FANTASY BASEBALL WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
Tommy Edman (2B/OF Dodgers): Rostered in six percent of Yahoo leagues
Having hit .275/.351/.392 in 14 rehab games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Edman is finally back with the Dodgers after offseason surgery to repair the ankle injury that limited him throughout 2025. He’ll be a part-timer initially and probably won’t make an immediate impact in shallow leagues. However, he should prove to be rather valuable over the final three months.
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Edman hasn’t really been at full strength since 2023, when he hit 13 homers and stole 27 bases for the Cardinals. The Dodgers acquired him at the 2024 trade deadline, even though he was still recovering from wrist surgery that had kept him out all season. They then gave him a five-year, $74 million contract extension prior to 2025 after just 37 regular-season games and a strong run in the postseason. Last year, he started strong before the ankle injury but then turned in his worst season to date, finishing at .225/.274/.382 in 97 games. It’s fair to wonder if he’ll return to previous form after all the missed time. The Triple-A stint wasn’t particularly encouraging in that regard, as he struck out 28 percent of the time and had a 26 percent hard-hit rate.
A big part of what makes Edman worth betting on, if not now then in a couple of weeks, is that he’s a Dodger. He should eventually turn into a lineup fixture for the best offense in baseball. Even last year, when he wasn’t at his best, he had 49 runs and 49 RBI in his 97 games. With Dodger Stadium boosting homers for righties and lefties alike, the switch-hitting Edman has gone deep 12 times in his 60 home starts the last two years. It’s unclear if he’ll reemerge as a strong basestealer right away or at all, but he’s always been exceptional when he chooses to run, having gone 115-for-133 on the basepaths in his career. After 13 games without trying a steal, he did collect one in his final Triple-A game on Sunday. He might not be more than a fringy mixed leaguer if he declines to run, but it’d be nice to have him stashed and see how fares the rest of the month.
Blaze Jordan (1B/3B Cardinals): Rostered in 17 percent of Yahoo leagues
Finally bailing on Nolan Gorman, the Cardinals called up Jordan last week to take over at third base. The 23-year-old’s bat demanded it, as he was hitting .313/.373/.548 with more extra-base hits (31) than strikeouts (29) in 252 plate appearances for Triple-A Memphis. His glove… well, that might still be an issue.
Jordan has split time between third and first every year since the Red Sox made him a third-round pick in 2020. Expectations have always been that he’d wind up at first or as a DH for the long haul, but third base is what the Cardinals have open for now. Range is the issue for him at the hot corner, but he’ll handle what he gets to and make strong throws. Having an excellent shortstop next to him in Masyn Winn will help.
Offensively, Jordan still doesn’t show as much power as his frame suggests, but he’s gotten quite a bit better there this year. His hard-hit rate jumped from 34 percent in his 85 games in Triple-A last year to 42 percent this season, yet his strikeout rate still held steady at 11-12 percent. He hits too many groundballs, mostly because he’s just really good at making contact; breaking balls that would produce missed swings much of the time instead turn into foul balls and groundouts when Jordan gets a piece. Jordan will have to become more selective to turn into a major threat. As is, though, he’s still probably a contributor. As much contact as he makes, he’ll be a nice RBI guy once he settles into the middle of the order.
Garrett Mitchell (OF Brewers): Rostered in five percent of Yahoo leagues
Last time Mitchell was featured here was on Apr. 7, when he was rostered in 15 percent of leagues. That the number has gone down makes some sense, as he slumped in the first half of May and faced playing time questions as Christian Yelich and Andrew Vaughn returned from injury. Mitchell, though, seems back on solid footing. He’s batting .307/.366/.560 with three homers in 22 games since May 14. He also seems to have overtaken Sal Frelick on Milwaukee’s outfield depth chart, keeping him in the lineup when the team opts to play Jake Bauers in a corner or gives Blake Perkins a chance against a lefty.
Mitchell is probably going to remain streaky going forward. He strikes out far too much, and though his exit velocity numbers are impressive, he’s developed a bad habit of hitting too many balls on the ground this season. Mitchell’s Statcast page is truly remarkable. He’s in the 96th percentile of major leaguers in bat speed and the 97th percentile in sprint speed. And he’s in the first percentile in strikeout rate. In truth, he’s probably swinging a little too hard. It’s kind of nuts that he can be in the 91st percentile in chase rate yet in the second percentile in whiff rate. It’s basically just him and Munetaka Murakami with that profile this year.
What’s made Mitchell fairly disappointing for fantasy purposes this year is that he’s just 6-for-11 stealing bases through 59 games. He’d been 23-for-28 in 141 career games coming into the season. Obviously, it’s not a matter of speed. Still, Mitchell hasn’t been willing to take chances lately; he hasn’t attempted a steal since May 29 after being caught on his last two tries. Mitchell would need to get back to stealing bases to be an impact player in mixed leagues, but as is, he’s still worth playing until his next injury arises.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
– The Brewers didn’t exactly wait until Cooper Pratt got hot to call him up. In fact, his .655 OPS in Triple-A this month is about 100 points lower than Joey Ortiz‘s .748 mark in the majors. Overall, he’d come in at .241/.349/.386 with six homers in 58 games for Nashville. He did have 17 steals in 18 attempts, but it’s hard to see him being of much use in mixed leagues in the short term.
– There’s no denying that Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien is a mess right now. Since opening the year with 13 consecutive scoreless appearances, he’s posted a 6.88 ERA in his last 17 outings, walking 10 and hitting four batters in 17 innings. His K rate is a modest 20 percent during the span, and his usually strong groundball rate has collapsed. As good as he looked early on, he really shouldn’t be closing for a major league team right now. If the Cardinals had a clear No. 2 reliever, he’d probably be worth stashing right now, but JoJo Romero, Ryne Stanek and George Soriano could all be candidates for saves if they pull the plug on O’Brien. I’d like to recommend Soriano as a sleeper, but I can’t help but think Oli Marmol might default to the more veteran options.
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