The long journey from draft prep, to mock drafts, to the draft itself has come and gone. It is now time to take that focus and place it on in-season management, as it plays a huge part in coming out on top in your fantasy baseball leagues. This early in the season, with smaller sample sizes, I normally only start making adjustments to my hitters if there is an injury concern. The opposite is true when it comes to pitching, as there is so much value in getting ahead of things early in the season and putting your team in a better position as summer rolls around.
During spring training, I wrote an article about some advanced pitching metrics concentrating mostly on Stuff+ from a fantasy perspective. This is because the data becomes relevant just 80 pitches into the season, which allows us to identify trends that can point us to a breakout, sustained success, or even a reliever ready to take over a closer role. In this weekly article, I will be analysing the available pitchers on the waiver in my Fantrax leagues and providing insight on what role they could play for your fantasy baseball team. For context, I will be looking at pitchers who are less than 50% owned in Fantrax leagues. Let’s get started.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Pitchers
Kyle Freeland (Colorado Rockies)
37% Rostered
Considering the lack of run support, it has been a good start to the season for Freeland who has a quality start in each of his first two appearances. The thing that stands out the most over those two starts is the 10 strikeouts and zero walks allowed. The overall Stuff+ is just 98 at the moment, but his large pitch arsenal definitely plays into that. The good news is that his four-seam fastball has a 108 Stuff+ and his top out pitches, the slider and knuckle curve, have a Stuff+ of 102 and 123 with K rates of 36% and 30% respectively.
He is currently only 37% owned on FanTrax and I would consider him a top pitching add in deeper leagues and a streaming option in shallower leagues. This week, he also gives us two starts, beginning with the home matchup against the Brewers, who have the most at-bats against lefties thus far and rank outside the Top 20 in wRC+(67) and wOBA(.259), and have also struck out at a 27% rate in the split. He then goes on the road to a top pitching park but a very tough matchup against the Padres. If he does well in one or both of those matchups, he will no longer be on most waiver wires. Get ahead of it and pick him up now.
Jose Alvarado (Philadelphia Phillies)
49% Owned
Early in the season, there are a lot of closer situations that are fluid giving us an opportunity to capitalize on guys who weren’t drafted but could potentially take over the closer role. The Phillies’ closer situation is on my radar early in the season, as Jordan Romano blew his first save chance and more recently was used in the 8th inning against the Rockies on Thursday, while it was Alvarado getting the save in the 9th. It was, by no means, a dominant performance from Alvarado, as he gave up three hits and a run but did end up striking out the side.
Through four appearances, Alvarado has been primarily a two-pitch pitcher with a cutter(29%) and sinker(60%). In terms of Stuff+, the cutter has been slightly above-average(107 Stuff+) while the sinker(128 Stuff+) has been very nasty, producing a 44% K rate.
If he gets another save opportunity over Romano, we can fully expect to see that roster% rise by a lot. If you have an injury or another closer not performing, Alvarado should be considered in most leagues. If your league counts holds, his value is even higher.
Davis Martin (Chicago White Sox)
22% Owned
There are always a couple of huge surprises to start every season, and one glaring one in 2025 is the early results from the White Sox pitching staff. Overall, they are tied for the 7th best ERA, and the rotation has been even better, posting a 2.13 ERA(5th best). They are a young rebuilding franchise and Davis Martin has the opportunity to be a core piece in that. He put together a quality start in his first start of the season against the Angels, allowing just four hits and two unearned runs. It was a bit disappointing seeing just two strikeouts but there is some hope as all three of the slider(102), curveball(108), and changeup(115) were above average when looking at the Stuff+ metric. He has shown big-time strikeout upside all through the minors, so all things considered, I like the potential upside he has in 2025.
At just 22% owned in FanTrax leagues, he comes cheap and should be considered in deep leagues where there are very few options at this point.
Who are your favorite shortstop ADP values this season? Drop some names in the comments below. For more of the great fantasy baseball rankings and analysis you’ve come to expect from FantraxHQ, check out our full 2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit! We’re here for you all the way up until Opening Day and then on into your championship run.
