Waiver Wire Week 6 - Rice With A Shot Of Espresso.

Seeing Rice doing what he's doing has me nostalgic for the early days of 2025, when I was fully ready to go all in on a guy that had hit .171 with a .613 OPS the year before. And yet, most tragically, I could not manage to snag rice in the only redraft league I participate in this year - a league in which I'm really struggling, no less. Hats off to the guys who reached for both Rice and Sal more than I had anticipated, perhaps you read my blog.

Fortunately enough, though, the official Gerbil Sports Dynasty League roster happens to have two prolific 1B:

Now it's 2026, and for me, the next Ben Rice is my boy Sam Antonacci. Back in the Fall, Sam Antonacci jumped off the screen and page as I scouted AFL film and went through AFL data over on prospectsavant. And when I checked out his minor league and collegiate history, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This is what I wrote on my Patreon:

If you want to check out that AFL post, it's free now. https://www.patreon.com/posts/afl-performers-143210128?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

I then recommended him again on one of my more elaborate prospect pieces: https://www.reddit.com/r/DynastyBaseball/comments/1r523fr/2026_and_2027_underrated_hitting_prospects_to_buy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

At the time, Sam Antonacci didn't even show up as having value on the Harryknowsball calculator. Nobody in the fantasy space was talking about this kid - he wasn't even close to anyone's top 100. And yet, I was looking like a crazy person declaring this guy to be the #1 2B prospect in the minors, ahead of Bazzana. People on reddit thought I was a member of the Antonacci family, that's how much weight I threw behind this kid. I could feel them clutching their kneecaps through my laptop screen. Sometimes, somebody just has that "it" factor, and Antonacci had it. The most exciting part of fantasy baseball? There will be more Antonaccis (JK, he's one of a kind <3), and it's my mission to find them.

Sam Antonacci

Antonacci is everything we dreamt of and then some.

My friends - it is time for us to take our victory lap, as the majority of us obtained my #1 ranked 2B prospect in baseball for either free, or nothing much at all. This right here? This alone makes the hours and hours of pouring over prospects worth it - there will be more Sam Antonaccis out there in the future, just waiting to be discovered. And discover them, we shall.

You may have seen my post yesterday focusing on balls put into play. If you did, you may have also noticed Antonacci puts the ball in play on over 70% of his plate appearances, making him top 10 percentile in the data set. When a guy like Antonacci puts the ball in play that often, while also squaring up at a 99th percentile rate and hitting that sweet-spot 36% of the time, good things are bound to happen. And well, that's reflected in a shiny, pristine, gorgeous .317 xBA. It's hard to believe that a guy with a single HR - that being an inside-the-parker - has an .826 OPS, and yet here it is, in the flesh.

The craziest part of all of this? Antonacci hasn't swiped a single bag, despite being a premiere base stealer in the minors, including five swiped bags across 14 AAA contests before his promotion. That's coming, trust me - he's too fast and too gritty to not start making the most of his baserunning ability. With multi-position versatility and an .800+ OPS, Antonacci is an easy plug and play wherever he's needed.

My favorite card.

Peter Lambert

Lambert's most recent start was a tad underwhelming, yet the statcast remains ever vigilant in its quest to make us believe. That's a whole lotta red, chief.

Check out that 92nd percentile whiff rate. Or that 72nd percentile average exit velocity. Or hell, maybe that 74th percentile barrel rate.

There's two things to note here - Lambert prevents hard contact, and Lambert induces whiffs. That's the ultimate combo right there, the type of shit aces are made of. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming Lambert is an ace in the making or anything bold like that. This isn't my "Antonacci is better than Bazzana" play. But what I will say is, it's all here. The stuff, the pitch mix, the pitch shape, and the lovely smile. Lambert is the total package!

Ty France

Here we go again. I'd be lying if I didn't say I'd never believe in Ty France again. Since 2023, this dude has taken desperate managers for a ride, constantly showing flashes of elite talent followed by extended periods of dogwater play. I find it so incredibly difficult to believe Ty France is finally and consistently putting it together in 2026, the year of our lord Antonacci, and yet, I'm intrigued. Ugh.I think it's pretty cool that he's squaring up on the ball at an 85th percentile rate while also refusing to whiff, refusing to strike out, and refusing to not smoke the shit out of the ball. What the fuck is going on with that .615, 100th percentile xSLG? How has he done this across 52 plate appearances? Has he made any changes to his swing?

Well, his ideal attack angle clocks in well below league average at 38.4%, but his swing tilt is kinda nice at 36 degrees. That's a great tilt for blasting baseballs as it's conducive to good launch angles. His bat speed is also the highest it's been since 2023, the very season he had one of the most memorable first half performances of the last decade in terms of waiver wire adds in fantasy baseball.

I must say, some of these almost-over-the-hill journeymen are aging like fine wine, and like Gary Sanchez, Ty France seems to have a much more wise and patient approach in the latter years of his career. Ty France with a dash of zen looks good in 2026. This is the first time since 2022 that he's on track to accumulate positive run value over the heart of the plate.

Always believe in the heart of the plate, friends.

TJ Rumfield

Yo Ho ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Rumfield isn't blowing anyone's socks off with a. 263 BA and .735 OPS, but he's also most certainly not detriment to all but the most stacked of rosters. When you consider the fact he's second in RBIs amongst all NL rookies, only falling behind the glorious Sal Stewart, he's actually quite useful for 1B-needy teams.

The thing is...the best is yet to come. This dude is going to be "that dude" come summer at Coors, and everything about his profile backs that up - his AIR rates, his attack angle, his swing tilt, his pull tendency. Then add in the fact that well, he's a rookie and he's still improving and acclimating to the majors. You get it.

Patience. Trust in the sweet spot and trust in the whiff rate, because Rumfield is bascially Rice lite. With a little more muscle packed onto this 6'5 frame, the potential here is over 9000.

Lane Thomas

Back in 2024, when Lane Thomas smacked 15 ding-dongs and swiped 32 bags, there was a genuine hope that a new 20/30 threat was emerging, waiting to be an uber-tier sleeper for proceeding 2025 season. After all, he had just crushed 28 bombs and swiped 20 bags the year before in 2023, arguably more impressive. This dude was straight up looking like a 5-tool asset. But injuries derailed the shit out of 2025, even as Lane Thomas demonstrated increased bat speed that gave me hope in the early days of the season.

But I'm not going to hold a grudge here. It's 2026 and everyone deserves a fresh start, and so we look to Lane Thomas, who is sitting right at that middle-ground of a .246 BA and .698 OPS. Several metrics are jumping off the page, with the contact type being the most obvious. His .387 OBP is immense for a guy that boasts 92nd percentile sprint speed and loves to swipe bags. But what I'm appreciating the most is the 83rd percentile sweet spot and 42nd percentile hard-hit rate. It seems like there may be just enough juice in the bat to drive the ball through the gaps and snag some doubles and triples.

What he's currently lacking is a high squared-up rate, which he had back during that 28 HR season. 91st percentile, to be exact. Whether or not that improves remains to be seen, but I can least attest to the fact that his swing is looking pretty solid with a 53% ideal attack angle rate. He's currently one to watch, and maybe gamble on if the playing time increases.

Jacob Young

You know me, always perusing bat tracking data, hoping to find that next big breakout stud. And every once in a while, someone catches my interest - right now, that's Jacob Young. His statcast, on its own merits, warrants interest from all prospective fantasy thrifters.

And yes, we're most certainly thrifters.

We're not only looking at a high xBA of .280, the kind of strong expected stat that perhaps one would expect from a high contact guy like Jacob Young, but also a respectable 43rd percentile xSLG of .385. That's surprising no matter you slice it.

Yeah, he only has two home runs, and you may think that's underwhelming...until you realize his career high is three HRs across 468 plate appearances in 2024. He's currently on pace to smack at least 10 dingers here in 2026, which would more than triple his previous career mark. Not too shabby, right? His 97th percentile sweet-spot is as elite as it gets, and it's a complete 180 from the 3rd percentile mark we saw in 2025. But how real is it, exactly? For starters, let's check out that swing:

Not only are we seeing an enormous increase in ideal attack angle % from 52.2% to 59.0%, but we're also seeing a 1.2 mph bat speed increase accompanied by a slightly more closed batting stance. 1.2 mph may not seem like much, but at the lower tiers of bat speed, every single bit counts, and this increase is enough to take him from the 10th percentile to the 18th percentile. And for all of that bat speed improvement, his squared-up % remains as high as ever at the 97th percentile mark. Basically, Jacob Young has a bit more juice to squeeze, which not only explains his enormous power metric improvements, but has also allowed him to actually get under breaking balls and offspeed offerings:

16th to 42nd percentile average exit velocity

4th to 23rd percentile barrel

15th to 22nd percentile hard-hit

6th to 43rd percentile xSLG

Fastballs, .291 to .296 xBA

Breaking balls, .211 to .228 xBA

Offspeed, .243 to .375 xBA

If you want to see more on the specific bat tracking stats for Young, this is excerpted from a piece I wrote on him a few days ago. It'd be too long if I included it here. Hopefully he doesn't fall off like Yorke did.

Brandon Marsh

Marsh has gone from being one of the better platoon bats in the league, to being possibly the best platoon bat in the league with a .333 BA, .904 OPS, an 4 dingers against RHP. That's pretty cool, considering 75% of league piching is right-handed.

If you've been following my blog for the last few years, you know I've always been a Brandon Marsh fan. Every year, this dude's profile changes in weird ways, as if he's trying to just figure out how to put it all together for the first time. Thus far, it seems like 2026 is the year he's getting closest. In 2025, Marsh had a nice little 58th percentile BB rate. This year? Only 5th percentile, but with the caveat of much higher power metrics across the board.

One big difference here is the swing/take:

Marsh already boasts a +1 run value over the heart of the plate, after accumulating exactly 0 across the entirety of 2025. If he continues to accumulate value here, odds are pretty good that a lot of the value will come in the form of extra-base hits. Perhaps the aggressive 2026 version of Marsh can smack 20-25 HRs?

Troy Johnston

Not much has changed since the last Johnston write-up. As long as he continues to put the ball in the air with an elite sweet-spot and squared-up rate, he'll continue to be the most underrated .300 BA, .800+ OPS player in the league. He's built for Coors especially, much like Rumfield.

Logan Henderson

What a fine, fine quality start for Henderson! 6.0 IP, 8 punchouts, no walks, .50 WHIP. Sheesh. The craziest part is none of his whiff rates really stand out, with his highest being 50% on only 8 sliders thrown! His 17 inch iVB out of a 31 degree arm slot remains elite, and paired with one of the most devasating changeups across all levels of the minors, Logan Henderson remains an unsolvable engima of a pitcher. The Natties managed only 2 hard-hit balls on the night, with none against that changeup. Let me provide some perspective:

Henderson's 21 inches of horizontal break on the changeup will qualify for #2 in the entire league. I wasn't exaggerating, the armside break here makes it one of the most elite changeups across all levels. So think about it like this - you see an insane rising fastball, and then you see a changeup that breaks sideways more than almost every other changeup in the league - and they both look the same coming out. If the Brewers stop shitting on this kid and finally keep him up in the majors, he could be a league-winning addition off waivers.

Luis Campusano

What a year for waiver-wire catchers. Dingler Moises Campusano, maybe? It's hard to believe Campusano has been in the league since 2026 (EDIT: Meant to say 2020), and is somehow still only 27. Strange development here from the Padres. And man, is it good to see something finally clicking for the Guy With The Ideal Attack Angle.

The only thing I wish to see improve is that squared-up rate, so I could count on the power being a bit more real with that middle-of-the-road bat speed. Campusano still has a bit to prove and needs to earn more playing time, but there's no denying his .300 BA and .972 OPS are intriguing.

Max Meyer

Meyer's improvement can be visualized in two pitch shape charts:

Improved iVB (rise) on the armside offerings, more drop on the gloveside sweeper. He's more effective at the top of the zone, he's more effective at the bottom of the zone - this widening of the gap between pitch shape has been a simple and clean improvement for Meyer. The 1.6 inches of added iVB on the 4-seam has taken the pitch from a .315 BA against to a .222 mark. And that added 1.5 inches and 2 extra mph on the sweeper? We're looking at a .368 to .200 BA change. Good stuff, Max.

Sean Burke

Speaking of pitch shape and iVB, here somes Sean Burke, looking much closer to his 2024 limited sample size self! The pitch shape here is just really fucking clean, tunneling his shape diagonally and forming our worshipped "scythe." From the hammer curve to the elite-as-fuck 19.3 inch iVB 4-seam, which is then complimented by a sinker that takes care of righties, Burke is the master of a good pitch mix and good pitch shape right now.

And that's not even to mention his best pitch, a .167 BA, 32% whiff rate slider that, in tandem with the sinker, takes care of righties, while the curve and 4-seam do the heavy-lifting against strong-side lefties.

Burke's improvements are similar to Meyer's as he's added 1 inch of iVB to the 4-seam. 1 inch can make a nice difference! But aside from these pitch shape improvments, what a fucking improvement to control. He's gone from a pathetic 15th percentile BB rate to the 93rd percentile - imagine transforming into George Kirby off the course of a single offseason!

Janson Junk

The grand finale of year-to-year pitching improvements on this week's list. There's no more low-hanging fruit here, the "junk" jokes are outdated. Fangraphs has Junk at a 102 stuff+ alongside a 109 Location+ and 111 Pitching+. He's just good, with good stuff. Junk lowered his arm slot 4 degrees, and somehow in the process, improved his iVB AND his arm-side run - changes you don't typically find with just a minor arm slot decrease. Normally, iVB increases come with higher arm slots while also being less drastic of an improvement as higher iVB is necessary to make high arm slot 4-seams effective. When your arm slot is lower and your iVB remains high, that's when you start moving into "special" territory. For Junk to not only find the expected armside horizontal increase associated with a slot decrease, but also an iVB increase, is pretty insane!

He's currently sitting at 18.8 inches of iVB out of a 49 degree slot, elite by any measure - on top of a slight velocity increase! Simulatenously, he's improved both the run and drop on his changeup, making the two complimentary pitches quite the deadly combo. And then, of course, there's the gloveside pitches, all boasting more drop and gloveside run. He's expanded his shape in all directions:

Watching: Mead Pinango McNeil Bryson Stott Tyler Freeman Jacob Young should be here, but I wanted to share some of what I wrote lol

Jahmai Jones

Drew Gilbert

EDIT - Hunter Dobbins

Prospects on the horizon: Tanner McDougal**** Jack Wenninger**** Cole Carrigg**** Blaze Jordan Pedro Ramirez Bryce Eldridge Max Clark**** Henry Bolte

Kemp Alderman

Hector Rodriguez Emmanuel Rodriguez Ryan Waldschmidt

EDIT - Ethan Pecko

On a more sad note, this is my kitty, Neko:

That lump on her leg? That's cancer. She's a good girl, she cuddles with me for every writing session, and she's currently scheduled for surgery on May 5th to have the mass removed and biopsied. It's paid for, and it's happening for $1500. If anyone wants to subscribe to my Patreon or donate with the button at the top of the page, your donation is going directly towards funding the credit card debt that has been incurred by her surgery. I'll share pics after the surgery so you can follow her recovery <3