Fantasy baseball best waiver wire adds, free agent sleepers, and streams for Week 12

As we motor toward July and rapidly approach the midway point of the MLB season, offense is on the rise and pitching has become a bit more scarce. Monitoring the free-agency and waiver-wire pools has become more important than ever, especially considering modern fantasy baseball owners tend to avoid early-summer trading. Adding players remains the best avenue toward roster improvement, and our weekly waivers column should be your first stop when planning out each new week.

Summer roster decisions often make or break a team's postseason fate. Let us do the busy work for you! Whether you’re competing in a league with 12 teams, 10 teams, or eight, we happily review your top waiver-wire options every Monday.

MORE FANTASY BASEBALL: Week 12 two-start SPs, 7-game teams, etc

For those new to this column, we highlight 10-12 players each week – at least a handful of batters and a handful of pitchers – who remain unowned in roughly half of mixed leagues. We will analyze their recent success, determine the league formats and sizes in which they should be rostered, and provide situational-specific streaming advice. 

Good luck this week, happy summer, and enjoy waiver hunting!

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Best hitter pickups, free agent adds, streams for Week 12

Note: Be sure to grab Amed Rosario and Tommy Pham, both of whom we featured last week, if they are somehow still available in your league. Rosario (58-percent rostered in Yahoo leagues) ranks 13th over the past two weeks. Pham (57%) ranks 61st in that span.

Andrew McCutchen, OF, Brewers (14-percent rostered in Yahoo mixed leagues)

McCutchen, 35, looks to have turned back time in his first summer as a Brewer. After a slow start, the veteran outfielder has a .320/.420/.480 slash line in the month of June, along with 12 RBIs, 12 runs, and two steals. He has two home runs and 16 total bases in just the past week. I'd make McCutchen a priority in 12-team and five-outfielder leagues.

Christian Walker, 1B, Diamondbacks (44%)

Walker has been crushing the ball over the past two months, and he seems to only be getting better with time. Since May 1, he has 15 home runs, with three coming in just the last week. He won't always help you in the batting average department, but his power numbers should be a welcome addition to any squad in 10-team leagues or deeper. 

Franmil Reyes, OF, Guardians (56%)

Reyes recently returned from a right hamstring injury, so he might be falling under the radar of your leaguemates. The slugger was cut loose in many leagues, but an active Franimal should be rostered in most 10-team leagues that include power hitting stats. He already has four hits in his first three games since being activated, one of which was the fourth round-tripper of his 38-game season.

Robbie Grossman, OF, Tigers (23%)

Grossman gets minimal attention because he plays for the Tigers, but he has quietly been raking. He's 7-of-21 with two home runs, six RBIs, and four runs over the course of the past seven days. Nobody with more than 15 at-bats over that span has a higher OPS than Grossman's 1.148.

Dad on the recliner Robbie Grossman
🤝
Going way back pic.twitter.com/hzIGpEBmpT

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 19, 2022

Sean Murphy, C, Athletics (48%)

If you need a catcher, Murphy has been pretty hot since the weather started warming up. Over the past week, the lumbering backstop is hitting 7-of-18 with one home run and three RBIs. His OPS during that span is 1.061, trailing only the aforementioned Grossman for highest OPS in the week by a player with at least 18 at-bats.

Isaac Paredes, 2B/3B, Rays (17%)

Paredes has been on an absolute mash tour the past few days. The 23-year-old infielder has nine hits, five home runs, and eight RBIs over the Rays' past four outings, and he's collected a whopping 26 bases in that span. He probably won't win you the batting title in roto leagues, but he'll certainly help out with power stats. 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Best pitcher pickups, free agent adds, streams for Week 12

Keegan Thompson, SP, Cubs (38-percent rostered in Yahoo mixed leagues)

Thompson might just be a legitimate MLB pitcher after all. He stumbled a bit in early June, but his past two starts have been clean as a whistle. Take a look:

That's some dazzling work. The strikeouts, low walk numbers, and one earned run (on one homer) are intriguing enough, but consecutive six-inning outings? Sign me up. Before those two starts, Thompson had only seen the sixth frame once all season—and he had yet to record more than one sixth-inning out. He could have very well turned the corner from good to very good. The Cubs get the 25-47 Reds Tuesday, so hop on the Thompson train while you still can.

Zach Plesac, SP Guardians, (37%)

Plesac pops up on our pitcher waivers column for the second week in a row, coming off strong road performances against the Dodgers and Twins (6.0 IP and one ER in each). As we outlined in our two-start pitchers column Friday, he'll have a home rematch with the Twins followed by a home start against the Yankees. He's an add in all formats, but maybe not an auto-start against the Yanks just yet.

Jose Urquidy, SP, Astros (58%)

Like Thompson and Plesac, Urquidy has gone six-strong in consecutive outings (actually seven last time out at Yankee Stadium). The strikeout numbers have been low, but so have his earned runs. The only damage surrendered by Urquidy in games against the Mets and Yankees was one home run by each. His ERA has dropped from 5.04 on June 8 to 4.36 today. He might be worth a stream against the Angels this weekend at home, and he warrants permanent residence on your roster if he posts another quality start there.

José Urquidy threw his fourth quality start in his last five games:

7 innings
1 hit
1 earned run
3 walks
3 strikeouts
1 homer

100 pitches (63 strikes)

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 26, 2022

Kyle Hendricks, SP, Cubs (37%)

It always feels like risky business trusting the veteran Hendricks, but he's coming off a win in St. Louis in which he pitched 7.1 shutout innings. Oh, and he'll face the Reds (the gift that keeps on giving) at home on Thursday. Consider him for the stream.

Graham Ashcraft, SP, Reds (19%)

All that Cincy-bashing, and here we are profiling a Red as a potential add. Ashcraft has really come alive over the past 30 days (3.16 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 4 quality starts, ranked 68th in Yahoo mixed leagues). Most recently, the burly Reds rookie collected a win in San Francisco on eight innings of one-run ball. Ashcraft recorded eight strikeouts in that performance, three more than his previous career high. His next tilt is Thursday at Wrigley, where the Cubs are just 13-25 this season.