Ryan McMahon and J.P. Crawford are Hot at the Plate: Which Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Hitter Should You be Targeting?

Let's go over another batch of fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters.

We won't cover anyone who appeared in stories from Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Check back later for a waiver story on pitchers.

Check out the top fantasy baseball waiver wire options everyday on FantasySP. 

Should You Add Trey Sweeney?

We'll begin with Sweeney, who is rostered in 5.9% of fantasy leagues after a 2.31% increase today.

Sweeney has solid numbers on the season, but it's a red-hot stretch at the plate that has him surging. He has seven hits over his past two games. Sweeney is on a six-game hitting streak, with 11 knocks over that span.

In 35 games and 125 plate appearances overall, Sweeney has a .252 average and .336 on-base percentage. He's collected 28 hits, including three doubles and homers and one triple. Sweeney also has 15 RBIs, two stolen bases, 19 runs scored, 14 walks and 26 strikeouts.

He usually is batting in the bottom third of the lineup, and plays shortstop. Sweeney doesn't have much MLB history to look back on, so it's tough to say if he can continue producing at his current levels.

In 36 games and 119 plate appearances a season ago, Sweeney had a .218 average and .269 OBP. He had five doubles, four homers, 24 total knocks, 17 RBIs, two stolen bases, 11 runs scored, seven walks and 32 strikeouts.

He's definitely improved in most stats this season, so that's a nice sign to see for the 25-year-old infielder. Sweeney's numbers this season match up pretty well with the work he did across four minor league seasons, so there's that.

At a loaded fantasy position, there's other waiver options with more MLB experience, and that makes those guys more trustworthy for now. The unknown factor with Sweeney makes him an intriguing add in some deeper leagues though.

The deeper the league, the more valuable Sweeney becomes. At the very least, he could be added and utilized while he's hot at the plate. Maybe this is the start of a breakout stretch for him, otherwise you could just drop him when he cools back off.

Should You Add Austin Wells?

Wells is up 2.05% today, bringing his overall mark to 68.97%.

Across 33 games and 125 plate appearances so far this season, Wells has a .212 average and .264 OBP. He has six doubles, seven homers and a triple among his 24 total knocks, along with 23 RBIs, a stolen base, eight walks, 12 runs scored and 25 strikeouts.

He's the Yankees' top catcher, and starts nearly every game for the team. Wells has batted between the 3-7 slots in the order of late. Obviously he has more fantasy value from the 3 slot, but even if he's lower in the order, he has a chance to drive in runs.

Unlike Sweeney, Wells is at a fantasy position lacking consistent options. Wells is definitely not the most consistent hitter either, but his pop and run production make him a pretty solid fantasy asset. Him being in the lineup often is a nice boost to his fantasy value as well.

Across 134 games in his first two MLB seasons, Wells had a .229 average and .312 OBP, so there's some room for improvement in both stats moving forward. As a 25-year-old player, there's also the chance he improves on those marks this season and moving forward.

I think Wells should be rostered in most deeper redraft fantasy leagues. Depending on your scoring settings, he might not be the best option, so I can't call him a must-own deep-league asset.

At the same time, Wells is also being utilized in some standard redraft leagues right now. The catcher position isn't deep, so some overlook his lower average and OBP and start Wells because of his run production. I think him being a Yankee definitely helps his fantasy case though.

He's a player to keep tabs on, and possibly stream in standard leagues when he's going well at the plate. More often than not so far, Wells has topped out as a deep-league asset who can be streamed in standard leagues when he's hot. He's not all that hot at the plate right now, so I'd probably look elsewhere for help in standard leagues.

Should You Add Ryan McMahon?

McMahon has had an awful start to his season, but is heating up finally. He's owned in just 17% of fantasy leagues right now after being a pretty solid deep-league fantasy draft option before the season, and a waiver wire player to watch in standard leagues.

He has seven hits over his past three contests, including a homer, triple and two doubles. He's also posted four RBIs, two walks, four runs scored and no strikeouts in that span.

Despite the hot stretch, he's hitting just .193 with a .312 OBP for the season across 34 games and 141 plate appearances. He has four homers, five doubles and a triple among his 23 total knocks. McMahon also has nine RBIs, a stolen base, 20 walks, 13 runs scored and 44 strikeouts.

McMahon has been a solid fantasy asset in the past, and he's starting to show why he can be so valuable at times. Despite all his early-season struggles, McMahon is still playing nearly every game, and hitting third or fourth.

He's on a bad offense overall (and he's contributed to the slow start), but he's also in a favorable spot in the lineup, and can still be a fantasy asset when he's producing a bit.

McMahon is worth an add in some deeper redraft leagues. There's a chance he's starting to heat up and can start producing closer to his career marks. He's a career .241 hitter with a .323 OBP.

It would take several weeks of strong play to get him back on the standard fantasy league radar, but he's delivered in the past, so I wouldn't be writing him off completely.

Should You Add J.P. Crawford?

Crawford has pretty good season-long numbers, and is producing well of late as well. He's rostered in 33% of fantasy leagues, which is way up from 6% back on April 24.

Crawford is on a 15-game hitting streak, collecting 22 knocks over that span. He has three homers and a double among the hits. Crawford also has 13 RBIs, a stolen base, 10 runs scored, nine walks and 10 strikeouts over that span.

Across 35 games and 144 plate appearances this season, Crawford has a .288 average and .408 OBP. He's got three doubles and homers among his 34 total knocks, along with 17 RBIs, two stolen bases, 18 runs scored, 23 walks and 25 strikeouts.

Those are pretty good season-long totals, but you can also see that a lot of the production has come over his past 15 ball games. He's hitting leadoff each day for the Mariners, regardless of if there's a righty or lefty on the opposing mound.

Seattle isn't the best offense, but they've had some hot hitters of late, and are starting to produce a bit more offensively. Hitting leadoff gives Crawford a good fantasy outlook, and means he can score plenty of runs if he continues to get on base. It's not the most favorable spot to drive runs in from, but he's also done that pretty well of late.

He's at a loaded shortstop fantasy position, so that's why he's not rostered and utilized in more leagues. Crawford is a really solid deep-league redraft option, at least until he cools off considerably.

Crawford is a career .247 hitter with a .341 OBP, so a little regression is likely coming in his age-30 season. He still could be a solid bench option in deeper leagues, at the very least, all season.

Another week or so of fantasy production might get Crawford some standard league attention. His career numbers suggest he's a better deep leaguer though, so I'd urge standard league fantasy owners to look elsewhere for help in their leagues.