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
Braden Montgomery (CWS) – OF (Yahoo! – 13%)
Montgomery made his 2026 debut at Double-A and utterly destroyed the level, earning the call to Triple-A after posting a 1.035 OPS with 6 HR in 27 games. His promotion went just as well with a .912 OPS and 4 HR in 29 games. He made his triumphant major league debut last night, going 2 for 5 with a walk-off home run.
As always with rookie call-ups, it’s all about balancing the risk with the reward. Montgomery is your classic high K% power-hitter. His strikeout rate has been fairly average in the minors this year at 24.2%, but it will certainly worsen against big league pitching. He struck out twice in his debut, if that’s any indication. He has enough speed to get on the board in the stolen base category as well, with 14 SB in 121 games last season. He looks to be in the 20-25 HR, 10-15 SB range, and that’s valuable everywhere.
Montgomery is worth a look in leagues of all sizes. His swing-and-miss may prove to be an issue in the long run, but he’s performed well in the one-game sample that we have. I’d much rather add him too early than too late.
Troy Melton (DET) – SP (Yahoo! – 37%)
Melton has been unstoppable in his short season. He’s 2-0 in three starts with a 1.74 ERA. He was excellent in 45 innings last year, too, with a 2.76 ERA. His 4-seamer in 2025 had an absurd 28.8% whiff percentage, and I’m a little bummed that it’s not looking quite as good so far this year. It’s down from 97 mph to 95 mph, too. He’s still getting stretched out after starting the year on the IL, and I’m hoping he regains some of that velocity as he gets comfortable – he looked to be up a tick in last night’s start.
He’s been great already, and there’s another gear he could reasonably tap into. Nick has him at 44th on the List already; he’s certainly better than your worst starter.
Yahoo! and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
Yahoo! players are on it today: Troy Melton and Braden Montgomery got full write-ups as priority picks above.
Grant Holmes is one of those pitchers who finds continued success, and you can’t figure out why. Things started to make more sense last night, as Holmes gave up 3 ER in just 3.2 innings before getting knocked out of the game. He was a solid streamer target against the White Sox, but it’s safe to move on now.
Dustin May keeps rolling. He dominated the Mets, throwing six scoreless frames and notching as many K’s. He has a great matchup later this week against the Padres, so make sure you keep hold of him for that one.
J.T. Ginn was somehow a popular streaming target. Did everyone miss the 15-14 bloodbath in Vegas on Monday night? Predictably, Ginn was lit up to the tune of 5 ER in 5.2 innings. Leave him on the bench for the next Vegas game, but he’s been rock-solid this season with a 2.74 ERA before tonight (now 3.15).
ESPN
ESPN players are killing it, too. Check out the priority picks section above for discussions about Braden Montgomery and Troy Melton.
Jake Bauers has been stellar with 12 HR already this season. Grab him to close out the Vegas series if nothing else, but he really should be rostered everywhere.
J.T. Ginn was somehow a popular streaming target. Did everyone miss the 15-14 bloodbath in Vegas on Monday night? Predictably, Ginn was lit up to the tune of 5 ER in 5.2 innings. Leave him on the bench for the next Vegas game, but he’s been rock-solid this season with a 2.74 ERA before tonight (now 3.15).
Reid Detmers impressed after handling the Dodgers. He’s had plenty of fantastic starts this year and just as many duds. He’s getting away with a lot and will always be at the mercy of the Angels’ defense.
Speculative Adds
Luis Lara (MIL) – OF (Yahoo! 2%): Lara just signed a $31 million contract with the Brewers, and I suspect his promotion is imminent. He holds a .947 OPS at Triple-A with seven HR and 18 SB. It may be difficult for him to find playing time in a crowded outfield in Milwaukee, but the guaranteed speed and potential power upside are worth a look.
Streaming Pitchers
Check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings for a complete breakdown of every start over the next few days.
Today (Wednesday): Peter Lambert (HOU) (22% on Yahoo! )gets the Angels, and he looks like your best option below 30% rostered.
Tomorrow (Thursday): Zebby Matthews (MIN) (25% on Yahoo!) squares off against the Tigers. I’m still high on Matthews, and this should be a comfortable matchup for him.
