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. 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
Justin Verlander (SFG), SP (31% rostered on Yahoo, 14% rostered on ESPN)
Justin Verlander put up a seemingly pedestrian stat line in his most recent start, allowing 5 earned runs and a WHIP of 1.4. If you look under the hood, however, you will see that Verlander showed flashes of the old JV.
Verlander’s nine strikeouts were particularly impressive in less than 6 innings, as many didn’t expect him to be a strikeout play. The consensus around him this season seemed to be “streamer option to help with ratios”, but we’re seeing something more here. He had 20 whiffs in that game, a seriously impressive mark. Last season, Verlander had a swinging strike rate just north of 10%. Now, he’s upped that by 7%. This big of a jump isn’t necessarily sustainable (as it has been a small sample size), but it is something to keep an eye on. Leading the charge for Verlander is a fastball that has regained some of its velocity. It is currently sitting around 95 mph, a jump up from the last couple of years, when it was around 93 mph.
Verlander gets the Phillies next, which is a bit of a risky play. If you pick him up now, though, and Verlander does come through in that start, he will become increasingly elusive on the wire. He also offers a surprisingly high win chance, as the Giants, thus far, have looked like a wagon.
Tyler Mahle (TEX), SP, (13% rostered on Yahoo, 6% rostered on ESPN)
Who would’ve thought that Tyler Mahle would have one of the hottest starts to the season of any starting pitcher? After a messy first game against the Red Sox where he couldn’t locate the zone, he carved through a questionable Rays lineup before shutting down a very solid Cubs team. This won’t be sustained, but it will be enough to give the Rangers confidence in him as a full-time member of their rotation following two essentially lost seasons due to Tommy John surgery.
Per Pitch Level Value (PLV), Pitcherlist’s pitch grading metric, his entire arsenal has been great. Even with poor fastball velocity, he has still been able to get swings and misses from the heater due to its solid vertical movement and upstairs location. Combine that with a grouping of well-located pitches in his arsenal, and you’re looking at a pitcher you might not want to miss out on. The Rangers also provide a solid win chance, which you always want to see out of your starters.
Mike Yastrzemski (SFG), OF, (6% rostered on Yahoo, 6% rostered on ESPN)
Our daily “wow this dude is HOT” player is Mike Yastrzemski. He’s off to a torrid start, with a .344 batting average, 5 runs, 6 RBIs, and a couple of stolen bases. He has a 193 wRC+ and has played a huge role in the Giants’ early-season surge. While this appears to be the result of a small sample size, we’ve seen lots of indicators from Yaz that show he could still maintain high production. His expected stats still show a player in the 80th to 90th percentile range. The sample size remains small, but perhaps he’s done enough to improve his game to become a mainstay on fantasy rosters. His launch angle management, in particular, has improved, as he’s hitting the ball with the sweet spot of the bat a lot more this year.
Of course, his value is diminished slightly due to his role as a platoon bat. He rarely plays against lefties, and when he does, he does look a bit lost. The Giants have been one of the most platoon-heavy teams in general in the last few years, which is something that should be taken into account whenever considering rostering any Giants player. Still, Yaz has been awesome so far, so act quickly if you want to get in on his hot streak.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
The hot bat of Zach McKinstry sticks around on the top 5, this time taking the top pick. A major reason for this? Look at all those available positions below his name. Managers struggling to fill spots across their roster are going to be immediately intrigued by McKinstry, who provides flexibility along with solid bat-to-ball skills. McKinstry is looking a lot like the next hot slap-hitter, as his bat speed is incredibly low, but his plate discipline and launch angle management have been amazing. It’s pretty common for managers to fear players like McKinstry, as slap hitters can be prone to getting cold when their BABIP luck runs out. This is certainly something to be afraid of with McKinstry, but an extremely versatile player this hot is bound to be picked up in many leagues.
Climbing up the list of adds is former All-Star Geraldo Perdomo. He’s typically been viewed as the Jordan Lawlar placeholder, a defense-first shortstop who can come through with the bat. He’s come through thus far this year, especially for a Diamondbacks team that has been missing the elite Ketel Marte due to injuries. Perdomo now hits second in the Diamondbacks lineup behind the also hot and also elite Corbin Carroll.
Griffin Canning has gone from being tossed aside in the offseason to becoming a key part of the Mets’ rotation. With their pitching staff decimated by injuries, he’s filled in heroically, putting together solid ratios for the team against solid opponents. It’s been fun, but honestly, it’s tough to buy. He looked really solid at first against the Athletics but ultimately crumbled in the bottom of the sixth, following an extremely long top half of the inning where Mets hitters grinded out long at-bats for what felt like forever. That start is probably more in line with what you’ll get from Canning most of the time. It’s also worth noting that Sacramento seems to be a horrible park for pitchers, so be careful streaming them against the A’s.
David Festa is back up with the big-league team, slotted in for their game against the Detroit Tigers. Festa was an exciting arm last year, coming up in June, getting sent down, and then coming back up in late July and never looking back. He wasn’t perfect (nobody is), but he struck batters out at a high rate, creating value for him despite pedestrian ratios, which were the result of a fairly high walk rate. He began this year in the minors and, unfortunately, showcased some of the Twins’ concerns. Last night, he looked pretty solid against the Tigers. He was limited to four innings, in which he only allowed a single run and notched four strikeouts.
Sean Newcomb is the classic opponent-based stream. He hasn’t shown us too much to get excited about, even with a hard-fought one-earned-run outing against the Cardinals. There was little interest in him until he faced the White Sox, which is why he was such a popular add yesterday. Newcomb had a very strange game, as he allowed 6 runs, but a fielding error by Triston Casas limited his earned runs to two. Ultimately, what those streaming him got was only two earned runs and six strikeouts in four innings. Not great, but certainly not the worst you could do.
ESPN’s top added players are the same as yesterday, just in a different order, so we’ll keep it short.
People are finally catching on to Kris Bubic. Maybe we’ve talked about him too much now. Every year, there are a few popular baseball nerd pick breakout candidates who end up even better than we could’ve imagined. That might be Bubic this year, as he helps form one of the most stacked rotations in the AL. Kyren Paris is essentially the hitter version of Bubic, a guy who keeps dominating and forcing us to talk about him. They’re both awesome, but will both be near impossible to acquire on the wire soon.
Jesús Luzardo was already a popular player on ESPN’s wire in recent days, but his start against Atlanta solidified his rise in popularity. He put together an incredibly strong outing, allowing only 1 run and notching 6 strikeouts across 6 innings. He scared us quite a bit in the spring when he was allowing a parade of home runs. Right now, he’s locked in, filling this role as the Phillies’ 4th starter. Yeah, that rotation is nuts. You’re going to get Ks and wins from Luzardo, even with the volatility. If he is SOMEHOW still available, get him immediately.
Tyler Soderstrom has broken out, looking like perhaps the first major breakout player in Sacramento. We’ve spoken about him at length in these articles before, so I’ll just say enjoy the show, especially when he’s playing at home, where everything seems to be leaving the ballpark.
How about Chris Bassitt? He isn’t the flashiest pick at all, but he just gets the job done. It’s easy to forget how consistent he’s been across his career, providing volume, wins, and solid ratios to teams.
Category-Specific Players to Add
Josh Smith (TEX), 3B, SS, OF (12% rostered on Yahoo, 4% rostered on ESPN)
The Josh Smith hype from the beginning of last year looked like a flash in the pan, but he still could be a productive deep-league waiver add for people searching for answers in a few categories. His batting average has sat above .300 this year, largely a product of his great launch angle. His expected hitting numbers project a much lower value, but if you buy in now, you could ride the wave of a solid average. The other area in which Smith provides value is with stolen bases. He has three already this year, and it seems likely to continue, as he’s a smart baserunner with a well-above-average sprint speed. Pick him up if you need help winning in your stolen bases or batting average categories.
Harrison Bader (MIN), OF (5% rostered on Yahoo, 5% rostered on ESPN)
Did anybody expect to see Barrellin’ Bader this year? Harrison Bader has never been a big home run guy, as he has lacked the power to hit them out of the park frequently. The 2025 Bader is looking like a new man, though, as his barrel rate has skyrocketed up, allowing him to already tally 3 home runs (which could’ve been 4 if it wasn’t for a bizarre play that ended in a single in Kansas City). He’s pulling the ball at a crazy rate to start the year, which could continue to lead to more home runs.
Streaming Pitchers
WAIT! You haven’t read Nick Pollack’s starting pitcher streamer rankings for today? Get on that pronto. He ranks every expected starter for each day, highlighting who you should start, sit, and claim off waivers. The whole series of these can be found here: https://pitcherlist.com/category/fantasy/sp-streamers/
In terms of whom I would recommend you pick up? One name comes to mind.
Kumar Rocker (TEX), SP (6% rostered on Yahoo, 4% rostered on ESPN)
Kumar Rocker in Seattle? It looks like the move. If you’re able to pick him up for tonight’s matchup, you go for it. Seattle is the anti-Coors, as the combination of cold weather, marine layer air, ballpark dimensions, and an awkward batter’s eye create a nightmare scenario for hitters at the ballpark. Rocker has been very hit-or-miss, but he always has the potential to put up an outstanding stat line. It’s a gamble, but it may be worth it.
Speculative Adds
Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), SP (2% rostered on Yahoo, 0.5% rostered on ESPN)
The Brewers’ rotation situation is looking like a complete and utter mess right now. Nestor Cortes is hurt, Tobias Myers and Brandon Woodruff are still working towards coming back, and the numbers reflect a team in shambles. How much Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, and Tyler Alexander are the Brew Crew fans going to want to watch?
Misiorowski has so far looked electric in AAA. His walk problem is still a problem, but nobody can touch him. His fastball is a true 70-grade offering, with elite extension and a very flat attack angle. He is extremely erratic, which could also lead to him being cast in a relief role. Still, this is a situation to look out for, and with such low rostership, he shouldn’t cost anything to acquire before he gets the eventual call-up.
