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
Riley O’Brien (STL) – RP (Yahoo! – 21%)
Ryne Stanek gave those of us perusing the closer carousel a delightful shock on Opening Day, slamming the door for the Cards’ first save. But that seemed odd, given that Stanek has a 5.09 ERA over his last two seasons combined (111.1 IP). Enter Riley O’Brien, who was most people’s best guess as the Cards’ closer before the season began. Sure enough, he closed the door on the Mets on Tuesday and pitched the bottom of the ninth yesterday with the score tied 1-1. As Rick Graham mentioned yesterday, Jojo Romero, who had 8 saves last year, has pitched well out of the gate, but he might be stuck in a lefty specialist role. The situation is far from settled, but if you find yourself chasing saves, O’Brien seems like a reasonable gamble.
Michael Soroka (ARI) – SP (Yahoo! – 20%)
I’ll admit it. I have a thing for post-hype prospects. Sure, Soroka probably doesn’t qualify since he hasn’t been on a prospect list in I’m not sure how long. Still, it’s easy to forget that he made his big-league debut at 20. That’s remarkable in and of itself. Injuries, as is often the case for young arms, have since faded Soroka’s luster. The more I’ve followed along, the more I’ve come to believe that pitching is an old man’s game. No, I’ve never liked shag rugs. Funny you should ask. Anyway, who is to say that, at 28, Soroka hasn’t put the pieces together? He quietly posted a career-best 17.4% K-BB% last season. The Cubs valued him enough to trade for him. Fast forward a few months, and he whiffed 10 against the Tigers in his Snakes debut. He also threw immaculate inning! You have to be at least a little interested, no?
Gabriel Moreno (ARI) – C (Yahoo! – 18%)
As Aaron Wannemacher recently discussed, maximizing PAs is a simple and smart way to give yourself a leg up on the competition. In particular, the cleanup spot is something we should be on the lookout for. Enter Moreno, who has hit cleanup in five of Arizona’s six games thus far. That sort of volume at catcher can be difficult to find. A hand injury forced him to the IL, and made him somewhat easy to overlook last year. However, he was quite productive when he played, hitting .285 with a 117 WRC+. If I had to guess one catcher who is widely available and could end up in the top ten at the position, it’s Moreno.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Liam Hicks turned yesterday’s game against the White Sox into a bloodbath with a two-run tater off Shane Smith. Speaking of bloodbaths, Hicks has battered baseballs aplenty thus far, slashing .467/.526/1.133. This seems like a mirage, considering he hit just six home runs last year in 390 PAs. But, I get it if you want to add him for his C eligibility.
The latest boom-bust rookie on the wire, Jose Fernandez, had an all-time debut for the D-Backs, taking Casey Mize deep in the fourth inning before igniting a 7-5 come-from-behind win against the Tigers with a three-run bomb against Kenley Jansen. He went 0-for-3 yesterday, but two of his outs were hit hard. The 22-year-old righty slashed .272/.321/.454 last season with the Double-A Sod Poodles.
Joey Wiemer has always had power, but hasn’t managed to be much more than a fourth outfielder; he entered the season hitting .205 with a 74 wRC+ over 499 PAs with the Brewers and Marlins. But he set a record Tuesday by reaching base in his first 10 PAs of the season.
Ryan O’Hearn has started hot for the Pirates and has wrecked right-handers to the tune of a 109 wRC+. But, as we saw yesterday, he will lose at-bats against lefties, making him someone who is better suited for deeper, daily formats.
Tyler Alexander has grabbed two saves for the Rangers thus far, but as Rick Graham said Wednesday, the Rangers’ pen is a carousel likely led by Chris Martin and Robert Garcia. Managers desperate for saves could do worse, but right now, this feels like a headache.
Emerson Hancock was featured in Tuesday’s column after racking up nine punchouts, while allowing one baserunner in his season debut Sunday night against the Guardians. Nick also featured him in last Monday’s SP Roundup. Has he suddenly figured it all out? Maybe not. But he’s shown enough to roll the dice, especially with the Halos on tap this upcoming Saturday. The imminent reality of Colt Emerson and Emerson Hancock being teammates has rattled my brain. And now, I’m thinking of someone named Colt Hancock spilling lukewarm coffee all over his lap while wondering who really built the pyramids. I’ll stop.
Sal Stewart has been wonderfully productive with the Reds, slashing .327/.450/.592 through the first five games of the regular season. He also had a shining reputation as a prospect and should be rostered everywhere.
It would be fun to believe in Lance McCullers Jr. Jr. becoming a consistent force after his terrific season debut against Boston. However, volatile command has been his MO for ages. WHIP-conscious managers would be wise to ignore him. Remember when he plunked four batters in Game 7 of the 2017 Fall Classic?
Category Specific Players to Add
Nolan Gorman (STL) – 2B/3B (Yahoo! – 5%)
Gorman owns a career .218 batting average and 100 wRC+ over 1, 599 PAs. That’s, of course, far from exciting. However, he had a pretty decent reputation as a power-hitting prospect. At 25, this is more or less the make-or-break point, and the Cardinals seem committed to giving him an extended opportunity. If he can cut the strikeouts that have plagued him just a little bit, there’s a chance he could be a poor man’s version of Brandon Lowe, which is not too bad considering the lack of power options with second base eligibility.
Jake McCarthy (COL) – OF (Yahoo! – 2%)
Jake McCarthy has a career 95 wRC+, but that hasn’t stopped the Rockies from deploying him as their leadoff hitter. He didn’t start yesterday’s series finale in Toronto. Nonetheless, he pinch-ran and swiped his fourth base before scoring the game-tying run on a single from Troy Johnston. I’m unsure how many at-bats McCarthy will receive as a 28-year-old journeyman, and I don’t think the Rockies know either. But one thing looks certain: he is gonna steal whenever he gets on base.
Streaming Pitchers
Be sure to check Nick’s daily SP streamers article.
David Peterson (NYM) – SP (Yahoo! – 35%) at SF
Yes, I’m stealing David Peterson from Mitch’s column yesterday. But look at today’s schedule! We’ve got four games to pick from, and one has already been washed away (TOR @ CWS). Peterson wasn’t terribly exciting against the Pirates in his first turn, but he was pretty efficient, needing only 76 pitches to fetch 16 outs. The matchup is decent, too, considering we’ve seen the Giants stumble out of the gate, and it’s in San Francisco.
If Peterson is gone and you really don’t care about your ratios, you could consider Taj Bradley (Yahoo! – 7%); he struck out 9 against the Orioles in his first start. But again, we know he can easily blow up your ratios.
Will Warren (NYY) – SP (Yahoo! – 47%) vs. MIA
If you’re looking ahead to Friday, check your wire for Warren; there’s a chance he might have been dropped after a not-so-great start in San Francisco. I don’t put much, if any, stock in home/road splits. However, there are always exceptions. Enter Warren, who had a 3.50 ERA in the Bronx last year vs. a 5.52 ERA elsewhere. At home against the fish is about as good a spot as you could ask for.
Speculative Adds
Tyler O’Neill (BAL) – OF (Yahoo! – 2%)
Sometimes, it’s not a bad idea to take a chance on an oft-injured player with tons of talent. O’Neill was more or less a no-show in year one of his three-year deal with the Orioles. Still, he banged 31 homers and posted a 133 wRC+ in 2023 in Boston. He has started in four of six games for the Orioles, as they also look to try to work Dylan Beavers into the lineup. Few players possess O’Neill’s power upside, making him a decent guy to stash on the chance he recaptures his swing and forces his way back into the picture.
Deep League Players to Watch
TJ Rumfield (COL) – 1B (Yahoo! – 5%)
The lefty-hitting Rumfield slashed .285/.378/.447 with a 121 wRC+ with Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, but, alas, the Yankees had no room for him at first, so they sent him to Colorado for righty reliever Angel Chivilli. He has hit the ground running, hitting .414 through the first five games with the Rockies. They kick off their first homestand this Friday against the Phillies.
Cole Young (SEA) – 2B (Yahoo! – 10%)
Young, a 22-year-old lefty, didn’t do much last season, slashing .211/.302/.305. However, he has started well, with a six-game hitting streak. Last season, he hit a jaw-dropping 456-foot dinger off Kumar Rocker, which makes me think he might have a little more raw power than the back of his baseball card suggests. He also had a feisty ten-pitch at-bat against David Bednar yesterday before making the last out of a 5-3 loss to the Yankees.
