Waiver Wire Week 1: Get These Hitters Before You Can't Get These Hitters

John Gerbino
Mar 31
6 min read

Just want you all to know I appreciate the support and kind words. Now on BlueSky for casual conversation and thoughts while I watch games. Griffin Conine I wanted to start this list with an obscure dude that nobody sees coming, and this is why Conine is here. His bat speed is elite, he has baseball pedigree (father was just inducted into the Marlins HOF), he's a fantastic outfielder, he's smacking the shit out of baseballs, and above all, he performs pretty well on the Heliot Ramos Test. Conine has never particularly excelled at the minor league level but we don't hold that against players here. Some guys are just late bloomers, and that may be the case for Conine at age 27.

Andrew Vaughn Becuse the production hasn't been there, I had no idea just how well Vaughn had been swinging his bat. But when sifting through bat tracking data, I saw Vaughn has been near the league best in putting the ball into play, so I decided to check out the statcast. As you can see below, Vaughn has been crushing baseballs into play, but his BABIP is an unbelievably terrible .083. I actually feel bad for Vaughn being so unlucky to start the season - but that's fortunate for us. Now we get to scoop up Vaughn before his sudden regression upward, which will surely set the world on fire!

Ke'Bryan 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.

Tyler Soderstrom

I've neglected to mention Soderstrom to start the season, and that's my error. After riddling my waiver wire pieces last year, I came to the conclusion that Tyler's K issues are too glaring at age 23 and even though he gets extremely hot, the cold stretches might not be worth it. Now, this could still be a hot stretch that will ultimately be followed by some cold, cold hitting....or he's finally living up to his #1 pedigreee and doing exactly what a player with his tools should be doing. Between the Heliot Ramos test and his ridiculous statcast power indicators - Hard-Hit, Barrel, etc., Soderstrom is a must-add at 1B.

Ben Rice 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.

Judge and Rice are leading the Yankees. Ignore Peraza in the top right, he's barely played.

Hunter Goodman 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.

Goodman swings a fast bat with great power. Dingers incoming.

Miguel Amaya There's really not too much to say about Amaya, other than the ball continues to find the sweet spot of his bat and he continues to get hits. Any C that gets lots of ABs and is capable of hitting .275+ is worth rostering in deeper leagues. I think that's Miguel Amaya - a guy that's going to help your BA at a position where it usually hurts.

Otto Lopez His statcast looks this good and it doesn't even include the HR he hit today. Man has Otto Lopez been fucking awesome to start the season. I followed him pretty closely in 2024 and he made the blog a few times, but he was ultimately inconsistent and never quite worth an add outside of his hot sreaks, which were easy to miss. Now, knowing about those those hot streaks, we need to be a little bit cautious here - Lopez is not a guy with a power profile and is still 5'10, 185 with a profile that probably doesn't have him hitting for the power he's currently displaying on statcast. This might very well be a hot streak to start the season, but with his speed and ability to make contact, he could still be a viable fantasy option even the power numbers regress a bit (they will).

Alek Thomas 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.

Kyle Manzardo He probably won't be available on waivers in competitive leagues, but if he is...why? Why haven't you grabbed Manzardo?

Keibert Ruiz

Keibert is a big dude so there might be a little hope that his much improved Hard-Hit rates stay up after posting a paltry 4th percentile Hard-Hit % in 2024, but that also might be a little optimistic. We saw some potential in 2023 for a pretty good hitter after he posted 18 HRs for a .717 OPS, and it wouldn't be surprising if this was the year he improves on that and has a breakout campaign. As it stands, he's swinging a strong bat and is worthy of consideration.

Spencer Torkelson After a solid 2023 where Torkelson hit 31 HRs, Torkelson is picking up right where he left off in 2025, just as expected.

Jorge Polanco

From https://www.gerbilsports.com/post/day-2-quick-thoughts Polanco's 2023 was solid and posted a .789 OPS and .255 BA, convincing the Mariners to trade for what they assumed was going to be a playoff contributing piece.. His 2024 campaign was miserable, leaving SEA fans feeling like they're truly cursed when aqcuiring talent; they get someone, then they suddenly suck. One thing to note about Polanco's 2023 to 2024 dip in performance is that it may coincide with a drop in bat speed - 30th percentile to 19th percentile. This usually stands to be one of the leading symptoms of aging, a true destroyer of production, and we could have assumed a 30-31 year old Polanco is simply declining. But after one 2025 game, we can already see his bat-speed is up to a 35th percentile mark, 5% higher than his solid 2023 mark. Keep an eye on a possibly resurgent Polanco who could replicate or surpass his 2023 numbers.

Doing a good job of putting the ball in play and getting value out of it. Look at poor Devers at the bottom left...

Geraldo Perdomo 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.

Kyle Stowers

There's good things happening down in Miami this year, and Stowers is a big part of it. On top of solid defense, Stowers has provided a surprisingly potent bat. His blast numbers are above-average and he nails the important statcast metrics. Throughout 2024 Stowers displayed good power on contact but really struggled with plate discipline to the tune of bottom percentile K, BB, Whiff, and Chase rates. The most impressive part of Stowers' 2025 performance has been his plate discipline, where he's no longer chasing and actually taking walks. He already has three BBs on the season after having thirteen for all of 2024. If he continues to show this kind of discipline at the plate, Stowers could have an unexpected breakout campaign.