Eric Cross' Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups - Hitters and Pitchers (Week 24)

Eric Cross' top fantasy baseball waiver wire adds for Week 24 of 2025 (September 8 - September 14). His favorite free agent hitters and pitchers under 40% rostered.

After a week off when I was travelling, I'm back with another set of waiver wire recommendations here on RotoBaller. We're in the final few weeks of the regular season, but the waiver wire is just as important now as it was in April and May, especially for those of you in the fantasy playoffs or pushing for a Roto championship. Sometimes, difficult cuts and decisions need to be made in September, but do what you need to do to bring home that championship.

The players below are all under 40 percent rostered in Yahoo! leagues. Some of them might already be rostered in your leagues, but if they're available, I'd recommend considering them to see if they could be good fits for your fantasy teams.

Last week's recommendations (two weeks ago) were Samuel Basallo, Brooks Lee, Brett Baty, Miguel Andujar, Ryan Bergert, and Cam Schlittler.

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Kyle Teel (C - CHW)

21% Rostered on Yahoo

Colson Montgomery isn't the only rookie hitting well in the Windy City right now. Over his last 16 games, Teel is slashing a stellar .390/.486/.644 with 12 runs, three doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI, and nearly as many walks (10) as strikeouts (11). But it's not like Teel wasn't hitting well before this hot stretch, as he's rocking a .292 AVG and .390 OBP this season. For rookies with at least 200 plate appearances, Teel ranks 4th in AVG, 3rd in OBP, 3rd in wRC+, 3rd in wOBA, and 3rd in walk rate.

K-T-BOOM! 💥 pic.twitter.com/0WbIT4qvfK

— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) September 5, 2025

A strong approach has been there for Teel throughout his rookie season as he's currently running a 23.5% chase rate, 12.2% walk rate, and a 22.3% strikeout rate. He also has solid quality of contact metrics with a 9.6% barrel rate, 89.1 mph AVG EV, and a 39% hard-hit rate with an ideal 24% Pull-Air rate. On top of that, Teel is hitting .265 or above against all three pitch types, which is encouraging. If you're in need of a catcher, I'd recommend riding the hot hand of Teel.

Jeremiah Jackson (OF - BAL)

34% Rostered on Yahoo

It feels like a lifetime ago that  Jackson was a promising prospect in the Los Angeles Angels organization, but now he's a 25-year-old rookie with the Baltimore Orioles who is finally getting a shot to contribute at the Major League level, seven years after being drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft. In his last 21 games for Baltimore, Jackson has smacked four doubles and four home runs with 14 runs scored, 16 RBI, and a .341/.371/.553 slash line.

Jackson has been posting decent quality of contact metrics in the Majors so far, recording an 8.3% barrel rate, 90.9 mph AVG EV, and 47.6% hard-hit rate, and has kept his strikeout rate in check at 22.6%. However, Jackson is on the aggressive side with a 4.3% walk rate and 36.4% chase rate, but that hasn't impacted him so far.

Part of me wonders if he'll revert to being a bench bat long-term once pitchers figure him out, but Jackson is worth a look in the short-term while he's hitting well and starting regularly in the upper half of Baltimore's lineup.

Blaze Alexander (2B/3B/SS - ARI)

23% Rostered on Yahoo

It's been a difficult season for Arizona, but a sneaky bright spot has been the emergence of super-utility man Alexander, who has been providing value while starting regularly between second base, third base, and center field recently. After a bit of a cold streak offensively in mid to late-August, Alexander has been heating up over the last week and a half, slashing .310/.444/.655 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, a steal, six RBI, and eight runs scored over his last nine games.

Blaze Alexander and the @Dbacks strike first at Dodger Stadium 🚀 pic.twitter.com/L9p96CZq8L

— MLB (@MLB) August 30, 2025

There are some encouraging metrics in Alexander's profile when you pop the hood. For the season, Alexander has a 13.3% barrel rate, 90.9 mph AVG EV, and a 44.8% hard-hit rate while only chasing at a 22.6% clip. However, below-average contact rates and a 31.9% strikeout rate help drive his inconsistency week to week.

With that said, September is often about riding the hot hand, and Alexander is certainly hot right now. It also helps that you can plug him in at three infield spots already, and the season-ending injury to Lourdes Gurriel means that outfield eligibility is coming soon for Alexander as well.

Caleb Durbin (2B/3B/SS - MIL)

15% Rostered on Yahoo

You're going to sense a theme in this week's waiver wire report, and for all of my waiver wire reports this month. It's not always about the sexy pickups. It's about finding players who are producing and can help your fantasy team(s) in one way or another. Durbin is one of those players. Over his last 12 games, Durbin has picked up four doubles, three home runs, and two steals with a .381/.435/.690 slash line. He's also only struck out in four of his 46 plate appearances during this stretch.

As was the case with Alexander, Durbin is a player you can currently plug in at second base, third base, or shortstop, which is valuable to managers in both weekly formats and daily lineup formats as well. Even as a rookie, Durbin has established himself as one of the best blends of contact and approach in baseball with a 90.3% zone contact rate, 87% overall contact rate. and only a 9.6% strikeout rate. He's also a solid runner who will pop a home run here and there thanks to an ideal 20.1% Pull-Air rate.

Durbin is worth a look while he is hitting well and starting regularly at the hot corner for the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.

Austin Hays (OF - CIN)

10% Rostered on Yahoo

While he's been limited to 365 plate appearances this season, Hays has actually been a steaky fantasy contributor with a .262/.315/.455 slash line, 13 home runs, 60 RBI, six steals, and 54 runs scored. That's a 650 plate appearance pace of 23 home runs, 107 RBI, 10 steals, and 96 runs scored. And over his last 20 games, Hays is slashing .297/.325/.514 with five doubles, three home runs, 16 RBI, and 10 runs scored. Yet he's still available in 90% of Yahoo leagues.

Hays has been starting regularly in the cleanup spot for Cincinnati, right behind TJ Friedl, Noelvi Marte, and Elly De La Cruz. The lineup behind him has been suspect, but that's a solid trio to be hitting behind on a regular basis. If you need an outfielder to help with your championship push, Hays is my favorite target under 40% rostered this week, and one who is likely available on most waiver wires right now.

Ryan Weathers (SP - MIA)

7% Rostered on Yahoo

Welcome back, Weathers. After missing the last three months with a lat injury, Weathers is slated to return to Miami's rotation next week, likely on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals. In his five starts before suffering the lat injury, Weathers was pitching to the tune of a 3.28 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with a 7.8% walk rate and 22.5% strikeout rate across 24.2 innings.

Ryan Weathers with a scoreless 4.2 IP tonight in what should be his final tune-up before rejoining the Marlins pic.twitter.com/zDuStAeEe7

— Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) September 5, 2025

There are never ideal times for a player to get hurt, but the Weathers injury was a real bummer as he was gaining momentum after missing the start of the season with a left forearm strain. Weathers' velocity has ticked up this season from 95.9 mph to 97.2 mph, which was part of the reason for the excitement surrounding him back in spring training. In addition to the increased velocity, Weather has also recorded a whiff rate above 40% on both his changeup (41.9%) and slider (44.4%), although he doesn't use the slider much.

There's only time for him to make three or four starts before the end of the season, but it's not often that a potential high-impact starting pitcher is just sitting on your waiver wire and available in over 90% of Yahoo leagues.

Kyle Bradish (SP - BAL)

35% Rostered on Yahoo

Another impact arm who is still under 40% rostered this week is Baltimore's Bradish. I was at Bradish's 2025 debut last week when he struck out 10 over six innings of two-run ball in Camden Yards against my Boston Red Sox. You could tell he was shaking off some rust, but Bradish was still highly impressive in that outing. His second outing this week wasn't quite as rosy, but Bradish only allowed two earned runs in four innings while striking out five.

Bradish's velocity has fully returned this season, as he's averaging 95 mph on his sinker and 94.7 mph on his 4-seamer after averaging 95.3 mph and 94.5 mph, respectively, last season. Bradish has also been missing plenty of bats with both his curveball (63.6%) and slider (50%) in his two outings since returning from the IL.

If Bradish is still available in your leagues, I'd highly recommend scooping him up, as there usually aren't many pitchers with this level of potential impact available to pick up this late in the season.

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