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Mike's starting pitcher (SP) fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 4 of 2026 (April 20 - April 26). These are his top free-agent pitchers to add and stream.
Welcome, everyone, to our starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 4 of the 2026 season (April 20- April 26). In this weekly piece, we search for starting pitchers rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues. For deeper leagues, we try to find pitchers rostered in less than 30 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
I love looking at the waiver wire. Can you find a guy who really fits your team? I know we preach a message of patience often with our teams, but it should start to become clearer as we move through the season's third week what you might need to add.
Let's see what is on the waiver wire this week. This week is another mix of young guys getting runway and boring veterans who could help you. At the end of the article, you will see players rostered in less than 15% of leagues who could help your squad.
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Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Recommendations for leagues of any size rostered between 30-50% on Yahoo!
Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates (44% rostered)
Keller is the veteran of the overhauled, homegrown staff in Pittsburgh. People love to dump on Keller, but he is useful to many fantasy teams. He is an effective starter and seems enlivened being the leader of the Pittsburgh staff.
Keller has a win in four starts and a 2.86 ERA and 1.23 WHIP thus far. He does not post huge strikeout numbers anymore, with only 14 in 22 innings. Yet who amongst us does not need help with ratio controls in the pitching-crazed society of fantasy baseball? Consider Keller.
Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves (41% rostered)
Lopez continues to get batters out in Atlanta, even if we scratch our heads at how he is doing it. He has a win in four starts, posting a 2.18 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and 19 strikeouts in 19 innings. Lopez added some octane back to his fastball in his recent starts, where he was struggling earlier to hit 90 MPH.
You could do worse than adding a guy who has an assured job and is looking to recapture some of that 2024 magic, when he went 8-5 with a sparkling 1.99 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, and 148 strikeouts in 135 innings.
Steven Matz, Tampa Bay Rays (39% rostered)
Matz is back in the rotation since joining Tampa Bay, and he has been good thus far. He has three wins in four starts, with a 3.80 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, and a strikeout per inning (21 punchouts in 21 innings). Matz has been rock solid in Tampa, and we should look at how he is doing this.
Matz has slightly altered his pitch mix. See the data below. Moved into a starting role, he is using the sinker less and throwing his changeup more actively, as well as the slider. using a four-pitch mix to keep hitters off balance. How long will it work? Time will tell. Grab him now.
Noah Schultz, Chicago White Sox (38% rostered)
My good friend Martin Sekulki pointed this out after Schultz's first inning in his first major league start this week: "the full Noah Schultz profile in one inning." Martin is right; we got a couple of walks, a beautiful sequence to strike out a hitter, and a home run.
Below, you can see what his mix was for his first start. There is something to build on here. The fastball velocity is elite, and the sweeper shows signs of being a plus pitch for him. The potential for strikeouts is high here, but so is the potential for volatility as he learns his way.
The issue with rostering Schultz long-term is that the Sox are sure to massage his innings; he has never thrown more than 88 in his development. Look for Schultz to make four or five starts and then return to Triple-A Charlotte.
Ryan Weathers, New York Yankees (36% rostered)
Weathers was a draft-day darling in late-March drafts, but has struggled with inefficiency early in his season. How quickly we forget our draft preparations and trusting our own processes; Weathers is all over the waiver wire in most except the deepest leagues.
Yet Weathers offers some intrigue, especially in deeper leagues. He gets hurt by the home run at times, but in his last two starts, he has struck out seven and 10 hitters, respectively. The swing-and-miss here is what intrigues me; a 31.1% K% and 34.2% chase rate show he can improve quickly.
Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Recommendations for leagues of any size rostered in less than 30% on Yahoo!
Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels (30% rostered)
Detmers continues to be my kryptonite in fantasy baseball because I believe in the arm talent and pure stuff despite often shaky results. Some of the issues with him over the years have been a lack of role clarity. His last start: seven innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts. It's there.
Look at his Statcast data below to see my feelings in real time. The stuff is excellent, but he gives up too much hard contact and doesn't get enough ground ball outs, which leads to volatility in his profile. Yet my feeling is that the Angels should just roll the dice and give him 30 starts.
Eduardo Rodriguez, Arizona Diamondbacks (28% rostered)
Rodriguez is almost always on the waiver wire, but he can help you in the right situation, especially if you like to use streamers at the end of your rotation. E-Rod will go through a couple of stretches annually where he shoves, and others where he is unusable. Currently, he is usable.
Rodriguez will not help much with strikeouts, but he has pitched at least five innings in all four of his starts this year, although his last start against Baltimore was a dud. He gets the Chicago White Sox next week. Good matchup to stream him.
Aaron Civale, Athletics (23% rostered)
Civale is often on the waiver wire because of a lack of trust, but he can be useful in the right roster construction. He pitched poorly against the Chicago White Sox on Friday, but his home park is tough to pitch in; give him a mulligan as he faces Seattle this coming week.
Mick Abel, Minnesota Twins (21% rostered)
Abel has put two starts together now that have been good ones. Take a look below. He has 16 strikeouts in his last two appearances, including 10 Boston Red Sox in his last one. Note, there were no walks in that start as well. He could be ready to take the next step.
There is a risk tolerance factor at play here as well. Civale is rostered at almost the same percentage, and the decision between the two shows your aversion or embracing of risk. I would love to have Abel in more places and let it ride.
Max Meyer, Miami Marlins (13% rostered)
I am still in on Meyer. I think more fantasy players will become more comfortable with adding Meyer as he builds up his repertoire and his stamina in his coming starts. There is a pedigree here that he could embody at any time. I am betting he comes into it this year.
Other Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Options
Every week, we will give you four or five other lower-rostered pitchers you could also consider adding from the waiver wire in your league.
- Luis Severino, Athletics (14% rostered)
- Matthew Liberatore, St. Louis Cardinals (14% rostered)
- Michael McGreevy, St. Louis Cardinals (14% rostered)
- Javier Assad, Chicago Cubs (6% rostered)
Happy hunting for starting pitchers this weekend! If you have questions, you can always message me on X @mdrc0508. You can even tell me you hate these picks. Remember that fantasy baseball is supposed to be fun above everything. Enjoy it!
More Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Advice
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