2025 Fantasy Baseball: Drew Rasmussen Profile, Preview, Predictions

Drew Rasmussen has an ERA under 3.00 over the past four seasons. Unfortunately, he pitched over 76.0 innings in the majors once in his career. Length of his starts could be an issue, but elite innings should not.

Drew Rasmussen's 3Ks in the 4th.

7Ks thru 4. pic.twitter.com/3U4CZSrXlr
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 4, 2023

SP – Drew Rasmussen, TB (ADP – 228.0)

2025 Drew Rasmussen Pitching Stats Profile | Shawn Childs

Rasmussen made 28 starts for the Rays in 2022, leading to an edge in ERA (2.84) and WHIP (1.041) over 146.0 innings. He was a strike-throwing machine (1.9 walks per nine), but his strikeout rate (7.6) was lower than expected. He missed three weeks in June with a hamstring issue. After the All-Star break, Rasmussen went 6-4 with a 2.45 ERA, 10 walks, and 63 strikeouts over 73.1 innings.

After a great start to the season in 2023 (4-2 with a 2.62 ERA, 1.052 WHIP, and 47 strikeouts over 44.2 innings), Rasmussen blew out his right elbow in mid-May. He choose to have an internal brace procedure instead of TJ surgery in the middle of July.

His first step back on a pitching mound came on July 21st last season at AAA. The Rays gave him five rehab outings (seven runs, 11 hits, and two home runs over 7.1 innings with 11 strikeouts) before calling him up a week into August. Tampa gave Rasmussen 16 short-innings appearances (two innings or fewer in all games while never throwing more than 37 pitches). His success (2.83 ERA, 1.081 WHIP, and 35 strikeouts over 28.2 innings) aligned with his previous two years with Tampa.

Rasmussen had a first-pitch strike rate higher than 73% in 2023 and 2024 while showing growth in strikeouts (28% - 10.1 per nine).

His average fastball (97.5) had an uptick due to shorter-inning stints. He worked off a four-seamer (.167 BAA), sinker (.316 BAA), and slider (.194 BAA) combination of pitches. Rasmussen continues to improve his groundball rate (53.3), and he didn’t allow a home run last season.

Fantasy Outlook: Over four years with the Rays, Rasmussen went 19-11 with a 2.72 ERA, 1.031 WHIP, and 255 strikeouts over 278.1 innings. His recent success, ability to throw strikes, and improved strikeout rate will shine brightly for his ADP, but he must prove himself through the third time through the batting order while only pitching 80.2 innings over the past two seasons.

Call me interested, but his arm will move up in drafts in March, leading to a different comparison with better arms. In 2022 and 2023, Rasmussen averaged 5.3 innings over 36 starts.

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