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 you can leave on the wire.
Top Priority Players to Add
Connor Prielipp (MIN) – SP (Yahoo! – 10%)
We’ve seen Prielipp start twice since I wrote about him ahead of his debut last Wednesday. He looked fantastic in both starts, pitching a no-hitter until the fifth inning in his most recent, yet he’s still flying way under the radar. His arsenal seems to be translating perfectly to the majors. The ridiculous spin on his slider and curveball have been extremely effective, even in the cold, rainy conditions of his first MLB win against the Mariners on Monday. He has all the ingredients he needs to really fly, and we’re starting to see it all come together.
Prielipp can throw a 95-mph fastball. For a lefty, that’s already an excellent place to start. Only twelve southpaw starters this year throw their heaters above that threshold:
Obviously, it takes more than a fast four-seamer to find success. But Prielipp has plenty more to offer. He has five pitches to work with, two of which are even more impressive than his fastball. His slider is the pitch that he’s hung his hat on for virtually his entire pro career; most scouting reports have given it a 70-grade. But it’s been his new curveball that’s really pushed Prielipp forward. It generated whiffs 50% of the time at Triple-A, and though he’s thrown it only 11 times in the bigs, it’s drawn whiffs an absurd 66.7% of the time.
Prielipp isn’t a finished product. His path through the minors has been slowed by injury, and he’s still figuring out exactly what works for him. But if this is the rawest version of Prielipp, I can’t wait to see what he looks like once he settles in. I’m looking to add Prielipp everywhere, except for maybe Quality Starts leagues.
Carlos Cortes (ATH) – SP (Yahoo! – 22%)
The first thing I think of looking at Cortes is 2023 Brent Rooker. Both players looked to be firmly on the journeyman path going into their age-28 seasons. But something clicked. Rooker posted a career-high .817 OPS with 30 home runs. And now Cortes is posting a 1.151 OPS and is on pace for 30 homers. Some players take some time to find their swing.
Cortes has been simply incredible. He’s hitting the ball as hard as Junior Caminero, and he’s striking out less than anyone, with one exception in Luis Arraez. The only mark I can make against Cortes is that he’s sitting against lefties. It’s a very strict platoon; he’s been allowed only three plate appearances against left-handed pitching. He didn’t get many chances against southpaws last season either, so I wouldn’t hold my breath on him playing every day. He’s hitting so ridiculously well that he’s worth the extra management load in all leagues.
Yahoo! and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
Travis Bazzana made his debut against Tampa last night. He went hitless with one strikeout, but drew two walks. 2024’s number-one overall draft pick is expected to be better for the Guardians than he is for your fantasy team, but there’s still a lot to like. He should manage plenty of stolen bases thanks to his elite speed and above-average on-base percentage. He has enough power to hit home runs, though he’ll likely need to pull the ball more before he starts putting up more than 10 or 15 a season. I think he’s going to be better than advertised, but I don’t think he’s an absolute slam dunk add by any means, especially in 10-team leagues.
Nick Martinez has been a machine this season. He lowered his ERA to 1.70 after last night’s destruction of the Guardians. He’s up to four Quality Starts now, and he’s worth a look if that’s one of your scoring categories. He’ll have a two-start week next week against the Blue Jays and Red Sox, and I could see him doing well there. He’s not earning enough strikeouts to make him someone I’m interested in, but you could certainly do worse.
Davis Martin is off to a roaring start, and he kept it rolling against the Halos last night, with seven strikeouts, one walk, and one earned run in 5.2 innings. He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, he doesn’t miss a ton of bats, and he gives up a lot of hard contact. He does, however, hold a 1.95 ERA. He’s not this good, but I think he’s still underrated and underrostered at the moment, especially in Quality Start leagues. Keep him around while he’s producing, but don’t be afraid to let him go when things fall apart. I prefer Martin over Nick Martinez; both will eat innings and earn QSes, but Martin will tally a few more strikeouts along the way.
Elmer Rodríguez is having a fantastic season at Triple-A, posting a 1.27 ERA. My concern about him is whether he’ll have a starting role once Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón return in the coming weeks. Competition for the fifth spot in the Yankees’ rotation is already fierce, with Will Warren and Ryan Weathers holding 2.59 and 3.21 ERAs, respectively. I’d look to add Rodriguez if you need roster-glue for the next two or three weeks. He profiles as a solid middle of the rotation arm – featuring a deep pitch mix, mid-90s velocity, and a strong ability to generate groundballs.
Payton Tolle made his second start of the year last night. It turns out he is indeed mortal. He allowed three earned runs over 4.2 innings, tallying four strikeouts. I’m not overly concerned with the results of one game after seeing how high his ceiling is. I am much more concerned with the 2 mph drop in velocity on his fastball. If he’s healthy, I’d write this one off completely and add him everywhere he’s available.
ESPN
Take a look at the Yahoo! section above for analysis on Travis Bazzana, Davis Martin, Payon Tolle, and Elmer Rodríguez.
Ildemaro Vargas is on one of the more improbable hot streaks I’ve seen. The 34-year-old has six home runs in 20 games, tying his career-high for homers in a season in 2019. It took him 92 games that time. His 1.104 OPS this year dwarfs his career-best .712 OPS, also all the way back in 2019. The weirdest thing is that he isn’t hitting the ball that much harder than he has in recent years, where he’s posted an OPS in the .600s. The biggest change has come in his launch angle. I’m not sure if he made changes to his swing to achieve this, but he went from an 11.8 Pull-Air % last year to 30.8% this year. I don’t think that this is truly sustainable. He’s getting some good luck with a .369 BABIP, so I do expect some regression. But, he could certainly remain productive if he keeps lifting the ball this well. I’m fascinated to see where this goes, but my official recommendation is not to trust this too much.
Streaming Pitchers
Check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings for a complete breakdown of every start over the next few days.
Tomorrow (Thursday): We have a short slate of games, and I like the look of Noah Cameron against the Athletics. He managed a Quality Start in his previous outing, and as a lefty, he’ll dodge Priority Pick Carlos Cortes.
Deep League Players to Watch
Hunter Dobbins (STL) – SP (Yahoo! – 1%)
Dobbins is a speculative add for very deep leagues where starters are at a premium. The Cardinals’ rotation is particularly weak, so Dobbins has a good shot to gain a permanent foothold if he pitches even passably well. He has a 95-mph fastball and a six-pitch mix that could lead to some success in the bigs. There’s nothing I’m in love with here, but he’s worth a look for 20-team and NL-only leagues.
