Thursday's Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Hitting Targets: Should Jake Burger be Added Back in Standard Leagues?

After checking out some fantasy baseball waiver wire pitchers, let's now look into some hitters to possibly add. 

We won't cover any hitters who appeared in waiver stories on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Also be sure to check out the Thursday streaming pitcher article.

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

Should You Add Robert Hassell III?

Hassell was called up to the big leagues on Wednesday, so it makes sense to see him on the rise, especially considering he was once considered a top-end prospect.

The Nationals' game against the Braves was postponed, but Hassell was starting in center field and batting seventh on the lineup that was posted.

He will be filling in for Dylan Crews for a bit, as Crews hit the injured list with an oblique strain. It's not known if he'll only be on the IL for 10 days, or if it will be much, much longer than that.

As I mentioned early on, Hassell was a top-end prospect early after being drafted. He experienced up-and-down results in the minor leagues, but has looked like his top-end self in 2025, whether that be in spring training or in Triple-A.

Hassell is rostered in just 6.78% of leagues at this time. I honestly thought he'd be higher than that, but maybe the postponement limited that number a bit on Wednesday. 

In my story yesterday, I said that Hassell will open as a fantasy option in deeper redraft leagues, and maybe skyrocket into standard redraft leagues if he excels at the plate early on. I expected him to be over 10% owned before he plays, and I guess that can still come true after the postponement yesterday.

All fantasy owners need to keep an eye on the young outfielder though.

Should You Add Nick Kurtz?

Kurtz is rostered in 23% of fantasy leagues right now. He was up around 60% a month ago.

Across his first 25 games, Kurtz has a .233 average and .277 on-base percentage. He has 20 total hits, including four homers, two doubles and a triple. Kurtz also has 10 RBIs, nine runs scored, six walks and 33 strikeouts.

It hasn't been the exciting start to his MLB career that many people hoped for. He was just drafted last summer though, so early struggles in the big leagues shouldn't be all that concerning either.

Kurtz is heating up as a fantasy asset after back-to-back two-hit games. He has three homers among those knocks, along with four RBIs, three runs scored, no walks and two strikeouts.

Maybe this is Kurtz's breakout?

He's been hitting sixth or seventh most days for the Athletics. It's not the best spot to be in as a fantasy hitter, but it does give him a chance to drive in some runs. His recent power surge could also mean a promotion in the lineup, so that's something to keep tabs on.

I was never a huge fan of dropping Kurtz in deeper fantasy leagues. Yes, he should have been let go in standard leagues, but there was plenty of reason to keep stashing Kurtz in deeper leagues.

Now he's going to be a waiver wire addition again, and could see his own percentage rise in a hurry. Again, just stashing him is fine if you don't want to start him. Kurtz's upside is so high that I'd love to take a gamble on him.

His recent breakout is definitely noteworthy though, and it's something to keep tabs on going forward. While Kurtz is a deep-league waiver option at the moment, another couple hot games at the plate could get him standard league attention.

Use FantasySP's improved AI Waiver Advice inside the Fantasy Assistant to see which waiver wire targets might fit your team best. 

Should You Add Sal Frelick?

Frelick is owned in 30.15% of leagues after a 1.76% increase today.

Across 47 games this season, Frelick has a .275 average and .356 OBP. He has three homers and triples and five doubles among his 44 total knocks. Frelick also has 14 RBIs, 20 runs scored, nine stolen bases, 17 walks and 21 strikeouts. 

Frelick went hitless on Wednesday, but did walk and score a run. He had five hits over the three previous games, including a homer and triple. Frelick had four RBIs in that short span.

Frelick isn't a big power guy, but he's been hitting fifth most of the season. He's bounced between fifth and seventh in the lineup over his past five starts.

Milwaukee's lineup has really struggled of late, but Frelick has been one of the few bright spots. Him simply playing every game is a good thing for his fantasy outlook, and because he isn't striking out a ton, he's not hurting himself with negative numbers.

He's at a stacked fantasy position, but the outfielder is a better fantasy asset than most think. Frelick might not hit for much power, but his all-around numbers are solid enough to utilize him in fantasy leagues, and more than he currently is.

Frelick is a better deep-league fantasy option, even if it's just as a backup option. He's probably outscoring an outfielder or two on your deep-league team - check into that and see if Frelick is worth adding.

Should You Add Jake Burger?

Burger is up 1.44% today and he's now owned in 47.42% of leagues overall.

Burger's season-long numbers still look bad. He has a .227 average and .268 OBP over 39 contests. Burger has six homers and seven doubles among his 30 total knocks, along with 18 RBIs, 16 runs scored, a stolen base, five walks and 38 strikeouts.

Burger was demoted to the minor leagues earlier this season, then returned to the bigs on May 12. He's got at least one hit in all but one game since returning.

He has 11 total knocks over nine games since returning. Burger has three homers and two doubles among the hits, along with six RBIs, his stolen base, three runs scored, two walks and six strikeouts.

This is the kind of fantasy force we thought Burger could be coming into the season. His .344 average and .382 OBP over that span isn't going to continue all year, but he's at least eased the minds of fantasy owners for now.

Burger is worth adding and utilizing in all deeper leagues right now. He is going to work back into standard leagues soon if his recent numbers keep up. If you could use help at first base (and maybe third), then adding Burger now in standard leagues isn't that crazy either.

Should You Add J.P. Crawford?

Crawford was added in 1.58% of leagues today, which brings his overall mark to 22.94%.

In 46 games and 194 plate appearances overall this season, Crawford has a .269 average and .391 OBP. He has five doubles and four homers among his 43 total hits, along with 31 walks, 19 RBIs, two stolen bases, 21 runs scored and 38 strikeouts.

He's been pretty steady all season. Over his past four games though, Crawford has three hits, including a double, seven walks, two runs scored and three strikeouts.

He might not hit for a ton of pop or drive in many runs, but his sky-high OBP should be appealing to a lot of fantasy owners. If only his strikeouts were a little lower, even though they aren't that high.

The shortstop is at a loaded fantasy position, so that hurts his overall value a bit. He deserves to be rostered and utilized in more deeper leagues though. Crawford might never be a standard leaguer, but deep-league owners could really benefit from rostering him, even if it's in more of a secondary role. Add him and you'll see what I'm talking about.