn’t turn 21 years old until after his last start of the season.

In White’s 89 innings, he struck out 145 batters while walking 51. That came with a 2.31 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. His 25% strikeout-walk rate was a top 10 mark in all of the minor leagues if you drop the qualification to 80 innings.

The Marlins have traded away both Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers this offseason to create opportunities in their rotation. A strong Spring Training could allow White to fill one of those roles, but he is going to have to beat the next name on this list.

Robby Snelling (SP – MIA)

The other undebuted rookie starting pitcher that the Marlins have waiting in the wings is Robby Snelling.

Originally a member of the San Diego Padres, Snelling came to the Marlins as part of the return for Tanner Scott in 2024. At the time, it was viewed as a bit of a buy low on a former top prospect who was going through struggles. He bounced back in 2025 and is now on the verge of a promotion to the Major Leagues.

Snelling finished 2025 with 136 innings evenly split between Double-A and Triple-A. He finished with an ERA of 2.51 and a WHIP of 1.11, with 166 strikeouts to 39 walks. His K-BB% was nearly identical to White’s at 23.2%, but over more innings pitched.

We’ve seen three professional seasons from Snelling and 2024 sure appears to be the outlier. Considering that he finished with over 60 innings at Triple-A, compared to White’s nine innings, he has to be the favorite to be promoted to Miami first. That could be as soon as the start of the season.

Payton Tolle (SP – BOS)

Payton Tolle pitched mostly in relief in his appearances with the Red Sox last season. This year, he should have a rotation spot from the outset.

You have to drop the qualifications down because Tolle only spent 91 innings in the minor leagues, but then he really pops on the strikeout-walk % leaderboard. If you move the qualifications to 90 innings, only two pitchers had a rate over 30%. One is Trey Yesavage, who can’t qualify on this list because his ADP is at 140. The other is Tolle.

Tolle started at High-A and climbed all the way to the Major Leagues. That was because he was spectacular at every level of the minor leagues. He finished with a 3.04 minor league ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 133 strikeouts to 23 walks. It was a bit more of a struggle in the Majots, but it was mostly one poor outing.

Tolle made seven appearances (three starts) for the Red Sox. His total ERA of 6.06 and FIP of 6.26 hide the fact that he gave up five earned runs in a single game. Other than that appearance, he was quite effective.

The Red Sox made offseason additions to their rotation in Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez, and Johan Oviedo. It could mean that Tolle begins the season at Triple-A. If injury strikes or performance issues arise, Tolle could be the first call.

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