Eric Cross' Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups - Hitters and Pitchers (Week 25)

Eric Cross' top fantasy baseball waiver wire adds for Week 25 of 2025 (September 15 - September 21). His favorite free agent hitters and pitchers under 40% rostered.

It's hard to believe that we only have a little over two weeks left of the Major League Baseball regular season and the 2025 fantasy baseball season. If you're reading this article, you're either still in contention in your league(s) or simply love consuming fantasy baseball content. For those of you still chasing that money spot finish or league championship, let's finish the season strong!

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 were Kyle Teel, Jeremiah Jackson, Blaze Alexander, Caleb Durbin, Austin Hays, Ryan Weathers, and Kyle Bradish.

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Daylen Lile (OF - WAS)

37% Rostered on Yahoo

Very quietly, Daylen Lile has been putting together a solid season with the Washington Nationals. In 298 plate appearances overall, Lile is slashing .283/.331/.452 with 13 doubles, nine triples, five home runs, and eight steals. And over his last 12 games, Lile has eight extra-base hits, two home runs, a steal, 12 runs, eight RBI, and a .404/.451/.766 slash line in 51 plate appearances.

Many of Lile's metrics under the hood have been encouraging as well. Lile is running an above-average 86.7% zone and 81% overall contact rate while only striking out in 16.8% of his plate appearances. He's also a 90th percentile runner who has posted a 40.7% hard-hit rate and a 89.3 mph AVG EV. Those quality of contact metrics have been aided by a 43.4% Sweet Spot rate and a 20.8% Pull-Air rate.

Lile can do a little of everything, and is a worthwhile waiver wire target if you're in need of an outfielder for the final two weeks of the season.

Otto Kemp (1B/2B/3B - PHI)

5% Rostered on Yahoo

When Alec Bohm landed on the IL with shoulder inflammation earlier this week, the Philadelphia Phillies recalled Otto Kemp from Triple-A to man the hot corner. Kemp has jumped on the opportunity with seven hits, five runs scored, two home runs, and six RBI over his last four games. He should continue to receive the bulk of the playing time at third base until Bohm returns from the IL.

Otto Kemp is raking!

He ties the ballgame with his 3rd RBI of the night 💪 pic.twitter.com/eOkX7OmP9e

— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2025

While Kemp has dealt with some swing and miss issues this season in the Majors with a 34.6% whiff rate and 29.8% strikeout rate, he still has some other intriguing metrics under the hood. Kemp has an elite 94th percentile sprint speed along with a 12.7% barrel rate, 90.7 mph AVG EV, and a 45.5% hard-hit rate. He's also been hitting the ball at ideal angles with a 39.1% Sweet Spot rate and 18.2% Pull-Air rate.

While he's only going to have value until Bohm returns from the IL, Kemp is a solid short-term target this week and one you can plug in at up to three different spots depending on your league's eligibility thresholds.

Harrison Bader (OF - PHI)

25% Rostered on Yahoo

Another Phillies bat worth targeting this week is outfielder Harrison Bader. In 441 plate appearances this season, Bader is slashing a solid .284/.358/.471 with 16 home runs and 10 steals. And over his last 22 games, Bader has slashed a stellar .430/.477/.684 with nine doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI, and 18 runs scored. One of those three home runs led to the now-infamous "Phillies Karen" incident, which Bader and the Phillies made right after the game. Kudos, Harrison!

As usual, Bader has recorded a higher sprint speed, sitting in the 85th percentile this season, but the gains in the quality of contact department have been driving his overall uptick in production and career-best slash line. Bader's barrel rate has jumped from 6.4% last season to 11.6% this season, while his hard-hit rate has risen from 35.5% to 43.5%. Bader is also walking more this season and continues to post a near-elite Pull-Air rate of 23.9%.

Jake Burger (1B/3B - TEX)

36% Rostered on Yahoo

Welcome back to fantasy relevance, Jake Burger! Maybe next season we can avoid the whole "terrible in the first half, beastly in the second half" dance that you love doing and just be a reliable power bat all season? After slashing just .212/.245/.392 in his first 54 games through June 7, Burger has slashed .299/.333/.526 with eight home runs over his last 39 games. And over his last 15 games, that slash line is an impressive .370/.420/.739 with five home runs, 14 RBI, and only a 14% strikeout rate.

Burger Bomb 🍔💣

Jake Burger hammers this ball 434 FEET to put the @Rangers in front! pic.twitter.com/oG83YjAdy6

— MLB (@MLB) August 13, 2025

Since June 8, Burger has posted a 13.8% barrel rate and a 49.5% hard-hit rate along with a 19.4% strikeout rate, 86.9% zone contact rate, and a 73.4% overall contact rate. That will absolutely get the job done. I'm not sure why Burger is still available in nearly two-thirds of fantasy leagues, but this is an impactful corner infield power bat who has been hitting well for several weeks now.

Andrew Benintendi (OF - CHW)

10% Rostered on Yahoo

While the last half-decade hasn't been overly impressive from Andrew Benintendi, he's currently having one of the best seasons of his career. In 454 plate appearances, the outfielder formerly known as "Benny Biceps" here in Boston is slashing .246/.309/.435 with 19 home runs, 60 RBI, and 56 runs scored. With two more home runs over the final two weeks of the regular season, Benintendi will set a new career-high in home runs, and his .435 slugging percentage is the highest he's had in a season since 2021, when he was still with the Kansas City Royals.

Benintendi has been especially potent at the plate over the last three weeks, slashing .361/.403/.639 with nine runs scored, five home runs, and 13 RBI in 67 plate appearances. Overall, Benintendi's hard-hit rate is up 2.5% this season, and his barrel rate has jumped from 6.3% to a career-best 11%. He also has an elite 26.5% Pull-Air rate.

Now, something important to note is that Benintendi hasn't been playing much when the White Sox are facing a left-handed starter. However, the only left-handed starter the White Sox are projected to face in the upcoming week is Cade Povich on Wednesday.

Joey Cantillo (SP - CLE)

14% Rostered on Yahoo

If you follow me on Twitter/X, you might have seen my post on Friday afternoon about how there are four starting pitchers in baseball who have a whiff rate above 50% on one of their offerings, which they have thrown at least 200 times this season. Zack Wheeler, Freddy Peralta, and Logan Gilbert were three of the four names, to the surprise of nobody. But the fourth pitcher was Joey Cantillo, and his 51% whiff rate on his changeup.

There are only four starters with a whiff rate above 50% on a pitch this season (min 200 thrown)...

Zack Wheeler (Curveball): 54.7% Whiff
Logan Gilbert (Splitter): 51% Whiff
Joey Cantillo (Changeup): 51% Whiff 🎥
Freddy Peralta (Slider): 50.4% Whiffpic.twitter.com/AY5z4T2DY4

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) September 12, 2025

That changeup has been a beastly offering all season for Cantillo with a .177 BAA, .292 SLG allowed, and a .248 wOBA allowed to pair with that elite whiff rate. Out of Cantillo's 92 strikeouts this season, 40 have come on the changeup. His curveball has also been a decent offering for him, registering a .211 BAA and .228 SLG allowed.

Cantillo has really found his groove over his last four starts, in which he's allowed just 17 hits and three earned runs in 24.2 innings. He's lined up to face the Detroit Tigers on the road on Tuesday before finishing the season on the road in Minnesota and at home against Texas.

Parker Messick (SP - CLE)

35% Rostered on Yahoo

Parker Messick made his Major League debut for the Guardians in August and has made four total starts so far. Three of those four starts have resulted in a quality start, and Messick allowed just two earned runs combined in those three outings. Overall, he has posted a 1.93 ERA in his first 23.1 Major League innings.

The rookie left-hander doesn't blow anyone away with his 93 mph fastball, but he commands extremely well and pounds the strike zone. Messick has only walked three batters total in his first four starts for a pristine 3.1% walk rate. He's also allowed only three barrels, a 33.3% hard-hit rate, and has generated groundballs at a solid 48% clip.

If you're looking for a bunch of strikeouts, Messick probably isn't going to be that guy for you. But Messick has two decent matchups coming up against the Chicago White Sox this weekend and the Minnesota Twins next week, both of which have a wRC+ under 100 against left-handed pitchers this season.

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