Drew Waters DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Kansas City Royals outfielder Drew Waters will take a seat for Friday's series opener against the visiting Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Waters has been a regular all across KC's outfield this year but will get a day to rest after starting each of the team's last five contests. Jonathan India is in left field and batting leadoff, Kyle Isbel is in center and hitting ninth, and Mark Canha is in right field and in the seven-hole against Red Sox right-hander Hunter Dobbins. The 26-year-old Waters is hitting a strong .286 (24-for-84) on the season in 25 games played, but his counting stats have been lacking for fantasy managers in deeper leagues. Waters is sitting on just one home run with eight RBI, 10 runs scored and three stolen bases. Nobody in KC's starting lineup has ever faced Dobbins, who will be making only his fourth big-league appearance.

Kansas City Royals outfielder Drew Waters went 4-for-5 at the plate and hit for the cycle during their victory over Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday. Waters led the Omaha offense in this contest as he tallied five RBI, which was highlighted by a three-run inside-the-park home run. Waters was competing for a depth role in the Kansas outfield during spring training but was unable to win a spot on the roster. This was a nice breakout outing for the 26-year-old as he did not tally a hit in each of his first two contests of the Triple-A regular season. Last summer, Waters appeared in just seven games for the Royals and tallied just three hits. Through 334 career games at Triple-A, Water has posted a solid .269/.352/.447 slash line. He is worth monitoring in AL-only formats as he could eventually earn a spot in the Kansas City outfield later in the season.

The Kansas City Royals optioned outfielders Drew Waters and Joey Wiemer and infielder Nick Loftin to Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday, the team announced. The team also announced that infielders Harold Castro and Tyler Tolbert, right-hander Taylor Clarke and catcher Brian O'Keefe have been assigned to minor-league camp. With Waters and Wiemer going down, it means that Dairon Blanco and Mark Canha will be the team's backup outfielders to start the 2025 regular season. Waters really struggled this spring, going 6-for-32 (.188) with three doubles, two triples, four RBI, two steals and 18 strikeouts in 19 Cactus League games. Wiemer is being sent down despite a hot spring showing that saw him post an .838 OPS with two home runs, two doubles, nine RBI and three stolen bases in 21 contests.