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
Austin Hays (CIN), OF (14% Yahoo, 8% ESPN)
Austin Hays continued his hot streak in a big way on Sunday, going 4-for-6 with a double, four runs, and an RBI in a 24-2 rout over the Orioles, his former team. Through only six games this season, he is slashing .429/.467/.786 with three home runs. He seemed like a solid deep league add when he was activated off the injured list on April 15, getting the benefit of regular playing time in Great American Ball Park. However, he’s looking more and more like a must-add in leagues of all sizes now.
He had a disappointing, injury-riddled year in 2024, but he was actually a pretty solid player in 2023. He batted .275 with 76 runs, 16 home runs, and 67 RBI in 144 games as a right-handed hitter at Camden Yards. That’s no small feat, and even just getting back to being that type of player in his new hitter-friendly venue would make him fantasy relevant in standard-sized leagues. At this point, you should be looking to pick up Hays in all five-outfielder leagues, but he could make it onto three-outfielder radars if he keeps this up.
Jonathan Aranda (TB), 1B/2B (56% Yahoo, 22% ESPN)
Jonathan Aranda is going to continue to appear in these waiver wire articles until he finally makes the final push over that 60% rostered threshold. He was a promising prospect who was buried on the depth chart for years, and he’s finally breaking out now that he has a full-time job with the big league club. With a .355/.438/.677 slash line and four home runs in 20 games, he should be rostered in all but the most shallow leagues at this point. His underlying metrics, such as his 59.2% hard-hit rate and .743 xSLG, all rank among the best in the league, and he has the upside to be a true fantasy standout.
Landen Roupp (SF), SP (26% Yahoo, 8% ESPN)
Landen Roupp looked impressive again in his start on Saturday, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in seven innings against the Angels. He has now struck out eight batters or more in three of his four starts this year, and his 31.2% strikeout rate ranks in the 86th percentile. His curveball has a ridiculous 56.8% whiff rate so far on the year, and his 37.3% overall whiff rate is in the top five percent of the league. That type of strikeout upside is too good to let sit on the waiver wire, and he’s vastly under-owned at just 26%.
Francisco Alvarez (NYM), C (32% Yahoo, 18% ESPN)
Francisco Alvarez is currently on a minor league rehab assignment, and it looks like he’ll be activated at some point this week. He was being drafted as a top-12 catcher before going down with a fractured hand in early March, and he has a solid chance to be a top-12 catcher moving forward. He did have a down year in 2024, hitting just 11 home runs in 100 games, but the 25 home runs he hit in 2023 are a reminder of how much power he has. He’s still only 23 years old and presents upside worth taking a chance on at a position that usually isn’t all too exciting for fantasy purposes.
Sal Frelick (MIL), OF (28% Yahoo, 28% ESPN)
Sal Frelick continued his great start to the season on Sunday, going 3-for-4 with a run, a walk, and two stolen bases. He’s now up to seven steals on the year with a .342 batting average and .432 OBP. He still hasn’t been hitting the ball hard, as evidenced by his 1.6% barrel rate and 32.3% hard-hit rate, but he has excelled at making contact. His 12.0% strikeout rate ranks in the 92nd percentile, and putting the ball in play will work out more often for a player with Frelick’s speed. He should be rostered in all five-outfielder leagues at this point, but could be worth an add in shallower leagues too if you need steals.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
The five most added players on Yahoo were all streaming options on Sunday, and they all had varying levels of success. Logan Allen had a solid outing, allowing one run and striking out five over 5.2 innings against the Pirates. He has been decently effective over his last couple of starts, but isn’t worth holding onto for his next matchup against the Red Sox.
Jake Irvin struck out nine over 6.1 innings in Colorado. While this was a great start, Irvin doesn’t have the stuff to trust long-term. I mostly chalk this up to the Rockies being bad. Grant Holmes earned the win, allowing one run while striking out seven over 5.2 innings against the Twins. I don’t love him for his next start, currently lined up to be against the Diamondbacks, but he has enough upside to keep on your roster in deeper leagues.
Tyler Mahle is my favorite pitcher on this list and is also the most rostered of the group. He continued his early-season dominance by shutting out the Dodgers over seven innings. Whether it’s sustainable or not, he’s nearing must-add territory until he cools off. Logan Henderson made his major league debut, striking out nine in six shutout innings against the Athletics. It’s not a big enough sample size to call him an up-and-coming ace, but it was a very good performance nonetheless and is worth an add as an upside play just in case he keeps this up.
The most added players on ESPN over the past seven days are some of the hottest hitters in baseball. This is the same five players as yesterday, just in a slightly different order. We already discussed Mahle in the previous section, and it’s warranted that he is number one on this list. Pete Crow-Armstrong has been on a tear as of late, although his seven-game hitting streak did come to an end on Sunday. Still, he has elite speed and should be rostered in all categories leagues for that reason alone, so his spot on this list is warranted.
Dylan Moore, Carson Kelly, and Geraldo Perdomo are all hot-hand plays that I don’t expect long-term production from. Kelly has miraculously hit six home runs in 11 games this season. He’s worth an add in all two-catcher leagues just based on how bad the position gets outside of the top 20. Moore hit another home run on Sunday and is now up to five on the year to go along with five steals. Being eligible at every position also helps, and he’s definitely worth adding right now while he’s hot. I do expect him to fall back down to earth at some point, though. Perdomo has had a good start to the year but isn’t doing anything spectacular, either. Most of his fantasy production has come from his counting stats, already having 18 RBI and 12 runs on the year. I’m not rushing to the waiver wire to add him.
Category Specific Players to Add
Chandler Simpson (TB), OF (28% Yahoo, 13% ESPN)
Chandler Simpson is possibly the best example of a category-specific player. Calling his speed elite would be an understatement, as he is one of the fastest players to ever step foot on the baseball diamond. In 110 games in the minors in 2024, he stole 104 bases. Every ground ball he hits is a danger to be an infield single, and he hit for a great .355 average in 2024. Before being promoted to the major league roster this past weekend, he was slashing .301/.325/.329 with eight steals through 17 games in Triple-A. There’s no power to speak of in his profile, but he doesn’t need it to be fantasy relevant when he could potentially lead the league in steals from here on out.
Kyle Manzardo (CLE), 1B (24% Yahoo, 10% ESPN)
Kyle Manzardo homered again on Sunday, bringing his season total to six. While he has slowed down after his hot start and his average has dropped to .212, there’s no arguing that he possesses serious power. His 20.0% barrel rate ranks in the 90th percentile, and that will make him fantasy relevant no matter how many times he strikes out. There’s no better cheap home run source on the waiver wire than Manzardo right now.
Jacob Wilson (ATH), SS (40% Yahoo, 38% ESPN)
Jacob Wilson has remained one of the safest bets for batting average, going 2-for-3 on Sunday for his third multi-hit game in his last four. He’s batting .354 on the season and takes his skillset to the extreme. Sporting a 1st-percentile bat speed and having yet to walk a single time this season, he’s posted a minuscule 3.8% strikeout rate and .351 xBA that both rank in the 99th percentile. Don’t expect him to turn into a fantasy superstar, but if you need a batting average boost, he is the best option available.
Streaming Pitchers
Be sure to check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings to figure out who you need to start, stream, or sit each day this season. There’s one name that I particularly like for today.
Max Meyer (MIA), SP (48% Yahoo, 26% ESPN)
Max Meyer has been consistently great to open 2025, having yet to allow more than three runs in a start. His past three straight outings have all been quality starts, with his only non-quality start coming on March 30th when he pitched 5.2 innings. What’s even more encouraging to see is his strikeouts. His strikeout rate has catapulted up from 18.5% in 2024 to 27.6% this season. He gets two great matchups this week, one at home against the Reds and one on the road in Seattle. He is worth streaming for both of those starts and could potentially be held onto for much longer after that.
