Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Edwin Arroyo Called Up as Elly De La Cruz Hits IL

Monday update: The Reds placed shortstop Elly De La Cruz on the IL with a hamstring strain, a big blow for the Reds and for Fantasy players, as De La Cruz has taken a big step forward as a hitter and has been the No. 11 hitter in Fantasy so far this season. But, while there's no replacing a player like De La Cruz, the Reds are calling on an in-house replacement for De La Cruz who could help make up for what we're losing out on.

The Reds are promoting shortstop prospect Edwin Arroryo, who is in the midst of a big breakout season down at Triple-A. The former second-round pick who was once one of the centerpieces of the Luis Castillo trade has tapped into big power this season after he struggled in 2025, hitting 11 homers in his first 53 games – just three shy of his career-high for a season. He's done that while striking out just 17% of the time, also the best mark of his career.

What's changed? Well, Arroyo has always been an aggressive hitter looking to elevate the ball to the pull side, and he has remained so this season, with a 38% chase rate that still looks a bit scary. But he's simply making a lot more contact this season despite iffy swing decisions, cutting his swinging strike rate to 10.2%. Doing that while putting up above-average exit velocities across the board plus a big 25.1% pulled-air rate explains much of the improvement we've seen from Arroyo this season, as he makes his debut after hitting .323/.383/.562 and generally looking like there wasn't much left for him to learn in the minors.

That doesn't mean Arroyo is going to hit the ground running. Even supposed can't-miss prospects often need time to adjust to the majors, and Arroyo doesn't have a long track record of elite production to point to yet. But he's a good athlete with a very Fantasy-friendly skill set (11 homers, nine steals this season), and it's at least possible his 2025 struggles were the result of the shoulder injury that cost him the previous season. He'll land in a great home park for hitting, though the Reds lineup obviously takes a big hit after losing De La Cruz.

Still, Arroyo is the kind of talent worth at least taking a flier on in any Category league with his promotion, and I do expect him to play more or less everyday while De La Cruz is out. His long-term role is in flux, but if he proves indispensable, the Reds will find a spot for him – they could stand to upgrade at either second or third base, two positions Arroyo has at least seen some time at this season. He has the chance to take a job and run with it somewhere, and could be a solid power/speed threat for a middle infield spot.

Here's who else we're looking to add ahead of Week 11:

It came with a lot of fits and starts along the way, but Roki Sasaki more than looks like he belongs for the Dodgers these days. That wasn't always the case. In Spring Training and early this season, he barely looked like he belonged in the majors, and there really wasn't much to be excited about.

But there is now. Sasaki isn't a totally different pitcher than he was last season or earlier this season, but he's made some notable tweaks. His sweeper from last season is gone, replaced by a harder slider. His forkball has been separated into two separate pitches, a harder splitter he throws around 90 mph with better command, and the slower forkball he has always had that misses plenty of bats but is a bit more erratic. But the most notable thing we've seen lately is a significantly improved four-seam fastball.

A couple of starts ago, Sasaki showed up with an extra couple of inches of induced vertical break on his four-seamer to go along with an extra inch or so of arm-side movement, and when he pitched Saturday against the Phillies , he had both traits along with an extra tick of velocity. He sat at 98.5 mph Saturday, the highest single-start mark of his career, and the pitch was dominant; he generated eight swinging strikes on 25 swings, an elite mark for a four-seamer.

It's all starting to look like a real starter's arsenal. You probably can't count on the fastball being as good as that every time, but it's clearly improved this season, and the rest of the arsenal looks at least solid, too. He finished May with a 3.18 ERA and 28 strikeouts to six walks, by far the best stretch since he came over to the majors. And I'm at the point where I think Sasaki has shown enough upside to be worth rostering in pretty much all Fantasy formats – and seeing as he is still just 65% rostered, that means plenty of you have a chance to add him this week.

It might all fall apart in the long run, as the track record of success at the MLB level is extremely limited here. But Sasaki finally looks like he doesn't just belong, but might be able to thrive.

Week 11 Waiver Targets

Catcher

Keibert Ruiz , Nationals (45%)

Ruiz isn't as good as his overall production in May, where he is hitting .386/.390/.737, but you don't need him to be that good. He's been trading off a bit of contact lately for better quality of contact, with his average exit velocity jumping from 88.4 mph to 92.1 mph from April to May. This hot streak likely won't last, but he's a viable hot hand play if you're unhappy with your catcher situation right now.

Deep league option:  Francisco Alvarez , Mets (34%) – Alvarez was a disappointment even before his knee injury, but if you looked under the surface, you still saw a lot of what made him such a dynamic hitter in the second half of last season. He had cut his strikeout rate to 21.9% (from a career 25.4% mark) while putting up a .400 expected wOBA on contact, the best mark of his career. He may not be able to sustain those gains after coming back from knee surgery, but with his rehab assignment seemingly looming, Alvarez remains a high-upside catcher you can stash now, especially in any two-catcher leagues.

First Base

Curtis Mead , Nationals (34%)

Mead has been playing pretty much everyday against lefties all season, but he hasn't mattered much for Fantasy because they were rarely letting him play against righties. That seems to be changing since they demoted Brady House , as Mead has started five of the past seven games against right-handed pitchers. And Mead probably should just get the chance to play everyday, because he is handling righties perfectly well right now, sporting a career-best .411 xwOBA to back up his career-best .424 wOBA against them. Despite playing more often, he had an even better May than April, hitting .261/.400/.507, and with the underlying numbers backing it up, Mead might be a viable starter, at least as a corner infielder.

Deep league option:  Vaughn Grissom , Angels (7%) – Grissom is following a similar path as Mead where he is earning more playing time against righties lately, though he hasn't been nearly as good for nearly as long. In fact,before the past week or so he's been pretty hopeless for a while. But he is 7 for 18 over the past six games and has a solid .339 xwOBA overall, so there might be something here, at least for deeper leagues.

Second Base

Sam Antonacci , White Sox (50%)

I think Antonacci is just good. He's hitting .277/.371/.365 in 42 games since his promotion and the underlying metrics make the case that he's probably been at least a little bit unlucky with his batting average. He makes  a lot of contact, and while he isn't a power hitter, Antonacci hits the ball hard enough that he shouldn't be a total zero moving forward. And with eight steals on 10 attempts in the month of May, we're seeing a very well rounded skill set here. I think Antonacci might be a starting-caliber option even in points leagues, but at the very least he's a rock-solid middle infielder who should be a plus contributor in batting average, steals, and maybe even runs.

Deep league option:  Jacob Gonzalez , White Sox (16%) – With Munetaka Murakami going on the IL with a hamstring injury this week, the White Sox called on their 2023 first-round pick. He hasn't developed the way the team surely hoped, hitting just .245/.327/.385 in 351 career minor-league games, but Gonzalez has been terrific at Triple-A this season, hitting 19 homers in 52 games without unwieldy strikeout rates. There's real plus raw power here and good enough contact rates at Triple-A this season to think Gonzalez might be able to make this all work, and he should get extended run as the team's first baseman for the next month or so.

Third Base

Ezequiel Duran , Rangers (61%)

I don't really buy Duran's production of late. His .349 wOBA is backed up by a .313 mark, and even if you want to argue he's been hot lately, his .328 xwOBA over the past 100 plate appearances is more decent than great. But he's still a super valuable player to have around in most Fantasy leagues thanks to his eligibility – he has 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, and outfield eligibility, and having an even-just-decent player on your bench with that kind of eligibility has a lot of value from a team-building perspective. Every roster spot you don't have to spend on backups and insurance is a roster spot you can spend on someone with real upside in the long run. For that reason alone, I think Duran is underrostered.

Deep league option:   Charles McAdoo , Blue Jays (3%) – McAdoo isn't the most exciting prospect callup of all time, but he's going to get a chance to play for the Blue Jays and has some positional versatility of his own – he has started at second and first base in his first two MLB games. He was hitting .250/.357/.432 with a 25-20 pace at Triple-A and could have some appeal in deeper Roto leagues.

Shortstop

Colt Emerson , Mariners (66%)

Emerson hasn't been perfect. He's struggled against breaking balls and has a 28% strikeout rate through his first 12 games entering play Sunday. But he hasn't been overwhelmed, and that's the most important thing for a top prospect early in his career, especially for a 20-year-old. It means he's going to keep getting chances, and it means he's a good bet to keep getting better, too. He's doing a good job of pulling the ball in the air consistently and is handling fastballs well, so as he gets more reps, he should learn to handle offspeed and breaking balls a bit better, too. Emerson is a viable middle infielder right now, with the upside to grow into a lot more than that as the season goes on.

Deep league option:  Jett Williams , Brewers (16%) – They've gotta be pretty close to pulling the plug on the third base experiment. Williams is down at Triple-A playing third base pretty much exclusively, while the Brewers have gotten a combined .231/.298/.286 line from their third basemen this season. Things have actually been even worse at shortstop, another position Williams has plenty of experience playing. With Williams hitting much better in May after a slow start to the season, I think it's only a matter of time before he gets the call, and his solid all-around skill set should include a bit of power and plenty of speed, if not necessarily a great batting average.

Outfield

Ryan Waldschmidt , Diamondbacks (70%)

The main leagues where Waldschmidt remains available are probably points leagues, primarily three-outfielder ones, and that's always a tough ask for an unproven player. But I think he's shown enough to think he's going to matter in all Fantasy formats. There's been a bit too much swing-and-miss in Waldschmidt's game lately, but he's still hitting .296/.359/.394 with a solid, well-rounded skill set. Once he gets the strikeouts out and starts hitting for a bit more over-the-fence power, he's going to be worth using in all leagues, and I expect both to happen.

Noelvi Marte , Reds (38%)

Marte has nothing left to prove at Triple-A, and the Reds need someone besides JJ Bleday to hit in their outfield. He was a disaster in his first stint with the big-league club earlier in the season, but he was also getting inconsistent playing time, so it's hard to know how much to hold that against him. Since his demotion he i

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/week-11-fantasy-baseball-waiver-wire-edwin-arroyo-gets-the-call-as-elly-de-la-cruz-goes-on-the-il/)._