MLB Players To Grab Before the Offseason for Dynasty/Keeper: Starting Pitcher

As we hit the final weeks of the fantasy baseball season and many turn their minds to fantasy football, there is an opportunity for you to take advantage. It is easy to see and jump on players who break out early in the season, but many miss those who perform well late.

This week, I will walk position by position and look at some players who may have more value than you think and could not only help your team down the stretch but in 2027 as well.

Today, we look at four MLB starting pitchers who look the part and have provided value, but are still underrostered. Looking for a starting pitcher for 2027 or to help down the stretch? This article should help you out.

MLB Starting Pitchers to Grab Before the 2026 Season Ends

Andrew Painter, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies

People were quick to write off Painter after he missed two full seasons due to Tommy John Surgery. Poised to make his MLB debut as a 19-year-old back in 2023, Painter was set back several years due to the arm injury that originally went the rest-and-recovery route for a few months before having surgery.

Upon returning from injury in the Arizona Fall League in 2024, Painter had the velocity back, but command was shaky, which was a major reason he spent the entire 2025 season in the Minors. Now, 115 innings into Painter’s MLB career, he is finding his footing. While his season-long ERA sits at 5.54, Painter has improved all year and looks poised to be a big breakout in 2027.

Since the All-Star break, Painter has a 3.58 ERA across 50.1 innings. The Stuff+ has steadily improved and, over his last nine starts, sits at a solid 106 mark, with a 106 Pitching+ as well.

Painter has really found a groove using his changeup more often over the last two months, and it has been highly effective in both missing bats and generating whiffs.

The chase rate on all pitches has been one of the better marks in baseball, and he has effectively missed bats in the zone as well. The ground ball rate is high, and he pairs it with weak contact plus a solid swinging strike rate.

The recipe for success for the 23-year-old arm is there. A 2027 breakout seems imminent.

Ian Seymour, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays

Once known as a soft-tossing lefty, Seymour is learning to make it work with a diverse arsenal of pitches. A heavy strike-thrower, Seymour locates his pitches better than most and finds a way to generate whiffs both in and out of the zone. Sure, he will never blow anyone away with his 91 mph fastball, but the slider is elite, and he sequences so well that the arsenal works.

Since the All-Star break, Seymour has a strong 3.62 ERA with a 3.26 xERA and a 2.74 xFIP. He has struck out 31.4 percent of batters over that span with just a 3.5 percent walk rate. Two of his last three starts have seen him strike out 10 batters.

Leading the way with a changeup that gets over 15 inches of fading action, Seymour has seen that pitch generate a chase and whiff rate north of 40 percent. The four-seam fastball, despite sitting at 91 mph, has gotten a whiff rate of 26 percent with a 36 percent chase rate.

The sweeper is insanely good and grades out as one of his best offerings. It sits around 82 mph with carry, but also 12 inches of arm-side movement.

Ultimately, Seymour has so much deception and tunnels better than most pitches. The flat VAA he creates on his fastball from a 5’5” release height helps the pitch out immensely. While it’s easy to get caught up in metrics, Seymour has traits most pitchers don’t have that are not easy to see. He keeps hitters on their toes at all times and just flat-out knows how to pitch.

Robert Gasser, LHP, Milwaukee Brewers

After missing most of 2024 and nearly all of 2026, Gasser has really come on strong to end the year in Milwaukee. While he has a 4.30 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP for the year across 96 innings, he has really picked it up since the start of August. Over that span, he has tossed 39 innings with a 3.69 ERA and a 23 percent strikeout rate.

His Stuff+ metrics have been insane, especially on his fastball and slider, which have graded out at 115 and 126, respectively. While his fastball sits around 93 mph, which is fairly low, Gasser creates nearly seven feet of extension on the pitch with an insanely flat -4.1 VAA.

The sweeper misses bats at a high flip and gets 14 inches of horizontal movement. Gasser is also working his cutter much more than he previously had, and the 89 mph pitch is working to get outs. The four-seam usage has dropped, and the sinker usage has increased. But for the most part, Gasser uses his cutter, sinker, sweeper, and four-seamer pretty equally.

Gasser seems to have carved himself out a starter’s role, even though Milwaukee is deep in the pitching department. He seems like a great addition for the rest of this year and into 2027.

Tyler Mahle, RHP, Atlanta Braves

The Braves have unlocked something with Mahle, and while all Atlanta fans groaned when he was the arm they traded for, he might be the very reason they win the division. Since the trade and in his eight starts in Atlanta, Mahle has tossed 49 innings with a 2.02 ERA and a strikeout-minus-walk rate north of 20 percent.

So, what changed? Well, the pitch mix for starters. The Braves have nearly doubled Mahle’s splitter usage and curbed the usage of his cutter. The splitter has a 26 percent rate over the last two months, and it is allowing the fastball to also be more effective. Mahle has seen the fastball increase by nearly a full tick of velocity while killing some of the ride he got on the offering. The trade-off is working.

Mahle’s splitter shape is also now getting more depth and velocity. The result? A 46 percent chase rate and a 25 percent whiff rate. The arm angle has dropped subtly on all pitches, and it has created a different look for hitters, which has helped his pitches play differently.

Obviously, we have no clue where Mahle will play next season, but if Atlanta brings him back on a cheaper deal, I really like the prospects of him being a solid, fantasy-viable option in 2027.