Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Hitters and Starting Pitchers to Add Thursday

Let's go over some fantasy baseball waiver wire targets for Thursday, June 25.

We will include hitters and pitchers in one article, as there is only nine games being played today. Here are waiver wire hitter stories from Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

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

Troy Melton - Detroit Tigers

Melton has been added in 4% of fantasy baseball leagues today, and that brings his overall mark to 56.73%.

He gets a start against the Astros on Thursday evening. That's a pretty good matchup on paper, and Melton has pitched well this season.

Over five starts, Melton is 4-0 with a 2.56 earned run average. He's allowed nine runs on 21 hits and nine walks over 31 2/3 innings, while striking out 19 batters along the way. He's worked at least five innings in each start, and has five strikeouts in three straight appearances.

Melton is a good deep-league option normally, and on a short day of MLB action, he's also a good standard league streaming option.

Luis Garcia Jr. - Washington Nationals

Garcia sits at 52% rostered right now. He was at just 38% back on June 10.

He has a hit in three straight games, even though he came on as a pinch-hitter in one of those contests. Garcia homered for each one of those hits, and has three RBIs, four runs scored, three walks and just one strikeout in that short span.

In 75 games and 259 plate appearances this season, Garcia has a .263 average and .293 on-base percentage. He has 65 total hits, including 13 home runs, 12 doubles and a triple. Garcia has 49 RBIs, 34 runs scored, two stolen bases, 11 walks and 41 strikeouts.

The primary first baseman this season has second base eligibility from past seasons, so that boosts his fantasy value a bit. Garcia doesn't start against most left-handed pitchers, but he's doing enough damage against righties to own in most deeper leagues. Especially while he's in a power surge, Garcia is worth owning in deeper leagues, and maybe even some standard ones on a short-term basis.

Tatsuya Imai - Houston Astros

Imai has been picked up in 2.18% of leagues and is now owned in 36.36% of leagues overall.

Imai is the other half of the pitching matchup in that Astros, Tigers game. Detroit is a solid team to stream against, although the team has played better of late.

Across 10 starts, Imai is 4-3 with a 6.15 ERA. He's allowed 28 runs on 35 hits and 24 walks over 41 innings, and he has 48 strikeouts along the way.

He has allowed three or fewer runs in five of his past six starts, so he's trending up. Imai is coming off a six-inning start in which he struck out 11 batters, so there's intrigue here, especially on a short day of MLB action.

I like him best as a deep-league option today, but you could at least consider Imai for a standard league streaming start.

Paul Goldschmidt - New York Yankees

Goldschmidt is up to 61% rostered now. He was at only 7% a month ago.

He popped two home runs on Wednesday, and has five hits over his past three games. Goldy has three runs scored, two RBIs and five strikeouts in that span.

Goldschmidt has played in 54 games, getting 211 plate appearances so far. He has a .297 average and .355 OBP now, along with 39 RBIs, 30 runs scored, a stolen base, 15 walks and 43 strikeouts. The veteran has 14 homers, eight doubles and one triple among his 57 total hits.

Goldy is taking advantage of extra playing time available to him. He's a better deep-league asset in the long run, but if he's playing daily and producing, he could also be utilized in some standard leagues. First base is a loaded spot, so you'd really have to be hurting there to want to add and utilize Goldy in your standard league.

Matthew Boyd - Chicago Cubs

Boyd is up 1.82% and is owned in 63.27% of leagues overall.

Boyd is scheduled to start against the Mets on Thursday evening. He has been on the injured list for a bit, so you can add a pretty solid fantasy asset for free today. The matchup is really good as well.

He last started on May 3. Boyd has made just five starts this season, and he's 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA. Two rough starts have his overall numbers looking rough right now.

In this favorable matchup, I like adding and utilizing Boyd in all deeper leagues. He's an option in standard leagues as well, and he's worth maybe keeping around if he delivers well in this outing.