The early season dust has settled and more of the obvious breakout players and impact rookies are unavailable. So, we need to look a bit deeper to find gems on the waiver wire.
Fear not, because there are still a handful of players that are widely available and have the chance to be difference-makers in both the short and long term.
A look at the top fantasy baseball prospects who can help in 2025 and the coming years.
Here are three players that are under 40% rostered on Yahoo leagues that you should strongly consider adding.
If you want a larger list, Eric Samulski wrote his extended waiver wire piece on Sunday.
AJ Smith-Shawver, SP Braves
(18% Rostered on Yahoo)
Smith-Shawver is coming off the best start of his career where he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Reds and struck out five batters without allowing a run. The Braves have been reluctant to give him a long leash in their rotation so far this season, but this strong start could be a tipping point.
It’s amazing to see a pitcher as young as Smith-Shawver complete eight innings and allow one total hit. He’s just 22 years old and the last pitcher to hit those marks that young was Michael Wacha over a decade ago.
While this start was tremendous, many of the same problems that have plagued Smith-Shawver were still present.
Walks have been a problem for him at every age and every level. He’s walked 11% of the batters he’s faced through his major league career and at least 10% of the batters he’s faced at every minor league stop where he’s thrown at least 25 innings. This problem is persistent and likely not going anywhere.
The issue is twofold for Smith-Shawver: his command isn’t great to start and he throws his splitter nearly as much as his fastball.
That splitter and every splitter is not a pitch that’s meant to be thrown in the strike zone very often. So, he relies on hitters to chase for a relatively high percentage of the strikes he needs and sometimes that doesn’t happen despite the pitch being downright nasty.
When it does happen, he can strike out hitters in bunches and keep traffic off the bases. When it doesn’t, he’ll struggle to complete five innings.
Interestingly, Smith-Shawver has increased the usage of his fastball in each of his last two starts since being recalled from Triple-A. It surged ahead of his splitter to become his primary pitch and he leaned on it early in counts to get ahead against the Reds.
He dropped his arm slot and release height a good bit so far this season and that’s added a few inches of arm-side run and a smidge more induced vertical break to that pitch. Compared to the only other meaningful MLB sample we have for Smith-Shawver back in 2023, the whiff rate on his fastball has jumped up from 11.4% to 20.5%.
Any more confidence in his fastball can instantly turn him into a reliable mid-rotation arm for a Braves team that’s desperate for consistency from their staff. With a secure role and legitimate strikeout upside, Smith-Shawver shouldn’t be so widely available.
Josh Smith, SS/3B/OF Rangers
(20% Rostered on Yahoo)
The Texas Rangers are in a bit of disarray at the moment. Expected to be an offensive juggernaut, they’ve scored the fewest runs per game in the American League through just over a month of play. That prompted them to fire esteemed hitting coach Donnie Ecker, demote Jake Burger, and release Leody Tavares over the weekend.
Yet, for all their woes, Smith just keeps chugging along. He’s hit four home runs, stolen three bases, has a .311 batting average, and an .864 OPS over 102 plate appearances. That’s a great start for someone that was meant to occupy a bench and utility role.
When Josh Jung was hurt, he filled in at third base. When Wyatt Langford was hurt, he mixed in the outfield rotation. Corey Seager just missed 10 games and Smith was the Rangers’ temporary shortstop. All in all, he has started at least one game at every position besides pitcher and catcher already this season.
That versatility is great for the Rangers and also great for our fantasy teams. Holding a player like Smith who’s eligible at 3B, SS, and OF on Yahoo can help maximize bench spots since he can sub in for nearly any player in your lineup.
Now with Seager back, Smith has hit lead-off in consecutive games with one of those starts coming at shortstop and the other in center field. There’s practically no doubt he continues to be an every day player, no matter where that may be. He could even pick up first base eligibility if 27-year-old rookie Blaine Crim scuffles as Burger's replacement.
There aren’t any glaring improvements in his profile at the plate though. He’s shortened up a bit and that’s allowed him to make more contact. Also, he’s hitting the ball on the ground more often and pulling fewer fly balls. His walk rate has risen a bit, but overall this hot start can largely be attributed to solid batted ball luck.
Nevertheless, an every day player on an offense that’s due to improve that’s eligible at this many spots who’s hot right now needs to be more widely rostered.
Stephen Kolek, RP Padres
(2% Rostered on Yahoo)
This one is for the deep league folks. More so, the very deep league folks.
Kolek was a Rule-5 pick by the Padres ahead of last season, debuted for them as a 27-year-old rookie, and spent the whole year in their bullpen.
In fact, he’d been a reliever for the bulk of his professional career with just two seasons in the minors working as a starter in 2022 and 2019.
Yet, the Padres indicated they wanted to move him to the rotation during spring training. His 5.21 ERA and 18.5% strikeout rate out of the bullpen didn’t scream potential starter, but he had a deep repertoire led by a nasty sinker with some outlier traits. The vision was there.
Once again, his 6.38 ERA and 18.0% strikeout rate starting at Triple-A this season didn’t demand promotion. The Padres desperately needed another arm though and gave him the call this past Sunday.
And it was a great debut! He pitched 5 1/3 innings, didn’t allow a run, and struck out four batters.
The Pirates struggled to square up his deep arsenal as he threw five different pitches at least 10% of the time and pounded the bottom of the zone with sinkers to force nine ground balls on 14 total balls in play.
His command was excellent and his velocity held strong around 94-95 mph throughout. That’s someone that looks like they can stick in a rotation for the foreseeable future. It’s an added bonus that he’s eligible as a relief pitcher in most formats, which can represent a bit of a cheat code in your lineups to get starting pitcher points from a relief slot.
Finding more swing-and-miss can elevate him to mixed league relevance in time.
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