The game of baseball – fantasy or otherwise – is a game of incremental gains. Over time, small wins can slowly add up to major additions to your team. Whether you’re looking for the final piece for your championship push or the next hype-piece that you can “red paperclip” into a long-term asset, making sure you’re keeping an eye on the ever-changing shifting waiver wire landscape is always key to future victories.

Even if, sadly, you’ve already been eliminated from contention, that doesn’t mean the season is over! Let’s dig into some names that can still make an impact in a season that is quickly nearing the finish line.

Adrian Del Castillo – C – ARI – 15% Yahoo, 29% CBS

Occasionally in the minor leagues, you get a season from a player that doesn’t make a ton of sense on the surface. Think of it this way – would the profile of an organization’s 34th ranked prospect, who has a 40-grade in Raw Power (both per Fangraphs), and has hit 22 home runs in 210 minor league games, entice you much? Probably not right?

Well, if you were one his naysayers heading into the season, I hope that crow is well-cooked and tasty for you as Del Castillo has exploded onto the scene in 2024. It took him only 100 games at Triple-A to earn his promotion to the big leagues and he certainly earned his place as he hit .319/.403/.608 and knocked 24 home runs, more than doubling his previous career total. He’s not just a power goof either, as his walk rate sat at a strong 11.5% – not far from his strikeout rate of 16.8%.

Now, even if you were one of the rare believers of him heading into 2024, there was little reason to expect that he would simply continue that pace upon his promotion. Except, that’s exactly what’s happened.

Through his first ten games, Del Castillo is hitting .361/.425/.667 with three home runs, including a grand slam. Let’s get the obvious red flags out of the way first though; a 35% strikeout rate and a .526 BABIP mean that slashline is going to come tumbling back to a more earthly level in short order unless he can lower his whiffs (30.1%). That said, he is generally making good contact with his Barrel% of 22.7% and Sweet-Spot% of 40.9% quite elevated, though that has yet to lead to high-end exit velocity with his Hard-Hit% below league-average at just 36.4%. Those numbers will fluctuate (and quickly) once the sample size starts to grow but it does show that Del Castillo exhibits good bat-control skills that give him a strong basis to work from.

Considering the favorable hitting environment at Triple-A Reno, Del Castillo should probably be expected to provide no more than 20-25 home runs in the majors over a full season – but with a strong lineup around him, Del Castillo profiles as a top-12 option at catcher going forward and should be an immediate add in two-catcher leagues.

League size recommendation: 14-team leagues

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