Welcome to Waiver Wire Picks, our daily fantasy baseball article that looks at the best available players in baseball that you should be adding to your rosters. We’ll look at the players that are likely to be available in most leagues, as well as some deep league waiver wire options, and we’ll also look at the most added players in fantasy baseball across the major sites, and let you know which players to add and which players you can leave on the wire.
Top Priority Players to Add
Nick Gonzales, INF (PIT) — 55% Rostership
Gonzales, slashing .388/.438/.544 over 25 games, put together the best month of his young career in July and it was quite obvious.
Highest qualified wRC+ leaders in July, minimum 100 PA:
| Player Name (team) | wRC+ |
| 1. Alvarez (HOU) | 217 |
| 2. Abrams (WSH) | 203 |
| 3. Wood (WSH) | 194 |
| 4. GONZALES (PIT) | 171 |
The 27-year-old has been unstoppable, racking up hits in SIXTEEN consecutive games entering play today. Five of his last six starts have yielded multi-hit games, too. If you need a guy that’s simply going to hit, Gonzales is your premier waiver wire target.
Ian Seymour, LHP (TB) — 33% Rostership
Seymour’s ERA may be inflated, but everything else about the young southpaw is too good to pass up on. The 27-year-old has posted a 26.3% K-BB rate, .181 BAA, and 0.91 WHIP through 35 innings dating back to June 25th. His changeup has been wicked impressive, running a 37% whiff rate paired with a .154 BAA and .216 xwOBA as his lead offering.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Robert Gasser hasn’t been stellar all year but has has spun the ball well in back-to-back starts, posting a 2.45 ERA/2.64 FIP and 22% K rate while not allowing a walk through 11 innings. He’s your average “play the hot streak” waiver acquisition.
Max Clark is a great player. But is he worth a pickup? I’m not quite sure. Clark turned in impeccable contact rates and a decent xwOBA in Triple-A, but EVs were pretty middling and there isn’t much SLG in the tank. He’ll get on base and steal a base, but I don’t expect him to be a mainstay, per se.
Quinn Mathews comes with great swing-and-miss but great walk rate concerns. He could be okay, but there is a ton of risk in adding him… at least that’s what every model indicates. The 4.31 FIP (over a run above his ERA) is a good example of that.
Zac Thornton has been a pleasant surprise for Mets fans and fantasy managers alike, and while I didn’t buy it at first, I’m hopping on board the hype train. The 24-year-old owns a 2.43 ERA/3.20 FIP and 0.91 WHIP through 29.2 innings and should be available in quite a few leagues. With Freddy Peralta seemingly out in New York, Thornton should get a long stretch of innings to finish off the season.
Andrew Abbott is somehow on this list and even if you’re grabbing him just to play matchups, he’s a must-roster. His sweeper is one of the best secondaries in the NL Central, plus he’s able to pair that with a changeup that generates whiffs at a 37% clip. If the four-seamer gets a bit closer to average? Watch out.
Streaming Pitchers
Our guy Nick Pollack does a fantastic job at highlighting and ranking starting pitcher streaming options… check out his list here!
Merrill Kelly, RHP (AZ) — 41% Rostership
Kelly has been brutal this year outside of one exception — the month of July. Over four starts last month:
| ERA | WHIP | BAA | K-BB% |
| 1.95 | 1.19 | .238 | 14% |
I do not think this is sustainable, however, he faces a very friendly matchup in a scuffling Guardians offense that ranks 21st in wRC+ over the same span Kelly has been dominating.
Landen Roupp, RHP (SF) — 45% Rostership
Roupp on the other hand has been stellar all year long and his underlying stuff is even better.
| FIP | HH% | xBA | GB% |
| 3.38 | 29.4% | .228 | 52.4% |
Last time out versus Milwaukee, Roupp didn’t have his A-stuff. I expect that to change in an intriguing division rival matchup against the Padres.
Peter Lambert, RHP (HOU) — 59% Rostership
Lambert has been solid through 103 innings this season, posting a 3.06 ERA/3.43 xERA and 1.15 WHIP after taking a year off from MLB play and dominating the NPB. Lambert won’t knock your socks off but his arsenal is deep enough to work against both hands — his three most-used pitches all own xBA marks under .215 and his changeup (37% whiff rate) has been game-changing in the swing-and-miss department. He’s also been on fire lately, posting a 1.88 ERA and 20.2% K-BB rate in July.
