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Nick Mariano's fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for hitters before Week 1. He highlights MLB players that are rostered in under 40% of leagues.
With most fantasy baseball drafts in the books, it's time to review your initial waiver wire and make sure you aren't overlooking any bats. Leaving some roster spots at the end of your bench to churn early in the season can be critical to finding this year's waiver hero.
For our purposes, we'll examine players with fantasy potential who are rostered in roughly 40% or fewer of Yahoo leagues. The usual caveats apply that available options will vary according to your league size and settings.
Now, let's review the top Week 1 fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and adds for hitters to consider after your drafts have already been completed as injury replacements or high-upside stashes.
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Hitter Waiver Wire Adds
Junior Caminero (TB, 3B) - 43% rostered - It’d be irresponsible to omit such a massive hitting talent, even if Tampa is starting him in the minors. The 20-year-old swatted 20 home runs while hitting .309 in 81 Double-A games last year before a seven-game MLB cup o’ coffee. I know many of you have NA slots to make the stash.
Ceddanne Rafaela (BOS, SS/OF) - 42% rostered - Rafaela has several tools, one of which is his versatility. This will allow him to step into infield reps with 2B open as Vaughn Grissom recovers. The phenom hit 20 HRs with 36 SBs in just 108 games between Double-A and Triple-A before 89 inconsistent MLB PAs yielded flashes of a promising career. Let’s see if early momentum leads to more!
Small sample size caveat, but Ceddanne Rafaela’s swing decisions have improved this spring. We’ll see if it continues into the season, but definitely encouraging.
2024 ST: 55 PA, 32% chase, 4.02 p/pa
2023 MLB: 89 PA, 39% chase, 3.98 p/pa
2023 AAA: 219 PA, 40% chase, 3.70 p/pa
— Ian Cundall (@IanCundall) March 24, 2024
Jackson Merrill (SD, SS) - 41% rostered - Merrill is one of many shortstops playing all over the field for a San Diego team in need. He’ll turn 21 in mid-April and turned heads with a .995 OPS over 40 spring PAs after going 15/15 in 114 minor-league games last year. It’s unlikely he will do anything overwhelmingly well in 2024, but modest contributions across the board are welcome.
Brandon Lowe (TB, 2B) - 39% rostered - Lowe hasn’t had consistently clean health since 2021. All he did then was clobber 39 HRs over 149 games. He’s had a rough spring but it costs very little to see if that power plant is operational in 2024.
Colt Keith (DET, 2B/3B) - 27% rostered - We know Comerica isn’t a hitter’s paradise, but Keith still clobbered 27 HRs with a .306/.380/.552 triple slash combined between Double-A and Triple-A. Let’s see if that left-handed swing can maintain a fly-ball rate close to 40% and snag a cheap 20-plus HRs for you.
Henry Davis (PIT, OF) - 23% rostered - The first overall pick of the 2021 draft worked on his defense at catcher and should earn his C-eligibility in short order. Yasmani Grandal is dealing with plantar fasciitis and “C/OF” looks a lot better than just “OF.” Let’s see if that 70-grade power can blossom at a premium position. The four spring HRs with an OPS above 1.000 sure inspire hope.
“We believe he (Paul Skenes) will help us win games in 2024”
“We fully anticipate he (Henry Davis) will catch opening day”
- Ben Cherington on MLB Now
— Kody Duncan (@KodyDuncanPGH) March 25, 2024
Parker Meadows (DET, OF) - 22% rostered - Meadows has been torching spring training with four homers and three swipes (1.118 OPS) over 52 PAs. You recall he had three HRs and eight steals in 145 PAs for the Tigers down the stretch after nearly going 20/20 in 113 Triple-A contests. The double-digit walk rate should continue to yield several steal opportunities, especially if he continues to hit leadoff as he did to end 2023.
Jake Fraley (CIN, OF) - 21% rostered - Fraley was in last year’s column at 25% rostered so we’re going in the wrong direction because he hit 15 HRs with 21 SBs in just 380 PAs! And now we have a once-crowded depth chart thinned out by injuries to TJ Friedl and Matt McLain, with Noelvi Marte’s 80-game suspension sprinkled on top. Let his power-speed flourish for you at the potent Great American Ballpark. Will Benson is only 20% rostered as well!
Sal Frelick (MIL, OF) - 21% rostered - Frelick might be Milwaukee's leadoff man against right-handed pitching with more playing time available due to Garrett Mitchell's broken hand. Most projection systems had Frelick with an 8 HR/15 SB/~.270 AVG profile over about 550 PAs, with a leadoff bump to his runs scored making him worth a look in deeper OF formats.
For you lineup heads out there, Pat Murphy confirmed he likes to hit Christian Yelich third in his preferred lineup. Sal Frelick or Garrett Mitchell are the likely leadoff hitters, especially against righties.
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) March 25, 2024
Zach Neto (LAA, SS) - 14% rostered - A healthy Neto could be a sneaky fantasy force in 2024. Not only did the Angels accelerate Neto to the majors after just 48 games in the minors, but Neto found his big-league footing in roughly a month. His first MLB HR came on May 9.
The rookie had just 40 games (148 PAs) between that and his late July back injury. He hit .260 with 8 HRs/4 SBs in that window, which leads to a rough 30/15 pace. I won’t get carried away, but even a moderate chance of that at 14% rostered is silly.
Michael Busch (CHC, 3B) - 13% rostered - Busch was stuck behind LAD’s embarrassment of riches but he should finally get a chance to shine with the Cubs. Patrick Wisdom’s early back injury should only help ease the pressure and buy some breathing room for any struggles.
Brett Baty (NYM, 3B) - 8% rostered - The Mets signing J.D. Martinez seemingly put Baty’s playing time in a bind, but then they optioned Mark Vientos. Baty should have third base to himself to open 2024 and he’ll either sink or swim, becoming a fantasy option or getting cut for an early waiver pop.
Austin Wells (NYY, C) - 8% rostered - Similar to Henry Davis, Wells has also improved his defensive profile behind the dish to where the hit tool has a chance to shine. The Yankees still have Jose Trevino’s strong framing on the bench, but Wells showed promise in September 2023 and thus far in spring training.
He adjusted his approach and went 11-for-31 (.355) with four HRs and three doubles in his final eight games of 2023. He’s hitting .314 with a pair of jacks over 40 spring PAs as well. It’s a great lineup and park to buy into, so let’s see.
Austin Wells said yesterday that one of the biggest challenges of adjusting to MLB pitching is seeing elite arms for the first time.
His first AB against a two-time All Star closer is this clutch, opposite-field home run.
He’s getting more comfortable…pic.twitter.com/TYxg1xBh0a
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) September 27, 2023
Jared Triolo (PIT, 1B, 2B, 3B) - 3% rostered - Triolo can play across the diamond and has blackmail on the BABIP gods. Here’s his 2023 BABIP by level: four Single-A games, .538 BABIP. Then in 53 Triple-A games, he had a .411 BABIP before rocking a .440 BABIP in 54 MLB games.
Oh, and he has a .455 BABIP in 14 contests this spring. I don’t expect much, but a full year could yield 10 HRs/15-20 SBs on the cheap even if the BABIP gods rug pull him.
Brayan Rocchio (CLE, SS) - 1% rostered - Rocchio gets a chance to impress at short after a solid showing at Triple-A last year. Then 22 years old, Rocchio hit .280 with 25 steals and seven homers over 116 games. He then got 23 MLB games and looked overmatched, seeing his usual 12-15% strikeout rate climb over 30%.
If we see any of that early on then we pivot, simple. Those in dire need of cheap volume shouldn’t turn their nose up at teammate Ramon Laureano (1%) either.
Trey Lipscomb (WAS, 3B) - 0% rostered - Lipscomb is battling his way into a job at second base over Luis Garcia (2B), who has struggled at the plate and in the field. There isn’t a flashy fantasy ceiling here, but a healthy batting average with quiet 10/10 production is worth a look in deep/only formats.
Trey Lipscomb singles off lefty reliever Jake Diekman, raising his spring training batting average to ... .408.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) March 24, 2024
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