Top fantasy baseball relief pitcher waiver pickups for Week 25

The air is starting to get a bit crisper (well, in the north at least). The real-life and fantasy trade deadlines have come and gone. September is almost upon us. The marathon of the 2023 MLB season has become a sprint to the finish, and right now is winning time for those of you lucky enough to still be in contention in your fantasy baseball leagues. With precious few weeks to shore up holes and make up ground in the standings, smart adds become even more important: Hit on an under-the-radar free agent, and fantasy hardware awaits; miss, and you’ll spend the winter wondering what if.

Luckily, our weekly waiver wire recommendations are here to help, with position-by-position looks are players you should consider snagging off the waiver wire. Next up: relief pitcher.

Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 25 relief pitcher targets

Trevor May, RP, Oakland Athletics

Roster percentage: 6.7%

Far be it from me to recommend really anything about the 2023 A’s, but May has quietly stabilized what was a highly flammable bullpen situation — with two wins, 12 saves, a 1.72 ERA and 15 scoreless appearances over his last 16. Will Oakland give him too many more save opportunities this season? Probably not, but these are desperate times if you need to make up some ground in the standings, and May is locked into the ninth inning while also helping smooth out your ratios a bit.

Hunter Harvey, RP, Washington Nationals

Roster percentage: 4.0%

I simply refuse to trust Kyle Finnegan — he’s clearly the less-talented of the Nats’ pair of late-inning righties, and he’s given up at least one run in five of his last nine appearances. Harvey, meanwhile, has been awesome, with just a single earned run allowed over his last 21 appearances. There’s simply no argument for Finnegan continuing to get the ninth over the former top prospect, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Harvey get the next save opportunity the Nationals generate. If you’re going fishing late in the season, he’s probably the best bet among guys who don’t currently have a closer’s role to call their own.

Robert Stephenson, RP, Tampa Bay Rays

Roster percentage: 2.0%

Stephenson likely won’t dethrone Pete Fairbanks as the Rays’ primary closer, but setup man Jason Adam remains on the IL, and Tampa mixes and matches more than most teams in the ninth. Plus, more to the point, the righty has been on a heater of late.

Stephenson has a 1.40 ERA with 32 Ks over 19.1 innings since July 6. His new slider has been a lethal pitch, and while he may not see consistent save chances, he’s likely to get at least a few — while smoothing your ratios and adding a boatload of strikeouts.

Tyler Kinley, RP, Colorado Rockies

Roster percentage: 0.4%

With two saves over three appearances in September, it appears that the Rockies’ Wheel of Closer Destiny has now landed on Kinley over the likes of Daniel Bard (IL with arm fatigue) and Justin Lawrence (15.43 ERA over his last eight appearances). Kinley has been injured for much of 2023, but he was great last year — 0.75 ERA, 10 K/9 over 25 appearances — and he appears to have put this summer’s flexor tendon issue behind him. Again, Colorado won’t be handing him a ton of leads, but you know what they say: any closing port in a storm.