Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Brandon Sproat is up, Jeremiah Jackson keeps hitting

Welcome to Waiver Wire Watch, where I review my favorite waiver wire adds and drops for each week of the MLB season.

The premise is pretty straightforward. I’ll try to give you some recommended adds each week based on recent production or role changes. When I list a player, I’ll list the category where I think he’ll be helpful or the quick reason he’s listed. I hope it will help you determine if the player is a fit for what your team needs.

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For a player to qualify for this list, he needs to be UNDER 40% rostered in Yahoo! formats. I understand you may say, “These players aren’t available in my league,” and I can’t help you there. These players are available in over 60% of leagues and some in 98% of leagues, so they’re available in many places, and that can hopefully satisfy readers who play in all league types.

2025 Fantasy Baseball Top 300 update: Juan Soto joins top five, Sal Stewart debuts

Roman Anthony surges, and Sal Stewart and Payton Tolle crack the top 200 in their rankings debuts.

Waiver Wire Hitters

Jeremiah Jackson – SS/OF, BAL: 34% rostered
(EVERY DAY JOB, HOT STREAK)

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Jackson just continues to mash, and his roster rate has jumped considerably over the last week or so. The 25-year-old was a second-round pick of the Angels in 2018 and made it as high as Double-A before being traded to the Mets in 2023. He played a season and a half with the Mets before being signed as a minor league free agent by Baltimore, where he has turned his career around. The 25-year-old hit .313/.343/.537 in 85 games between Double-A and Triple-A this season with 15 home runs and 11 steals. Despite being an infielder by trade, Jackson has played a ton of right field for the Orioles and hits second in the lineup regularly. He’s hitting .316 in 31 games with four home runs, 15 runs scored, and 17 RBI. His stolen base numbers have fallen since his 2023 season, so I’m not expecting a ton there, but he’s worth adding in most formats with Baltimore also heating up. The veteran option is Jeff McNeil – 2B/OF, NYM (19% rostered), who’s hitting .283 in 41 games since the All-Star break with three home runs, 19 runs scored, 19 RBI, and two steals. He’s playing pretty much every day for the Mets, and that level of production is valuable in deeper formats.

Nathaniel Lowe – 1B, BOS: 34% rostered
(TEAM UPGRADE, COUNTING STATS UPSIDE)

The veteran has delivered in his first 14 games for Boston, going 13-for-46 (.305) with two home runs and nine RBI. I’m not quite sure why Washington didn’t try to trade him at the deadline if they were going to cut him, but we appreciate it from a fantasy perspective. He’s not going to play against lefties, so keep that in mind, but he’s going to hit near the middle of the lineup against all righties, which should help his counting stats upside. Lowe is not a pull hitter by nature, with just a 30% pull rate for his career, so he could thrive with opposite-field shots off the Green Monster, like Rafael Devers did. Another corner infield option is Kyle Manzardo – 1B, CLE (17% rostered), who has three home runs this past week and 10 in 40 games since the break. He’s also hitting .265 in those 40 games with 26 RBI, so this has been a solid second half for Manzardo.

Jared Triolo – 1B/2B/3B/SS, PIT: 33% rostered
(REGULAT AT-BATS, HOT STREAK)

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We need to acknowledge what Triolo has done since being called back up in August. The 27-year-old is hitting .313 in 33 games with two home runs, 20 runs scored, 10 RBI, and five steals. We know that the mediocre lineup around him will limit the counting stats, but Triolo is chasing less and making more contact than ever, so maybe we’re getting a modest later career breakout here. I’m not expecting Triolo to get me a fantasy title, but I like how he can play almost anywhere, which gives me a lot of insurance in my lineup. A deeper league multi-position option is Curtis Mead – 1B/2B/3B, CWS (1% rostered), who is playing regularly now with injuries sidelining a few White Sox hitters. Mead isn’t lighting the world on fire, but he’s hitting .286 in 28 games since the All-Star break with 11 runs scored and nine RBI. He was once a top-40 prospect in baseball, so there are worse rolls of the dice.

Samuel Basallo – C/1B, BAL: 19% rostered
(RECENT CALL-UP, POWER UPSIDE)

Basallo was tremendous in the minors, hitting .270/.377/.589 in 76 games at Triple-A with 23 home runs and 67 RBI. However, he has struggled since being promoted, which is not a surprise considering he’s only 20 years old. Still, we saw with the walk-off home runs against the Dodgers on Friday that Basallo has power that plays in any field, and the Orioles are going to keep putting him in the lineup with Rutschman hurt. I still think he may not have as much value in one-catcher formats as we’d like to believe, but he’s the most talented hitter you’re going to see get called up from now on, so he’s worth a gamble as a bench stash. I’d probably rather roster Kyle Teel – C, CWS (21% rostered) in a redraft league because Teel has made his adjustment to MLB pitching and is starting to take off. He’s hitting .325 in 36 games since the All-Star break with six home runs, 21 runs scored, and 22 RBI. A mediocre lineup around him will limit his counting stats, but that kind of production is something you love from the catcher spot.

Daulton Varsho – OF, TOR: 18% rostered
(RETURN FROM THE IL, POWER UPSIDE)

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Since Varsho came off the IL in August, he has hit .281 in 25 games with 10 home runs, 27 RBI, and 18 runs scored. That’s tremendous production and is worthy of being added in far more formats. He has just two steals this season, so that potential 20/20 upside no longer exists, and he’s clearly selling out for power this season, so the batting average could go through some ebbs and flows. However, that statline above is something we’re interested in for all league types. We could also look to Austin Hays – OF, CIN (10% rostered), who is back to playing almost every day and has gone 14-for-46 (.304) in his last 12 games with three home runs, 11 RBI, and two steals. We love the home park, and Hays was producing fantasy goodness earlier this season, so why not roll the dice again?

Caleb Durbin – 2B/3B/SS, MIL: 15% rostered
(ELITE TEAM CONTEXT, SPEED UPSIDE)

Durbin has had a solid rookie season, and he’s been on and off fantasy rosters for much of the season. He’s picked up the pace of late, going 16-for-42 (.381) over his last 12 games with three home runs, five RBI, six runs, and two steals. He’s helping you in pretty much every category for now, and we love to get pieces of this Milwaukee offense, so Durbin can be an easy way to do that. Another multi-position add is Romy Gonzalez – 1B/2B/3B/SS, BOS (13% rostered), who is playing more regularly with Ceddanne Rafaela shifting back to the outfield full-time in the wake of Roman Anthony’s injury. Gonzalez has gone 15-for-36 in his last 10 games with six RBI and should continue to provide deep league value if you just want some batting average and modest counting stats.

Luis Matos – OF, SF: 11% rostered)
(POST HYPE PROSPECT, STARTING JOB)

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The Giants called up Luis Matos two weeks ago, and he has hit the ground running, going 18-for-49 (.367) with three home runs, eight RBI, 11 runs, and two steals. Even though he just played three games in Coors Field, his offensive numbers weren’t inflated much by those games. Perhaps that should worry us, and this could very well just be a hot stretch that we missed out on, but he’s playing every day and performing, so he’s worth a look in most formats. In much deeper formats, you could look at Matos’ teammate Drew Gilbert – OF, SF (2% rostered). He sits against left-handed pitching, so you’ll need to monitor the schedule, but Gilbert is heating up of late, going 11-for-29 in his last 11 games with two home runs and nine RBI. The production wasn’t consistent in the minors for the former Mets prospect, so I’m not rushing to add him, but I could see it in deeper formats.

Victor Robles – OF, SEA: 10% rostered
(RETURN FROM SUSPENSION, SPEED UPSIDE)

Robles is back from a suspension that stemmed from him throwing a bat at a pitcher after being hit during a Triple-A rehab game. Now that he’s back, he should resume his role as the regular starter in right field. His playing time has been limited this season, but he stole 34 bases last year and could be a great speed threat for you down the stretch. Another player with some speed upside is Parker Meadows – OF, DET (6% rostered), who returned from the IL this weekend. Much like Robles, Meadows plays strong defense, which should keep him in the lineup regularly, and while his results this season have not been great, he has an intriguing power/speed combo for most league types.

Jordan Lawlar – SS, ARI: 7% rostered
(RECENT CALL-UP, PROSPECT UPSIDE)

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We have been stashing Lawlar for a while with Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez out of town, but now Lawlar is up to finish the season at third base. To be honest, I don’t care what his previous MLB stats are. He has always been fighting for playing time that never seemed to be there for him. Now he knows he’s “the guy,” and I think we’re going to see much better performance from him. The top prospect is hitting .313/.403/.563 at Triple-A with 11 home runs and 20 steals in 63 games, and has little left to prove there. Add him everywhere. Ha-Seong Kim -SS, ATL (3% rostered) flamed out in Tampa Bay, but he has found his way to Atlanta, where he should be the regular starter at shortstop for the remainder of the season. If he can stay healthy. That’s intriguing in deeper formats if you need speed.

Dylan Beavers – OF, BAL: 6% rostered
(PROSPECT CALL UP, FIVE-CATEGORY UPSIDE)

Beavers is a 2022 first-round pick who had been swinging a hot bat and hit .304 in 94 games at Triple-A with 18 home runs, 22 steals, 51 RBI, and a .953 OPS. We know that rookie hitters can take a while to adjust to the big league level, but there is some five-category upside here that could be worth chasing in most league types. So far, Beavers is hitting .291 with one home run, 10 runs scored, six RBI, and a 20/13 K/BB ratio in 18 MLB games. He needs to be picked up in far more places. A more boring option would be Andrew Benintendi – OF, CWS (5% rostered), who’s hitting .261 in 40 games since the All-Star break with seven home runs, 24 runs scored, and 21 RBI. That’s good production for 15-team leagues.

Harrison Bader – OF, PHI: 5% rostered
(GREAT LINEUP CONTEXT, STARTING JOB)

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Bader has been crushing since coming to the Phillies, going 28-for-92 (304) with three home runs, 10 RBI, and 16 runs scored. He’s playing every day and hitting sixth in the order, which puts him smack dab in the middle of one of the better lineups in baseball. We’ve seen Bader put up tons of fantasy goodness when healthy before, so I’m more than happy to run with this now.

Austin Martin – 2B/OF, MIN: 1% rostered
(PLAYING TIME OPPORTUNITY, STOLEN BASE UPSIDE)

There was a time when Martin was one of the top prospects in baseball. While he may no longer pack that kind of upside, Martin has been playing regularly lately and hitting 24-for-85 (.282) with six steals in 29 games since the All-Star break. If Martin continues to play this often, his batting average and steals could help you in deeper formats. If you also needed steals, you could look at Oswald Peraza – 2B/3B/SS, LAA (1% rostered). He hasn’t produced much fantasy goodness, but he’s playing regularly for the Angels now and has five steals in 25 games since the All-Star break, so if you were just hunting for steals, he could be an option.

Waiver Wire Pitchers

Ryan Bergert- SP, KC: 35% rostered
I wrote about Bergert’s pitch mix changes with the Royals a couple of weeks ago, but I’m a fan of his. The sweeper is a solid swing-and-miss pitch that the Royals are leaning into, and he does a really good job of keeping his fastball up in the zone. He pitched well against the Tigers last week and White Sox this week, and he’s one of the top streamers available next week against the Angels

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Bubba Chandler – SP, PIT: 31% rostered
It’s a real shame that the Pirates are such a cheap organization that they didn’t want to call Bubba Chandler up when he was carving up minor league hitters in May, because he has looked great in his bulk relief appearances, so far, and is going to get his first MLB start on Sunday.

Jose A. Ferrer – SP: WAS: 28% rostered
I know Washington isn’t winning tons of games, so people may not be into their closer, but Ferrer seems locked into the job and has six saves in the last 11 appearances plus a 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 13 strikeouts in 13.1 innings. That’ll play. Another closer option is Andrew Saalfrank – RP, ARI (12% rostered), who seems to have emerged as the closer in Arizona. Over his last 14 appearances, he has a 1.93 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, and three saves. He’s not a big swing-and-miss bat and is not a typical closer, so there is some risk here, but if you’re chasing saves, he’s a name to know.

Brandon Sproat – SP, NYM: 15% rostered
The Mets made a big move this week, sending Kodai Senga down to the minors to make room for another prospect in their rotation. I don’t believe Sproat has the upside of Nolan McLean or Jonah Tong, but I recorded a video with my thoughts on him this week.

Ryan Weathers – SP, MIA: 7% rostered
Weathers will be back in Miami’s rotation next week for a start against the Nationals. The left-hander has been out since early June due to a left lat strain, so it’s unclear just what version of Weathers we’ll get when he’s back, but he’s an upside gamble in the Kyle Bradish vein at this point in the season.

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Jordan Leasure – RP, CWS: 4% rostered
I know we don’t normally want to chase saves on the White Sox, but they’ve been playing better baseball of late, and Leasure has been reaping the benefits. Since the All-Star break, Leasure has five saves with a 3.05 ERA in 21 appearances.

Tyler Wells – SP, BAL: 3% rostered
Much like his teammate, Kyle Bradish, Wells returned from the IL following Tommy John surgery. Wells has never been a hard thrower, and he doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he has looked good on his rehab assignment, with a 2.49 ERA and a 24/6 K/BB ratio in 25.1 innings. He gets Pittsburgh next week and then the White Sox, and could be a sneaky option in deeper formats.

Jacob Latz – SP, TEX: 1% rostered
Latz is in the Rangers’ rotation now thanks to an injury to Nathan Eovaldi, and the left-hander has a 3.15 ERA and 1.28 WHIP on the season. He doesn’t have tons os strikeout upside, but over his last three appearances (13 innings), he has allowed four runs while striking out 10. That’s solid enough production for deeper formats, considering he also pitches in a pitcher’s park.

STREAMING STARTER PITCHERS

MUST BE 40% ROSTERED ON YAHOO OR FEWER (ranked in loose order)