Fake Baseball's Week 7 Weekly Waiver Wire & Pitcher Streaming Options (Fantasy Baseball 2025)
The best and only fantasy baseball waiver wire article you'll need to help win your matchup week in and week out
What a week it has been for Fake Baseball. I’ve worked on ramping up our content output starting this week, and this makes the fourth article of the week, along with two live streams answering subscriber questions, and another article prepped and ready to go on Saturday. When I started Fake Baseball, it was my mission to make sure I gave you guys the best content possible, and I feel like I’m finally being able to do that.
I say all of that as I sit here watching Devil May Cry on Netflix, enjoying a break from reality. One reality I don’t ever want to take a break from, though, is the one where I keep pumping out the best weekly waiver wire article out there. If you’re here for the first time, each week I highlight my two favorite waiver wire players for every position. I try to avoid the overly obvious names that everyone is suggesting and, instead, I dig deep and lay out the more widely available options that can help you both immediately and in the long run.
Some of my favorite guys I’ve been early on this season are Dillon Dingler, Jorge Polanco, Tyler Soderstrom, Casey Mize, and Pavin Smith. With any luck, we’ll continue that trend this week. I’ve already got my eye on a few guys hardly rostered that should put up some big numbers this coming week. Buckle up.
Friendly reminder that while free subscribers do get access to almost every article, paid subscribers get access two days early! To get a jump on the competition, becoming a paid subscriber is as low as only $5/month!
Catcher
Mitch Garver - Seattle Mariners
ESPN: 1% | Yahoo: 1% | CBS: 3% | Fantrax: 16%
A perfect storm is happening for Garver right now. Not only is he starting to play well, but Luke Raley has ended up on the IL for Seattle. This opens more at-bats for Garver, at least in the short term. He was completely written off after last season, but he’s now reached base in seven straight appearances, slashing .300/.440/.500 during that stretch. He’s always had tremendous power, it’s been his contact that’s struggled. That isn’t an issue right now and should be added now before everyone else finds out about his expanded role and his roster % jumps up.
Jose Trevino - Cincinnati Reds
ESPN: 5% | Yahoo: 3% | CBS: 6% | Fantrax: 14%
Keep in mind with this one that Tyler Stephenson could be activated by the Reds at any moment. He’s their de facto everyday catcher and has been on a rehab assignment. My thought process here is that Trevino has been productive enough; he should continue to get at-bats even once Stephenson gets back. Maybe not in an everyday capacity, but enough to make him an intriguing option in super deep leagues or leagues that start two catchers. If he’s available and you’re in need, the production is good enough to take a shot.
First Base
Ty France - Minnesota Twins
ESPN: 5% | Yahoo: 6% | CBS: 19% | Fantrax: 42%
The Mariners fan in me always hoped for the day I’d once again get to see the 2022 version of Ty France, and I think my wish is finally being granted. After going 3/5 on Thursday, he’s now slashing .281/.352/.421 and is a key part of the Twins lineup. The main reason I’m so excited for France right now, you may ask? It is his uncanny ability to get a hit when it counts. He’s hitting .326 with runners on base and .419 with RISP. He’s seemingly locked into that fourth and fifth spot in the lineup, so expect counting stats in bunches at least for the time being.
Rhys Hoskins - Milwaukee Brewers
ESPN: 11% | Yahoo: 35% | CBS: 59% | Fantrax: 78%
The power has been there for Hoskins this season, but he still doesn’t have much to show for it. Only three home runs despite a career high 47.1% hard hit rate. He’s walking more (15.3%), striking out less (19.8%), and has an OBP of almost .400. He’s a ticking time bomb of home run potential, and once those start to pop, so will his roster rate. He’s worth adding right now in all leagues of 12 teams or more and makes a great replacement for managers rostering Casas.
Second Base
Hyeseong Kim - Los Angeles Dodgers
ESPN: 2% | Yahoo: 9% | CBS: 11% | Fantrax: 50%
The reality of KBO players coming to the major leagues is that you never truly know what you’re going to get. They may come over and be Jung Hoo Lee and put up great numbers. They may come over and be Ji-Man Choi and be nothing more than a fun player to watch. With Kim starting the season in the minors for the Dodgers, it told me they wanted to be careful with his bat and make sure it was good to go. It was. He hit .252 with 14 XBH and 13 stolen bases in just 28 games. Strikeouts may plague him a bit, but the upside is exciting. I’m adding him in deeper leagues where he’s still available.
Santiago Espinal - Cincinnati Reds
ESPN: 1% | Yahoo: 1% | CBS: 2% | Fantrax: 9%
The Reds’ jack-of-all-trades has now found a way to make himself useful in fantasy as well. He’s already an intriguing option with his triple position eligibility. Now he’s found a way to take that intrigue a step further by being one of the best contact hitters in baseball to start the season. Especially as of late. In his last 31 plate appearances, he’s batting .444 with three doubles, four runs scored, and six RBI. He’s got a strikeout rate below 10% on the season, and the Reds love batting him at the top of the lineup. He won’t give you much for power, but he’s a great addition for most other categories as well as points leagues.
Third Base
Javier Baez - Detroit Tigers
ESPN: 7% | Yahoo: 16% | CBS: 18% | Fantrax: 35%
Baez popped up on my radar this spring training by showing both improved contact and plate discipline. I was admittedly hesitant to write him up, given his track record of atrocious swings that have become meme-quality bad. I’m no longer hesitant, though. The swing adjustments he made this offseason have put Baez back amongst the ranks of fantasy baseball starters. He’s swinging less while making the best contact of his career (74.3%). He’s not necessarily tearing the cover off of the ball, but he’s got the lowest soft contact of his career right now as well (10.4%). I think we’re seeing a version of Baez that contends for a top-15 at the position spot, which is something we haven’t seen from him in quite some time.
Santiago Espinal is my second favorite option at third base as well, so pretend this is me writing him up here for a second time as well. Add Espinal if you need a 3B, and Baez is gone.
Shortstop
JP Crawford - Seattle Mariners
ESPN: 8% | Yahoo: 11% | CBS: 25% | Fantrax: 49%
Say it with me…The Seattle Mariners are an elite offensive machine. You know who quite possibly the most overlooked part of that elite offensive machine is? Mr. JP Crawford himself. Gone are the days of him hitting leadoff, but that doesn’t matter anymore. In his last 13 games, he’s slashing .392/.456/.549 with a wRC+ of 200. He has two hits in eight of those 13 games. Four of them going for extra bases while also driving in 15. When he’s hot, he’s on fire, and right now I think Crawford is on fire. He has utility in every single league and should be rostered in way more leagues right now than he currently is.
I don’t like doing this twice in an article, BUT Javier Baez is such a good option, he’s actually my second option at shortstop as well. If you need a shortstop, add JP or Baez. Nobody else really jumps off the page right now.
Outfield
Andy Pages - Los Angeles Dodgers
ESPN: 26% | Yahoo: 51% | CBS: 60% | Fantrax: 75%
This is my weekly “He’s more rostered than I like for someone I add to this article, but he’s too good to ignore” portion of the article. Saying Pages has been on fire may actually still be an understatement. In his last 70 plate appearances, he’s batting .369 with an absurd 1.107 OPS. He’s doing everything, hitting home runs and also stealing bases, while limiting strikeouts to below 20%. He did this last season and cooled off to an unrosterable level, but right now he needs to be added and started in every league. Reap the rewards of the Dodgers playing him every day in that video game-esque lineup.
Eli White - Atlanta Braves
ESPN: 3% | Yahoo: 4% | CBS: 6% | Fantrax: 16%
If you’re looking for a fun short-term option that has long-term potential, then look no further than the unexpected Braves outfielder. For the season, he’s hitting .292 with a .909 OPS, but if you take even his short stint in 2024 into account, you’d see this isn’t necessarily out of the norm for him. He has 94 plate appearances combined in 2024 and 2025. In those 94 plate appearances, he has 11 XBH, five stolen bases, 23 runs scored, an 11% barrel rate, and is making 91.3% zone contact. His success is looking less like a fluke and more like something that can be sustained should he continue to get at-bats. His power potential is capped, but he can steal some bases and get on base at a good rate, making him worth an add in deep leagues or leagues where you start five outfielders.
Pitcher Streaming Options
I have a new article out on Thursdays for paid subscribers that covers my favorite streaming options at pitcher for the weekend slate of games each week. So, in these waiver wire/pitcher streaming articles I put out at the end of the week, I’m going to cover a few of my favorite pitching options from early in the week rather than just pointing out my one or two favorite two-start pitchers. Combined, the two articles should help you guys lock down those roster spots used to stream pitchers.
Cade Povich - Baltimore Orioles
vs Minnesota Twins
This year, like last year, the Minnesota Twins are absolutely atrocious against left-handed pitching. They’re hitting just .211 against them this season with a 26.8% strikeout rate (fourth worst in baseball) and only three home runs. Povich came into this season with improved “stuff”, and while his numbers haven’t really blown anyone away this year, his last two starts give reason for optimism. 7.2 innings of four-hit, one-run ball against Washington, followed by holding that vaunted Yankees offense to just three runs in 5.2 innings. When targeting pitchers to stream, the main focus should be finding the guys most likely to throw a quality start, and I’m not sure there’s a pitcher more likely to make a quality start early next week than Povich is.
Emerson Hancock - Seattle Mariners
at Athletics
Don’t look now, but Hancock has reeled off three straight starts that should make you all but forget about his atrocious season debut. Back-to-back quality starts against both the Angels and Red Sox, plus five innings of two-run ball against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark. He now gets an Athletics squad that can be vulnerable at times. Especially against ground ball dominant pitchers like Hancock. It may not be the prettiest start, but he should be efficient. Look for Hancock to cruise through six innings once again and give you a “we can live with that” type of start.
