5 Underrated Starting Pitchers in Fantasy Baseball This Season

Trevor Cahill, Kansas City Royals

ESPN Ownership: 23.0%

Trevor Cahill has been under the radar for a while, especially when considering the San Diego Padres signed him this offseason for just $1.75 million. It's even more surprising upon remember that he spent all of last year with the World Champion Chicago Cubs, posting a 2.74 ERA out of the bullpen. A move to the rotation wasn’t bound to provide immediate dividends, but when hurlers like Brett Anderson is still getting opportunities to start for one reason or another, it couldn't be that bad.

The hope with Cahill is that his .329 BABIP and 56.8% ground-ball rate will be a better marriage for the Kansas City Royals defense than it was for the Padres. And maybe it will be -- the Royals have posted a 28.2 Defensive Runs Above Average rating (the second-best mark in baseball), while the Padres have posted a -27.9 mark in the same metric (the third-worst mark in baseball).

It hasn’t been great for Cahill through two starts with Kansas City, but with his ownership below 25%, it seems fair to say that the industry is sleeping on a guy who has posted a 25.3% strikeout rate this season. Caution is surely advised, but he should be owned in twice as many leagues as he is right now.