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
Jake Bennett (BOS) – SP (Yahoo – 12%)
For as bad as the Red Sox season has gone, it hasn’t been the starting pitching letting the team down, Brayan Bello notwithstanding. Bennett is a rookie who was acquired from the Nationals last offseason in a rare prospect-for-prospect challenge trade. New Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni was hired away from the Red Sox earlier in the offseason, so he knew what he was getting in Luis Perales, but may not have understood what he was sending back in Bennett. Bennett fits the crafty lefty archetype with meh velocity but excellent control. He finished both minor league seasons with the Nationals with a 6% walk rate, which has only improved in Boston. Pitching+ agrees, giving him a 91 Stuff+ but a 116 Location+. PLV is even more optimistic, giving him a 5.09 (above the 5.00 average) and excellent ranks on his sinker and change, two of his three most common offerings. The strikeouts aren’t amazing, but his K-BB of 16% would rank 31st among qualified starters if he had the innings. Bennett gets the Yankees today, which is a tough matchup, but he’s in line for the Angels on Friday.
Kyle Teel (CHW) – C (Yahoo – 17%)
Teel is back from a longer-than-expected IL stint after a hamstring injury in the WBC led to a right knee sprain in the minors while rehabbing. Teel was excellent in his debut in 2025, hitting .273/.375/.411 in 297 plate appearances. He was on fire during rehab, despite the injury setback, hitting .387/.441/.613. Teel hit third for the White Sox last night after hitting cleanup against the first two righties he saw. The White Sox offense ranks 6th in MLB by wRC+ and 9th by runs scored, giving Teel a ton of opportunities for run production. Even if the power might not be fantastic, a high-average catcher hitting in the middle of a good lineup is a fantastic option available for free on a lot of waiver wires right now.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Brandon Young starts against the Nationals today in Baltimore. Young’s had some success this year, pitching to a 3.07 ERA and 1.26 WHIP over 12 starts and 67.1 innings. It’s not the most convincing profile, though, with just a 17.1% K rate and an 8.7% walk rate. Young’s 8.4% K-BB ranks 111th of 124 pitchers with 60 or more innings this year. He’s also facing the Nationals, an offense that has scored the most runs in the majors and ranks 7th by wRC+. I don’t love them as a streaming target. Young is an okay streaming option if you’re looking for some volume and a chance at a win, but I’d be hesitant if you care about the ratios.
Foster Griffin is facing off against Young tonight, and I like that option much more, although he’s available in far fewer leagues. Griffin is probably a bit over his skis, with his ERA estimators a half to a full run higher than his current ERA, but his peripherals are pretty solid, and his xFIP and xERA both sit at 3.65. Griffin has a 17.6% K-BB and a better offense backing him. While the Orioles’ offense is solid, 11th in the majors by wRC+, that drops to 21st vs lefties. Nick agrees, giving Griffin a “probably start” and Young a “questionable start” in his latest SP Streamer rankings.
Brandon Marsh is starting to put together the type of season that had him near the top 10 of prospect lists when he graduated to the majors in 2021. Marsh is hitting .319/.351/.511 with 12 homers and 8 steals. A good bit of Marsh’s production rests on a wild .396 BABIP. It’s tempting to immediately dismiss that as unsustainable, and I think it probably is, but somehow Marsh has always produced crazy high BABIPs. He maintained a .403 BABIP in his 260 rookie plate appearances, a .397 in 472 PAs in 2023, and a .375 for his career. In 2025-26, Marsh has cut 5 percentage points from his strikeout rate, leading to the high average when combined with his consistently high line drive rate and solid foot speed. I’d be in on Marsh in most leagues, especially if you need batting average help.
Andre Pallante gets a Marlins offense that ranks around the league average by wRC+. He’s another volume arm with uninspiring rates but decent outcomes this year. I’d prefer streaming Pallante to Young based mostly on the matchup; otherwise, the two starters have fairly similar underlying skills. Reid Detmers has had a good amount of press this year due to his strong peripherals generating ERA estimators well below his current ERA. He’s striking out 27% of batters and walking 7%, while his 104 Stuff+ is well above average for a starter. With Perry Minasian’s firing this week, it’s unclear what the Angels are planning to do, but Detmers could be on the move this season to a better team. He’s probably more than a streaming starter at this point, and I love the matchup against an A’s team that has been poor on the road (24th by wRC+ on the road vs 2nd at home).
Only today’s starters atop the Yahoo list. Yahoo managers are adding Bennett, discussed above, as well as Young and Pallante. The new additions to the list are Alan Rangel and Slade Cecconi. Rangel gets a start at the Mets this afternoon. The Mets have been Metsing all season and have the third-worst offense by wRC+. Rangel has a unique arsenal, throwing an actual screwball and coming directly over the top at hitters. His velo is relatively poor at 92.5 MPH, but he’s gotten results from just how different he looks to the average MLB pitcher. He’s made two relief appearances for the Phillies this year, pitching three innings in Chicago in April and five innings following Tim Mayza against the Nationals five days ago. He’s gotten 9 strikeouts and hasn’t walked anyone in those two appearances, although his Triple-A numbers aren’t nearly as exciting. The stuff models mostly agree that he’s got a bit above average stuff for a starter, but below average command. He seems like a super high variance arm to me, but the Mets tip the scales in his favor.
Cecconi has been remarkably consistent over his three seasons with decent major league samples. He strikes out 18-20% of batters, walks about 6% of them, and posts ratios that are detrimental to your fantasy team. Last year, Cecconi had his most success in the majors, with a .268 BABIP carrying him to a 4.30 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. This season, like in 2024, his WHIP is at 1.40. Cecconi has given back the small strikeout gains he made last year, and his walk rate has continued to slowly creep upwards, to the point where Cecconi is now at a 10.7% K-BB that ranks 54th among 67 qualified pitchers. He’s facing Seattle in a matchup of a meh starter against average offense.
The Yahoo position player with the most action is Caleb Durbin, eligible at both second and third. After a horrific start to the season with sub-.550 OPSes in April and May, Durbin has rebounded with a scorching June. He’s hitting .333/.364/.625 over the past 4 weeks and has mostly been hitting sixth while playing every game for the Red Sox. With Marcelo Mayer hitting the IL yesterday, and the general tenor and failure of the Red Sox season, Durbin figures to feature extensively over the summer.
Graphic by Carlos Leano
