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
Jonah Tong (NYM) – SP (Yahoo – 7%)
Tong was called up and pitched the final three innings of the Mets’ 2-1 loss to the Marlins last night. Things have not been going well for Tong in Triple-A, with John Villavicencio noting a decrease in whiffs and groundballs and an increase in home runs. Yikes. Tong didn’t generate grounders last night, but the whiffs were there as he registered a 17.9% swinging strike rate. Tong’s velo was up a touch in the shorter outing, and the various pitching models were mostly cautiously optimistic. His four-seamer, which he threw on 61% of his pitches last night, graded a smidge above average by Stuff+ and PLV, while PitchingBot gave it an excellent rating. None of the various models liked his changeup much, but they all liked at least one of his breaking balls in very limited samples. If Tong shifts some of his 86% usage of the four-seamer and changeup towards a breaking ball, he could have more success, although he did face 6 lefties of his 9 batters in last night’s game. I’d be interested here, especially if he ends up moving into Sean Manaea’sfollower role behind Myers. Things can’t keep going this badly for the Mets forever, can they?
Troy Melton (DET) – SP/RP (Yahoo – 12%)
Melton is coming off the IL this weekend and is expected to start Sunday’s game in Baltimore. Nick was a big fan before the season started, with the main issue being a lack of opportunity (and then injury). Melton has dominated in his rehab starts, striking out 35.6% of batters and walking only 4.4%. He’s always had excellent K-BB numbers in the minors, and the command was there in his debut MLB season as well. If he’s closer to a strikeout per inning type of arm rather than the 7 K/9 he put up in 2025, there’s a ton of upside here. Like the beginning of the season, the question is going to be whether Melton gets an opportunity to start regularly. With the Tigers sitting at 4-16 in May, and Jack Flaherty in particular really struggling, you’d have to imagine Melton will have a good runway. If he’s anywhere close to as good as his minor league and rehab numbers would suggest, the Tigers won’t be able to take him out of the rotation.
Spencer Steer (CIN) – 1B/OF (Yahoo – 40%)
Steer has been on a tear in May, hitting .320/.370/.440. While the slugging isn’t what you’d normally want out of a first baseman, Steer has chipped in 7 home runs and 3 steals on the season. He’s demolishing lefties, posting a wRC+ of 177, but still holding his own against righties (99 wRC+). Most surprising is that he’s struggled significantly at home thus far, hitting .220/.301/.390 at home and .322/.378/.500 on the road. It’s hard to imagine him struggling to this degree for a full season in Cincinnati. Underneath the hood, his exit velos are up and he’s barreling the ball at a career-high 14.6% rate. He’s in the 89th-93rd percentile in his Statcast expected stats, and makes excellent swing decisions (115 PLV Decision Value). A .275-25-8 season like Tyler Soderstrom had last year is the reasonable ceiling here. That was good for 18th among outfielders in 2025.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
All streaming starters headlining the adds for Yahoo leagues. Grant Holmes gets the Nationals at home which would have been a matchup to target in years past. This year, the Nationals are 5th in MLB with a 108 wRC+. The Nats have only gotten hotter as the season has progressed, leading MLB with a 116 wRC+ in May. JT Ginn is on the road facing the Padres who have a bottom-5 offense in MLB by wRC+. They’re better vs righties (20th in MLB), but still not good. Ginn has been excellent this year, especially in his past three starts. If you’re ever going to start him, it would be this one. Zac Gallen is at home vs the Rockies. Things have been rough for Gallen this year, with career-low Stuff+ grades generating career-low swinging strike and strikeout rates. Lucas Giolito is making his second start of the season. He was not fantastic in the first, relying on his defense to do most of the work. His fastball averaged just above 90 MPH and he had just a 6.3% swinging strike rate. I’d be watching for 3 MPH more velo before I even considered picking him up. Walbert Ureña has gotten great results this year in spite of an elevated walk rate. He’s throwing strikes a Cease-ian 42.2% of the time, tied for third fewest in MLB. Nick has Ureña as a questionable start in his streamer rankings; I might be even a bit more pessimistic than that.
A few longer-term adds on ESPN. Jake Bauers is the lone non-pitcher in the top adds, and he’s also the top position player being added on Yahoo. He’s hitting .289/.357/.493 while predominantly playing first base for the Brewers. The return of Andrew Vaughn hasn’t affected Bauers’ playing time at all. When Vaughn plays vs. lefties, Bauers shifts to left with Jackson Chourio moving to center and Garrett Mitchell to the bench. The Brewers are expected to face 10 straight righties, so Bauers seems like a very safe bet for everyday playing time in the near future. He was also a recommendation for an add in yesterday’s Waiver Wire column.
Kyle Harrison is being added as ESPN managers try to get ahead of a decent matchup vs St. Louis, followed by a probable two-start week the following week. Realistically, this is still some ESPN managers catching up to how excellent Harrison has been. Nick has him 30th on this week’s edition of The List, and he’s been dominant all season. Harrison’s put up a 24.6% K-BB and all of his ERA estimators are under 3. He shouldn’t be on waivers in any league. Max Meyer is starting today vs. Freddy Peralta and the Mets. I’m fully on board with Meyer for this one, and he’s one to hold for the long run as well.
Deep League Players to Watch
Kevin Alcantara (CHC) – OF (Yahoo – 1%)
Alcantara was recalled by the Cubs today, although he’s not in the lineup. He’s had some loud pluses and minuses in Triple-A this year, posting 15 homers and 60 strikeouts in his first 180 plate appearances. The power is a significant improvement on his past Triple-A campaigns, but the strikeouts are worse than ever. The corresponding moves were a combination of Matt Shaw hitting the IL and Nicky Lopez being designated for assignment while Alcantara and Pedro Ramirez were promoted. Ramirez has experience at three infield positions, so he’s going to fill the utility infield role vacated by Shaw. Alcantara doesn’t play on the dirt, so he looks like a fifth outfielder at this point, considering Michael Conforto gets most of the Cubs DH at-bats. I don’t see where Alcantara is going to get into the lineup, but it’s worth watching to see if he gets an opportunity.
A.J. Puk (ARI) – RP (Yahoo – 1%)
Puk was just sent out to start a rehab assignment for the Diamondbacks. Paul Sewald has been okay as the closer thus far. Despite an increased strikeout rate this year, a 3.93 ERA supported by his ERA estimators is not where you want your closer to be. There’s clearly no guarantee the Diamondbacks will just hand the job back to Puk, but if he looks good in his rehab starts, you may want to get ahead of things and add him to your bench. There’s some reason to be cautious, though, as even if Puk takes the job from Sewald, there’s no guarantee he’ll hold it with Justin Martinez throwing bullpen sessions and potentially returning midseason. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up with the three pitchers each putting up 7-15 saves, but a healthy Puk should get the first opportunity to take the job and run with it.
Graphic by Carlos Leano
