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
A.J. Ewing got a write-up in yesterday’s Waiver Wire Picks from Jeremy Heist. Ewing made his debut last night and looked incredible, reaching base four times with a triple for his first MLB hit. He’s still out there in nearly 80% of leagues, and he’s likely the most important add of the day.
Anthony Volpe (NYY) – SS (Yahoo! – 6%)
I’ll keep the Volpe section as short as possible; we all know more than enough ink has been spilled about him. Volpe played with a seriously injured shoulder all of last season. He’s played carrying the weight of massive expectations his entire career. But this season, he’s healthy, and no one is expecting anything. Volpe has never been a good major-league player, but at 25, he still has room to grow. The ship has likely sailed on Volpe as a superstar, but he could still develop into an able power-hitting shortstop.
There hasn’t been much to love about Volpe’s rehab performance this year with his .570 OPS. José Caballero will likely take the starting shortstop job back once he’s healthy. But Volpe still has all of the tools that made him an elite prospect. There’s more than enough risk here, but it’s a risk worth taking in deeper leagues.
Zack Gelof (ATH) – 2B, 3B, OF (Yahoo! – 12%)
Gelof has played himself into an everyday role, drawing starts in right field, center field, second base, and third base. He’s up to a .764 OPS with 3 HRs and 2 SBs in 25 games. He’s hitting the ball hard with a 91-mph average exit velocity, and he’s lifting and pulling it at an excellent 28.3% clip. He’s a worthwhile player in 12-team leagues as it stands, and I think he’s closing in on relevance for 10-team leagues.
Yahoo! and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
The debuts of A.J. Ewing and Henry Bolte are the real stories here. Ewing, in particular, has the potential to be one of the biggest prospect call-ups of the year. Elite speed and a fantastic hit tool are enough to make Ewing a very good fantasy player, and he’s on pace to tack on enough homers to push into the fantastic range. He’s not a sure thing by any means, but the 21-year-old has been shooting up prospect rankings all year. Now we’ll see what he can do at the big league level.
Bolte is the bigger question mark. He’s coming off a historically good hitting streak at Triple-A, but there’s risk in his profile. He’s hitting groundballs nearly 60% of the time, and while he’s up to 12 home runs at Triple-A, he may have trouble translating that success against major-league pitchers. He’s worthy of a speculative add in most leagues, but I’m less convinced by Bolte than Ewing.
Streamers in Stephen Kolek, Jeffrey Springs, and Jack Flaherty round out the most-added players of the day. Kolek has the most upside of the three, but his start last night wasn’t the most encouraging. Springs hadn’t played at the time of writing, but I’m not a believer of him or his 91 mph fastball. Flaherty took a beating from the Mets, and doesn’t that say it all?
ESPN
Check out the Yahoo! section above for info on Jeffrey Springs, A.J. Ewing, and Stephen Kolek.
Shane McClanahan hasn’t given up a run since April 19th. He has a 2.60 ERA on the season and should be rostered in all leagues.
Will Warren had a rough start on May 6th, but has been excellent otherwise. Gerrit Cole will join the Yankees’ rotation sometime in the next few weeks, but I don’t think Warren’s job is in any danger.
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, but I’ve got to give the nod to Connor Prielipp (11% on Yahoo!) against the Marlins. Prielipp’s been a regular in these posts and is still criminally underrostered. He holds a 3.32 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 19 innings. He should make short work of the swing-happy Marlins.
