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
Dominic Canzone (SEA) – OF (Yahoo – 29%)
Depending on what stats your league is looking at, Canzone’s massive past month of games might be going unnoticed. Canzone is hitting .333/.398/.707 over the last 30 days with 7 homers. Unlike the Pete Crow-Armstrongs and Jung Hoo Lees who are also on recent hot streaks, Canzone is managing his heater with a totally reasonable .333 BABIP. The downside is that, since Seattle is a roughly average offense, he hasn’t generated much run production over that period, with just 13 runs and 13 RBIs. Canzone started the stretch as a platoon bat vs righties, a role that is playable in deeper leagues but usually best avoided in shallower leagues. Canzone started and hit 5th against Ranger Suarez last night, however, indicating that he may have played himself into a full-time role. He’s got two more lefties this weekend, but righties in 6 of his next 7 scheduled matchups. It’s a great time to get in if you can.
Jonny DeLuca (TBR) – OF (Yahoo – 1%)
If you’re in a deeper league where most outfielders are rostered, DeLuca should be snapped up as well. DeLuca came off the IL yesterday and was hitting third for the Rays against P.J. Poulin/Miles Mikolas and the Nationals. Expect him and Cedric Mullins to swap lineup spots depending on the handedness of the starter, with the platoon-advantaged outfielder hitting third and the other hitting fifth. DeLuca is hitting .268/.297/.431 with 3 homers and 6 steals. The batting average is an asset, even if the poor OBP will limit his run-scoring opportunities. DeLuca is in the 85th percentile of stolen base aggression, so you can expect him to continue to contribute on the bases even if he keeps the low OBP.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Two position players crack the ESPN most-added list, which is very unusual at this stage of the season, especially when they aren’t recent call-ups. Zack Gelof has been outstanding in his return to the majors, hitting .286/.341/.502 while splitting time between second, third, and the outfield. The main driver of his improvement is a dramatic drop in his K rate from 36.1% in the bad days of 2024-25 to 24.8% this season. He’s getting there by swinging less. He’s chasing 3 percentage points less often and swinging in the zone 9 percentage points less often. The enhanced selectivity has let his contact rates spike to career-bests of 62.4% on balls and 78.3% on strikes. Overall, he’s cut his swinging strike rate in half, from a wild 20.4% in 2025 to a totally normal 11.4% this year.
Colson Montgomery has 20 homers in 71 games this season after posting 21 in his 71 games played last year. He’s still striking out 30% of the time with swinging strike rates to support it, but the power is immense. He’s also eligible at both third and short, and should remain so next year if you’re in a keeper or dynasty league. A full-season line of .230/.320/.520 with 40 homers is 2022 Kyle Schwarber, but with multi-position eligibility on the dirt. In shallower leagues, I can see how you might not want to take the hit to the batting average, but he’s still tied for 8th among third basemen according to the Fangraphs player rater. Oh, and he’s also the 7th best shortstop on the season, too, with currently-injured Elly De La Cruz and Bobby Witt Jr.. ahead of him. If you don’t have a spot for the 44.3% rostered Montgomery in your lineup, congrats on the championship.
Spencer Arrighetti is the lone streaming starter specific to the ESPN list. I’m a huge Arrighetti skeptic, but I can’t ignore that he’s put up numbers this season. My main issue with the profile is the immense walk rate. Only Arrighetti, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Walbert Ureña have posted sub-3 ERAs with a 1.22 WHIP or higher in at least 60 innings this year. I’m happy to bet against that group. Arrighetti isn’t an elite strikeout arm either, posting league-average strikeouts and whiffs. Arrighetti’s last three starts have been his poorest of the year, giving up 24 baserunners and 11 runs in 16 innings. He’s actually cut his walks and improved his strikeouts over those starts, so I’m actually more optimistic than I would have been two weeks ago. The Guardians matchup he has is a pretty good one, but those last three starts came against Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and the Angels, so it’s not like he’s been facing the league’s best offenses lately either.
All streaming starters atop the Yahoo most-added list. Troy Melton leads the way and is second on the ESPN version of the list. Melton had a lot of hype while returning from the IL earlier in the season, and the surface-level stats suggest he’s been successful. He’s 3-0 with a 2.81 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in his first 4 starts covering 25.2 innings. What’s not to love? Well, Melton has 13.7% K rate and a correspondingly poor 7.7% swinging strike rate in that time. He’s not walking a lot of hitters, but his K-BB% is still just 7.8%. He’s had his success with a .197 BABIP and a 95% strand rate, neither of which is sustainable. It’s hard to predict Melton’s future. He’s definitely not a 2.81 ERA/1.01 WHIP pitcher if he can’t miss bats. He also struck out 35.6% of hitters in his rehab starts this season and 32.4% in the minors last year. He’s showing the same pattern as fellow Tigers rehabber Jackson Jobe, with minor league strikeout rates of 25%+ and major league strikeout rates around 17%.
Walker Buehler has a matchup at Texas this afternoon. This is a stadium play. Buehler’s been meh this year, with a 4.14 ERA and 1.34 WHIP and nothing to write home about in the counting stats. The Rangers’ offense is decent, ranking 18th in MLB with a 98 wRC+. The Rangers, however, are only 26th in MLB with a 91 wRC+ at home. The rolling three-year Statcast park factors also rank Globe Life Field as tied for the most pitching-friendly stadium in the league with T-Mobile Park. This is a stream I’d be willing to take a shot on if I needed innings.
J.T. Ginn and Walbert Ureña face off against each other in a late matchup in West Sacramento. The Athletics have heated up with the weather at home, as the ball has started flying out of their minor league stadium. Over the past month, the Athletics are tops in MLB with a 137 wRC+ at home. Unfortunately for the A’s, their opponents are enjoying their at-bats in Sacramento, too. A’s pitchers are giving up a .299/.361/.531 line at home, leading to a 6.88 ERA. It’s not like the A’s pitchers are terrible, either. The same staff is giving up a .225/.303/.410 line on the road over the same time period. Ginn and Ureña have enough reasons to be skeptical about the sustainability of their success this year, independent of the park they’re pitching in. I just don’t see how you can stream anyone pitching at Sutter Health Park.
Trevor McDonald has a decent matchup against the Marlins in Miami. The Marlins are a roughly average offense, ranking 19th on the season in wRC+ and maintaining that rank over the past month. While I would have told you that the Marlins’ home is a pitcher-friendly park without looking it up, it actually ranks as a perfectly average stadium by Statcast park factors. It does suppress homers 16% relative to the league average stadium, though that’s not a problem McDonald has suffered from. Nick is a hard pass on his latest streamer rankings, citing a drop in McDonald’s pitch quality lately. The results back it up. After an excellent first three starts, McDonald has a 6.46 ERA with ERA estimators in the mid-4’s over the past month.
Speculative Adds
Christian Moore (LAA) – 2B (Yahoo – 1%)
It’s been a tough couple of games since Moore returned to the big leagues this week. Moore has struck out 7 times in his 9 plate appearances, but cut his strikeout rate to 21.4% in his second go-around at Triple-A. Moore has had an excellent start to the minor league season, hitting .333/.468/.585 with 9 homers and 10 steals in 51 games. He played left field in his season debut, hitting sixth, and then DHed and hit fifth in his second game. Moore could be in line to pick up outfield eligibility, and he has a fantasy-friendly power-speed combo of skills. The Angels have hit Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza cleanup in their past two games. Denzer Guzman is an everyday starter. Opportunity is abundant here if Moore can make any contact at all.
Deep League Players to Watch
Brandon Pfaadt (ARI) – SP, RP (Yahoo – 2%)
After Ryne Nelson hit the IL with a sprained elbow, there’s a big hole in the Diamondbacks rotation. Pfaadt has been getting stretched out to a starter’s workload in Triple-A and seems to be the long-term replacement. He won’t join the rotation immediately, as the Diamondbacks promoted Yilber Díaz, but he’s not blocked. Diaz hasn’t pitched more than 2 innings in a game this season, and the Diamondbacks are expected to use an off day to keep the four-man rotation on normal rest. It hasn’t been good for Pfaadt this season as his stuff and command have taken a step back in the bullpen. Maybe a return to a regular schedule will be beneficial. He’s strictly a watch for now, though.
Graphic by Carlos Leano
