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Mike's fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters to add as category boosters for Week 22 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 22 of the 2025 MLB season. We are in the thick of it now, and seasons can be won or lost with our waiver wire additions.
Most of us are in the last month of our fantasy seasons, and there is no quit in you. You have to keep grinding; you owe it to yourself and your leaguemates. Take a final look at your rosters and get what you need to finish the year and claim that flag.
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 (25% rostered)
Grisham is still hitting leadoff most days in New York. He has seven home runs in August, with four of them coming in two games over the last week. He has also scored 16 runs with a few days to go in the month. Grisham is an underutilized asset.
Miguel Vargas, 1B/3B/OF, Chicago White Sox (20% rostered)
Vargas has experienced a bit of an up-and-down season, his first full one with the White Sox. He has proven to be a versatile player, getting time at first base, third base, and the outfield. Vargas has scored six runs in his last five games.
Look at his Statcast below. You can see he is on a hot streak. He is hitting .302 over the last two weeks with 1o runs scored. He is productive in this category when he gets on base, and he is doing that, as evidenced by his high average and an almost 15% BB% this month.
Luis Matos, OF, San Francisco Giants (3% rostered)
Matos has long intrigued fantasy players with his blend of power and speed. Since his recall last week, he is hitting .500 with two homers, three RBI, two stolen bases, and six runs scored. Grab him. It looks like he has some runway in San Francisco the rest of the way.
Home Runs (HR) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Colson Montgomery, 3B/SS, Chicago White Sox (34% rostered)
I was softly accused last week of being a homer pick for Montgomery, but please put my fandom aside and look at the facts. The youngster has homered in four straight games, and he is up to nine homers this month and 14 on the season.
Recall, he only came up the week before the All-Star break, so all of those home runs have been hit in a span of 165 plate appearances. He is only hitting .230, and the strikeouts are there, but if you need power from a corner or middle infielder, snap up Montgomery.
Carson Williams, SS, Tampa Bay Rays (11% rostered)
Williams is a speculative pick, coming with an appealing mix of power and speed. He homered in his first game with the Rays. In five games, he is hitting .400 with a home run, five RBI, a stolen base, and four runs scored. He should play down the stretch and hit homers.
Matt Wallner, OF, Minnesota Twins (8% rostered)
Wallner is an exercise in sheer power. He is never going to hit for a high batting average, but he has 20 home runs in 270 at-bats, eight over the last month, and four in the last week. Wallner is so low-rostered that if you need home runs, he is a cheap pickup.
Runs Batted In (RBI) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Alejandro Kirk, C, Toronto Blue Jays (39% rostered)
Kirk is an underrated asset, both in real and fantasy baseball. He usually bats fourth, sometimes sixth, and is hitting .297 with four home runs and 12 RBI over the last two weeks. Kirk missed a game with a bruised hand, but should be back in the lineup soon.
Nathaniel Lowe, 1B, Boston Red Sox (35% rostered)
Lowe was designated for assignment by Washington and landed with the Red Sox last week. It looks like a good spot. Raise your hand if you knew he had 75 RBI this season. Bonus points if you knew that 11 of them came over the last two weeks, with a .346 average.
Jeff McNeil, 2B/OF, New York Mets (20% rostered)
McNeil is a hot addition right now. He is hitting the cover off the baseball. See the hard-hit rate chart below. McNeil has nine RBI over the last week and 13 over the previous two weeks. Add in eligibility at both second base and outfield, and you have a solid player who can help you.
Stolen Bases (SB) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Josh Lowe, OF, Tampa Bay Rays (36% rostered)
Lowe has largely been a disappointment again this year due to injury. But he is healthy now, and he's playing daily, with no more benching against lefties. The veteran outfielder has four steals over the last week. Nab him and play him while this continues.
Chandler Simpson, OF, Tampa Bay Rays (35% rostered)
People blow off Simpson because they think he only helps in one category: stolen bases. He helps in three categories, even with weak Statcast data. He has five steals in the last two weeks, with a .319 average and nine runs scored. That helps three categories.
The xBA below is .294, and the sprint speed is among the highest marks in the sport. He gets on base and does not strike out. Need help with batting average, steals, and runs? Try Simpson.
Zack Gelof, 2B, Athletics (5% rostered)
Granted, a valid argument is that you need to get on base to be able to steal a base. But, in his last stint at Triple-A, Gelof hit 11 home runs and stole nine bases in 33 games, which is impressive. I am willing to speculate, especially since my team's batting average is dead.
Batting Average (AVG) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Boosters
Alec Burleson, 1B/OF, St. Louis Cardinals (46% rostered)
Burleson is hitting .383 over the last two weeks with two home runs and eight RBI. It looks like he will surpass both his home run and RBI totals from last year, and he's hitting 20 points higher in 2025 as well. He can help at both first base and outfield.
Colton Cowser, OF, Baltimore Orioles (35% rostered)
The young outfielder has been given some runway in Baltimore, and he is proving that he should get a shot at full-time play next year. Cowser is hitting .360 over the last week wth three home runs and seven RBI. I like him the rest of the way.
Kyle Teel, C, Chicago White Sox (11% rostered)
The Sox made an interesting move last week, calling up catcher Korey Lee to be their third catcher. However, there is more to it; having Lee on the roster means Teel can catch or DH to get his bat in the lineup with fellow rookie catcher Edgar Quero.
Teel can hit, flat out, as shown below. Since the All-Star break, Teel is hitting .322 with four home runs, 15 RBI, a stolen base, and nine runs. Need help at catcher? I did, and I grabbed him, and I have been happy with his performance.
I hope this helps you out! Good luck and happy hunting, RotoBallers! You can always message me @mdrc0508 on X to complain about my picks or make other suggestions!
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