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Mike's fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters to add as category boosters for Week 7 of 2025. His top hitters to pick up or stream for HR, RBI, SB, AVG, and runs.
Welcome back to our Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Hitters - Category Boosters column for Week 7 of the 2025 MLB season. I don't know anyone who has not been impacted by player injuries this year.
It's another week, and here we are, trying to find those hitters who can provide category boosts as our teams fight for every stat we can get. The stats count as much now as they will in a month. There is always help on the waiver wire in every league.
We will aim to give you three options for each of the five offensive categories in a standard five-by-five league. Our rule: All hitters will be listed according to their percentage of rostered players on Yahoo!, with a maximum of 50 percent. Let's look at names that might be under the radar, but who can help you now.
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Runs Scored (R) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Trent Grisham, OF, New York Yankees (47% rostered)
Raise your hand if you had Grisham having 12 home runs for the Yankees in mid-May. This month, he has four home runs, but has also scored eight runs in 48 plate appearances. Surprisingly, runs are a stat category many players ignore, but Grisham, who is only rostered in 47% of Yahoo leagues, continues to help in several places. He has scored 23 runs on the season. Oddly, he is rostered in so few leagues.
Jake Cronenworth, 1B/2B, San Diego Padres (33% rostered)
Cronenworth scored five runs in May and has only played six games. He is back healthy and should be playing daily in the Padres lineup. Cronenworth hits lower in the order than you may like, but who cares as long as you get the stats you are looking for?
Addison Barger, 3B/OF, Toronto Blue Jays (2% rostered)
Several friends reached out and suggested that I need to mine a little deeper to find players who are not rostered in their leagues. Barger should be one of those, and let's take a look at what he is doing for Toronto. He's hitting .258 with a home run and six RBI, but has scored five runs over the past week.
What gets me is looking at his underlying metrics. Look at this bat speed data. That puts him in the upper echelon of MLB hitters, and his average exit velocity is 94.1 MPH. His batting average is expected to be 60 points higher than his current .224. His BABIP is only .267. Should this normalize, Barger will be rostered far more, and soon. He has eligibility at both third base (where he is getting most of his playing time) and the outfield.
Home Runs (HR) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Jake Burger, 1B/3B, Texas Rangers (37% rostered)
Burger is back after a quick demotion to Triple-A to work on his swing. I know the metrics have been bad, but I still believe in Burger as a guy with significant power upside. If other players have given up on him, you should grab him off the waiver wire this week. Burger has a hit in each game since his return to the Rangers on Monday, so here's hoping that he rediscovered his swing in Triple-A Round Rock earlier this month. There is 30-home-run power here.
Colt Keith, 1B/2B, Detroit Tigers (20% rostered)
You may recall that Keith signed a long-term deal with the Tigers and then seemed to fade into obscurity. Well, with extended playing time in May, Keith is showing what he can do: he's hitting .281 with three home runs and seven RBI in 10 starts this month. Keith also has the bonus of being eligible at both first base and second base, and with injuries mounting in many leagues, Keith could be a guy who helps you out in the short term.
Brett Baty, 2B/3B, New York Mets (8% rostered)
Baty has four home runs over the last week as he builds more playing time in New York, partially due to the struggles of Mark Vientos. Baty has first-round pedigree, has terrific bat speed at 76.1 MPH, and is barreling the baseball at 14.3%. Will it continue? Hard to say. But Baty will play as long as he hits. He's worth an add in most leagues.
Runs Batted In (RBI) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Milwaukee Brewers (34% rostered)
Hoskins has two home runs and 11 RBI this month. He's also hitting .311. On the season, he has five home runs and a very nice 24 RBI. Hoskins seems assured of playing time in Milwaukee and should continue to provide pop in the middle of its lineup. Look at Hoskins' Statcast page below. There is stuff to like here.
Alec Burleson, 1B/OF, St. Louis Cardinals (33% rostered)
Burleson is hitting .313 this month with three home runs and nine RBI in his last 34 plate appearances. That is some good production. Burleson should continue to play for the Cardinals and be productive when he does so.
Gavin Sheets, 1B/OF, San Diego Padres (11% rostered)
Of course, as soon as Sheets gets away from my beloved White Sox, he starts hitting. Sheets made the Padres out of spring training as a bench bat, but has received an opportunity due to injuries and the fact that he is hitting. He has eight RBI over the last week to go with a .391 batting average. Grab him while he is hot.
Stolen Bases (SB) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Jordan Lawlar, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (41% rostered)
Lawlar will not stay rostered this low for long. He's the number-one prospect in the Arizona system, and it appears that the team is finally ready to give him some run. SI Diamondbacks beat writer Jack Sommers reported that manager Torey Lovullo will be playing the talented Lawlar all over the infield, giving him time at not only shortstop, his natural position, but also second base and third base. Gaining more positional flexibility will give Lawlar an added fantasy boost. While we cannot be sure how he will hit, we know that when he is on base, he will steal bases. Add now as a speculative pick.
Josh Smith, 1B/3B/SS/OF, Texas Rangers (34% rostered)
Snith is a player who falls off the radar in fantasy leagues but should be considered viable in most leagues, especially the deeper ones. He's not going to do anything better than most players, but he contributes to several categories when he gets the playing time. He has that now in Texas.
Luisangel Acuna, 2B/SS, New York Mets (12% rostered)
Acuna has 10 steals on the season, three in May. While he exhibits no power, Acuna has sprint speed in the 97th percentile, and he should continue to see playing time in the Big Apple. He is a sneaky addition if you need to roster speed.
Batting Average (AVG) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Ivan Herrera, C, St. Louis Cardinals (47% rostered)
Herrera is back after an IL stint for a bone bruise suffered in April. He has a hit in all three games since his return to the lineup, including his fifth home run of the season on Monday night. Herrera is hitting a robust .355 this season, and he seems assured of playing time in St. Louis. Roster now.
Victor Scott II, OF, St. Louis Cardinals (40% rostered)
Scott is quietly putting together a nice season for the Cardinals. He is up to .288 on the season after a torrid start to May, where Scott hit .345 over the first two weeks. Add in that he has 11 stolen bases, and you have a player who should be rostered in far more leagues. He looks like he is in the major leagues to stay, and that fantasy players may not have caught up to his skill set yet.
Trey Sweeney, SS, Detroit Tigers (7% rostered)
Sweeney was a guy I looked at this offseason to see if he was worth scooping late in drafts. I decided against it then, but people are sleeping on Sweeney. You can see below what he has done with the playing time he has received in May: a .425 batting average with three home runs and 10 RBI. To be rostered this low shows that many players do not trust Sweeney or perhaps know what he has been doing. Roster him now while he is this hot, as we know it will not last forever.
I hope this helps you out! Good luck and happy hunting, RotoBallers! You can always message me @mdrc0508 on X to complain about picks or make other suggestions!
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