Waiver Wire Week 6: For the Wounded and Weak

Add me on Bluesky at Gerbilsports This has been absolutely tragic week for Gerbil Sports. To start the week off just right, I dropped both Nimmo and Stowers. They then proceeded to both have their best weeks of the season by hitting about 7 combined HRs for other managers. Turns out I really needed that production to save me from my worst fantasy week maybe ever - a 0-11 loss at the hands of an Aaron Judge led team. Why I dropped my boy Stowers, who I've propped up on the blog for weeks, is beyond me - sometimes I just make objectively poor decisions because I'm always on the lookout for a fresh new face. The gem of all gems. But I really hope you guys didn't make the same mistake and enjoyed your Stowers stocks this week - I want you all to succeed more than myself! Now you may be asking who I dropped Stowers for:

Isaac Collins This kid has impressed me to maybe an unwarranted degree, so much so that I dropped Stowers (who you should 100% add) for him. On the surface, nothing about Collins is too fancy - he's a 5'8 rookie drafted in the 9th round and is receiving his first serious look at the MLB level. But when I watch this kid, I see an extremely well-built, strong-based player with a very small strike zone and a very mechanically solid swing. He may be "short," but being a listed 188 lbs. (I'd reckon a bit higher now) of pure muscle at that height is actually pretty incredible. His bat speed is indicative of that strength, coming in around the 80th percentile, and that kind of bat speed traveling through a relatively small strike zone leads to some very good outcomes. He reminds me a lot of a young Altuve. When I peeked his 2024 AAA metrics on Prospectsavant, the MLB production and ability he's shown early on this season was not only validated, but actually began to make me believe there's another level for him to unlock. Collins had some of the best bat-t0-ball ability in the entirety of AAA last year, and as a switch hitter no less : 94th percentile Chase % 80th percentile BB% 80th percentile Whiff% 82nd percentile SwStr% 72nd percentile Zone Contact% 93rd percentile Sprint Speed .838 OPS vs LHP .840 OPS vs RHP And thanks to his bat speed, all of these contact numbers also came with some fairly impressive power metrics - a 79th percentile Max EV and 65th percentile Hard-Hit %. When I looked at his MLB Savant numbers, it seems everything important is translating to the MLB level pretty well, albeit with room for improvement. I love Kyle Stowers, but I wanted someone with more reliable bat-to-ball metrics - Stowers 5th percentile Whiff % is a risky proposition, especially when Misner's whiff rates were already starting to rear their ugly head. On top of that, Isaac Collins is a genuine SB threat with great speed, and plays on a Brewers team that's currently 3rd in SBs at 40, only trailing the Cubs and Red Sox. Not only has Collins' bat been solid to start the year, his defense has been extremely good with 60th percentile range and 90th percentile Arm Value, and he's compiled .4 WAR in only 48 PAs leading into today. I don't see a world where Collins doesn't continue to garner regular playing time for the Brewers with Garrett Mitchell both fumbling the bag and getting injured, and Blake Perkins being out with a serious injury. Stowers may have hit four HRs this week, and maybe I should have dropped someone else to grab Collins, but make no mistake - I believe in this man.

Excellent Sweet-Spot% and Chase % has me believing.

Disgustingly good AAA metrics in 2024.

Competing with William Contreras on Bat Speed/ Squared-up/Swing for best on the Brew Crew.

Dane Myers

https://www.gerbilsports.com/post/guys-worth-a-reach "Just have that gut feeling here. This dude is jacked and fast, and hits the ball hard. Gonna be one of those weird seasons where the random 29 year old pops off." With one of my most complex, well-thought out takes on any player on my preseason draft list, sure enough I may have been correct on my deepest cut. Dane Myers has been excellent in the limited playing time he's been given, but thanks to an extremely unfortunate Griffin Conine injury and the poor play of Jesus Sanchez, Dane has begun to carve out a more frequent role in the Marlins outfield. Aside from my joke analysis, I followed Dane pretty closely in 2024, always wishing he would get more playing time to see just how potent the bat actually was, because his metrics indicated there was something impressive there. Unfortunately, Dane has an attitude issue which resulted in him breaking his ankle when he kicked a wall in frustration. Even in 2025, he has a penchant for constantly complaining about calls and is extremely expressive in his body language. But don't let his antics deter you, Dane can hit a baseball, as evidenced by his 2025 production and metrics. His Sweet-Spot % and average exit velocity have him making lots of good contact, and he rarely chases at anything outside of the zone. This alone shows that Dane's production should be sustainable - you're going to run into plenty of good outcomes when you're only swinging at strikes.

Max Kepler I've been hesitant to include Kepler, but there's no ignoring that he may actually be having a resurgent season after an extremely disappointing 2024 campaign. Across the board, Kepler's metrics have been fantastic, and it's hard to find a flaw with his current approach. He's hitting the ball hard and his plate discipline has been excellent, and boasts an .872 OPS against RHP. It's what you want to see.

Kepler has been highly successful at squaring up on the ball and blasting on contact. This is an important test for me when it comes to power hitters.

Daniel Schneeman If you followed Gerbilsports in 2024, then you probably recognize this man immediately. Schneeman was a crush of mine as he flirted with being a good player throughout 2024 campaign, but ultimately couldn't carve out the playing time to be consistent in any kind of way. Schneeman is a super-utility player with eligibility at 2B, 3B, SS, and OF, and is currently producing in a way that warrants a roster spot on any deep-league team just by way of flexibility. Looking at his statcast, we do see he has a whiff issue and squared-up % issue, and the profile is giving me Stowers vibes through and through. There's risk here for sure, but it can't be denied that when he makes contact, the ball flies off the bat as well as any other quality hitter. Schneeman currently has a .294 BA and .957 OPS against RHP, which is exemplary, but does struggle against LHP to an extent that makes him virtually unplayable against southpaws.

Dillon Dingler Dillon Dingler is becoming the player I hoped Patrick Bailey would be, and in his rookie season no less. Dingler was noted for his hitting potential throughout the minors, but my god has his defense been absolutely fucking cracked for a rookie. 98th percentile blocks above average? 100th percentile framing? 84th percentile caught stealing? Dingler is the best defensive catcher in baseball, as a rookie. And then we get to his hitting profile which is beginning to emerge in a way that I don't think anyone expected this early in his career. A 90th percentile Sweet-Spot% and 72nd percentile Hard-Hit% have Dingler resting at a .301 BA and .804 OPS, not too far from his expected numbers. He also possesses solid splits with an .893 OPS against LHP and a 308 AVG and .764 OPS against RHP. He's a safe start regardless of who is on the mound and is a large contributor to the Tigers' success.

Chase Meidroth If you're in any kind of OBP league, Meidroth is a must-add. And even if you're not, Meidroth is still managing to be a viable producer, especially since returning from a 10-day IL stint to heal a thumb issue that plagued his first few games in the majors. Even today, as I type this, Meidroth is 0/2 with 2 BB, 1 R, & 1 SB. After being the minor league OBP champion for years, Meidroth looks to finish his rookie season with a .380+ OBP and the counting stats to go along. And alth0ugh the power hasn't flashed yet, there were some solid power metrics at AAA to indicate Meidroth is only beginning to reach his potential. Expect Meidroth to be the Sox leadoff hitter for years to come.

Luis Urías Urias is 27, was called up at age 20, and it's maybe taken him this long to finally reach the potential the Padres saw in him all those years ago. For Urias, this has been a long time coming, and it's nice to see him possibly having his breakout year. His bat-to-ball and discipline metrics have been excellent across the board and he's barreled the ball just well enough to blast out 5 dingers. In fact, when looking at the batted ball Data, Urias has been even more impressive than Jacob Wilson at exactly what makes them both so efficient - the ability to square up on the ball. If Jacob Wilson is a hot commodity right now, well, Urías should be as well!

That's Jacob Wilson, right next to Urías.

Alex Call I've been on the fence about Call, but it's about time to decide that he's real. Call has an extremely similar profile to Meidroth right now and it would be silly of me to hold Call's age against him. Here at Gerbilsports, age is but a number; an older player can still make adjustments and find success, we don't discriminate. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Call has the best plate Discipline in the MLB right now, with a ridiculous 96th-100th percentiles ranging from BB%-Squared-Up%. Combined with good speed, Alex Call has become a hitting machine that can boost your ratios week in and week out.

Alek Thomas Alek Thomas may be the player on this list closest to going on an absolute tear, and don't say I didn't warn you. After posting some amazing metrics in 2024, but with no production to back it up, Thomas is starting to earn consistent playing time and the underlying metrics are beginning to catch up. His Squared-Up % and Exit Velos are top-tier with the barrel and hard-hit percentages on the rise. His .302 BA stands in line with his solid .280 xBA, and frankly, the slugging should come sooner tather than later for Alek, who boasted a respectable .446 xSLG in 2024. With Barrosa sent down to the minors to make way for Marté, there's nothing preventing Thomas from garnering everyday reps other than himself. He also offers some SB upside as he continues to earn more reps.

Jonathan India After an absolutely abysmal start to the season that's seen his ownership rates plummet, India is finally starting to figure it out, producing some solid numbers over the past week that are more in-line with his statcast metrics. With elite plate discipline and solid contact numbers, it was really only a matter of time before India began collecting some hits. It's just really hard to be bad when you're 98th percentile in Chase%, 86th percentile in Whiff%, and 81st percentile in Squared-Up %. Warmer weather should only do India favors going forward - even a small boost in exit velos can suddenly see India being a great hitter, those balls just need to find the gaps a little quicker.

Ryan McMahon

McMahon is a notoriously hot and cold hitter, often being exemplary for half a season and dogwater for the other half. Much like India, McMahon has struggled mightily to begin the 2025 campaign, but he seems to finally be heating up with the weather. His average exit velocity comes in at an elite 91st percentile score along with excellent bat speed, but he's really struggled to lift the ball and find any kind of consistent launch angle, on top of some serious whiff issues. His performance over the last 4 games shows he may be finally finding the sweet spot of the bat, and a McMahon that lifts the ball is a player that can hit plenty of dingers. In 2024, McMahon had a 61st percentile bat speed. In 2025, he boasts an 83rd percentile bat speed. Whatever changes he made to his swing clearly required an adjustment period, now it's time to see if it can pay off. This is a risky play for sure, but the payoff could be huge.

Gunnar Hoglund Talk about an electric debut. Hoglund couldn't have looked much better than he did, and it was thanks largely in part to his 4-seam fastball that he threw 44% of the time and induced a ridiculous 43 whiff %. Oh, and his changeup that he threw 19% of the time? a 43% whiff rate. Yikes. That was a 43% whiff rate on 63% of his pitches, which is probably not sustainable, but exactly what you want to see. And that's not even to mention his ridiculous sinker allowing him to post a 95th percentile GB rate in his first start, to go with the absurd swing-and-miss stuff. He was basically picking and choosing how he wanted to get outs, some true ace type shit. There's no reason to not add this dude and see how how he fares based on his dominating MLB debut.

Watching: Ben Brown had a solid outing, and the statcast is starting to look better. Just need to see more consistency from a guy with only 2 pitches. Luis L. Ortiz has a good fastball but remains inconsistent. He was able to string together some solid starts in 2024, let's see if he can do it again. Jonah Heim continues to teeter the line as starting C. If the Rangers could just get going, he'd be worth an add. Eli White is hitting the ball well and is obviously fast fast. Falling/Struggling: Kameron Misner has fallen off a cliff over the past week, struggling to get anything going. Somebody I was extremely high on due to the size/speed combo and solid metrics, is now floundering at the plate leaving me high and dry. Trevor Larnach has once again struggled at the plate after a seemingly resurgent week. Get it together man. Eric Wagaman has been extremely quiet after a solid stretch of games and a feature on the blog. I can't believe I recommended Hjerstad over Stowers. Yikes.