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| Monday, July 14, 2025 |
| We made it. The All-Star break. Grab some water, take a seat, and catch your breath. Collect yourself. We've got the whole second half of the season left, but right now, it's time to just relax. |
| Over the next few days at Fantasy Baseball Today headquarters, we're going to still be right here, making sure you're ready for the second half. On the podcast side of things, we're going to be talking some MLB draft stuff, for those of you in Dynasty leagues, and we're going to be taking a look ahead at the second half, focusing on Sleepers, Breakouts, and Busts, plus a full re-drafting of the first couple of rounds with an eye on the second half (and beyond). |
| And the newsletter is going to follow a similar format, beginning today. We're not doing our usual weekend recap – scroll down for the biggest news coming out of the weekend, though. Instead, I've got some waiver-wire targets for every position in Fantasy for you, including one player to stash for the second half. Because the nice thing about this week is there's a bit less of a need to focus on immediate help, since there aren't any games until Friday. Our banged-up players can get healthy, rotations will be reset, and we can just take a longer view of things. |
| So that's what we've got for you today. Tomorrow, I'll be here with some second-half sleepers to target either in trades or on the waiver wire, and we'll have more to get you ready for the second half the rest of the week. And the games will be back before you know it. |
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| Week 17 Waiver Targets |
| Catchers |
| Sean Murphy, Braves (37%) – With the Braves looking like playoff longshots, I'm hoping for a Sean Murphy trade, which would clear him for more playing time and give Drake Baldwin a clearer path to an everyday role. Both have top-12 upside, but Murphy has seen the playing time tilt back his way as he's been hot, with four homers in his past five games. |
| One player to stash: Samuel Basallo, Orioles (31%) – If the Orioles didn't call Basallo up when they had four catchers placed on the IL in quick succession, does it really make sense for them to call him up with Adley Rutschman on the mend? Probably not, but he's still hitting .261/.383/.576 as a 20-year-old at Triple-A, and if they decided to make some moves to sell at the deadline, that could open an opportunity in their crowded 1B/DH field, too. |
| First Base |
| Andrew Vaughn, Brewers (14%) – I don't really have a lot of hope for Vaughn becoming a real contributor for the Brewers, but it's hard to argue with the early returns: Two homers and 10 RBI in his first five games. He's a former top prospect, so maybe just getting away from the White Sox and into a more competent organization will be enough to get Vaughn on track. |
| One player to stash: Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles (15%) – I want there to be a more interesting choice here, but there aren't many options – the top first base prospect remaining in the minors is probably Bryce Eldridge , who is dealing with a hamstring injury that has kept him out the past few days and has just a .710 OPS in his first 16 games at Triple-A, so we probably won't see him until September. So we'll stash Mountcastle, who is working his way back from his own hamstring injury and still has some upside despite a pretty terrible first 52 games to open the season. He's definitely a trade candidate for the Orioles before the deadline, too. |
| Second base |
| Colt Keith, Tigers (46%) – Keith might deserve more credit than he's been getting lately. His production hasn't jumped off the page yet – he has mostly settled in as a solid, but unspectacular hitter – but the underlying data suggests there's another level to be reached here. For the season, he has a .371 xwOBA compared to an actual .344 mark, and over the past 100 plate appearances, he's been even better, with a .404 xwOBA that would rank as a top-25 mark in the entire league for the season. He's taken a step forward as a power hitter without sacrificing plate discipline, and it's made Keith look like a solid starter at either position he is eligible for. |
| One player to stash: Luke Keaschall, Twins (24%) – Keaschall has been out since late April due to a fractured forearm, but he's been able to take part in live batting practice in recent days and should be close to a rehab assignment. Keaschall showed a terrific approach at the plate in the minors and in his very brief stint in the majors, but the most exciting thing about his early-season run was how aggressive he had been on the bases, with nine steals in 21 games between Triple-A and the majors. With a likely return in late July, Keaschall has the potential to make a real difference down the stretch. |
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| Third base |
| Noelvi Marte, Reds (65%) – Marte had a nice weekend, hitting a couple of homers and adding a steal to continue his solid little breakout campaign. In nine games since coming off the IL, Marte is hitting .259 with three homers, a steal, and a .953 OPS, and he's put together something close to a 30-30 pace in the 28 games he has played. This is a former top prospect who has an everyday job and has been very good when on the field this season, so I'm gonna say he needs to be rostered pretty much universally, just in case this is the breakout it's starting to look like. |
| Brady House, Nationals (26%) – House hasn't looked overwhelmed so far, and in July, he's starting to look like he belongs. His strikeout rate is down to 21.4%, right around the league average, and he's hitting .293/.310/.488 after his two-homer game Saturday. We've seen a bit of aggression on the bases and a solid approach at the plate, buoyed by an excellent .303 expected batting average, and House looks like he might be tapping into a bit of upside lately. In deeper leagues, he's a fine target. |
| One player to stash: Max Muncy, Dodgers (74%) – Muncy has already missed 10 days with his knee injury, an injury that was expected to cause him to miss six weeks. We're probably still another month away from him returning, but Muncy should be worth the wait – he was hitting .282/.410/.546 with a near-40-homer pace from May 1 on. |
| Shortstop |
| Ha-seong Kim, Rays (25%) – Kim isn't the kind of player we typically worry about exit velocities or hard-hit rates for, because even at his best, he's a fringe-y power hitter. But it's worth keeping an eye on the early returns with him coming back from shoulder surgery, and they've been very positive – several batted balls over 105 mph, 54% of his batted balls have been over 95, and his average is 90.5. That doesn't mean Kim is suddenly going to be a power hitter, but it's a good sign that he isn't dealing with too many lingering effects from the surgery. If he's healthy, Kim is a good bet for a 10-homer, 30-plus-steal pace, and he looks healthy. |
| One player to stash: Jordan Lawler, Diamondbacks (30%) – A full teardown seems incredibly unlikely, but some retooling seems like a safe assumption from a Diamondbacks team that looks like a longshot to make the playoffs and has two starters on the infield heading into free agency. If they trade either Eugenio Suarez or Josh Naylor – Naylor seems much more likely right now – that should finally give Lawlar a chance to play every day. Once he gets healthy, of course – Lawlar has been out since late June with a hamstring injury, but was hitting .319/.410/.583 at the level before the injury. He remains a potential difference maker. |
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| Outfield |
| Kyle Stowers, Marlins (74%) – When Stowers went over a month without a homer from mid-May to mid-June, it wasn't unreasonable to assume he had turned back into a pumpkin. Stowers was always a fringe-y prospect, so when it looked like he just had a hot start to the season, Fantasy players were willing to say, "Thanks for the help," and drop him. But that was clearly premature. Stowers was already bouncing back nicely from that slump even before Sunday's five-hit, three-homer game against the Orioles. Add that in, and he's hitting .385/.444/.846 so far in July and has his xwOBA up to .411 over the past 100 PA. Stowers' plate discipline is a problem, but when he makes contact, he continues to do more than enough damage to make up for it, and at this point, he probably just needs to be viewed as a viable starter in all Fantasy leagues moving forward. |
| Tyler Freeman, Rockies (41%) – Freeman might just be a viable starter in all formats, too. Even after a 1-for-13 weekend against the Reds, Freeman is hitting .340 in July, which is actually worse than what he hit in June. He probably isn't going to keep hitting like prime Tony Gwynn, but the underlying skills – including a 9.3% strikeout rate – suggest Freeman should nonetheless remain a very good source of batting average. And then you add on Coors Field's average-inflating properties, and yeah, this guy might have a chance to hit .320 the rest of the way while stealing 20-plus bases. I might prefer Freeman straight up to Luis Arraez at this point. |
| Tyler O'Neill, Orioles (41%) – We haven't seen much from O'Neill since March, really, and maybe this just won't be his year. We've seen that from the mercurial O'Neill plenty of times in the past, and it's not like the underlying data gives us a ton to be optimistic about right now. On the other hand, O'Neill is coming off a season where he had 31 homers in 113 games, and that kind of demonstrated upside just doesn't sit on the waiver wire very often. Hopefully, the All-Star break gives him a chance to reset and tap back into the upside we know is there. |
| One player to stash: Chase DeLauter, Guardians (28%) – DeLauter has been dealing with a wrist injury in recent days, which is obviously worrisome given his lengthy injury history. And it may be yet another malady that trips him up and prevents him from living up to his considerable potential. But if it's just a minor injury, I'm still viewing DeLauter as one of the top prospects to stash in the whole league, given his combination of success at Triple-A and obvious positional need in Cleveland. The 23-year-old is hitting .278/383/.476 at Triple-A this season despite missing so much of his key developmental period, and if he does get the chance in the second half, I still believe there is significant upside in his bat. |
| Starting pitcher |
| Joe Boyle, Rays (48%) – Boyle is in a weird spot. He both is and isn't in the Rays rotation right now. As in, he's in the rotation of pitchers, but he isn't starting right now, instead piggybacking off Drew Rasmussen in each of his past two starts, during which he has struck out eight and walked three in nine innings of work while allowing two runs. We'd like to see more strikeouts, and frankly, I expect more moving forward, so the biggest question is whether he can get up to six innings consistently while pitching in relief. If so, Boyle is going to be an impactful arm no matter the role. |
| Emmett Sheehan, Dodgers (62%) – Sheehan has been used as both a starter and a bulk reliever this season, and he's been excellent in any role, allowing three earned runs in 13.1 innings with 13 strikeouts and four walks. Like Boyle, there is some ambiguity around his role, especially with the Dodgers rotation starting to get healthier and Shohei Ohtani starting to get stretched out more. That could lead to a trip back to Triple-A or more of a pure relief role, but I think the upside is so high with Sheehan – who has 49 strikeouts to just six talks in 33 innings across the majors and minors – that I'm going to add and hold him through the break to see what the plan is here. |
| Cam Schlittler, Yankees (53%) – Schlittler looked excellent in his MLB debut last week, striking out seven in 5.1 innings of work. You'll be unsurprised to learn that there is also some question about what his role will be in the second half – Luis Gil hopes to be back in the rotation in the next few weeks, and Ryan Yarbrough could be back eventually, too – but there's a reason I'm not worried about that right now: With the All-Star break here, we've got a few extra days to worry about what a player's role will be. If it turns out these guys aren't actually going to be in the rotation, you can drop them at the end of this week and move on to someone safer. But the upside with all three of these pitchers is significant enough to be well worth chasing right now. Plus, look at it this way: If injuries paved the way for all three to get their chances in the first place, there's always the chance (and perhaps a very good one) that injuries continue to give them a chance in the future. Life finds a way. |
| One player to stash: Zebby Matthews, Twins (29%) – Matthews made his first rehab start Sunday as he works his way back from a shoulder injury, and he was dominant. Working over four shutout, no-hit innings, Matthews struck out nine and needed just 56 pitches to record his 12 outs. We'll likely need to see another couple of starts from Matthews so his pitch count can get closer to 80-plus, but he sure looks like he's dealing with no ill effects from the injury and absolutely could be a second-half difference maker. |
| Relief pitcher |
| Raisel Iglesias , Braves (68%) – I've been operating under the assumption all along that the Braves planned to eventually get Iglesias back in the closer's role, and it looks like that might have happened this week. Iglesias got the save on both Friday and Saturday, the first time a Braves pitcher has gotten consecutive saves since mid-May, before Iglesias lost the job. Getting him right and back in the closer's role was always going to be the best outcome for the Braves, and it sure looks like they've figured it out, as he has 20 strikeouts to just three walks with a 2.35 ERA since the start of June, a stretch of 15.1 innings. When he's right, Iglesias is a must-start closer, and it looks like he's back. |
| One player to stash: Cade Smith, Guardians (29%) – I don't know how likely it is that the Guardians will actually trade Emmanuel Clase , but they enter the second half fourth in the weak AL Central, 12 games behind the Tigers and 4.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, behind five different teams. So, if they were going to sell, this might be the time. Clase would fetch a huge haul on the market, and Smith is more than capable of stepping into his role, with a career 2.26 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. Smith could be a top-five closer if he got the chance. |
| Weekend news and notes |
| Austin Riley was placed on the IL with a right abdominal strain. Nacho Alvarez was recalled by the Braves, and while he's still quite young and has some success in the high minors, he's not someone Fantasy players need to run out and add right now. |
| Brandon Lowe was placed on the IL with left oblique tightness, retroactive to July 8. Hopefully, he'll be good to go the first day back from the All-Star break, when he will be eligible, but that's just speculation at this point. |
| Max Fried left Saturday's start early due to a blister on his left index finger. The break came at a good time, and hopefully, he'll be able to avoid missing any time with this. |
| Edward Cabrera left Friday with posterior elbow discomfort. An MRI revealed no structural damage, but elbows are always scary for pitchers. |
| Ivan Herrera was reinstated Sunday and started at DH. He was also seen taking some reps in the outfield, but it seems like a long shot he'll play there enough to have 2026 eligibility, so hopefully he keeps his catcher gear around to get the six appearances he needs to retain eligibility for next season. |
| Oneil Cruz was out of the lineup Sunday due to a hip flexor injury. |
| Marcell Ozuna has sat out three of the past seven games. He's been terrible since we learned about his hip injury in June, so hopefully the break gives him a chance to reset. |
| Adley Rutschman is scheduled to continue his rehab into the second half, so perhaps he can return in late July. |
| Jeremy Peña hit in an indoor cage and did light on-field work Saturday. He's hoping to be back shortly after the AS break. |
| Nolan Arenado was removed Friday with a sprained right index finger. He missed Saturday and Sunday, too, and has been really beat up lately, so the break comes at a good time for him, too. |
| Aaron Nola threw a 40-pitch bullpen Saturday. He's scheduled to also throw Tuesday and next Saturday, with the expectation that he'll rejoin the Phillies rotation in early-mid August. |
| Lars Nootbaar was placed on the IL with a left side injury. |
| Luis Gil made his first rehab start at Double-A on Sunday. He recorded six strikeouts and allowed one run over 3.1 innings and will probably need several more starts before he is able to come back, so we're still looking at likely a late-July return at best. |
| With Alex Bregman back from his quad injury, Marcelo Mayer will get the majority of his playing time at second base moving forward. |
| Christian Encarnacion-Strand was demoted to the minors with Jake Fraley activated. |
| Thairo Estrada has missed five straight with a jammed thumb. |
| The A's reinstated Luis Urias and optioned Zack Gelof back to Triple-A. |
| Red Sox pitcher Hunter Dobbins suffered a torn ACL in his start Friday night. |
| Others who went on the IL this weekend |
| Connor Norby with left wrist inflammation |
| Jake Meyers with a right calf strain |
| Jesse Winker with back inflammation |
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