Though it's the middle of the major-league schedule, we are already heading into high-pressure weeks in points leagues. In most cases, the playoffs will begin in mid to late-August, leaving about six regular-season matchups on the cards.
Last week, we looked at some hitters projected for an interesting second half, and this week we'll shift our focus to pitchers that could boost a final playoff push and a deep playoff run. Some are likely to be available on the waiver wire, while others will be trade targets depending on league size. We'll start with the most rostered and progress to deeper league options.
Find out who to target the rest of the way with RotoWire's MLB Rest of Season Projections!
Yusei Kikuchi 
Kikuchi survived the first two months of the season, but he didn't live up to expectations because of a decreased strikeout rate and inflated walk rate. For points league-specific purposes, he recorded a quality start in only four of 11 outings and had only one win in that span.
His results have changed significantly since the start of June. Kikuchi has recorded at least seven strikeouts in each of his last four starts and has three quality starts and two wins in his last five outings. The most notable change has been with his pitch mix, as he's thrown fewer fastballs and sliders while increasing his curveball usage. Kikuchi has a history of tweaking his pitch mix, but interestingly lessened his curveball usage when he had his
Though it's the middle of the major-league schedule, we are already heading into high-pressure weeks in points leagues. In most cases, the playoffs will begin in mid to late-August, leaving about six regular-season matchups on the cards.
Last week, we looked at some hitters projected for an interesting second half, and this week we'll shift our focus to pitchers that could boost a final playoff push and a deep playoff run. Some are likely to be available on the waiver wire, while others will be trade targets depending on league size. We'll start with the most rostered and progress to deeper league options.
Find out who to target the rest of the way with RotoWire's MLB Rest of Season Projections!
Yusei Kikuchi
Kikuchi survived the first two months of the season, but he didn't live up to expectations because of a decreased strikeout rate and inflated walk rate. For points league-specific purposes, he recorded a quality start in only four of 11 outings and had only one win in that span.
His results have changed significantly since the start of June. Kikuchi has recorded at least seven strikeouts in each of his last four starts and has three quality starts and two wins in his last five outings. The most notable change has been with his pitch mix, as he's thrown fewer fastballs and sliders while increasing his curveball usage. Kikuchi has a history of tweaking his pitch mix, but interestingly lessened his curveball usage when he had his most success last season. The constant tinkering and inconsistent results based on changes to his arsenal will create some concern about the longevity of his current surge, but Kikuchi's ability to generate strikeouts the last three seasons is enough of a track record to generate interest. He should still be a buy-low option in trades based on his start to the year.
Ryan Pepiot 
Pepiot has been a popular name in fantasy analysis lately due to a surge in strikeouts, but the reason he could be in for a big second half is because of his schedule. The Rays have already played 52 games at home, where Pepiot has allowed 1.64 HR/9 at home with a .315 wOBA as opposed to marks of 0.59 and .299 on the road, respectively. The majority of his remaining starts should come on the road, so we could see some improved ratios.
Taj Bradley is an honorable mention for the same reason. He's been disappointing this season but has been far more effective away from George Steinbrenner Field. Bradley is still 74 percent rostered on CBS, but he should be fairly easy to acquire in trades.
Jacob Lopez 
Lopez was one of the hottest pickups in fantasy leagues before a turbulent start against the Rays on Monday. He began the season as a traditional reliever, then worked as a bulk reliever and is now a traditional starter. He's handled every challenge well and had turned in three consecutive quality starts with a 24:5 K:BB prior to Monday's outing.
Lopez is rostered in most CBS leagues but is widely available in Yahoo, so he's likely to only be attainable in shallow leagues. His lack of track record makes it difficult to decide whether his hot performance will tail off or continue, but he will need to cover innings for an Athletics team that lacks pitching. Like Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick below, Lopez could become more interesting in points formats if he returns to a bulk relief role due to the roster flexibility he could create with RP eligibility.
Edward Cabrera 
It would be fair to have given up on Cabrera, because most fantasy managers have likely rostered him at some point in the last couple of seasons only to be let down. Control looks like it will be a sustained problem for him, but he has made incremental improvement in the area by posting career-low walk rates (10.0 BB%, 3.79 BB/9) in 2025.
Those gains are substantiated by career-best marks in zone percentage and first-pitch strike rate, both of which are above-average relative to all pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched this season. Just about any metric shows that Cabrera can generate strikeouts and has a solid groundball rate to limit home runs, so there are signs that this is a true breakout. He may be rostered in deeper formats, but it shouldn't take much to pick him up and see if this is finally the year he can put it all together.
Michael Soroka 
The biggest positive for Soroka is that he's healthy and handling a full workload for the first time since 2019, as he's already just 20 innings shy of his highest innings mark in that span. He's also introduced a slurve this season, a pitch has become a key part of his arsenal and has generated a lot of swings and misses.
Soroka should be on the wire in most leagues and is likely to remain there for the foreseeable future because of a bloated overall ERA and because he pitches in relative anonymity for the Nationals. However, he's maintained a 3.49 ERA in the last 30 days and backed that with a 32.1 K% and 24.1 K-BB%. Because he is a trade candidate, Soroka's fantasy value could be in flux, but he is a viable starter for the foreseeable future.
Quinn Priester/Chad Patrick 
Priester and Patrick have trended in opposite directions in terms of surface results, with Priester surging to a 1.98 ERA across the last 30 days and 27.1 innings. Meanwhile, Patrick has a 4.85 ERA in that span. Both have shown remarkable skills however, posting respective 22 and 21.4 K-BB% during that time frame. Patrick has shown the ability to deliver most of the season, but his recent struggles leave his roster rate around 65 percent on CBS Sports. Priester, meanwhile, has begun to rely on a newly introduced cutter more consistently while also adding velocity to his arsenal, suggesting he has the potential for staying power and to finally deliver on his prospect pedigree.
Milwaukee has tinkered with its rotation all season, so it's not a lock that either of these arms will remain in a traditional starting role the rest of the way. However, that could prove to be even more beneficial in certain formats, as Patrick and Priester may complete bulk innings while also helping manipulate league settings by either becoming RP eligible or not counting against a start limit.
