The fantasy baseball waiver wire is among the most impactful forms of transaction in fantasy sports. Fantasy baseball leagues are won and lost by players who were picked up after breaking out, dropped after slumping, or left untouched as untapped potential.
With the All-Star break quickly approaching, there are a number of elite pitchers - including sneaky-good starters - and a couple of surprising hitters available in most leagues. Here are the four best fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups, targets, or adds - however you want to refer to them - for Week 12:
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Targets for Week 12
Alejandro Kirk
(C, Toronto)
Percent Rostered (Fantrax): 44%
Hitting for a high average - at least relative to his position - has never been an issue for Kirk. Among catchers with at least 1,500 plate appearances since 2021, Kirk’s .267 batting average trails only that of William Contreras, who boasts a .272 mark.
Kirk is the only qualified player in baseball this season with at least a 90th-percentile exit velocity and strikeout rate. While his swing isn’t built for home runs, his added pop this season has catapulted his contact-first approach to a whole new level.
According to Baseball Savant, his .313 expected batting average (xBA) ranks in the 97th percentile of qualified batters. It's driven driven by a significant power increase; among qualified batters, Kirk’s 15.2% jump in hard-hit rate ranks second only behind Gavin Sheets of the San Diego Padres.
Is it sustainable? Kirk’s underlying metrics, as well as his track record, indicate as such. In addition to boosting his bat speed by more than 2 MPH from last season, the Blue Jays catcher has the flattest swing in baseball. That has enabled him to mash fastballs, which he’s hitting .380 against this year.
Kirk is an especially valuable add for fantasy baseball managers in rotisserie leagues, where batting average is heavily weighted. Even in points leagues, his bat-to-ball skills justify a roster spot.
Randy Rodriguez
(RP, San Francisco)
Percent Rostered: 51%
Randy Rodriguez employs two pitches, both of which are elite offerings. Although his fastball-slider combination is par for the course as far as a reliever’s pitch mix, the quality of both offerings has led to immense success in 2025.
Even in his debut season last year, Rodriguez showed telltale signs of a budding relief ace. His 4.30 ERA was offset by a 3.19 expected ERA (xERA), and opponents hit just .253 against his fastball and .181 against his slider.
Rodriguez’s fastball grades out at 120 according to Stuff+, a pitch-quality metric hosted at Fangraphs. That makes it the 12th-best fastball among qualified relievers. A “rising” effect, paired with its 97.2 MPH average velocity, makes it nearly impossible to hit. Batters are whiffing at a 28.4% clip against the offering, which ranks 29th out of 215 qualified pitchers.
His slider, which averages 86 MPH, is perhaps even nastier. With 3.9 more inches of break than is typical, it has coaxed a 37.8% whiff rate out of hitters and limited them to a .153 batting average.
The Giants reliever combines his electric stuff with pinpoint command. Rodriguez has the third-highest strikeout rate (40.2%) among qualified relievers and the fourth-lowest walk rate (2.9%) among the same group.
So far in 2025, Rodriguez has a 0.64 ERA in 28.1 innings pitched. There are just 10 seasons in recorded MLB history where a reliever threw at least 25 innings with a 0.65 ERA or lower. And only three relievers (min. 40 IP) have ever finished the year with a strikeout rate as high and a walk rate as low as Rodriguez’s this season.
His elite ratios, electric stuff, and regular role in high-leverage situations make him a great pickup for fantasy baseball managers looking for consistent strikeout totals and the occasional hold or save.
Mike Tauchman
(OF, Chicago)
Percent Rostered: 34%
Mike Tauchman has had a very good start to the 2025 season. While playing for a White Sox team living in the cellar of the American League Central, the outfielder has posted a .278/.410/.547 slash line in 78 plate appearances.
Although his average exit velocity has stayed relatively constant - 89 MPH last season vs. 89.6 MPH this season - Tauchman is pulling the ball in the air at a much higher rate than ever before. His previous career-high in Pull Air% came last year, when 12.2% of his batted balls fell into said category. This year, that mark has more than doubled to 28.6%.
Tauchman facilitated that change by opening up his stance. Last year, Tauchman placed his front foot three degrees to the right of his back foot. This year, his front foot is nine degrees to the right, tripling how open his stance is.
That adjustment has allowed him to pull the ball at a career-high 42.9% clip. While he could still revert back to his 2024 output, Tauchman’s seen enough success from real adjustments to be worth a roster spot in deep fantasy baseball leagues.
Stephen Kolek
(SP, San Diego)
Percent Rostered: 34%
Stephen Kolek doesn’t jump off the page as an underrated starting pitcher. His xERA of 3.46 is higher than his actual 3.26 mark, and his average exit velocity of 91.9 MPH ranks in the 6th percentile among qualified big-league arms.
Despite being hit hard this season, Kolek has posted 38.2 innings pitched over seven starts - averaging over five and a half innings per outing - and has a respectable 3.26 ERA. That’s because he gets a lot of ground balls, which is the key to his fantasy value. While his exit velocity metrics indicate he will regress soon, his ability to keep the ball on the ground and limit damage while working deep into games is a hidden asset.
According to Stuff+, Kolek throws the 8th-best sinker among starting pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched. It accounts for just over one-quarter of his arsenal and is a major reason for Kolek’s 95th-percentile ground ball rate.
Because he gets so many ground balls and has a 56th-percentile walk rate, Kolek has worked deep into games and limited damage all year long. His ERA should remain below 4.00 over a solid body of work this season, making him a great waiver wire pickup for fantasy baseball managers.The waiver wire is teeming with talent - if you know where to find it.
Check back next week for our Week 13 fantasy baseball waiver wire breakdown.