We’re roughly 60 games into the 2025 fantasy baseball season. At this point, statistics are beginning to hold more weight than they did the first couple weeks of the year. Players who’ve performed well thus far with supportive underlying metrics are fairly likely to continue their success, and time is beginning to dwindle for players – or teams – off to cold starts.
This week’s waiver wire adds include two exciting young hitters and two completely dominant relievers who you won’t believe are available. Be sure to check back next week for your Week 12 waiver wire breakdown.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds for Week 11
Cole Young
(2B, Seattle Mariners)
Percent Rostered (Fantrax): 42%
Cole Young was called up to the big leagues on Saturday and instantly made an impact, walking it off for the Mariners in the 11th inning. Young is MLB Pipeline’s 43rd overall prospect, and he figures to get lots of playing time in Seattle. Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said on Thursday that Young will be “playing in the middle infield at the highest levels of the game” for the rest of the season.
The second baseman figures to bring offensive firepower to a position that’s lacking it across MLB. Prior to his big league debut on Saturday, Young was slashing .277/.392/.461 with five home runs at Triple-A Tacoma. Perhaps more impressive? His 31 walks compared to just 28 strikeouts.
The former first-round pick has a more contact-oriented offensive profile than a prototypical slugger, but that is par for the course as a second baseman. Hitting .270 the rest of the season with lots of doubles sprinkled in is a reasonable expectation for the 21-year-old and would be a big upgrade for many deep-league fantasy managers.
Young swiped at least 20 bases in both 2023 and 2024, so he brings a set of wheels as well as his bat-to-ball skills.
The Mariners have had a bit of a black hole at second base since the Robinson Cano days. Seattle’s front office – not to mention their fans – are hoping Young will be a mainstay there and can help bring the team back to the playoffs this season.
Will Benson
(OF, Cincinnati Reds)
Percent Rostered: 43%
Will Benson only has 66 big-league plate appearances this season, but he’s making the most of them. The former first-round draft pick was sent to Triple-A to start the season after Spring Training. After being briefly recalled and then sent back down to the minor leagues in April, Benson forced a call-up by tearing up Triple-A pitching with seven home runs and an .898 OPS in 121 at-bats.
In the month of May, Benson – now a big leaguer once again – hit .278 with five home runs and 14 runs batted in. His .312 xBA (per Baseball Savant), .643 xSLG, and 20.9% barrel rate all indicate that his success was no fluke.
Last season, the Reds outfielder hit just .187 and ranked in the 1st percentile in strikeout rate, whiff rate, squared-up rate, and xBA. So what’s changed?
While his performance against fastballs has stayed mostly the same, Benson is hammering secondary pitches like never before. His .417 batting average on breaking balls in 2025 dwarfs his .195 mark from last season, and his .273 batting average against offspeed pitches is a 146-point increase from 2024.
Although his batting average may not fall as much as it did last season, it will almost certainly regress. But Benson’s raw power has always been evident, and never more so than this year. The 6’4, 230 lbs. outfielder has always barreled the ball at a higher rate than the MLB average, which is good news for fantasy baseball managers seeking power upside.
Brendon Little
(RP, Toronto Blue Jays)
Percent Rostered: 32%
The Blue Jays are 30-28, and Brendon Little has played a significant role in many of those wins. He ranks 17th among MLB relievers with 10 holds and has posted a 1.37 ERA across 28 appearances.
The left-hander utilizes a 94 MPH sinker and elite knuckle curveball to befuddle batters. Stuff+, hosted on Fangraphs, is an advanced pitching statistic that measures the tangible qualities of a pitch regardless of the outcome. According to the model, Little owns the second-best knuckle curveball in baseball – only behind Jhoan Duran of the Minnesota Twins. His sinker ranks 14th-best among pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched, which means he has two elite pitches to get hitters out with.
Throwing two extremely effective pitches has long been a reliever’s recipe for success. That has held true for Little this year, who has 37 strikeouts in 26.1 innings pitched. His whiff rate is tops in MLB among pitchers with at least 100 batters faced, and it isn’t even a close race.
2025 MLB Whiff Rate, min. 100 BF
1. Brendon Little, TOR (50.5%)
2. Logan Gilbert, SEA (38.3%)
3. Bryan Abreu, HOU (37.6%)
4. Ronny Henriquez, MIA (37.3%)
5. Jax Griffin, MIN (36.7%)
Throwing two elite pitches and having the results to show for it makes Brendon Little an absolute must-add in fantasy baseball this week.
Ronny Henriquez
(RP, Miami Marlins)
Percent Rostered: 22%
If the name Ronny Henriquez sounds familiar to you, it’s likely because he appeared among the aforementioned whiff rate leaders. Henriquez is on track to become one of the best closers in baseball by the end of the year, and he has assumed said role in Miami after being selected off waivers from Minnesota during the offseason.
Unlike many high-leverage relievers, Henriquez throws four pitches consistently. A disgusting sweeper and 96 MPH four-seam fastball are his two primary offerings – boasting Stuff+ ratings of 108 and 114, respectively – with a tighter slider and changeup each tossed in roughly one-fifth of the time.
The 24-year-old Marlins closer has racked up 40 strikeouts in just 28.2 innings pitched and owns a .198 opponent xBA. While walks can be a bit of an issue for the right-hander, they haven’t prevented him from an elite performance so far this season. Henriquez is the perfect high-upside bullpen arm for deep-league fantasy baseball managers.