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Nicho's H2H points fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for pitchers in Week 2 (2025) -- April 7 - April 13. Free-agent pitchers to add in points leagues.
Welcome to Week 2 of our waiver wire pickups for starting pitchers in points leagues, RotoBallers! I get it; drafts are an exciting time for fantasy managers because you get to brag about your top sleepers and guys you feel strongly about for a breakout year. But I am here to tell you that leagues are won by in-season transactions, waiver wire pickups, and improving your team throughout the season.
It's like anything in life; you must work to be one percent better than you were the day before, and managing your fantasy team is the same. You must try to find a competitive edge, a buy-low or sell-high spot, and improve your team as the season progresses. In this article, I will focus on targeting starting pitchers in points leagues that are rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues.
Starting pitchers, in general, can be a high-risk, high-reward type of investment. A pitcher can start once per week and have a bad outing with negative points, whereas a good outing could be 10-15 points or more. I will try to help determine pitchers who have strong Week 2 matchups, carry high upside, and have the potential to stick around on your team for the long run. Keep following @RotoBallerMLB and me @NichoRoessler on X for more league-winning content. Best of luck this week, and let's swing for the fences!
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Dustin May, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
49% Rostered
I don't know how Dustin May is only rostered in 49 percent of Yahoo leagues, but if he is on your waiver wire, do your team a favor and pick him up. May has battled his fair share of injuries over the past three seasons. In 2022, it was his back and elbow; in 2023, his forearm; and in 2024, it was his elbow and esophagus. Still, all that put aside, May is the No. 5 starter on the best team in baseball, and not only will he produce a lot of wins, but he also has an elite whiff (85th percentile) and strikeout percentage (79th percentile), per Baseball Savant.
In points leagues, most standard scoring is that every strikeout a pitcher gets is worth two points (recording an out and a strikeout), so targeting guys with high whiff and strikeout percentages can usually accumulate a good outing for pitchers regardless of the win or loss (which is typically plus or minus five).
In his first outing of the 2025 season, May threw five scoreless innings, allowed one hit and three walks, and struck out six Atlanta Braves. May went toe-to-toe with last year's NL Cy Young Award winner, Chris Sale. Next for May is an outing on the road Monday against the Washington Nationals.
Dustin May, 96mph Sinker and 86 mph/3532 RPM Breaking Ball, Individual Pitches + Overlay.
Sinker= 20" arm side run
Breaking Ball=15" glove side breakGood Luck! 😳 pic.twitter.com/MwKVB7qsY7
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 2, 2025
May has elite upside due to his ability to miss bats, and it helps that he is backed behind a potent offense. If he's on your waiver wire, I'd use a top waiver priority or whatever FAAB is necessary to pick him up.
Brady Singer, SP, Cincinnati Reds
50% Rostered
Cincinnati Reds right-hander Brady Singer starts on the mound Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers and takes on the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday for Week 2. Singer was fantastic in his first start on March 31, throwing seven scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers, only allowing one hit and striking out eight batters, while walking away with the win.
During that start against the Rangers, Singer generated a 35 percent whiff rate and a 32 CSW percentage. He found himself leveraging his slider more than in years past when he was with the Kansas City Royals, and it produced fantastic results in his first start with the Reds.
Singer is tough to hit because his sinker moves in on right-handed batters while the slider moves away from them. This means he has two solid pitches moving in opposite directions that keep hitters off-balance.
Brady Singer, Wipeout 82mph Slider. 🌊
8th K pic.twitter.com/2lXPx8po7O
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 1, 2025
His start against the Pirates in Week 2 is a great matchup. Thus far in the young season, the Pirates rank in the bottom third of the league in the most important categories (AVG, HR, RBI, Runs). They also strike out at a 24.6 percent clip, which bodes well for Singer's success in the strikeout department. In addition to this success, Singer is an excellent target for fantasy managers to keep for the long haul.
If Singer is on your waiver wire, don't sit around and wait, because I promise you he will be gone soon. I'd use a top waiver priority or whatever FAAB is necessary to pick him up.
Reese Olson, SP, Detroit Tigers
31% Rostered
Detroit Tigers right-hander Reese Olson might not be as popular of an add as the two pitchers above, but hear me out on this one. In his first start, he faced the Los Angeles Dodgers and held his own against the best offense in baseball. Although he took the loss, he threw 93 pitches over 4 2/3 innings and had 10 whiffs on 30 CSW percentage.
He looked solid in the first four innings, and a fifth-inning, two-out, two-RBI double by Dodgers slugger Teoscar Hernandez ended his night. The bright side is that he pitches against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, and in Week 2, he will face the Minnesota Twins on Friday, who are currently the worst-hitting team in the MLB with a .180/.240/.294 line.
Reese Olson with a mixed bag to start his 2025
4.2 IP | 4 H | 4 ER | 2 BB | 5 K
10 whiffs on 93 pitches
30 CSW%
7 hard hit ballsHis stuff looked good, just a couple unlucky hits from the best offense in baseball.pic.twitter.com/n34JS7kDCs
— DataBase Hit (@DatabaseHit) March 30, 2025
Olson also pitches in the AL Central, which is expected to be one of baseball's worst, if not the worst, divisions. This bodes well for favorable matchups for Olson throughout the season.
I'd recommend spending 10-15 percent of your FAAB or a waiver priority to pick up the 25-year-old right-hander as a great stream in Week 2 and beyond.
Max Meyer, SP, Miami Marlins
24% Rostered
The Miami Marlins' 2020 first-round pick from Woodbury, Minnesota, is off to a strong start in 2025. He's now started two games and thrown 11 2/3 innings with a 3.09 ERA, a 2.49 FIP, and an incredible 11.57 K/9. Meyer is a must-add pitcher in my mind at this time.
In his last outing on Friday against the Atlanta Braves, he went six innings and allowed three earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts. He also generated 15 whiffs, with eight coming on his slider. He held the Braves hitters in check during their home opener, which can be a harsh environment for a young pitcher on the road.
Max Meyer's 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/zdcsrM9hEJ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 4, 2025
What intrigues me about Meyer is his Stuff+, a metric that evaluates a pitch's effectiveness based on velocity, movement, and spin rate. With a metric of 103 through two starts, this ranks Meyer right around pitchers like Justin Steele, Nathan Eovaldi, and Jack Flaherty, all names that fantasy managers would scramble to pick up if they happened to be on the waiver wire (they absolutely aren't).
Now I realize stuff isn't everything, but for a young pitcher pitching in an environment that has produced a lot of good pitchers (Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Jesus Luzardo) over the past few seasons, I'm willing to take a chance on Meyer that he stays healthy and has a solid season.
His next start is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday on the road against the New York Mets, which poses a tough matchup for him. However, I think Meyer has more value in the long run and is a decent streamer as far as Week 2 goes.
I'd recommend spending 10-15 percent of your FAAB or a waiver priority to pick up the 26-year-old right-hander as a solid long-term investment.
Honorable Mentions - Others To Prioritize
Below are pitchers I would recommend based on their environment, team structure, and ability to perform for your team in the long run. As we know, pitchers have had a high risk of injury over the last 10 years, so I would always recommend bolstering your bench slots with a majority of pitchers instead of bench hitters, especially in points leagues.
Tier 1: Team Streamers
Pitchers Who Could Stick Around, But We Need To See More From
- Jordan Hicks, SFG
- Cade Povich, BAL
- Kumar Rocker, TEX (Has a two-start week versus TBR and SEA)
- Richard Fitts, BOS
- Casey Mize, DET
- Simeon Woods Richardson, MIN
- Chase Dollander, COL (Got called up and is No. 24 on MLB top-100 prospects)
Tier 2: Plus Matchup Only
One And Done
-
Hayden Wesneski, HOU
- Michael Lorenzen, KCR
- Grant Holmes, ATL (Spencer Strider returning soon)
- Mitchell Parker, WSN
- Logan Allen, CLE
- Ben Lively, CLE
- Matthew Liberatore, STL
Tier 3: Desperation Tier
You've Probably Made Some Bad Choices Already
- Chris Paddack, MIN
- Griffin Canning, NYM
- Kyle Hendricks, LAA
- Patrick Corbin, TEX
- Bryce Elder, ATL
- Andre Pallante, STL
Tier 4: The Stashbox
Pitchers With Eventual Return Dates Who Are Better To Be Early Than Late On
- Bubba Chandler, PIT
- Zebby Matthews, MIN
- Hayden Birdsong, SFG
- Lucas Giolito, BOS
- Kutter Crawford, BOS
- Cody Bradford, TEX
- Tobias Myers, MIL
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