Welcome to the Waiver Wire Picks, our daily fantasy baseball article that looks at the best 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
Carlos Cortes (ATH), OF — 22% Rostership
Cortes has popped off and hasn’t looked back since. You’d think such a scorching hot start would faze out at some point, but the 29-year-old has only gotten better as he sees more pitches at the major league level. The slugger has slashed .356/.417/.575 with a .396 xwOBA and 174 wRC+. If you took a blind comparison test, I’m confident you’d pick his production over a handful of your favorite established position players.
What makes Cortes so intriguing is his ability to post top-notch EVs while limiting swing-and-miss. It isn’t every day you can trot out a sub-10% K rate bat that pairs that ability with 44% HH and 12% barrel rates. His SwStr% (7.7%) is also the best mark of his career including his time in the minor leagues. This is a generational breakout from the Athletics outfielder and I cannot overstate how imperative it is you roster Cortes and let him cook in your lineup moving forward.
Carson Benge (NYM), OF — 12% Rostership
Benge, 23, is slashing just .211/.283/.339 with a .308 xwOBA and 80 wRC+, however he’s started to string together some consistent quality at-bats over the past two weeks. Over his last 14 games, the righty is hitting .326 with with a .941 OPS and 167 wRC+. The K% is living below 20% and he’s absolutely torching the baseball (91.4 mph EV, 50% hard-hit rate).
Max Meyer (MIA), RHP — 51% Rostership
Meyer has been unreal to start the year, posting a 2.79 ERA/2.89 FIP with a career-best 1.10 WHIP and 17% K-BB rate. His success is fueled by a dynamic pair of secondaries — his slider (perhaps a top five offspeed offering in baseball when he’s healthy) has missed bats at a 44% clip and boasts a .225 xBA while leading his arsenal in usage. The sweeper is nearly as effective, posting a .284 xwOBA and 37% whiff rate on 27% usage. His four-seamer, which was rocked in years prior, has been elevated thanks to the threat of these two secondaries.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Ryan Waldschmidt is a prospect I needed to grab late in all of my drafts. He’s a high ceiling bat that boasts a knack for taking ball four and popped 18 HR in his first year of pro ball last year. The rookie went 1-for-1 with a 95.9 EV single in his MLB Debut.
Ezequiel Duran is a guy I’ve talked about before — he’s slashing .301/.379/.482 with a 141 wRC+, nearly triple compared the year prior. His K% has significantly improved and his bat speed is up, fueling a gigantic increase in EVs, HH%, and FastSw%.
Payton Tolle is the definition of a must-add pitching prospect. He’s turned in a 2.04 ERA/2.45 FIP and 25% K-BB rate through three starts. His trio of fastballs have been absolutely electric, plus his improved curveball has been racking up whiffs with ease.
Clay Holmes is another arm that should be rostered a lot more than he currently is. While strikeouts aren’t quite flooding in, he’s registered a sub-2 ERA and sub-1 WHIP fueled by a deep arsenal and a 90% LOB rate.
Braxton Ashcraft has been a really fun pitcher to watch this year. He’s got a 3.02 ERA/2.99 FIP and every underlying metric points to this being a very sustainable streak. A high ceiling arm that can generate plenty of strikeouts and feature one of, if not the best four-seamer/curveball combos in baseball? I’m all in.
Streaming Pitchers
Our guy Nick Pollack does a wonderful job at highlighting and ranking streaming pitcher options… check out his list here!
Bubba Chandler (PIT), RHP — 71% Rostership
Chandler hasn’t had a dazzling start to the year, posting a 4.76 ERA/5.12 FIP in 34 innings, but he’s got a premium matchup against the Giants. The BB% scares me a bit, but San Francisco is the worst team in baseball at drawing ball four (just 5.3%). His changeup, running a .263 xwOBA and 29% whiff rate, has been such a dynamic pitch.
Logan Henderson (MIL), RHP — 28% Rostership
I’m not very confident in Henderson facing off against a top notch offense like the Yankees, but he’s been such a consistent performer all year long. His 4.50 ERA is pretty mediocre, but he does own a 0.76 FIP and elite 33% K-BB rate to start the year. Starting him or not, Henderson is a must-add.
