Dynasty/Keeper Starting Pitcher Buys Heading Into 2026

I suppose you could call this a buy week at the Dynasty Dugout. No, we are not taking a bye week; instead, we are giving you all the players to buy or pick up before the season ends.

This article series will feature some MLB hitters that may be worth buying low on. Today, we talk about six starting pitchers who may be worth buying now. Maybe it is an injured player. Perhaps it was just someone who struggled and saw their stock fall, but still has things under the hood to like. All players can buy now!

Starting Pitchers to Buy or Stash for 2026

Emmet Sheehan, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Finally getting the chance to pitch regularly in the Dodgers rotation, Sheehan has proved his worth and is soaring up my dynasty rankings as he looks like a long-term fixture in the Dodgers rotation moving forward. On the surface, Sheehan has a 3.32 ERA across 59.2 innings in the majors with a 29 percent strikeout rate, but the numbers have gotten better as the year has gone on.

Over his last three starts, Sheehan has pitched 18.2 innings and has just a 1.45 ERA with a 36 percent strikeout rate to a 5.7 percent walk rate. Over that span, Sheehan has a 117 Pitching+, one of the best marks in baseball. Even if you go back to the beginning of August, Sheehan has a 104 Stuff+ and a 112 Pitching+ score.

One interesting thing this year is that Sheehan’s four-seam usage has decreased steadily, and he has used it just 45 percent of the time. Sheehan has dominated with it, sitting around 96 mph with 18 inches of IVB from a lower release height.

Sheehan also mixes in his slider and changeup, while dropping in a curveball on occasion. The slider has been lethal, sitting at 88 mph, and it has a 44 percent whiff rate against MLB hitters. The changeup has good depth and above-average fade, and has also been effective against hitters.

Honestly, it would not be surprising to see Sheehan emerge as one of the better pitchers in the Dodgers’ rotation. I am not sure the hype has caught up, but it is time to buy.

Drew Rasmussen, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

I wish I could tell you I was more in on Rasmussen entering the season. Coming off his third Tommy John procedure, I thought it might be over for him. Having his first surgery in March 2016, Rasmussen needed another surgery in August 2017. While being pretty healthy after reaching the majors in 2020, injuries kept him out for a lot of 2023 and 2024. Last July, Rasmussen had an internal brace put in.

While not putting up flashy numbers, Rasmussen has a 2.74 ERA with a 22 percent strikeout rate and just a six percent walk rate. Since the All-Star break, Rasmussen has just gotten better, having a 2.53 ERA while averaging 5.3 innings per start.

The most important thing of note is that Rasmussen’s stuff has steadily improved. The fastball has a 112 Stuff+ score over those ten starts, which matches the overall stuff score. Rasmussen has four other pitches with a Stuff+ grade above 110 mph, and the changeup grades out at 132; he just needs to use it more.

While Rasmussen does lack a true-whiff pitch, he has a solid arsenal of pitches to get outs. The cutter has his highest whiff rate of his commonly used pitches, but it also has just a .163 batting average against.

Given that Rasmussen is just 30 years old, he also has little mileage on his arms. Sure, three Tommy John-type procedures are scary, but I think that also keeps Rasmussen’s cost down. He is worth taking a shot on.

Framber Valdez, LHP, Houston Astros

Valdez probably lost a lot of you reading this, a league or two. Over the last eight starts since the start of August, Valdez has a 6.41 ERA and has struck out just 32 batters. His 6.8 percent strikeout minus walk rate over this span is not ideal. Some of his actions might also make you want to not roster him.

The positives are that Valdez has a 4.46 FIP and a 4.39 xFIP despite his massive blow-ups, and the stuff has been really good. Sure, the fastball has been an issue, but Valdez has a 113 Stuff+ and a 128 Stuff+ on his curveball.

You could probably find 100 reasons why you don’t want to roster Framber Valdez. But I think there are plenty of reasons to buy low on him. Over the last six seasons and nearly 1000 innings, Valdez has a 3.21 ERA. He has been the model of consistency. He is a free agent after this season, but Valdez should be fine wherever he goes, given the ability to keep the ball on the ground and miss bats.

So, while you are probably pretty mad at Valdez, he is a great buy-low this offseason.

Ryne Nelson, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks

I am not sure we have talked enough about Ryne Nelson this year. Since the All-Star break, Nelson has pitched 64.2 innings and has a 2.92 ERA with 57 strikeouts to 14 walks. He has gotten even better toward the end of August and into September.

Nelson’s fastball has gotten better all season and has been a part of his success. It grades out as his best offering as Nelson, a 114 Stuff+ on the pitch over the last 11 starts. The interesting thing is that the four-seam is used 62 percent of the time, but it gets outs and is capable of missing bats.

The slider is Nelson’s most-used secondary pitch, having a 33 percent whiff rate on the year while sitting around 86 mph. The cutter is a nice bridge-pitch, working 90-91 mph, and he can dial it back to 80 mph on his curveball.

Nelson seems likely to pass his career best of 150.2 innings he pitched last season, and the ERA is a career-best mark by nearly a run. Sure, Nelson is not flashy with his bat-missing ability, but he has been a consistent arm this year and looks more than ready for a huge 2026.

Cam Schlittler, RHP, New York Yankees

Schlittler looked poised to break out after the fastball took a big leap this spring, and he has done so. After posting a 2.82 ERA with a 32 percent strikeout rate in 76.2 Minor League innings, Schlittler has not been affected by the bright lights of the Bronx. In 56 innings, Schlittler has a 3.05 ERA and has struck out 27 percent of batters.

He has only gotten better as well. In four of his last five starts, Schlittler has put up a quality start. Over that span ,he has a strikeout rate north of 31 percent and has just a 2.01 FIP.

His fastball averages 98 mph regularly and touches triple-digits with ease. It comes with 16-17 inches of IVB, and has a 27 percent whiff rate, a strong mark for a four-seam. Schlittler pounds the zone with it and locates it well at the top of the zone.

As good as his fastball has been, the secondaries are impressive, too. The cutter is used around 20 percent of the time, and he drops the curveball usage to around 14 percent. Having a 28 percent whiff rate on a cutter is elite, and the curveball has shown plenty of bat-missing ability as well.

The sweeper is a strong offering, too, but Schlittler has not used it often. He could benefit from adding a changeup this offseason, but he has all the ingredients to be a very good SP2-3 type arm.

Nolan McLean, RHP, New York Mets

Heading down to Flushing, the Mets have a special young arm as well. Since debuting in mid-August, you could argue that McLean has been the best pitcher in baseball over that span. He has a 1.19 ERA backed by an elite 2.48 FIP and has struck out 28 percent of batters while also keeping the walk rate a manageable 8.4 percent.

After being a two-way player at Oklahoma State, McLean got a chance to hit and pitch in pro ball. While the present power was there, the contact skills always held him back. McLean did not hit in a game after June 20, 2024, and focusing solely on pitching is paying off.

McLean’s fastball sits in the mid-90s with a heavy armside run. He throws from a 5’4” release height, which helps the pitch play at the top of the zone and has a rising effect despite the IVB not being overwhelming. With 10 or more inches of horizontal movement regularly, McLean has shown bat-missing ability, with the offering having a 41 percent whiff rate.

The slider has around 10 mph of velocity separation from the fastball, sitting in the mid-80s with heavy sweeping action. It has late horizontal movement, which deceives hitters, largely due to its extremely high spin rates, which have been up to 3200 rpm. Watching the pitch, it is easily plus or better, and the metrics back it up.

McLean will mix a cutter on occasion, but the increased curveball usage has been huge. It has a 42 percent whiff rate while sitting around 80 mph with two-plane break. The changeup has been used at the right time, and overall, McLean sequences extremely well.

I am not ready to shove McLean into ace territory, but what he has shown in the Majors has been so impressive.