Week 18 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Kyle Teel, Brice Matthews Lead Infielders

Looking for waiver wire help to recharge your fantasy baseball lineup? Here are the top trending hitters across catcher, first base, second base, third base, and shortstop—highlighting breakout bats like Kyle Teel, Matt Shaw, and Brice Matthews who could pay immediate dividends.

Catchers

Kyle Teel, Chicago White Sox

In shallow fantasy formats, Teel remains in the free agent pool in a high percentage of leagues due to the slow start to his major league career and platoon role with the White Sox. His bat showed a spark over the past week, leading to a mini three-game hitting streak (7-for-14 with six runs, one home run, and two RBIs). Over his 50 games at AAA this season, he hit .295 over 183 at-bats with 34 runs, eight home runs, 30 RBIs, and seven stolen bases. His strikeout rate (26.1) in 2025 remains well above the league average.

Kyle Teel launches his first big league homer! 😤 pic.twitter.com/YPp9k1pavI
— MLB (@MLB) July 24, 2025

Adrián Del Castillo, Arizona Diamondbacks

Heading into this weekend, Del Castillo doesn’t have an at-bat for the Diamondbacks this week. Arizona faced three left-handed starting pitchers against the Astros over the first half of this scoring period. Over 14 rehab games this year at AAA, he hit .288 with 13 runs, four home runs, and 16 RBIs over 59 at-bats. Castillo had a stellar 2024 season between AAA and the majors (.312 over 493 at-bats with 102 runs, 30 home runs, 94 RBIs, and one stolen base). His playing time should improve after the Diamondbacks make some trades over the next few days.

First Basemen

Spencer Horwitz, Pittsburgh Pirates

For the fantasy teams chasing lineup improvements, the Pirates moved Horwitz to their leadoff spot recently, and he responded with a four-game hitting streak (8-for-16 with four runs, one home run, and seven RBIs). On the downside, over his first 169 at-bats this year, Horwitz only had 19 runs, two home runs, and 16 RBIs, making him only a short-term chase to see if his bat continues to produce power and helpful stats.

Kyle Manzardo, Cleveland Guardians

Over the past five weeks, Manzardo has been an every-other-week player – .278/2/2/2, .133/0/0/0, .231/2/2/4, .000/0/0/0, and .417/1/1/5, making him a frustrating player to roster and start in fantasy leagues. His power stats (16 home runs and 42 RBIs over 283 at-bats) this year grade well for fantasy teams looking for a boost in home runs, but they come with a cost (fewer at-bats and days off). Manzardo should be a free agent in about 50% of 12-team leagues with full roster spots (23).

Kyle Manzardo over his last 3 games:

🔺.444 AVG (4-for-9)
🔺1.343 OPS
🔺5 RBIs
🔺2 XBH
🔺1 HR

Should the power-hitting lefty be in the lineup every day? #GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/WTpeU9UYzN
— SleeperGuardians (@SleeperGuards) July 24, 2025

Second Basemen

Angel Martinez, Cleveland Guardians

I’ve been a fan of Martinez this year and have been tracking him most of this season. Cleveland has bumped to second in their batting order this month, and his bat responded with success in July (.307 over 75 at-bats with 14 runs, four home runs, 13 RBIs, and one stolen base). He is trending toward a 15/10 player with about 65 runs and 65 RBIs, making Martinez more useful in deeper formats. In 12-team leagues, a hot hand approach is required, and he should be a free agent in over 65% of leagues.

Luis Rengifo, Los Angeles Angels

Over his first 90 games in 2025, Rengifo hit .233 with 30 runs, four home runs, 22 RBIs, and two steals over 317 at-bats, earning him a ticket to the free agent pool in many leagues. He’s riding a six-game hitting streak (8-for-23 with five runs and one RBI), but his lack of power and speed won’t move the fantasy needle. Rengifo has 27 home runs in his career over 664 at-bats in August and September, compared to 30 home runs over the first four months (1,463 at-bats). His bat is trending in the right direction, suggesting an uptick in production.

Third Basemen

Josh Jung, Texas Rangers

For anyone reading the minor league tea leaves last weekend, Jung smashed a pair of home runs with four RBIs over 17 at-bats (.188), hinting that Texas would recall him from the minors. They lost Jake Burger on July 16th, creating a window for Jung to start back with the Rangers. Over his first three games back in the majors, he went 4-for-8 with four runs and a solo home run. Jung has the bat capable of hitting a three-run home run, and his major league resume (.254/132/44/136/11 over 1,041 at-bats) paints a service player in all formats.

Matt Shaw, Chicago Cubs

Over the first half of July, Shaw played his way to the bench by going 1-for-27 with three runs, two RBIs, and one stolen base. He came out of the All-Star break with a six-game hitting streak (9-for-18 with four runs, three home runs, six RBIs, and two steals). His success screams “pick me up” in all shallow leagues, where Shaw has a 50/50 chance of being in the free agent pool in leagues with weekly moves.

Matt Shaw since the All-Star break:

.474 AVG
9 H
3 HR
6 RBIs
4 R

Will we see Matt Shaw have a breakout season in the second half⁉️

pic.twitter.com/lC00JLDDD2
— SleeperCubs (@SleeperCubs) July 24, 2025

Shortstops

Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox

Montgomery’s bat was relatively quiet over his first 10 games with the White Sox. He went 7-for-28 with two runs, two RBIs, six walks, and seven strikeouts while showing batting average risk this season in the minors (.218/27/11/30/2 over 216 at-bats). After the All-Star break, Montgomery is hitting .304 over 23 at-bats with four runs, two home runs, and 10 RBIs while striking out eight times. At best, low average power that will be challenging to time.

Brice Matthews, Houston Astros

Nothing pisses me off more than sleeping at the wheel when reviewing the potential free agent pool each week. Being behind the waiver curve in the high-stakes market tends to be a losing approach to fantasy team management. Last week, I was away and missed that Matthews had a potential starting window after the Astros lost Isaac Paredes.

Over the first four games this week, he went 4-for-15 with three runs, three home runs, and eight RBIs, and I still don’t know who he is available (my free agent period runs on Sunday).

Matthews hit .283 over 269 at-bats this season at AAA with 50 runs, 10 home runs, 39 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases. He walked 15.4% of the time with weakness in his strikeout rate (30.2%). Houston drafted him 28th overall in the 2023 MLB June Amateur Draft.

His bat was hot over his last 24 games at AAA (.344 over 96 at-bats with 23 runs, four home runs, 15 RBIs, and eight stolen bases). Matthew should be a free agent in almost all leagues this week.