Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

When in doubt, draft Mariners pitchers. Logan Gilbert continued his ace-like ways in 2025, increasing his strikeout rate to 32.3% and striking out 173 in 131 innings. He ended the year with a 3.44 ERA, but his xERA was 3.06, so there is some correction expected in 2026. However, Gilbert's WHIP was a pristine 1.03, and if he can stay healthy enough to get near 30 starts, fantasy managers can write his name in ink as an SP1.

Bryan Woo successfully made "the leap" in 2025, starting 30 games, throwing 186 2/3 innings with a 2.94 ERA and microscopic 0.93 WHIP. He gave up more home runs than we'd like, but his 5.5 K/BB ratio and 27.1% strikeout rate will definitely help us cope on that front. Woo ranked fifth in MLB in swinging strike rate above average with his fastball at 7.4%, only 0.1% behind Tarik Skubal. Woo is only 26 and well on his way to being the ace of any fantasy baseball staff.

George Kirby's 2025 surface stats regressed (4.21 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) as his pristine control backed up, highlighted by a career-high 5.5% walk rate and elevated hard-hit contact. The encouraging sign was a spike in strikeouts (26.1% K rate, 9.8 K/9), which kept his underlying indicators intact, with hisn FIP notably lower than his ERA. His four-year track record of elite command and durability suggests the 2025 dip was more noise than skill erosion. Based on the 2026 projections and his underlying profile, Kirby profiles as a rebound SP2 whose draft cost should reflect last year's disappointment rather than his true talent.

Luis Castillo remains a reliable innings-eater, but his 2025 profile showed continued erosion in strikeout rate (21.7% K%) and rising hard contact (46.5% HardHit), limiting his fantasy ceiling. While his command stayed strong and ERA stability persists, the whiff decline and increasing fly-ball tendencies have pushed him further from ace territory. The 2026 projections reflect more of the same: solid ratios and workload, but middling strikeout totals compared to the top fantasy arms. Castillo is still a dependable rotation anchor in deeper formats, though fantasy managers should no longer pay for peak-era upside.