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Eric Cross' fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups before Week 1 of the 2025 season. His top free agent hitters and pitchers rostered in under 40% of leagues.
Just like that, the 2025 Major League Baseball regular season is upon us. Some of you might still have a draft or two remaining this week, but many of you reading this have already finished some of your drafts and could be looking to make a move already. I'm here today with my top fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups -- after the draft and before Week 1 -- for both hitters and pitchers.
Unfortunately, we've already had plenty of notable injuries this spring including several over the last week to names like Shane McClanahan, Vinnie Pasquantino, and others. So even though the domestic opening day is still a few days away, I'm sure many of you out there could already be looking to make a move to replace an injured player or grab a player who is trending up following a good spring showing.
The players below are all under 40% rostered on Yahoo Leagues. Some of them might already be rostered in your leagues, but if they're available, I'd recommend giving them a look to see if they could be good fits for your fantasy teams.
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Kristian Campbell, 2B, Boston Red Sox
22% rostered
I'm surprised he wasn't drafted in more leagues, but Kristian Campbell is available in over 75% of Yahoo leagues right now. And yes, he hasn't set the league on fire this spring, but the fantasy appeal is quite high for Campbell this season. And guess what, he's trending as the opening day second baseman for the Red Sox as he's been starting consistently with the other starters this spring, including lately.
In 2024, Campbell ascended to elite prospect status thanks to a massive offensive season where he slashed .330/.439/.558 with 20 home runs and 24 steals in 115 games. Campbell had a 79.2% contact rate, 14.3% walk rate, and a 19.9% strikeout rate last season with a 46.2% hard-hit rate in Triple-A. His all-around blend of contact, approach, power, and speed makes him one of 2025 top fantasy rookie targets and he needs to be rostered in more leagues.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B, Reds
38% rostered
It certainly wasn't an ideal 2024 season for Christian Encarnacion-Strand who slashed just .190/.220/.293 in 123 plate appearances after an exciting debut in 2023, but there's still intrigue here for fantasy purposes in 2025. Encarnacion-Strand has slashed .271/.321/.521 with three doubles and three home runs in 53 plate appearances this spring including a batted ball of 117.7 mph.
CES bombs are so back pic.twitter.com/GifTHhWb6C
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) February 26, 2025
While last season was a letdown, I don't believe his 2023 season was a fluke when he had a 48.4% hard-hit rate and 10.5% barrel rate while smashing 13 home runs in just 241 plate appearances. Sure, the aggressive nature will limit the AVG to a degree but Encarnacion-Strand has actually run decent zone contact rates, including an 85.2% mark last season. He appears to be locked into the Reds' opening day lineup and should see time between first base and DH this season.
Wilyer Abreu, OF, Boston Red Sox
9% rostered
Due to the illness Wilyer Abreu had early in camp which forced him to miss multiple weeks, his ADP slid past the Top 300 picks this spring. Hee wasn't even drafted in most Yahoo leagues as his roster rate there is only 9%. But now that Abreu is healthy and slated to open the season as one of Boston's starting outfielders, he's a strong waiver wire target for me this week.
Outside of his stellar defense, Abreu had a decent offensive season in 2024 as a rookie, slashing .253/.322/.459 with 15 home runs and eight steals in 447 plate appearances. Both his zone and overall contact rates were below league average, but Abreu's Quality of Contact metrics stood out with an 11.1% barrel rate, 91.6 mph AVG EV, and a 50.5% hard-hit rate. Even if he's only a .250 hitter, Abreu could flirt with a 25-homer season in 2025 while adding 5-10 steals as well.
Jacob Wilson, SS, Athletics
6% rostered
I'll be the first to admit that I didn't envision Jacob Wilson hitting four home runs this spring including two in one game. Power has never been a notable part of Wilson's game and is the main reason why the fantasy appeal has never been overly high. But if Wilson is able to provide at least a little power, he could provide sneaky value for fantasy teams this season.
| Season | PA | Contact | SwStr | K |
| 2023 (MiLB) | 111 | 88.3% | 5.9% | 9.9% |
| 2024 (MiLB) | 226 | 92.9% | 3.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024 (MLB) | 103 | 87.8% | 5.7% | 9.7% |
The area of Wilson's profile which has always stood out is his ability to make contact at an elite clip while barely ever striking out. Even in the Majors last season Wilson had an 87.8% contact rate while once again keeping his strikeout rate under 10%. Wilson should be a good source of average and could realistically hit over .300 this season with 10-12 home runs. It's not a sexy profile, but there could be sneaky value here.
Hayden Birdsong, SP, San Francisco Giants
23% rostered
After a roller-coaster rookie season in 2024, Hayden Birdsong looked dominant during spring training this year. In 12 innings, Birdsong allowed just one earned run with zero walks and 18 strikeouts. He's now in line to join the San Francisco rotation on opening day and could provide Top 100 SP value this season.
The one area that was consistent for Birdsong last season was his ability to miss bats at a high clip. In his 72 innings at the Major League level, Birdsong recorded a 27.9% strikeout rate and all three of his secondary offerings had a whiff rate above 30% with his slider leading the way at 48.7%. But the downside was the 13.7% walk rate and 50% hard-hit rate allowed.
We know the strikeouts will be there and Birdsong looked much better commanding his arsenal and throwing strikes this spring. Honestly, I don't think there will be a major gap in the value provided by Hayden Birdsong and someone like Spencer Arrighetti this season assuming Birdsong gets enough innings.
Reese Olson, SP, Detroit Tigers
26% rostered
How in the world is Reese Olson only 26% rostered in Yahoo leagues? You all should do your part and go add Olson right now to push that roster rate to a more acceptable level. In case you missed my bold predictions article the other day, I said that Reese Olson would finish as a top-20 starting pitcher this season. That wasn't a bold prediction for the sake of bold predictions, there was plenty of reasoning behind it and I've been targeting Olson everywhere I can entering 2025.
In 22 starts last season, Olson posted a solid 3.53 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and a 7.1% walk rate, but the 21.7% strikeout rate was a bit underwhelming. However, Olson was one of just six pitchers to have two offerings with a whiff rate above 40% and he had an impressive 28.7% whiff rate overall. Olson's slider had a .143 BAA and 45.5% whiff rate while his changeup had a .222 BAA and 42.9% whiff rate.
That strikeout rate is bound to tick up this season and I think Olson is going to take a notable step forward overall. If he was on my league's waiver wire right now, I'd be knocking people over to go add him.
Jeffrey Springs, SP, Athletics
18% rostered
Jeffrey Springs was a hot name after his 2022 breakout season but injuries have limited the southpaw to a combined 10 starts over the last two seasons. Springs is back to full health this spring and has 20 strikeouts in 18.2 innings so far with eight coming in his start on Saturday in four innings against the Brewers.
It's hard to take much from his 2023 and 2024 seasons as the sample sizes were so small, but Springs was still missing bats at a high clip when on the mound and had a 26.2% strikeout rate compared to just a 5.6% walk rate back in his 2022 breakout season. Maybe we don't get the 2022 Springs back, but his strikeout upside makes him worthy of a flier in redraft leagues to open the season. And if it doesn't pan out, you move on to the next name.
Mike Clevinger, RP, Chicago White Sox
14% rostered
While this White Sox team is once again in shambles, we have a sneaky closer candidate emerging from the Windy City with former starter Mike Clevinger. The long-haired right-hander was limited to only four starts in 2024 and had his season end early due to neck surgery, but now Clevinger appears to be the leader in the clubhouse for the closer role and has pitched well this spring, tossing five shutout innings with seven strikeouts.
What has been really interesting with Clevinger this spring is the higher velocity on his changeup and cutter. Clevinger's changeup averaged 86 mph in both 2023 and 2024 and his cutter was in the 84-85 mph range. Both are now averaging above 89 mph while his 4-seamer has seen a slight uptick as well. Given that there aren't many other options in that White Sox bullpen, Clevinger could grad and hold the role this season and provide RP3 value for fantasy teams.
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