Waiver Wire Week 2: Strong Bats and Baseball Caps

Follow me on Bluesky at GerbilSports. All I want to say is thank god this week is over. My fantasy squad had a real rough time, with players like William Contreras and Corey Seager being inexplicably terrible. Gunnar's finally back and is ready to join those other guys as someone who's forgotten how to hit. And I know I'm not alone based on reddit discourse - unless you own Aaron Judge, you've probably been suffering too. I think I can safely say we're all ready to put week 1 behind us. This week I've put grades on players just to indicate how I prioritize them, but please make your own decisions on who to add if you want to add any at all! Italicized = last week's discourse for repeat player. Brendan Rodgers (A) Rodgers has seen one of the most marked increases in bat speed thus far, going from the 46th percentile to 92nd percentile, and it doesn't seem like a fluke or something unsustainable. I think sometimes people forget that in 2020 - which was somehow five years ago - Rodgers was the #1 prospect in the Rockies' organization with hitting that was supposed to be all-star caliber. Injury after injury have plagued Rodgers' development, but it seems like he's completely healthy after five completely medicocre seasons. Sometimes it takes a while, but at age 28, it appears that Brendan Rodgers is ready to cement himself as one of the better-hitting second basemen in the MLB. I picked him up last night and I believe he'll stay on the squad for the forseeable future.

Kameron Misner (A) I've been keeping a pretty close eye on Tampa's M&M's, and after some deliberation and intuitive decision-making, I decided to snag Misner and leave Mangum, When it comes to Mangum, age, sprint speed, and bat speed just leave me kind of skeptical of the sustainability of Mangum's performance. But Kameron Misner? I see markers that really make me believe this kid is about to break out. He's extremely fast, for one thing, and although he's yet to steal a base, he stole an incredibly impressive 30 bases at AAA last year. His bat speed clocks in at a solid 72nd percentile and squares up the ball at an elite 93rd percentile, and with that are some really hard-hit balls. The entire profile here screams 25/20 guy and I'd take that without question. Expect the batting average to fall but the power to emerge. Like Rodgers, I've found a place for Misner on my squad and don't plan on dropping him any time soon.

Ben Rice (A+)

This almost seems too obvious at this point, but here he is again. This is seriously your last chance to grab Ben Rice. I'd probably give him an S grade if he played every day. As good as Soderstrom has been, Ben Rice is my choice at 1b. Unlike Soderstrom, Rice has zero issues with plate discipline and doesn't whiff nor chase. On top of that, he possesses very similar power numbers across the board. Most importantly, he bats at the heart of the Yankees lineup - he's going to produce way more RBIs and Rs than Soderstrom on the A's.

Geraldo Perdomo (A-) Perdomo continues to make contact with baseballs, and not much has changed from last week's evaluation. I own Gunnar and Seager, so Perdomo won't be making any appearances for the Gerbil Journeymen, but I can't stress enough that if your SS situation troubles you even a little, just grab Perdomo and let him pump up your batting average while you sort it out. Or hell, maybe Perdomo is the answer.

If there's any player in the league that I think is a lock to hit .300 this year, it's Perdomo. The greatest skill Perdomo has displayed throughout his career is the ability to square up on the baseball and make contact, and so far he's the best in the business when it comes to that. With an approach at the plate that has his BB% down significantly and his swing rates up, Perdomo is clearly looking to get hits and only hits in 2025. If you need a SS, and/or a player that can help your BA, look no further.

Ke'Bryan Hayes (B) I think most of my readers saw Hayes last week and audibly hissed at my writing, cursing my name and invoking the wrath of the baseball gods. Well it worked, because my paralysis demon was Ke'Bryan Hayes last night, and he just stood in the corner of the room holding what seemed like a printed-out version of his statcast page and had this shit-eating grin on his face the entire time. Nah, that didn't happen. I get it, it's easy to dismiss the former top prospect and his statcast as nothing but an enticing mirage. However, he's really backed up the statcast since, and the bars are looking even more red:

Nice production, good hitting, and maybe a breakout for the perpetually injured Hayes?

Another guy who is doing well on the Heliot Ramos test, but also a guy many already see as a failed prospect. Year after year we see Hayes battling injury and inconsistency, with his 2025 campaign being slowed by a lingering back issue. Yes, he has a .154 BA and a .308 OPS, but the answer is never as obvious as the surface level production. Hayes is blasting baseballs and lighting up some major statcast categories. His .287 xBA and .546 .xSLG are extremely encouraging and drastically better than his actual batting average and slugging.. The play time is there, so we'll just wait and see.

Kyle Stowers (B) Stowers is swinging a powerful bat and statcast shows a promising .461 xSLG. The bat speed is great, the barrels and hard-hit % are great, and he's walking to the tune of an 87th percentile BB%. By all means Stowers has been pretty great from a statcast perspective, but the .757 OPS and .250 BA are simply whelming - a player you'd want on your real team, but maybe not your fantasy team. Well shit, nah, I take that back - that actually sounds pretty good for fantasy purposes when you have guys like Brenton Doyle playing like dogwater (whoops, he hit a HR). If the actual production starts to regress towards the expected numbers, Stowers is going to look like a steal.

Trey Sweeney (C+) Let me start this by saying I really like Trey Sweeney as a baseball player. A 6'3 short stop with good speed and fantastic defense is so beautiful to watch in action, and his fielding prowess needs to be acknowledged by the larger baseball world. When the Yankees took Sweeney with their #1 pick in the 2021 draft, I was almost certain he'd be the Yankees SS of the future. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they made the pretty bad decision to trade Sweeney away for Victor Gonzales and Jorbit Vivas. Volpe is a great short stop, but Oswaldo Cabrera is a weak link and Trey Sweeney playing 3B would have been incredible for the Yanks. Now Sweeney gets the chance to thrive for the Tigers and his hitting is looking promising. His bat speed clocks in at the 75th percentile and his plate discipline has been better than what you'd expect from a player with less than 150 MLB ABs. If Sweeney is able to post a .276 BA and .806 OPS with a pretty misserable 19th percentile Sweet-Spot %, I'm almost scared to see what he can do when he starts to find that sweet-spot. A Tigers lineup featuring Carpenter, Greene, Tork (for now), and Sweeney sounds pretty enticing if Sweeney can manage to move up in the order. And let me say something...I like Sweeney better long term than Volpe.

Gabriel Arias (C) Arias is here because he plays 2b, 3B, and SS. The kid has elite bat speed (94th percentile) and a pretty good hard-hit% to go with a strong .292 BA and .837 OPS. Decent speed and bat skills have Arias as a good sleeper play, but I'm still unsure on him. Maybe you'll be more sure than me if you need a utility guy, which I don't.

Hunter Goodman (B)

Goodman hasn't done anything for two straight, currently going on three games, and he's still most likely going to be a LHP specialist, but that doesn't change the fact that his bat speed is elite and he can smack the shit out of a baseball with that lovely 86th percentile barrel rate. If you own Ivan Herrera and are suddenly lost at C, I'd definitely pick up Goodman. Even throughout this mini slump, he's still managed to drive some balls deep. Hunter Goodman is playing some powerful ball at a position where power tends to be scarce, and boy am I lucky I was able to snag this guy on waivers with William Contreras playing like shit. Hell, he just hit a HR on his very first day on my roster! Hitting at Coors in a lineup that has guys like Doyle, McMahon, and Tovar actually provides some pretty good RBI upside. The Rockies might be bad, but may not be all that bad for fantasy purposes. If you're interested in a C with 25 HR potential, look no further

Alek Thomas (B-)

Alek Thomas seems to be the starting CF in Arizona with Jake Mccarthy taking a backseat. It's what you wanna see. His BA of .368 is only slightly higher than his xBA of .362 - impressive. Thomas has extremely high upside and you'd be remiss to gloss over a man that can square up a ball this well. I remember last year, in one of my final pieces, I said this guy was going to save my season. I was wrong. He barely played and didn't do anything when he did. But I saw the potential early and now I think it's finally time for the emergence of the powerful Alek Thomas. He's going to save all of our seasons, just look at that statcast.

Luis Matos (C-)

I still have fond memories of the 2024 call ups of Matos and Ramos, with Matos getting all the shine while I boldly proclaimed to ignore Matos and focus on Ramos. It was a GerbilSports defining moment. But that doesn't mean an age 23 Matos should be ignored in his 3rd big league season. Matos continues to show he's excellent and making contact with the ball and putting it in play. His K and whiff percentages remain elite and his sweet-spot and squared up percentages are encouraging. Keep an eye on him,

Starting Pitchers All of the pitchers from last week's post are still relevant and being watched and recommended, but I'm not going to relist guys unless there's been a major development that deserves recognition. Check that out if you want more options.

Jordan Hicks I mentioned Hicks last week as a player to watch, but this week I'll include him as a main highlight. This whole situation is simple - if Hicks begins to lose velocity, drop him. If his velocity stays up, keep him.

Hicks arm angle is sitting pretty right between his 2023 arm angle of 40 degrees and his 2024 arm angle of 29 degrees. Let's see if this keeps him healthy.

Hayden Wesneski I like Wesneski quite a bit, while most don't even know who this guy is. He's just a solid pitcher with solid pitches who now finds himself a member of the Houston Astros, a club known for getting the most ouf of their starters. He might have a 5.40 era after one start, but he also has a 1.00 WHIP and excellent .185 xBA. His velocity is surprisngly good, sometimes reaching back for 97 MPH on the 4-seam, a pitch he's throwing signficantly more in 2025 - 55% up from 36% in 2024. His sweeper was his primary pitch in 2024, which he threw 41% of the time, is now only being thrown at 15%. Houston has changed his pitch mix drastically, and we'll see if he evolves as a starter.

104 location+. Let's see if the Stuff+ catches up.

Pain, without love, Pain, can't get enough.