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Five hot fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups, streamers, and sleepers for Week 22 (2025). Undervalued hitters outperforming their ownership percentage and should be more widely owned.
Congrats to everyone still grinding their way through the end of August in your fantasy baseball season! With less than a week left in August, the final month of the regular season is just around the corner, meaning wherever you are in the standings, it's crunch time. Your fantasy baseball team may be at the top of your league, headed for the playoffs, battling for a playoff spot, or just trying to stay above water, but wherever it is, some options on the waiver wire demand your attention after recent surges have put them on the radar as potentially important to your league down the stretch.
This week's five bargain basement hitters have had good production over the last few weeks and can give you just the boost you need in the remaining weeks of the season. As the best fantasy baseball managers know, it pays to constantly keep an eye on the waiver wire since new players are constantly emerging who can give your team a boost in the short-term or for the rest of the season. In this post, we're skipping past the big-name, obvious pickups and diving deep bin looking for some hidden values from the bargain basement.
In most leagues, these options are often available for free or at a minimal cost from your FAAB budget. If your league uses waiver priority instead, these are options that can be targets even if you have low priority as plug-and-play options that can be scooped and started in most formats. If injury or ineffectiveness is forcing you to look for a bargain basement alternative, check out these emerging bats to consider. All stats are through games played on Monday, August 25, unless otherwise noted. Which widely available hitters should be on your shopping list?
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Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B - Cincinnati Reds
5% rostered
Hayes was a trade deadline acquisition that the Reds picked up from their division rivals, the Pirates. Hayes is already in his sixth season in the majors, but is still only 28 years old. He showed some nice potential in 2023 with 15 homers, 10 stolen bases, and a .271/.309/.453 slash line. Last year, though, he was limited to under 100 games and only had four homers while his slash line dropped to .233/.283/.290.
He wasn't faring much better early in this season either, but the change in scenery seems to have revitalized his bat. He has hit .260 in his 23 games for the Reds with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 10 runs scored, and a pair of stolen bases. His wOBA was .336 during that span, and his hard-hit rate has jumped to 47.6%.
One of the key adjustments has been fewer ground balls, as you can see pointed out:
Ke'Bryan Hayes since joining the Reds:
19 G
.266 BA
.319 OBP
.788 OPS
5 doubles
1 triple
2 HR
49% Hard-Hit%Hayes had a 49.5% GB% over his MLB-career.
With the Reds, his ground-ball rate has dropped to a career-low 39.2%. It was 50% with the Pirates before the trade. pic.twitter.com/iNoCzL9teg
— LouisAnalysis (@LouisAnalysis) August 23, 2025
Hayes is elite in the field, and his improved hitting should keep him as a regular in the Reds' lineup as they chase the postseason. He signed a big contract with the Pirates before the trade and is locked up through the 2029 season, with a club option for 2030. He should be manning the hot corner for a long time to come in Cincinnati, and his recent surge with the bat could secure him an even larger role in the team's growing young core.
Jeff McNeil, 2B/OF - New York Mets
19% rostered
McNeil isn't a new name for fantasy owners, and he's never had a change of scenery like Hayes since he's played his whole career with the Mets. The 33-year-old veteran is worth a look, though, since he has been heating up in the middle of the Mets' productive lineup, as they try to hold off the Reds in the Wild Card race.
McNeil has been especially hot over the second half of the month, going 13-for-34 (.382) over his last nine games with five multi-hit games. He's always been more productive in contact than power, but has shown off a little pop over that timeframe as well with three doubles, three home runs, and 12 RBI.
Jeff McNeil over his last 21 games:
.300 AVG
.840 OPS
3 HR
15 RBIA renaissance for the Flying Squirrel in 2025. pic.twitter.com/bMtvzzDTW3
— MetsMuse (@MetsMuse) August 26, 2025
McNeil's recent power production has him at 12 homers for the season, matching his second-highest total in his career.
While he isn't a flashy pickup that will get everyone's attention in fantasy baseball, he has been good enough to make a real impact over the last few weeks. While he can be streaky at times, he's a fairly established contributor at this point in his career and can offer some reliable contributions. His second base eligibility is also key since positional scarcity makes him a better fit there than in the outfield in most formats.
Kyle Teel, C - Chicago White Sox
11% rostered
Teel was the main prospect the White Sox received in the Garrett Crochet trade this past offseason, and the 23-year-old prospect is starting to show that he's ready to deliver on his immense upside for Chicago the rest of the season.
Teel split last year between Double-A and Triple-A for the Red Sox and began this year by playing 50 games in Triple-A with the Charlotte Knights. He hit .295 with eight homers, 30 RBI, and a .396 wOBA. He had just a 25.7% hard-hit rate in Worcester last year, but that took a huge jump to a 41.9% hard-hit rate in Charlotte.
He made his major league debut on June 6. He started hot, going 15-for-47 (.319) with a .368 wOBA in the rest of June. Like many rookies, he hit a rough spot as the league adjusted to him, going just 1-for-22 in his next nine games. However, Teel has made the readjustment and started mashing once again.
Over his last 11 games, Teel is 15-for-39 (.385) with a double and two homers. He has an impressive .441 wOBA over that span and continues to settle in as a top offensive catcher.
Kyle Teel has been dangerous over his last six games 👀
.478 AVG
2B
2 HR
8 RBIpic.twitter.com/ka1Ru0Vc0s— Sox On 35th (@SoxOn35th) August 24, 2025
If you need help behind the plate, Teel is a top add, especially since he has so much upside in the future. The White Sox are usually hitting him in the heart of the order and giving him time at DH when he needs a break behind the dish.
As many catchers fade down the stretch due to fatigue, Teel is trending in the other direction, making him a great snag for the rest of this year, and definitely a top name to watch going forward as well.
Brett Baty, 2B/3B - New York Mets
23% rostered
Baty was in our bargain bats last week as well, but he's still available in over 75% of leagues.
It feels like the Mets have been waiting for Baty to establish himself as a regular contributor for a long time, but he's still just 25 years old. He has been very productive in the second half while filling in on the strong side of the platoon at both second base and third base.
Before this year, Baty had played 169 games across parts of three seasons, hitting just .215 with 15 homers. This season, he has already taken a step forward and is up to a .243 batting average with 15 dingers, 41 RBI, and a .318 wOBA.
In August, Baty has kicked it into another gear, going 17-for-52 (.327) in his last 16 games with a double, four home runs, 15 runs scored, seven RBI, and a .421 wOBA over his last 16 games. His recent surge is backed up by improving metrics as well:
Strong bat speed (87th), barrels (84th), and hard-hit rate (76th). Brett Baty’s quality of contact is legit — now it’s just about refining approach and consistency. #LGM pic.twitter.com/iqSmF9izmA
— MetsMetrics (@_MetsMetrics) August 23, 2025
If you need help in the infield, Baty can be a solid addition since he's producing in a regular spot in a strong lineup. He is rounding into form and delivering on his potential, giving him a higher ceiling than his teammate McNeil (discussed above), but he is also less proven, making him higher risk as well.
Lars Nootbaar, OF - St. Louis Cardinals
20% rostered
Nootbaar is one of the streakiest players in the majors, which also makes him extremely polarizing for fans and fantasy managers.
The 27-year-old is only hitting .236 on the season with a .313 wOBA, but he's also only one home run away from matching his career-high with 14 homers. Even though he regularly hits leadoff for the Cardinals, he hasn't stolen many bases this season, so his main contributions have come from his bat and his counting stats.
He was on a heater earlier this month, reeling off a string of five straight multi-hit games. In that five-game stretch, he was 11-for-21 (.524) with two doubles and a 47.1% hard-hit rate. On the season, his hard-hit rate is just over 50%, which ranks in the top 10% of the majors, and his average exit velocity is solid at 91.5 miles per hour, which is in the top 20% of the league.
He's cooled off a bit since that torrid stretch, but he still brings good production from the top of the order and can produce hits, runs, RBI, and extra-base hits in bunches when he's rolling right.
Multiple reports, including this one from Katie Woo, have said that Nootbaar's September is key to his future with the team.
Lars Nootbaar needs to have a big September to prove he belongs in the Cardinals future plans, says @KatieJWoo. pic.twitter.com/qAzM8Xxe30
— Cardinal Territory (@CardTerritory) August 25, 2025
He should get plenty of playing time, so if you think Nootbaar is ready to step up and lock himself in as a key part of the Cards' future, he can give your fantasy lineup a good boost over the next few weeks as well. He isn't as flashy as some of the other names in this post, like Teel and Baty, but he still brings intriguing potential coming down the stretch.
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