Welcome to the Waiver Wire Picks, our daily fantasy baseball article that reviews the best players to add to your rosters. We’ll look at players who are likely available in most leagues, as well as some deep-league options. We’ll also look at the most-added players in fantasy baseball across the major sites and tell you which players to add and which to leave on the wire.
Top Priority Players to Add
Josh Jung (TEX) – 3B (Yahoo – 22%)
HR/RBI
This is it! Let’s look at some players who might sway a category or two for those of you duking it out in the last week. It’s very easy to forget Jung; he had a .684 OPS last year and missed over a month with a strained calf. But he has lifted the Rangers with a career-high .295/ .360/ .450 slash through 431 PAs. The Rangers will host the Mets (Manaea, McLean, Thornton) before ending the season at Minnesota (Prielipp, Ryan, Kremer). Yeah, the matchups aren’t ideal, but Jung’s 122 Process has me leaning into his recent success.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (BAL) – 1B/3B (Yahoo – 11%)
HR/RBI
CES hasn’t seen a pitch he hasn’t liked (47.6% strand rate), but that hasn’t stopped him from producing an .816 OPS. And the PLV machine believes he’s hitting the ball with righteous fury (130 Power). He’ll face the Jays in Toronto for three before closing out the season at Yankee Stadium. And fortunately, he won’t have to deal with Cease (shoulder).
Jonah Cox (SF) – 2B/OF (Yahoo – 11%)
SB/R
Strikeouts remain a concern for Cox (37.9%), but he has a .746 OPS and has hit in the top four of the lineup since September 5th. More importantly, he has stolen 13 bases on 17 attempts. The Giants will finish the season at Oracle Park with three games against the Twins (Ober, Matthews, Bradley) followed by three against the Dodgers (Glasnow, Skubal, Bullpen/Sheehan).
Lars Nootbaar (ARI) – OF (Yahoo – 2%)
R/OBP
Noot hasn’t done much this season (.737 OPS), but he has led off for Arizona since the trade deadline, and his great eye remains intact (13.6% BB rate). More importantly, the Diamondbacks are headed to Coors for three games starting tomorrow.
Connor Norby (COL) – 1B, 2B, 3B (Yahoo – 11%)
R/OBP
On the other side, Norby has mustered a tolerable .714 OPS and has hit second for the Rockies in six of the last seven games. I don’t think he’s someone I’d gamble on long-term because of his swing-and-miss issues, but for three games at Coors? Why not. However, if you have limited moves, note that the Rockies finish the season at San Diego.
Brett Bateman (TOR) – OF (Yahoo – 10%)
R/AVG
Bateman, whom the Cubs sent to Toronto for Gausman, doesn’t have much HR/SB upside, but he has been extraordinarily productive, hitting .323 from the leadoff spot. The Jays will finish the season with three at Camden Yards before wrapping up 2026 at the Rogers Centre, both good places to hit. The only downside to adding Bateman is that he’ll face two LHP later this weekend (Abbott and Lodolo), but I wouldn’t let that sway me too much if I’m chasing batting average and runs scored.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Dean Kremer (15% K-BB%) has been a decent streamer at times and got the job done yesterday at Anaheim against the hapless Halos. If he makes another start, it will come this weekend at Target Field against the Rangers. That could work, especially if the Rangers have nothing to play for. But it’s little more than a deep league Hail Mary.
Jack Perkins twirled a QS, limiting the Guardians to just one earned run over six innings. But the A’s couldn’t score a run against Gavin Williams. Perkins, to his credit, has shown strikeout upside, but he hasn’t thrown more than 90 pitches since August 23rd, and his final start will be at Sacramento against the Astros. I think you’d have to be pretty desperate to start him there.
Spencer Miles helped lead the Jays to an upset victory against deGrom and the Rangers with four clean innings. But he’s just an opener. There’s nothing to see here.
Hao-Yu Lee, a 23-year-old right-handed hitting rookie infielder for the Tigers, has made some noise in the box score lately with two home runs over his previous four games. He has a .753 OPS, ten home runs, and two stolen bases across 331 PAs. Detroit is one of the six teams playing today (vs. WSN), so he could help you if you’re trailing R/RBI in a deep league. The Tigers will end the season with three home games against the Pirates (Chandler, A. Kelly, Jones).
Jakob Marsee had a nice week, including a pair of homers and a stolen base. That doesn’t really move the needle to me. At this point, I see him as a league-average-ish hitter (101 wRC+) who is a playable fifth OF if you need steals and OBP. He’ll face the Cubs at Wrigley this week (Gausman, Imanaga, Holmes), and will end the season with a three-game set against the Braves at Miami (Holmes, Pérez, Ritchie).
Will Warren couldn’t escape the fifth yesterday in Arizona. He might get another start this weekend against the O’s, but it’s far from a sure thing with the Yankees’ playoff spot locked up.
Ryan Johnson entered yesterday’s game against the Twins with a 2.03 ERA over his last eight starts. However, he hit a snag. Johnson’s 7.9% K-BB% spooks me out enough that I wouldn’t want to hold him for a final start at T-Mobile. It could work out alright enough, but it’s not the sort of thing I’d want to end my season rolling with.
Griffin Jax needed 74 pitches to toss five scoreless innings against the Red Sox. He’s been great, but considering the Rays have the AL East locked up, I’m not sure we’ll see him again for another start. If it happens, it will be in Philly this weekend and most likely a short hook; he’s already thrown 43 more innings than last year.
Rookie left-hander Quinn Mathews completed seven innings for the first time against the Nats. He’ll face the Brewers in Milwaukee this weekend. Yeah, I don’t think I’d be excited for that one. Although there’s a chance the Brewers might sit their regulars.
An unsung fantasy hero, Michael Wacha, had a forgettable outing against the Pirates, but you have to keep him for a final start against a Guardians team that he just throttled four weeks ago.
Streaming Pitchers
Be sure to check Nick’s daily SP streamers article.
Today:
Zebby Matthews (MIN) – SP (Yahoo – 20%) at SF
River Ryan (7%) will debut today for the Tigers. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’ll go long enough to matter, so that basically leaves our ol’ pal Zebby. I’ve been bearish on Zebby all year, but he just had a great outing against the Yankees and gets an even better matchup at Oracle Park.
Tomorrow:
Cristian Javier (HOU) – SP (Yahoo – 16%) at SEA
Javier has been a tease, but I think he has the highest K upside of the arms who are under 20% rostered on Yahoo. T-Mobile Park helps, too.
Anthony Kay (CWS) – SP (Yahoo – 10%) at KC
The Sox have held Kay to under 70 pitches in each of his last two starts. Not ideal. But I think he’s playable if you’re desperate in a deep league. If you’re praying to Koufax in a 15-teamer (like me), you can consider Daniel Lynch IV (8%) on the other side of this game.
