Hot Fantasy Baseball Outfield Pickups: Mickey Moniak Surging, MJ Melendez Back In MLB

The outfield waiver wire is loaded with intriguing fantasy baseball options as we head deeper into the second half of the season. Players like Mickey Moniak, Ramon Laureano, and MJ Melendez are producing strong numbers and could be difference-makers in both shallow and deep leagues.

Mickey Moniak, Colorado Rockies

Over the past 10 weeks, Moniak hit at least one home run in eight scoring periods. He’s riding an eight-game hitting streak (13-for-32 with seven runs, two home runs, and seven RBIs). His bat has been trending higher over his last 30 games (.374/20/10/24/3 over 99 at-bats). Moniak is only free in about 20% of 12-team leagues in the high-stakes market.

Since June 1 (min. 100 PA), Mickey Moniak is...

🟣 1st in OPS (1.178)
🟣 1st in SLG (.766)
🟣 2nd in BA (.362)
🟣 9th in OBP (.412)
🟣 and also has 9 HRs and 21 RBI

What an absolute steal for the #Rockies pic.twitter.com/RliBnq224d
— SleeperRockies (@SleeperRockies) July 22, 2025

Ramon Laureano, Baltimore Orioles

After a dull week (1-for-10 with an RBI), Laureano was launched back into the free agent pool in some shallow formats. His bat refired over the first four days this week (5-for-17 with three runs, three home runs, and seven RBIs), and Baltimore continues to hit him in the cleanup spot in the batting order. Over his last 24 games, Laureano hit .319 over 91 at-bats with 18 runs, five home runs, 21 RBIs, and two steals. He is also in one-fifth of free agent pools in 12-team formats.

Brooks Baldwin, Chicago White Sox

I’m going to kick Baldwin’s tires again this week after he returned from the injured list. He went 1-for-10 with two runs, one home run, and three RBIs over the first half of this scoring period while hitting at the bottom of the White Sox batting order. Over his last 10 games with Chicago, Baldwin went 8-for-29 with six runs, two home runs, seven RBIs, and one steal, on the heels of success at AAA (.368/22/10/20/4 over 87 at-bats). He also qualifies at second base and shortstop.

MJ Melendez, Kansas City Royals

After a dismal start to 2025 (4-for-47 with four runs, one home run, and one RBI) with the Royals, Melendez spent the past three months trying to rebuild his swing and confidence at AAA. He hit .156 with eight runs, one home run, and six RBIs over his first 77 at-bats in the minors while striking out 27 times. Since the middle of May, he has been a winning player in five categories (.286 over 213 at-bats with 38 runs, 12 home runs, 37 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases). His strikeout rate (26.4) over this span aligned with his early major league career.

An injury to Nick Loftin prompted the Royals to call up Melendez this week. To earn starting at-bats, he must outplay John Rave (.200/10/3/12/5 over 85 at-bats) and Adam Frazier (.257/23/3/23/7 over 245 at-bats). Melendez is a wild card in all fantasy formats until his bat proves worthy of everyday at-bats.

LET’S ALL GIVE A WARM WELCOME BACK TO MR. MJ MELENDEZ‼️‼️ #FountainsUp pic.twitter.com/61zTX9yxhu
— SleeperRoyals (@SleeperRoyals) July 23, 2025

Joc Pederson, Texas Rangers

This weekend, Pederson is expected to begin a rehab assignment at AA. He draws a DH-only qualification in most fantasy formats, leaving fewer eyes in his lane when his bat returns to the majors. Pederson was a complete bust to open 2025 (.131/10/2/6/1 over 122 at-bats) despite having favorable walk (13.8%) and strikeout (19.3%) rates. His expected platoon role (0-3 vs. left-handed pitching with six walks) paints him as only a power upgrade to some fantasy teams in deep formats.

Colby Thomas, Athletics

After 81 games at AAA, Thomas hit .295 over 329 at-bats with 66 runs, 18 home runs, 74 RBIs, and seven stolen bases. He had less success over his last 14 games (.231/8/1/9/1 over 52 at-bats). Thomas now has 608 at-bats of AAA experience (.285 with 113 runs, 35 home runs, 119 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases).

The A’s called him again over the past week. Thomas has two hits across 17 at-bats with a run and 10 strikeouts. Until his bat shows a power pulse in the majors, he is only a follow in fantasy leagues.

Taylor Trammell, Houston Astros

Injuries in the Astros’ outfield opened up an opportunity for Trammell over the past three weeks. He has 13 hits over 50 at-bats (.260) with seven runs, two home runs, eight RBIs, and two steals despite striking out 30.0% of the time. Over his previous three seasons of experience in the majors, Trammell hit .167 over 311 at-bats while delivering useful counting stats (47 runs, 15 home runs, 39 RBIs, and four stolen bases). At best, a week-to-week option in deep formats until his playing time dries up.