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Nicho's H2H points fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for pitchers in Week 10 (June 2 - June 8). Free-agent pitchers to add in points leagues.
As we approach June, the baseball season is nearly two months in, and we have sufficient data to determine how we should manage our team for the remainder of the season, including cutting ties with players who haven't yet shown improvement, and targeting the waiver wire for players with the potential to reach league-winning capabilities. In this weekly column, I discuss four starting pitchers in points leagues owned in less than 50 percent of leagues, according to Yahoo. Although they are not high-end SP1s or SP2s, they offer enough upside in points leagues to make them worth rostering and providing depth to your rotation.
Last week, we featured Ryan Weathers and Dustin May, who both had strong outings in Week 9 and are still owned in less than 50 percent of leagues. If they are still available, help your team out and pick them up. Additionally, Hayden Birdsong is a strong addition for the long term.
Keep following @RotoBallerMLB and me, @NichoRoessler, on X to stay updated with the latest content. You can always message me with your fantasy baseball questions; I'm happy to provide input! Bookmark this page if you want to look back at any of my weekly recommendations or other RotoBallers' recommendations for MLB streamers to stay ahead of other teams in your league. Best of luck this week, and let's keep swinging for the fences!
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Jack Leiter, SP - Texas Rangers
34% Rostered
The Texas Rangers' second overall pick in 2021 is starting to find some consistent success at the MLB level in 2025. In nine games started and 46 2/3 innings pitched, he owns a solid 3.66 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He ranks in the 88th percentile in pitching run value and 91st percentile in fastball run value, which are both pitch-by-pitch metrics that tell you how well a pitcher is preventing runs compared to the league average, in all situations (runners on base or not).
He was excellent on Friday night against an outstanding St. Louis Cardinals offense and perhaps an underrated offense (eighth in runs scored). Logging 5 2/3 innings, allowing only three hits, two walks, and punching out six batters. Next up, he gets the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. While I don't love the matchup at that field, I do think Leiter deserves a deeper look and could be rostered for the long haul. Below, I'll discuss why.
Jack Leiter vs. Cardinals:
⛽️ 5 2/3 innings
⛽️ 0 runs allowed
⛽️ 6 strikeouts https://t.co/u3mbMXxi0Z pic.twitter.com/iFPjs0fOWF— Victory+ (@victoryplustv) May 31, 2025
Leiter has excellent stuff. He has an 111 Stuff+, which is mainly featured by his four-seamer, which ranks in the 89th percentile in fastball velocity. It averages 17.5 inches of rise to go with 8.3 inches of tail, both above league average. Additionally, opponents are batting .148 on it and slugging .145. Nobody is having success on Leiter's best and most thrown pitch.
His slider and sinker are okay. They both have a low BA against (.189 and .205, respectively), but they have much higher xBA (.246/.336), and don't generate a ton of whiffs or a crazy amount of movement compared to the league average. I believe his second-best pitch is his changeup (throws it 12.9% of the time), which has 13.6 inches of tail and 1.8 inches of rise. Although opponents are hitting .278 off it, the xBA is .251, which shows signs of progression on that pitch.
There's no doubt that Leiter still has a lot of room to grow, as his Baseball Savant percentile rankings chart shows more blue than red, but he's starting to figure it out. If he can continue to develop as a pitcher in his first full season in the big leagues and refine some of his offspeed pitches, he offers a high ceiling with great stuff.
Recommendation: He is still a young, raw pitcher working to figure it out at the MLB level, but after four solid starts in a row, he is starting to come together and can provide a ton of upside. Although I am not particularly fond of his Week 10 matchup, I would still want him on my roster to see if he can continue to progress and provide my team with value down the stretch as a reliable SP4/SP5. I'd recommend about 10% of your FAAB.
Cade Horton, SP - Chicago Cubs
26% Rostered
Chicago Cubs young right-hander Cade Horton has settled in nicely at the MLB level through 20 1/3 innings pitched. He made his MLB debut on May 10 against the New York Mets and made four starts in May with a collective 3.98 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. What is very encouraging is that, thus far, he owns a 4.7 percent walk rate (91st percentile), and although his strikeout numbers are modest (18.6 percent), he is generating a 31.7 percent chase rate and a 26.1 percent whiff rate.
Additionally, in his 2024 MiLB season, he had a 28.0 percent strikeout rate, and in his first six starts in Triple-A to begin the 2025 season, he had a 30 percent strikeout rate. I know the adjustment to MLB and stiffer competition is a factor in that decrease in his strikeout rate, but I foresee him getting his strikeout rate somewhere around 23 or 24 percent by season's end.
Horton is a great long-term play for fantasy managers, as the Cubs' pitching staff is going through some injuries to the top of their rotation, with a season-ending injury to Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga(leg) on the injured list. Horton has a clear path to the rotation as long as he continues to pitch well enough at the MLB level, and he is backed by a potent offense that can help him rack up some wins along the way.
Diving Deeper into his arsenal, Horton features a 95.5 mph four-seamer (73rd percentile), a sweeper (.261 opponent BA), a curveball (.247 opponent BA), and a changeup (.200 opponent BA). His offspeed has been generating the most whiffs thus far, 31.9 percent on his sweeper, 35 percent on his curveball, and 75 percent on his changeup. The swing-and-miss stuff is there, presenting him with the upside and strikeout ceiling mentioned above.
Cade Horton, Nasty 86mph Sweeper. 😨 pic.twitter.com/0Hfr7hrB8u
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 28, 2025
By all metrics, through Horton's first four starts, he is a league-average pitcher, but someone with his profile (35th-ranked player in the MLB top 100 list) should continue to get better as he goes. I mean, he's only made four starts and is already a "league-average" pitcher! I would be looking to add him to my roster immediately.
Recommendation: Horton has a clear path to the rotation and is a young arm with a lot of upside. In Week 10, he gets the Washington Nationals, who rank 12th overall in runs scored. Decent matchup, but Horton is on this list for his upside and the long haul. Plan to spend 10-15% of your FAAB to add him to your team.
Zebby Matthews, SP - Minnesota Twins
20% Rostered
Minnesota Twins' young right-hander Zebby Matthews has been sitting in our stashbox for weeks, and after his call-up on May 18, he has now made three starts, has tossed 14 innings, and owns a 6.93 ERA. Wait, so why are we talking about a guy with a 6.93 ERA?
Well, his Stuff is special. Similar to discussing Leiter above, he has a great fastball, which ranks in the 86th percentile. In addition, he has shown elite swing and miss stuff to the tune of a 33.6 strikeout rate, 31.3 percent chase rate, and a 28.9 percent whiff rate. His advanced stats are also good, as his xERA sits at 3.60 while his SIERA sits at 2.74, showcasing some severe signs of positive regression.
Zebby Matthews still has some work to do but had an encouraging start today!
4 IP 5 H 2 R 1 BB 9 K
14 whiffs and 32 CSW%How we feeling?
pic.twitter.com/YxJx2lyYDx— Andrew DeCeglie (@Andrew_FBB) May 24, 2025
I realize his three starts are a small sample size, but when looking to identify waiver wire pickups, we have to weigh what a player has done for me lately and their upside. In Matthews' case, it's the high ceiling he provides. For the time being, Matthews seems to have an okay grip on the fifth spot in the rotation, so if he falters for a few starts in a row, the Twins may send him back down and recall Simeon Woods Richardson or David Festa.
For that same reason, Matthews should continue to be locked in and bring his best stuff every five days when he toes the rubber. Matthews primarily throws his fastball and slider, as evidenced by his use of these pitches 48.8% and 26.4% of the time, respectively.
He mixes in his cutter (15.9%) but needs to work on his changeup (he throws it only 4.5% of the time) and a pitch that works arm-side and in on righties and away from lefties. Right now, all of his pitches work right to left, outside of his fastball, which rises 17.1 inches and has 9.9 inches of arm side tail.
Recommendation: Matthews has shown some elite upside with his swing and miss capabilities, but is at risk of being sent down if he stumbles a few times. Week 10 matchup at Sutter Health Park is less than ideal, but if he can get through that tough environment, he lines up to take on the lowly Texas Rangers at home in a smash spot. I would advise spending only about 5-10% of your FAAB, and if he can stay in the rotation, he could be an excellent long-term addition.
Landen Roupp, SP - San Francisco Giants
18% Rostered
Giants' right-hander Landen Roupp has put together a nice season thus far, after primarily throwing out of the bullpen in 2024. He owns a 3.54 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 22.6 strikeout percentage, and a 48.5 groundball rate. Additionally, his advanced metrics support the cause, as evident by his 3.40 xERA, 3.65 xFIP, and 3.82 SIERA.
With Birdsong waiting in the wings, early on it seemed likely that he would replace Roupp, but Jordan Hicks stumbled lately while Roupp was getting better, and the giants replaced Hicks in the rotation and not Roupp a few weeks back.
Roupp was excellent in May, with a 1.74 ERA in five starts, logging 26 innings. He is showing improvement from his April ERA, which was 5.10. In addition to pitching in one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks (Oracle Park), per Baseball Savant, he is leveraging one of the most dominant pitches in the game, his curveball.
Roupp primarily features two pitches: his curveball (40.5% of the time) and his sinker (39.5% of the time). He is holding opponents to a .184 BA against his curveball, and while his sinker has room for improvement (.351 BA against), it is an above-average pitch in terms of movement with 18.6 inches of arm-side tail and 3.8 inches of rise. His curveball generates an elite 42.4 percent whiff rate, and is well above league average with 18.6 inches of break and 7.1 inches of drop.
Landen Roupp, Wicked Back-to-Back Curveballs. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/ecfhC6X6Oi
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 30, 2025
He also has a decent changeup, with 1.5 inches of drop and 17.1 inches of tail to offset his sinker, and when he throws it (12.9 percent of the time), he is holding opponents to a .200 BA. If he can feature that more, especially against left-handed hitters, I only imagine that will help unlock more of his potential. The one downfall for Roupp thus far is that he is not working deep into games, but that could just be the Giants slow playing it, as this is his first season as a starting pitcher in the big leagues.
Recommendation: Roupp seems to have a strong hold in a good rotation, a pitcher-friendly ballpark, and a decent offense. His strikeout upside provides a very high ceiling for him, and if he can start to log more innings and work deeper into games, you'll be glad you picked him up. In Week 10, he gets the San Diego Padres, which is a tough matchup, but Roupp provides more substantial long-term value, making him worth 10-15% of your FAAB.
Honorable Mentions - Others To Prioritize
I understand that deeper leagues may not have the players listed above available, so check out the list below for pitchers to add to your watch list or stream this week based on their matchups (Tier 2).
Tier 1: Team Streamers
Pitchers Who Could Stick Around, But We Need to See More Consistency From or Improved Underlying Numbers
- Tony Gonsolin, LAD
- Brayan Bello, BOS
- Lucas Giolito, BOS
- Edward Cabrera, MIA
- Will Warren, NYY
- Kyle Harrison, SFG (similar to Birdsong, he is replacing Justin Verlander's spot in the rotation after his injury)
- Clayton Kershaw, LAD
- Gunnar Hoglund, ATH
- Nick Martinez, CIN
- Tyler Anderson, LAA
- Jose Soriano, LAA
- Michael Soroka, WSN (he added a slurve to his arsenal and it's paying dividends)
Tier 2: Plus Matchup Only
Great matchups in Week 10 (Picking on teams in the bottom 5th in runs scored)
- Richard Fitts, BOS (two-start week)
- Max Meyer, MIA (faces COL at home)
- Cal Quantrill, MIA (faces COL at home)
- Lance McCullers Jr., HOU (faces PIT)
- Mitchell Parker, WSN (faces TEX)
- Trevor Williams, WSN (faces TEX)
- Andre Pallante, STL (faces KCR)
- Miles Mikolas, STL (faces KCR)
- Adrian Houser, CWS (faces KCR)
Tier 3: Desperation Tier
You've Probably Made Some Bad Choices Already
- Kyle Freeland, COL
- Ryan Feltner, COL
- German Marquez, COL
- Charlie Morton, BAL
- Antonio Senzatela, COL
- Sean Burke, CWS
- Jonathan Cannon, CWS
- Bryse Wilson, CWS
Tier 4: The Stashbox
If you can stash these players on your IL or NA spot, I recommend doing so as soon as possible.
- Bubba Chandler, PIT
- Brandon Woodruff, MIL
- Jacob Misiorowski, MIL
- Eury Perez, MIA
-
Noah Cameron, KCR
- Logan Henderson, MIL (optioned to Triple-A but has been awesome in his handful of starts at the MLB level)
- Justin Verlander, SFG
- Aaron Civale, MIL
- Luis Gil, NYY
- Andrew Painter, PHI (Made Triple-A debut on May 8)
- Max Scherzer, TOR
- Sean Manaea, NYM
- Spencer Arrighetti, HOU
- Kutter Crawford, BOS
- Yu Darvish, SDP
- Max Scherzer, TOR
- Shane Bieber, CLE
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