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 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
Matthew Liberatore (St. Louis Cardinals)
41% Owned
After spending almost all of 2024 coming out of the bullpen, we didn’t really know what to expect from Liberatore as a starter in 2025. On the surface, it appears to be an up-and-down start to the season, but the underlying numbers tell a different story. Through three starts, Liberatore has gone at least six innings in each start with an xFIP (2.53) that is nearly a run and a half better than his ERA(3.93). More impressive is the 18 strikeouts and just one walk given up, backed up by an 11.4% swinging strike rate. Looking at the Stuff+, the fastball has gotten more effective in each outing (76, 97, 123) while he sits with a 106 Stuff+, 104 Location+, and an overall 109 pitching+. His most effective pitch has been the slider, which he throws 26% of the time and has a Stuff+ of 115 and a K rate of 36.4%.
He will face the Mets and Braves on the road in his next two starts, and while that appears to be a tough schedule, both have struck out over 24% of the time against southpaw pitching. Definitely worth an add in all league types.
Luis L. Ortiz (Cleveland Guardians)
45% Owned
Ortiz is a name that was talked about a lot leading up to draft season as a late-round sleeper. He started 2024 in the bullpen for the Pirates and finished the year starting 14 straight while posting a decent 3.35 ERA. For fantasy, he was mostly irrelevant with a 19% K rate and 94 Stuff+ in those starts, but he has looked much better in 2025. He was hit hard in his first start in San Diego, giving up seven earned runs, but has since given up just eight hits and four earned runs with a 13:2 strikeout to walk rate over his last 11.2 innings over two starts.
What I like to see the most is the massive improvement in Stuff+ across his pitching arsenal. In 2024, his four-seam fastball was his best pitch at 100 Stuff+, and so far this year, four of his five pitches are at 102 Stuff+ or better. His next start comes against a Pirates team that ranks dead last in wOBA(.255) and wRC+(61) on the season.
Ben Brown (Chicago Cubs)
56% Owned
He falls just above the 50% threshold, but that number has actually been trending down, and I feel he is worth mentioning here. With Justin Steele done for the season, the rest of the Cubs rotation is going to have to shoulder a lot of the load if they want to continue the push for the ultimate goal at the end of the season. That includes 25-year-old Ben Brown. He will attempt ot take the next step in his second season after an impressive debut in 2024, where he posted a 3.58 ERA, 3.63 xFIP, and 29% K rate. His overall Stuff+ of 100 didn’t jump off the page, but what did was his knuckle-curve, which had a 125 Stuff+. So far in 2025, he has posted five punchouts in each appearance(3 starts), and while the overall Stuff+ is sitting at just 93 and well below-average, his knuckle-curve is still excellent at 10,8 producing a 31% K rate and 22% swinging strike rate.
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.
