2024 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: TJ Friedl, David Hamilton, Drew Thorpe

Playing the waiver wire effectively is crucial to fantasy baseball success throughout the season. Each week of the 2024 campaign, this article will help pinpoint which players are readily available to be picked up in most formats. All of them should help bolster fantasy rosters in the short and/or long term.

***Players included on the list below were rostered in fewer than 70% of Yahoo! Leagues at the time of writing. Stats are up to date through games on June 11.

Hitters on the Waiver Wire

TJ Friedl – OF – Cincinnati Reds (63%)

Friedl enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2023, as he posted an .819 OPS with 18 home runs and 27 steals across 138 games. Two separate IL stints have limited him to just 18 games so far in his follow-up season, but the speedy outfielder has been cranking things up this month.

Through his first 10 games in June, Friedl has put up a .265/.405/.559 slash line with three homers, 10 RBI, nine runs, and three steals. He has been making plenty of contact (83.3%) and spraying line drives at a promising 24.0% clip.

If Friedl is still hanging around on the waiver wire, snatch him up now regardless of league depth.

Andrew Vaughn – 1B – Chicago White Sox (26%)

Vaughn ripped his seventh round-tripper of the season and third in his last six games Tuesday night in Seattle.

That line shot was 109 mph off Vaughn’s bat, and that is something he has been doing with regularity during his current 11-game hitting streak (dating back to May 27). In that span, the 26-year-old has hit a cool .364 with a stout .636 SLG and six extra-base hits across 46 plate appearances. He’s backed those marks up with a 50.0% HardHit% and 26.5% line drive rate.

Vaughn is going to come back down to earth, but fantasy managers should ride out this hot streak.

David Hamilton – 2B, SS – Boston Red Sox (26%)

Hamilton just keeps on swinging it for the Red Sox. As long as he does, the stolen bases figure to keep coming at a rapid pace. The overall production of late has been somewhat surprising though.

Through Tuesday, Hamilton has four two-hit performances over his last five games, including a homer and three doubles. The rookie has swiped four bags in that stretch and now has 13 total for the season.

Hamilton is batting .347 since moving into a mostly everyday role back in mid-May, and though his .442 BABIP is far beyond sustainable, his fantasy value has gotten too high to ignore at the moment.  

Pitchers on the Waiver Wire

Ben Lively – SP – Cleveland Guardians (50%)

Lively exited this past Friday’s outing in Miami after throwing just 65 pitches over five shutout frames. It was reported that the righty was dealing with some “tightness,” but he has been cleared for his next scheduled start. That should come in Toronto this weekend.

Those five scoreless innings against the Marlins continued Lively’s strong work on the mound this season. He now sports an excellent 2.59 ERA alongside a 6-2 record through 10 starts for the first-place Guardians. The 32-year-old hurler has been impressively consistent, as he’s yet to allow more than three runs in any outing while logging at least five frames in all but one start.

Lively’s 21.8% K% for the season is good enough, and he’s been reining in the walks recently with just three across his last 23.1 innings. He has posted a sparkling 1.93 ERA and 0.90 WHIP with 17 strikeouts during that four-start span.

Drew Thorpe – SP – Chicago White Sox (26%)

Acquired from the Padres in the Dylan Cease trade this past March, Thorpe made his MLB debut Tuesday night in Seattle.

Even though the second-round pick from 2022 had yet to pitch above the Double-A level, he looked pretty comfortable in his first start. Thorpe utilized his wide repertoire, highlighted by an elite changeup, to solid effect, holding the Mariners to just two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks while striking out four over five innings.  

It remains to be seen how the White Sox will set their rotation going forward, but Thorpe should get plenty of chances to continue proving himself against big league hitters this year. He’s worth a stash in all formats.

Other Waiver Wire Options To Consider

• Yimi García – RP – Toronto Blue Jays (51%)
• Ryan O’Hearn – 1B, OF – Baltimore Orioles (46%)
• Miles Mikolas – SP – St. Louis Cardinals (14%)
• Paul DeJong – SS – Chicago White Sox (13%)