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Mike's starting pitcher (SP) fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 7 of 2025 (May 12 - May 18). These are his top free-agent pitchers to add and stream.
Welcome, everyone, to our starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 7 of the 2025 season (May 12- May 18). 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.
This week, we will look at a variety of options for your fantasy squads. Every pitcher on this list will have flaws, but each one could help you in the right roster situation. Looking for a young pitcher with upside? Maybe try Gunnar Hoglund or AJ Smith-Shawver. Are you in the market for a boring veteran to stabilize the back end of your rotation, and maybe look for some ratio controls? Maybe Nick Martinez is for you.
The bottom part of your roster should be in some state of churn. Let's dive in and see what we might be able to find this week. There are always bargains to be had for the savvy buyer.
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Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Shallow Leagues
Recommendations for leagues of any size rostered between 30-50% on Yahoo!
AJ Smith-Shawver, Atlanta Braves (50% rostered)
Smith-Shawver has been added thousands of times this week, and is now rostered in 50% of Yahoo leagues. And it is easy to see why. This weekend, Smith-Shawver pitched into the sixth inning, scattering five hits and nabbing seven strikeouts. He has two wins in six starts to go with a tidy 2.76 ERA. Smith-Shawver should be rostered in far more leagues despite his less-than-stellar metrics.
Matthew Liberatore, St. Louis Cardinals (47% rostered)
Last week, I said that I would keep putting Liberatore in this article weekly until he was over the 50% threshold we require here. And here we are again. Liberatore has been pitching well, and what I love is that the K-BB rate is 20%. As with any pitcher on this list, there is a flaw, and his flaw is that he lacks the high strikeout potential. But his chase percentage and ground-ball percentage are both way above average, and he continues to be a top starter for St. Louis.
Brayan Bello, Boston Red Sox (34% rostered)
Bello was inefficient in his last start, surrendering five walks against only one strikeout while not surviving five innings last Thursday. Despite the low strikeout totals, Bello has posted two wins and a 2.01 ERA through four starts for the Boston Red Sox. Like we have said here frequently, each pitcher we see on the waiver wire is not perfect, but the question is, would Bello or someone else on this list be perfect for you?
Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds (35% rostered)
Abbott continues to be a bit of an enigma who outperforms his metrics. You can see below that Abbott has also changed his pitch mix this year, throwing his curveball and changeup more often, while relying less on the sweeper. And it's working. Abbott has made five starts, and in his last one, struck out eight hitters while giving up zero runs. The one drawback with Abbott is that he often can only throw five or six innings, so going deep in games is not his usual modus operandi. But the lefty can still be useful to fantasy teams right now. 
Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Deeper Leagues
Recommendations for leagues of any size rostered in less than 30% on Yahoo!
Gunnar Hoglund, Athletics (28% rostered)
The rookie has two major league starts under his belt, and both have been good ones. He has covered 11 innings while surrendering three earned runs for a 2.38 ERA and 10 strikeouts in those innings. Hoglund was a first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays out of Mississippi, who was traded to the Athletics in exchange for third baseman Matt Chapman. Hoglund looks like he could stick as the number-three starter for a resurgent Athletics team.
Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels (23% rostered)
Look at the incredible ground-ball percentages Soriano gets on his pitches over the last three seasons. He is in the 96th percentile at 62.8% this year, and while he walks too many batters, as evidenced by his 10.3% BB%, Soriano largely limits the damage against him. If you have pitchers in your roster who get strikeouts, Soriano can be a nice addition to the back end of a rotation like that.
Nick Martinez, Cincinnati Reds (23% rostered)
Martinez is an expert at pitching around trouble, and he did just that yesterday, scattering 10 hits and three runs but also gathering five strikeouts in a no-decision. That makes four consecutive starts in which he has given up three runs or fewer. Martinez continues to limit hard contact and make a start every fifth day for the Reds, all the while posting good results.
Ben Brown, Chicago Cubs (15% rostered)
I like the strikeout upside of Brown even though his results are not always terrific. In his last start, Brown covered five innings and gave up six hits and three runs, but also struck out nine hitters. He has a win in two May starts and has posted a 2.45 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over that time. Walks can be a bugaboo for Brown at times, but a steady job seems to be his if he continues to get decent results. Consider Brown if you are looking for some upside.
Other Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Options
- Tobias Myers, Milwaukee Brewers (rostered in 10% of leagues)
- Chad Patrick, Milwaukee Brewers (rostered in 8% of leagues)
- Sean Burke, Chicago White Sox (roster in 7% of leagues)
- Dean Kremer, Baltimore Orioles (rostered in 6% of leagues)
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!
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