Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Streamers: Roupp, Jones Headline Friday Waiver Wire Targets

Welcome to the second half of the MLB season! We are more than halfway through the season, as every team has played at least 94 games, but it's common parlance to determine the “first half” and “second half” by the All-Star break.

Only one division has more than a five-game gap between first and second place; the Dodgers are up by 11.5 in the NL West as they seem to be cruising to another division title. Hopefully, that means we are in store for an exciting second half that will bring tension and uncertainty through September, setting up another strong MLB playoff season.

Let's look at four starting pitchers in action on Friday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups. Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable starters. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.

Use FantasySP's waiver wire tool to find the players who are being added to fantasy teams most often!

Jared Jones, Pittsburgh Pirates @ Cleveland Guardians

Jones made his season debut at the end of May after missing all of 2025, and it has been a bit of a struggle while he works his way back. He is coming off two good starts, though, as he combined for 10 innings with just two hits and one run allowed in those outings with 14 strikeouts and two walks. Jones looked very good as a rookie in 2024, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see him continue to find success as he gets more outings under his belt after the long layoff.

Cleveland is one of our favorite targets right now, ranking in the bottom five in runs, hits, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS; they're just above that level in on-base percentage, putting all their rate stats among the worst in the league. The Guardians continued their woeful ways early in July, and there's no reason to expect big improvement until we see it over an extended period, leaving them as a common target for us.

Jones is a mid-level streamer. His strikeout work has been very good, giving him the upside of an even higher level, but Jones has also had a few rough outings in his short time back.

Anthony Kay, Chicago White Sox @ Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have hit the ball OK but have shown no power, sitting near the middle in doubles but in the bottom 10 in home runs. Toronto has also hit the fewest triples, which adds to their lack of power, though that stat generally isn't as telling as homers and doubles because every teams hits far fewer triples than they do the other two (the Jays have only hit 19 fewer triples than the first-place Marlins, while the disparity in home runs and doubles is closer to 60 between the top and bottom). Most importantly, Toronto ranks in the bottom five in runs scored, showing a consistent lack of production.

Kay's numbers are very middling, but rather than being in that range often, he mixed a very good May with a rough June. Like Jones, Kay has two decent July starts on his ledger, combining for 9 1/3 innings with five hits and three runs allowed. While his control has been fine, Kay is a below-average strikeout pitcher, leaving him with a lower ceiling than a guy like Jones.

Kay is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup is just OK, and Toronto doesn't strike out much, lowering Kay's ceiling even a little further. There's not much upside here.

Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals vs. San Diego Padres

Lugo started the season well but has been struggling since his final start of April, when he gave up seven runs and 14 hits against the Angels. From that game forward, Lugo has given up 55 runs (49 earned) in 73 1/3 innings, an ERA over 6.00. Lugo generally does well with walks, but his strikeout rate has fallen a little below average, lowering his fantasy value a bit. Lugo is a fine player to consider when the matchup is right, but there's plenty of risk.

The Padres are another of our favorite targets, ranking dead last in both runs and hits and in the bottom two in all four slash categories. There's not a single area where San Diego gets better than average, and their best box numbers are walks and strikeouts, where they sit in the middle. We will continue to target the Padres every day that we can, as they set a good floor for opposing pitchers.

Lugo is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup couldn't be much better, but Lugo hasn't been his best this season, and it's tough to expect a great performance on any given day. This is a fine spot for him that's worth considering.

Landen Roupp, San Francisco Giants @ Seattle Mariners

Seattle's offensive numbers are especially poor at home, where T-Mobile Park plays as maybe the best pitcher's park in baseball. When looking only at games that teams have played at their home fields, the Mariners rank in the bottom 10 in essentially every box stat, showing some power but not much else. Seattle also strikes out at a top-10 rate, setting a nice ceiling for opposing pitchers.

Roupp has been a little better than average in most areas, walking a few too many batters but also holding a well-above-average strikeout rate and doing well limiting hits and home runs. His ERA was under 4.00 each of the past two seasons, so his 4.27 number this season is a career worst, though still at least an average number. That tick up has helped lead to his fantasy ownership falling close to 50%, putting him in streamer range when he previously was owned in too many leagues. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Roupp perform better in the second half and return to the land of the must-own in fantasy.

Roupp is a mid-to-high-level streamer. The matchup (and location) is on his side, and Roupp is coming off a sparkling performance against the Blue Jays, when he allowed just three hits and one run in eight innings before the break. Roupp might not be available for long if you are able to grab him now.

Friday's Streamer Rankings

1. Landen Roupp, SF
2. Jared Jones, PIT
3. Seth Lugo, KC
4. Anthony Kay, CWS