Jurickson Profar, Addison Barger and more top fantasy baseball waiver wire adds

New York Times

20-06-2025

Time for the weekly waiver report. Our most added names include a bunch of solid hitters on hot streaks.
Here are your most added hitters on Yahoo:
I'll actually start with the one name not included, because his 2025 stat line stops after the first four games: Jurickson Profar. He is eligible to return from his suspension on July 2, and if you want him on your team, you'll need to pick him up now. As for which version of him shows up, only time will tell. Last year was his best season by far, and it continued his long pattern of yo-yoing between good seasons and forgettable ones. The big difference in 2024 was his power, so if we see a ball hit over 110 MPH and (after a few weeks) a hard hit rate over 40%, that will hint at him maintaining last year's level.
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We've mentioned many of these names recently, but other than Andy Pages, roster rates still hover in the 20-40% range. As for Pages, the breakout has officially arrived. Go get him if he's somehow still out there in your league.
Addison Barger, Nick Kurtz, Gavin Sheets, Ryan McMahon, Alec Burleson, Colton Cowser and Wenceel Pérez all do the large majority of their damage against righties, and tend to sit against lefties. Of those seven, the first three feel the most solid. Barger and Kurtz have serious raw power and enough of a hit tool to back it up, while Sheets seems to be fully earning his batting line. McMahon has a similar Statcast profile to Sheets, but with more walks and strikeouts, and a huge difference in park. Sheets will give you a better average, McMahon does more for power. Burleson is useful enough in deep leagues, but the lack of power leaves me underwhelmed.
Cowser has been swinging for the fences since returning from the IL. Baltimore is a nice place for lefty power hitters, and Cowser can do plenty of damage. The average will rise, but you can still pencil in something like the 30% strikeout rate he has last year, so he will hurt you in that category.
There's nothing in Pérez's history to suggest he is suddenly one of the premier power hitters in MLB, but he's enjoyed three weeks of that existence. I listed him among the righty-crushers because the Tigers haven't used him much against lefties last year or this one, but he is actually a switch hitter who has raked against lefties the few times he's seen them. The funny thing is he's not actually riding some random BABIP or HR/FB luck. There is no way he maintains an 18.8% barrel rate, but he's worth rostering in most leagues just to see where this goes.
While we're discussing inexplicably good Tigers, so much of Javier Báez's profile looks unchanged from last year. Swinging strike rate, K%, BB%, barrel rate, exit velocity, maxEV … all basically the same. And yet, last year he had an unplayable wRC+ of 43, and this year he's near-star level at 126. So what's changed? His BABIP, first of all, has gone from .220 to .340, bringing his average up 100 points with it. His HR/FB% has doubled to 16.7%. He's chasing a little less and making more contact in the zone. Like Pérez, he's pulling a lot, aiming for homers and doubles down the left field line. He will cool off, and he's capable of some ugly cold streaks, but he's made himself deep-league relevant and playable for now in 12-teamers.
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Cam Smith shook off a rough first month, and now we're seeing what he can do with his top-notch tools. Get him now if you still can.
Michael Toglia came back from the minors and hit three homers in two games. That puts him on pace for over 100 homers for the rest of the season, which is pretty good. In all seriousness, if he's tamed the strikeout issue to the point his power and speed can play, he can be a huge boost in the second half.
Cam Smith (OF, HOU) — See above
Evan Carter (OF, TEX) — Sure, there's some volatility here, but that comes with huge upside. He's still one of the fastest players in MLB, with enough power and contact to dream on a monster season.
I mentioned Carter, Kyle Stowers (OF, MIA), Sal Frelick (OF, MIL), and Jo Adell (OF, LAA) last week. I'm still interested in all of them (in that order, with tweaks depending on your needs).
Ryan O'Hearn (1B/OF, BAL) — Another righty-masher. He may cool off a bit, but what he's doing looks mostly sustainable.
Nick Kurtz (1B, ATH), Ryan McMahon (3B, COL) — See above
Rhys Hoskins (1B, MIL) — He has gone cold, but I still like him long term as a slugger who won't hurt you too much in batting average.
J.P. Crawford (SS, SEA) — The power and speed are both unexceptional, but he's been hitting very well and should be good for counting stats from the leadoff spot.
Jeff McNeil (2B, NYM) — There isn't enough raw power for me to buy his recent homer surge as a new level, but, like Crawford, he has plenty to offer despite not being a big contributor in homers or steals. He should have plenty of guys on base in front of him to make use of those contact skills.
Alejandro Kirk (C, TOR) — He doesn't have the power of some other catchers, but he's a legitimately good hitter.
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Agustín Ramirez (C/1B, MIA) — The average should rise, he has power, and he plays every day.
Carlos Narváez (C, BOS) — Playing a little over his head, but the power is real.
Jordan Beck (OF, COL) — Mentioned last week. I remain a fan.
Jesus Sanchez (OF, MIA) — Another righty-masher with huge power. The park and the lineup drag him down, but in the right matchups, he's very dangerous.
Matt Wallner (OF, MIN) — Again with a guy who crush righties. Wallner also has serious power, and the average should be more in the .240-range going forward.
Not a ton to get excited about down here, but we'll see what we can do. The upside play is Brady House (3B, WAS), who we'll get to below.
Nolan Schanuel (1B, LAA), Carlos Santana (1B, CLE), and Ty France (1B, MIN) all continue to provide boring but solid production and are at least deep-league fillers. Of those, I lean France for the power upside, but Schanuel is your guy if you want a high average and the occasional steal. Brooks Lee (3B/2B/SS, MIN) has similarly middling power and contact with good positional versatility.
Colt Keith (1B/2B, DET) has the tools to be a great player, but he's been losing playing time as the Tigers get healthy.
Hyeseong Kim (2B/SS/OF, LAD) — More playing time is on the horizon, and Kim looks like he'll contribute plenty of average, speed, and runs.
Otto Lopez (2B/SS, MIA) — Plenty of speed, decent power, and x-stats that say his batting average should be at least last year's .270 instead of this year's .230.
Max Muncy (2B/3B, LAD) — He has started to hit in the past couple of weeks. Still more of a deep-leaguer for me, but he can contribute across the board if he gets going.
Dillon Dingler (C, DET) — Nice high average with decent power and a good lineup.
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Victor Caratini (C, HOU) — Deep leagues only, but hey, he plays most days and isn't terrible!
Christian Moore (2B, LAA) — I have my doubts the 22-year-old is ready to be a difference-maker right away, but if you need power, he's a decent speculative add. Where I'm less certain is if he'll make enough contact to take advantage of it. He carried a high swinging strike rate and strikeout rate through the minors, and due to the Angels' aggressive promotion, he has spent all of 79 games in the minors since being drafted eighth overall last year.
Brady House (3B, WAS) — House has a similar power-and-strikeouts profile, but I trust him more because he's had more time in Triple A. He appears to have the job in Washington until further notice.
Grant Taylor (RP, CHW) — Another aggressive promotion. He put up comical strikeout rates in Single and Double A. For fantasy purposes, he's a deep league saves dart throw and ratio helper, but in most leagues you can find a more established commodity for that purpose.
Hayden Birdsong (SFG); Ryan Yarbrough (NYY); Brandon Walter (HOU); Ben Brown (CHC)
Birdsong has looked good as a starter so far. He's figuring this out on the fly, but the arsenal is great and his home park helps contain the damage. Presumably, he'll stick in the rotation as long as he's performing after a certain trade you may have heard about.
Yarbrough has tinkered with his pitch mix to favor the slower, bendier stuff, and it's been working. He's gotten the K% up to a workable 22% (which would be the best of his career over a full season), and SIERA and xERA, which factor in contact quality, say he has actually deserved better than his ERA.
You're forgiven for not knowing about Walter, a Red Sox prospect who took a step back in 2023, missed all of 2024, and is now suddenly pitching like an ace for the Astros. It's too early to know what we're looking at here (or even if he keeps a rotation spot), but the stuff is legit, and he's worth picking up now. One more great start and the hype train will leave the station.
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Brown has been giving up a lot of hard contact, which has undermined his strong strikeout and walk numbers. I'd tread carefully for now, but strength of contact rates for pitchers fluctuate a fair amount, and he's worth keeping an eye on.
I'm trying to not repeat myself too much, but I'm still in on Chad Patrick, Cade Horton, Landen Roupp, and Jose Soriano, who looked great against the Yankees.
Edward Cabrera (MIA); Michael Soroka (WAS); Bryce Elder (ATL); Lucas Giolito (BOS); Ben Casparius (LAD)
Cabrera has looked good after a shaky first month, and he may have found a better version of his kitchen sink approach. He won't pick up a lot of wins — he doesn't always make it through five innings and the run support is subpar, but the ERA and K% are some of the best you'll find at this depth.
Soroka is the sort of passable arm you may be looking for at this depth. He is throwing more in the zone this year, which has cut his walk rate, but may be contributing to a higher hard hit rate. Expect a mid-4s ERA and a 22% K-rate.
While we're on boring-but-effective NL East pitchers, Elder is exactly that. The 20% K rate is fine in deeper leagues, and the sinker-heavy approach produces lots of grounders. SIERA and xFIP give him a sub-4 ERA.
Giolito flashed better velocity in his dominant start against the Mariners (six shutout innings, 10 Ks). The optimistic take is he's shaking off the rust after missing last year and will start to see better results. We'll need to see him do that for another couple of outings before calling it a new level, but he's at least worth monitoring for now.
Casparius' role is constantly in flux, but he's been a value whether he's starting, relieving, or bulk relieving (when he has a great shot at getting a win). He showed potential control issues in the minors, but so far he has kept the walk rate tidy and paired that with great stuff.
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Shelby Miller has the job in Arizona, is pitching well, and is somehow there for the taking in a majority of leagues. Tommy Kahnle is likely to be the primary ninth-inning option in Detroit while Will Vest is out, and he will continue to get saves here and there when Vest returns. Calvin Faucher has righted the ship for now, and is the closer in Miami.
(Photo of Jurickson Profar: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)