Top fantasy baseball outfield waiver pickups for Week 13

As we get deeper and deeper into the 2023 MLB season, it’s time for the rubber to hit the road — for fantasy baseball teams to decide whether they’re in or out this year, and what they might need for the long summer ahead. This is especially true at the outfield spots, where injuries have felled top picks like Jazz Chisholm, Yordan Alvarez and more. That’s why we’re here to help, with four targets likely available in your league showing signs that they’re in for a strong finish.

Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 13 outfield pickups

Luis Matos, OF, San Francisco Giants

Roster percentage: 6.8%

The 21-year-old from Venezuela got the call to Triple-A in mid-May and immediately became the hottest hitter in the Minors, slashing a truly unbelievable .416/.454/.693 — with six steals and almost as many homers (seven) as strikeouts (eight). Yeah, yeah, small sample size, Pacific Coast League, we know. But still: an 1.147 OPS!

Injuries to both J.D. Davis and Mitch Haniger this week created a need on the Giants’ roster, and they called Matos up to presumably be an everyday player for at least the next few weeks. Injuries had cooled his prospect hype a bit, but now that he’s back healthy, he’s getting the chance to show the plus bat speed and athleticism that made him so highly touted in the first place. Matos has always had a preternatural ability to get the bat to the ball, and if he can marry that hit tool with some of the restraint he showed this year in the Minors — he walked 24 times this year compared to just 20 strikeouts — he could become a fantasy star contributing across all five categories (though you shouldn’t expect gaudy power numbers in the Majors).

Tommy Pham, OF, New York Mets

Roster percentage: 2.2%

With Pete Alonso out, the Mets have been desperate for anyone to fill the void in the middle of their lineup, and Pham has been a surprising savior of late. The 35-year-old journeyman is on fire, hitting .286/.333/.633 with three homers, six doubles and four steals over his last 16 games. (Remarkably, Statcast thinks he’s been a little unlucky to boot, with an xwOBA some 65 points higher than his actual mark.)

That performance has taken him from a platoon role to an every-day one, either at DH, first base or in left field, and with a .551 expected slugging percentage and above-average sprint speed, he could be a nifty source of power and speed.

Leody Taveras, OF, Texas Rangers

Roster percentage: 11%

It wasn’t too long ago that Taveras was among the most highly-touted prospects in all of baseball, a defensive dynamo in center field dripping with athleticism and the potential to become a five-tool player. It took him a while to figure it out at the Major League level, but it looks like he might be realizing that potential in front of our eyes right now: Three more homers and two steals this week has raised Taveras’ OPS on the season to .828, with six bombs and seven bags. He’s now Texas’ everyday man in center, putting him in great position to rack up counting stats in the Rangers’ historic lineup, and his ability to slash his strikeout rate (from 32.4% to 25.8% to 19.0% over the last three years) and up his line-drive rate suggests that this breakout is sustainable. If it is, the sky is the limit.

Ryan O’Hearn, 1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles

Roster percentage: 2.8%

O’Hearn seemed on the verge of washing out of baseball entirely after hitting a measly .211/.282/.351 over parts of four seasons with the Kansas City Royals from 2019 to 2022. But the O’s took a flyer on him over the winter, and with injuries to Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle, O’Hearn got one more shot to stick in the Majors — and he’s making the most of it. The big lefty currently owns a sizzling .966 OPS with five homers and six doubles in just 26 games, racking up 19 RBI in Baltimore’s dangerous lineup. As long as he keeps hitting like that, he should have something close to an every-day role, although he may still sit against some lefties.