Welcome to the Waiver Wire Picks, our daily fantasy baseball article that looks at the best players 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. 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
Tommy Edman (LAD) – 2B, 3B, OF (Yahoo – 27%)
The most important fact here is that Edman is playing every day for the Dodgers. There are enough platoons and minor leaguers getting tryouts in September that it can be hard to find guaranteed, everyday at-bats. Edman has three straight lefties after today’s game, which is important because he hits 1st or 2nd against lefties. He’s hitting .279/.355/.411 with 5 homers and 6 steals in 63 games. That’s roughly a 13-15 pace for the season. He’s also on a 90 run/75 RBI pace, providing the sort of well-rounded production he did at his peak (albeit missing a few steals). There’s a pretty friendly series of matchups coming up as well, with two series against the Reds sandwiched around a trip to Miami. He’s an excellent option to fill in the gaps for any players getting rested or losing time at the tail end of the season, especially in daily leagues.
Juan Morillo (ARI) – RP (Yahoo – 10%)
Morillo is the de facto closer in Arizona even after the return of Justin Martinez. He hasn’t been scored on in 17 appearances and earned the save in a 1-0 victory on Wednesday. Morillo is a hard thrower with a 28.6% strikeout rate and a manageable 9.4% walk rate. With under a month remaining in the season, saves will be determined by the vagaries of which teams are winning close games more than the quality of the pitcher. There’s no more taking shots on high-quality setup men hoping they take the job; Morillo has a job and is on a roll.
Zebby Matthews (MIN) – SP (Yahoo – 41%)
Is Matthews starting to figure things out? The season numbers are still rough, but he’s been very good in 3 of his past 4 starts, the lone exception being the White Sox power bats getting to him for 4 runs in 5 innings. He has remaining matchups against the Guardians, Angels, and Rangers, all matchups in which you’d be happy to start him. The Twins are unlikely to make the playoffs, which has pros and cons. The upside is that there won’t be any reason to sit pitchers to reorganize the rotation for a playoff series. The downside is that Matthews has thrown 151 innings this season between Triple-A and the majors, so the Twins could end up choosing to limit his innings in meaningless games.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Rosters have expanded at the start of September, but most of the additional players won’t have full-time roles. As a result, streaming starters still dominate the most-added lists. For a complete rundown on the available streaming options, Nick’s SP Streamers article is resource #1.
Clay Holmes actually has to wait a day for his start, getting the nod on Sunday in Miami. Miami has been an average offense since the trade deadline, but their park is favorable to pitchers. Holmes has had great results in Chicago with a 1.55 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, but there are some concerning signs under the hood. His velo is down a tick and a half with the Cubs. He’s getting less swing-and-miss, and his strikeout rate is down to 16.2%. I’d still feel comfortable starting Holmes tomorrow, but temper your expectations.
Zac Thornton starts for the Mets against the Giants in New York. Thornton is a soft-tossing lefty who is getting better results than the underlying numbers would predict going forward. This is a cushy matchup, though, against a struggling Giants offense. Rafael Devers has been on fire lately, but he’s got a .535 OPS against lefties on the season. The Giants as a whole are 28th in MLB against lefties.
Max Scherzer is the third starter on our list. He’ll start for the Jays in Kansas City, a theoretically favorable matchup. He’s really struggled this year in basically every start other than his last time out. The Royals also have the 6th-best offense since the deadline, carried by the white-hot bat of Jac Caglianone and over 130 wRC+s from Carter Jensen and Bobby Witt Jr.. This is a hard pass for me.
Taj Bradley starts against the division rival White Sox in Chicago. Bradley has had a solid season, maintaining a 17.1% K-BB despite a walk rate that has crept over 10%. The White Sox can be a boom-or-bust offense; they’re sixth in baseball in homers, and sixth in baseball in strikeout rate. It’s easy to see Bradley racking up Ks against Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery while limiting damage from the less powerful members of the lineup. It’s also easy to see Bradley walking a few batters and making a mistake to Miguel Vargas or the two aforementioned sluggers. It’s a high-variance stream, with a reasonable expected outcome.
Cade Cavalli starts for the Nationals in LA. Unfortunately for him, the Nats are visiting the Dodgers, not the Angels. He’s been outstanding, though, and the Dodgers offense isn’t what it used to be (it’s still second in baseball by wRC+, and 5th by runs). Cavalli has been good all year, but he’s been especially strong in the second half. Since July started, he has a 2.31 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP supported by a 23.9% K-BB. He was 17th on the last numerical version of The List. It’s not my favorite matchup, but there’s no world in which Cavalli should be available to stream instead of safely ensconced on a roster.
Three new faces make the Yahoo most-added list. Javier Assad is the Cubs starter in Miami today. Would you like his teammate Clay Holmes with less of a track record and worse skills? Suit yourself. He does have the added benefit of RP eligibility in leagues where that matters.
Yusei Kikuchi starts for the Angels in Pittsburgh. The Pirates offense has been poor since the deadline, so there’s that going for him. Otherwise, you know who Kikuchi is. You’ll get decent strikeouts, bad ratios, and a team that has a 40% chance of winning the game. If you’re punting ratios for counting stats, you can reasonably rely on Kikuchi for 5 Ks and a quarter of a win.
Zack Gelof is the lone hitter on the ESPN or Yahoo most-added lists. I guess he’s climbing based on back-to-back games with a home run, but I’m not sure there’s anything that’s actually different here. His next two games are in Seattle, but the following six games are at home. It’s not a bad time to get ahead of things and stream Gelof for the next week with his tri-eligibility.
Speculative Adds
Mickey Gasper (BOS) – C, 1B (Yahoo – 22%)
Gasper has been playing first base and hitting second for the past 5 games with the Red Sox. He’s somehow hitting .283/.379/.513 across 178 plate appearances this season, good for a 148 wRC+. The reason he’s down here and not in the must-adds is that it’s still such a small sample from out of nowhere. There are a few positive underlying metrics – increased bat speed, solid 16-degree launch angle, 10% barrel rate – but nothing that screams 50% better than league average. He’s so well-positioned to contribute run production and a solid average at the catcher spot down the stretch, though, that you might just run with him and hope the heater continues.
Category-Specific Adds
Victor Scott II (STL) – OF (Yahoo – 1%)
Scott got called up when rosters expanded on September 1st. I don’t think Scott is particularly good, but he does run, with 13 stolen base attempts in 45 times on base. Nathan Church isn’t a big barrier to playing time, so there’s a chance to spike 3-5 steals down the stretch – or get absolutely nothing at all.
Graphic by Carlos Leano
