Fantasy Baseball: Week 5 Waiver Wire Starting Pitchers

For fantasy teams looking to build pitching depth, multiple arms are positioned to increase in value by moving into the starting rotation soon.

Hayden Birdsong, SF

Hayden Birdsong (3IP 1H 0R 2BB 4K) once again coming up huge in relief for the @SFGiants in their victory over the Brewers. His changeup has won the RP Pitch of the Day once again. pic.twitter.com/WHOcpja9pJ
— Baseball Prospectus (@baseballpro) April 22, 2025

Landon Roupp beat out Birdsong for the fifth spot in the Giants’ starting rotation out of spring training. After five starts, Roupp allowed 13 runs, 39 baserunners, and three home runs over 25.2 innings with 31 strikeouts.

Birdsong looks poised to regain a starting job based on his early success (1.38 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 13 strikeouts over 13.0 innings). San Francisco pushed him to 49 pitches in his last outing, putting him two appearances out from pitching five innings. He should be added to shallow leagues this week. His fallback is replacing the struggling Jordan Hicks (17 runs, 32 baserunners, and 13 strikeouts over his last 16 innings).

Kyle Harrison, SF

Harrison's left arm progressed over his last two outings at AAA (two runs, 11 baserunners, and 15 strikeouts over 10.0 innings). His fastball (94.2 mph) was a season high in his last start. Player to follow in deep formats, in case San Francisco makes two changes in their starting rotation.

AJ Smith-Shawver, ATL

Based on his last AAA appearance (4/23), the Braves should call up Smith-Shawver for double starts (@COL and LAD) next week, which isn’t ideal. He has a 4.70 ERA, 1.739 WHIP, and 30 strikeouts over 23.0 innings over his five starts this year between AAA and the majors.

Bryce Elder continues to prove he doesn’t belong in the majors, and my preseason thoughts on Grant Holmes (4.50 ERA, 17 walks, and five home runs over 19.1 innings) are coming true.

Smith-Shawver makes more sense in deep formats, but I would pitch him this week.

Andrew Painter, PHI

Andrew Painter was overpowering Low-A hitters yesterday in his third start of the season.

43 pitches, 32 strikes in 3 IP. Struck out 3 and walked 0. Fastball averaged 97.2 MPH, topped at 99.4. Slider has been nasty. pic.twitter.com/cdi9qs1bH4
— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) April 25, 2025

It’s getting closer to adding Painter as a buy-and-hold. Over his last two appearances at A-Ball, he tossed six shutout innings with five hits, no walks, and seven strikeouts. The Phillies pushed him to 43 pitches in his last outing, with a peak fastball of 99.0 mph.

JP Sears, ATH

Sears should be available in many 12-team leagues this week for a fantasy manager chasing double starts. He faces Texas and Miami on the road. Over his three starts on the road, Sears allowed five runs, 18 baserunners, and 16 strikeouts over 19.0 innings.

Jake Irvin, WAS

Over his last three starts, Irvin has been impressive (three runs, 13 baserunners, and two home runs over 20.2 innings with 19 strikeouts. The velocity on all his pitches is down this year, which seems to be against his progress. His next start (@PHI) is one to avoid, but Irvin faces Cleveland at home the following week. Ride him while he’s hot.

Tony Gonsolin, LAD

In his last outing at AAA, Gonsolin upped his pitch count to 79, leading to five innings of work. He allowed two runs, six hits, and two home runs with three strikeouts. The Dodgers have him lined up to face Miami (home and away) over his first two major league starts.

Reid Detmers, LAA

nasty 3 pitch Sequence by Reid Detmers to end the inning and get his second K #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/ciuGfpAbai
— Lucasparmenter23 (@Lucasparmenter0) April 20, 2025

The Angels gave Detmers two innings or more of work over his last three outings, leading to one run, five hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings. His peak pitch count over this span was 38 pitches.

LA should release Kyle Hendricks based on his stats (17 runs, 33 baserunners, and four home runs over 23.0 innings), creating a window for Detmers to move into the starting rotation. The buy-and-hold period starts for him this week in deep formats.