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. Either way, they’re worth a pick late in 2026 fantasy baseball drafts.
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Late-Round Fantasy Baseball Rookies to Draft
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.
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