Replacing Aaron Judge? Top Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Hitters for Friday

Now we can turn our attention back to fantasy baseball waiver wire options, after discussing the big injury news with Aaron Judge.

We will discuss some more waiver wire hitting options in this article. Check out waiver wire hitting articles from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday's starting pitcher streaming article too.

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

Ryan O'Hearn - Pittsburgh Pirates

O'Hearn is rostered in about 84% of fantasy baseball leagues right now. That's up from 77% on the final day of May, when he returned from a stint on the injured list.

He has hits in all three of his starts since returning, with five hits in that span. O'Hearn has a homer amongst the hits, plus three RBIs and three runs scored in those games.

O'Hearn has been good in his first season with the Pirates. Over 48 games and 197 plate appearances, he has a .295 average and .371 on-base percentage. He owns a career .255 average and .325 OBP, and his marks this season are the best in his nine-year MLB career.

O'Hearn has 51 hits this season, including nine home runs and six doubles. He has 33 RBIs, 30 runs scored, a stolen base, 20 walks and 39 strikeouts.

He has split time between first base and right field this season. Those are loaded fantasy spots, but O'Hearn has delivered enough at the plate to roster and utilize in most leagues.

With injuries hitting, like the one to Judge, adding a multi-positional guy like O'Hearn makes sense. He can effectively replace Judge in the outfield, while also being a first base option if he stays hot at the plate and you need more help there. I added O'Hearn in a league I rostered Judge, and I'd suggest you look into that possible move as well.

Jake Bauers - Milwaukee Brewers

Bauers is owned in 68% of leagues at the moment. He was at just 41% back on May 18, and he's pretty steadily risen since then.

He doesn't have a hit over his past two games, but he's walked twice and struck out once in those appearances, so he's still not been a bad fantasy asset. Bauers had a three-game hitting streak before that, in which he popped two homers.

Bauers has had a career year to this point. He has a .269 average and .355 OBP over 53 games and 211 plate appearances. Bauers has a career .217 average and .312 OBP.

He has 50 hits so far, including 10 doubles and home runs. Bauers has 36 RBIs, 32 runs scored, four stolen bases, 23 walks and 48 strikeouts.

Bauers has played first base and the corner outfield spots this season, so he's very similar to O'Hearn. Bauers is playing enough to at least roster and utilize in deeper leagues. The Judge injury opens a spot to possibly add Bauers, especially if O'Hearn isn't available to you.

Ride the wave with Bauers while you can.

Chase Meidroth - Chicago White Sox

Meidroth is sitting at 40% rostered at this time. He has risen pretty steadily since May 27, when he was at 21% owned.

He is riding a six-game hitting streak, and has seven knocks over that stretch. Meidroth has four extra-base hits in those games.

Meidroth has a .272 average and .345 OBP over 60 games and 256 plate appearances this season. He has 61 total knocks, including 13 doubles and five homers. Meidroth has 20 RBIs, 38 runs scored, two stolen bases, 26 walks and 58 strikeouts.

The primary second baseman should be eligible at shortstop too, and that dual eligibility is a fantasy boost for him. Meidroth might not offer a ton of pop or run production, but he's hitting and getting on base enough to utilize in some deeper leagues.

If you need middle infield help, then Meidroth is a good option in deeper leagues. He'd need to up his hitting to sneak into standard leagues eventually, but he's worth tracking at least.

Michael Massey - Kansas City Royals

Massey is rostered in just 3% of leagues right now. He'd been at or below 1% before that, so he's starting to rise a bit.

He has been on a tear of late, with 10 hits over his past five games. Massey has three homers in that stretch, plus seven RBIs and five runs scored.

Massey has a .266 average and .287 OBP over 47 contests and 137 plate appearances this season. He has 34 total hits, including nine doubles and six homers, plus 20 RBIs, 16 runs scored, a stolen base, five walks and 27 strikeouts.

He's hit his way into the lineup of late, and should stick there for a team desperately looking for more offense. Massey has played second base primarily, but also appeared at third base and in left and right field, so he has other ways to crack the lineup.

If he's eligible at a few spots, or gains eligibility there eventually, his fantasy value will only increase. Massey is still likely to top out as a deep-league fantasy asset, but he's worth adding and utilizing in more leagues now, at least until his bat cools off some.