4 Waiver Wire Hitters to Grab Before the Weekend

We have a final round of fantasy baseball waiver wire options to go over before we hit the weekend. Here, let's look over some hitting options.

Also be sure to check out waiver wire articles from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, plus Friday's starting pitcher streaming article.

Fantasy baseball waiver wire options can be found all season on FantasySP!

Esmerlyn Valdez - Pittsburgh Pirates

Valdez is rostered in just 1% of fantasy baseball leagues right now. He's trending up as he's getting called up to the big leagues.

Valdez is the team's No. 9 prospect, and had an MLB ETA of 2027, so his call up was a bit of a surprise. The outfielder/first baseman is 22 years old and was signed in 2021 by Pittsburgh.

His highest-graded tool is his power (60). He has a 50 for his arm and fielding, while having a 45 in hitting and 40 in running.

In parts of six minor league seasons, Valdez has a .260 average and .367 on-base percentage over 402 games. He had 355 hits, including 78 doubles, 70 homers and five triples. Valdez also posted 249 RBIs, 226 runs scored, 199 walks, 13 stolen bases and 41 strikeouts.

In 46 Triple-A games this season, Valdez had 40 hits, including 10 doubles and 10 home runs. He added 29 RBIs, 25 runs scored, 33 walks and 41 strikeouts - he didn't steal a base.

Pittsburgh isn't going to call up a high-end prospect to have him ride the bench. Expect Valdez to be in the starting lineup daily for as long as he's in the big leagues.

Give him some adds in deeper redraft leagues, and keep tabs on him at the start of his big league career. If he hits and plays daily, then he can be added in more leagues. His dynasty outlook is stellar, as the team thinks highly enough to bring him up a year before most were projecting.

Keep tabs on Valdez and be ready to pounce in your league if he hits well right away.

Jake Burger - Texas Rangers

Burger is rostered in 29% of leagues at the moment. He was around 20% earlier this week.

He has a five-game hitting streak going, with eight knocks over that span. Burger has two homers and two doubles in that short timeframe.

Burger has a .243 average and .289 OBP over 194 plate appearances this season. He has nine homers and seven doubles among his 44 total hits, plus 33 RBIs, 44 runs scored, a stolen base, 11 walks and 50 strikeouts.

The primary first baseman is at a loaded fantasy spot, so his own percentage is always likely to be a bit lower than it should be. He's a good deep-league option for now, and if he keeps hitting, he could be a short-term option in standard leagues. I like Burger more in deeper leagues in the long run though.

Kyle Stowers - Miami Marlins

Stowers' own percentage has stabilized a bit, after mostly dropping since he got on the field. He sits near 60% right now.

He is riding a five-game hitting streak, and has six knocks in that span. Stowers popped two home runs in his last game.

Stowers has a .228 average and .328 OBP over 116 plate appearances so far this season. He has three homers, five doubles and 23 total knocks, plus eight RBIs, 15 runs scored, a stolen base, 13 walks and 30 strikeouts.

He flashed some upside in 2025, but has started this season pretty slowly. Stowers might finally be settling in, and if he gets back to his 2025 form, then he's worth owning in all leagues. Right now, he's a good deep-league asset, and he'll work back into more and more standard leagues if he keeps hitting.

Ryan Waldschmidt - Arizona Diamondbacks

Waldschmidt is up 3.45% today, which brings his overall mark to 45.22%.

He has scored a run in four straight games. Waldschmidt has five hits in that stretch, but those all came in two games. He has six runs scored, along with two stolen bases and three walks.

He's gotten 46 plate appearances over his first 13 games in the big leagues. Waldschmidt has a .300 average and .378 OBP so far, with 12 hits and five walks to his name. He has four doubles among the hits, plus six RBIs, seven runs scored, three stolen bases and 12 strikeouts.

He's playing regularly right now for Arizona, and if he keeps producing, he should stick in the big leagues. Waldschmidt is a better dynasty asset, but he's proven to be a good redraft option as well. Add him in most deeper leagues, and be ready to add him in standard leagues if he keeps delivering at the plate.