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
Jared Jones (PIT) – SP (Yahoo – 41%)
Let’s kick things off with a pitcher this time, as Jones is set to make his first start since September of 2024. He had an electric arm at the start of that year, with a 3.56 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 98 K’s in 91 IP before the All-Star Break. He was shelved for nearly all of July and August due to a lat strain, however, and then struggled with a 5.87 ERA and 1.43 WHIP after.
Then the UCL happened, but now 14 months later, he’s back. The Pirates have been a pitching factory of late and are the most competitive they’ve been in years, so Jones returns to a far better team situation than the one he left. He’s also looked solid in multiple rehab starts, with 24 K’s in 18.2 IP and a sub-3 ERA. He’ll probably be capped at around 80 pitches in his first start and his innings will be managed intensely from there, but he’s a great source of strikeouts with solid ratios when healthy. He should be worth adding in all formats.
Spencer Horwitz (PIT) – 1B (Yahoo – 15%)
Spencer Horwitz…leadoff hitter? That’s been the case in the Pirates’ last three out of four games, and why not, as he leads the team in OBP with a .388 mark. Though he’d only led off once before this week, he looks comfortable as a table-setter with a .333 average and a .945 OPS, with just one strikeout in 17 appearances at the dish. And for points league players, Horwitz is now drawing walks at a greater clip than he’s K-ing (13.8% versus 12.8%), which is basically a cheat code in that format.
Horwitz doesn’t see a lot of action against lefties, but he’s started in all of Pittsburgh’s last nine games and has three homers in that span, so it looks like he’s getting more chances. He’ll probably need to improve upon his .217 SLG versus southpaws to keep getting those chances, however. But he still makes amazing contact (see chart below) with no signs of letting up.
Anthony Volpe (NYY) – SS (Yahoo – 7%)
Volpe’s been a little up and down since coming back to the Yankees, but he’s mostly looked solid in one of the league’s best offenses. While he spent two games in a row on the bench recently, he’s otherwise gotten decent playing time and is mashing against lefties, so there doesn’t appear to be a platoon situation. He’s played the last three games in a row after the benching, with four hits to show for it (including a homer). He’s also taking walks at an incredible 20.5% rate. While that’s surely unsustainable, it’s worth noting given his reputation as a free swinger.
Volpe will never win a batting title, so if average is a concern, you may want to move on. He hit .212 last year, and though his actual average this time around is .257, the analytics overlords are telling us that his expected average is just .211. That said, his Chase rate is the best of his career (thus the walks), and his other metrics aren’t half-bad. He’s got both power and speed and would be a top-100 player if he could keep a decent average as an every day player.
Jeff Hoffman (TOR) – RP (Yahoo – 64%)
After an April where Hoffman pitched to a 7.45 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP—which cost him his job as a closer—he’s looking like his old self again. He’s crediting an improved sharpness to his slider, which he’s going to more often as an out pitch. There have been noticeable benefits to this change in approach, as he’s got just a 3.09 ERA this month.
Many of Hoffman’s metrics look amazing, as he’s got a 99th-percentile Chase rate, Whiff rate, and K-rate. His command has been decent, especially for such a hard thrower, and his xBA Against is just .215. Unfortunately for Hoffman, Louis Varland’s been an absolute stud after taking over the closer job, so a path back to that role looks iffy. But Hoffman’s got a pair of wins and a pair of saves in his last four appearances, so he’s showing he can still be helpful in those categories.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
Meidroth gets top bidding on the Yahoo! side and looks worthy of the spot. After an April where he only drove in a pair of runs all month, Meidroth has 15 RBIs in May and four homers. The White Sox lineup is not to be ignored.
Colin Rea shows up in second and though he was going against Paul Skenes, fantasy owners didn’t seem too worried. Fortune favored the bold here, and Rea picked up the W. He didn’t pitch all that well (two runs and seven baserunners in 4.1 IP), but it was good enough to get past the Pirates. Rea is a decent groundball pitcher but gives up a lot of homers when hitters are able to lift the ball.
We mentioned Horwitz above, and he’s a solid choice if you need a 1B (especially in a points league!). Sam Antonacci is getting some leadoff opportunities where he can flex some of his elite Statcast numbers (he’s got a 100th-percentile expected batting average, at .319). He’s also position-eligible in both the infield and outfield, so he brings some versatility to the table as well.
Stephen Kolek, mentioned in my Points League Risers & Fallers article, is getting some recognition. He’s not going to strike out many hitters, but went a full nine frames in his last outing and is pitching to contact as well as anyone.
ESPN
A pair of pitchers who should be universally owned are at the top of ESPN’s list. There’s not much to say about them other than you should pick them if they’re available and move on to the next article.
Patrick Corbin follows those guys, and he’s been pitching better in his last two starts with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. The 36-year-old lefty still has something in the tank, it seems, but I wouldn’t recommend any long-term investment as his metrics look pretty sad (a 5.38 xERA, for instance). But he’s in a groove and has some decent matchups coming up.
Streaming Pitchers
Check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings for the complete breakdown on every start for the next few days. There are two pitchers to highlight.
Andrew Alvarez (WSH) – SP (Yahoo – 1%) vs SDP
Let’s start things off with a deep-league flyer. Alvarez has mostly pitched in long relief for the Nats this year, and has looked good doing it with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He was down in the minors for a bit earlier this month and made a couple of AAA starts before coming back to the ‘pen, but he now gets the ball with Jake Irvin going to the IL. In just 12.2 IP, Alvarez has an impressive 26.6% K-minus-BB rate and gets hitters to chase 33.7% of the time. The only question is how long he’ll last, as he was throwing just 3-4 innings in his relief role.
But even with a shorter outing, the Padres have actually been one of the league’s worst offenses of late, so this should be a solid matchup.
Ben Brown (CHC) – SP (Yahoo – 42%) @ STL
Unlike Alvarez, Brown’s already made the leap from the bullpen to the rotation, and so far it’s been a rousing success. In his last appearance against the Pirates, Brown turned in a Quality Start and gave up a single earned run with a 1.00 WHIP. It’s the first time he’s gone six innings but it shouldn’t be his last, as he’s shown improved efficiency by throwing just 83 pitches. Brown’s added a sinker to his arsenal this year and is using it 20% of the time, netting more groundballs (53.5% GB-rate this season, up from 42.4% in 2025). He’s a solid addition to the Cubs’ rotation, and he should be one for yours as well.
