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
Daniel Palencia, RHP (CHC) — 57% Rostership
Palencia is a star in the bullpen… unfortunately for him and fantasy managers alike, he hasn’t been healthy enough to rack up points this season. That’ll change soon – Palencia was recently activated off the IL after appearing in five rehab outings where he punched out six batters. In his first game back in the majors, Palencia tossed a scoreless frame with two strikeouts as well. His four-seamer topped out at 99.4 mph.
Javier Sanoja, INF/OF (MIA) — 12% Rostership
Sanoja won’t slug much (though he has posted a .603 clip this month), but he’s been a demon at the dish recently, boasting a 172 wRC+ (11th in MLB) through 19 games. If you’re in need of bolstering your BA category, Sanoja is the guy… his .282 mark on the season is great, but the 23-year-old has been able to boost that number to .362 this month. He also owns a sub-10% strikeout rate this season.
Ian Seymour, LHP (TB) — 60% Rostership
I’ve talked about Seymour for weeks on end… if he’s still available in your league today, now may be your last chance to grab him. The southpaw owns a major league-best 29.6% K-BB rate throughout the month of August – narrowly beating out two studs in Jacob Misiorowski and Jesús Luzardo for that top spot. He’s a legit arm, and there’s positive regression on the way.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Jacob Lopez is a fun add. He won’t wow you, but the southpaw will craft his way through outings effectively. He owns a 2.36 ERA over 34.1 innings since July 10th.
If your league doesn’t take strikeout rate into consideration, Spencer Jones is an “okay” add for temporary production. I don’t believe in longterm sustained success here, but that’s just my opinion.
David Peterson and George Klassen are fine adds to bolster your rotation. I’d be weary about Klassen’s implodability (tons of walks and being a rookie does factor in here as well), but the ceiling is super high. Peterson is a good floor add… he owns a 2.09 ERA since July 9th.
Kade Anderson, fresh off a tantalizing campaign with LSU last season, is headed to the show after spinning 93.1 elite innings in the minors this year. He posted a 1.07 ERA/1.78 FIP and diabolical 36.6% K-BB rate with Seattle’s Double-A squad this season.
Logan Henderson is just barely outside that ace-tier arm right now, so he should not be available. Casey Mize isn’t quite there but also should not be available.
Michael Soroka, boasting a career-best 17.9% K-BB rate and fantastic 2.87 FIP, is a must-add if he’s still around. Ryan Weathers (0.85 ERA over his last five starts) needs to be picked up, too.
Streaming Pitchers
Our guy Nick Pollack does a fantastic job at highlighting and ranking starting pitcher streaming options… check out his list here!
Tyler Mahle, RHP (ATL) — 39% Rostership
I noted Mahle was a must-add last week. That remains the same this week. He’s been balling with his new squad since the trade deadline, and it’s hard to bet against that right now:
| ERA | BAA | WHIP | K-BB% | SIERA |
| 1.45 | .197 | 0.86 | 23.2% | 3.32 |
Jake Bennett, LHP (BOS) — 33% Rostership
Bennett has been such a fun breakout arm this season, turning in a 3.28 FIP and 1.07 WHIP through 80.2 innings this season while featuring a minuscule 5% walk rate. He’s been elite at locating his deep arsenal, and while he’s run into some poor batted-ball luck lately, the underlying stuff suggests the rookie left-hander will be just fine.
