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 Mangum (PIT) – OF (Yahoo – 11%)
Mangum is a priority add if you’re looking for help in runs, average, or steals. He’s gotten more opportunities with Oneil Cruz on the IL and the Pirates transitioning away from Marcell Ozuna in the lineup, and he’s taking full advantage of them. Mangum’s 4-5 night last night raised his season line to .311/.361/.383, and he added his 2nd homer and 18th steal in the process. You’re not ever going to get much power out of him, but he stole 27 bases in 118 games last year while hitting .296. He’s running a very high .374 BABIP, which probably isn’t sustainable, but with only a 22% FB rate and 94th percentile sprint speed, he’s the type of player you’d expect to have a fairly high BABIP. He’s also hit leadoff over the past three games for the Pirates, giving him a lot of opportunities to run and score.
Caleb Kilian (SFG) – RP (Yahoo – 15%)
Kilian has sole possession of the closer role in San Francisco, converting the team’s last 4 saves (and blowing one last night). The Giants’ lefty is up to 97 MPH in single-inning stints and striking out 28% of opposing batters. The ERA is ugly right now at 4.74, but all of his ERA estimators sit below 4, with SIERA the most optimistic at 3.43. He’s also currently sitting at a .313 BABIP for a team that collectively yields a .291, despite ranking in the 78th percentile for exit velo allowed. He’s a closer with a ton of K’s in a pitcher’s park; even if he had no ratio upside, what’s he doing on 85% of wires?
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
All starters atop the ESPN most added list this week. Tops on the list is Peter Lambert, who has a start today at Texas. Lambert is posting strong ratios on the year (3.26 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) with a roughly median 12.7% K-BB rate supporting them. He’s matching up against Kumar Rocker and a Texas lineup that has been below average at home (20th by wRC+) and is now missing Corey Seager. Wyatt Langford was on a tear before a short IL stint and he’s returned to the lineup, but Lambert is about as appealing of a stream as widely available guys tend to be.
Sean Burke remains on the list after a dominant start last night hosting the Athletics in Chicago. Burke’s last 5 starts have been magnificent, with a 34.4% K rate against a 4.1% walk rate. I know I’m writing this with the benefit of hindsight, but I’m all in on targeting the A’s on the road for streaming starters. Since June 1st, A’s hitters have a 64 wRC+ on the road vs. a 128 wRC+ at home. I’m normally pretty cautious about throwing poor starters for volume, but I’d seriously consider starting Erick Fedde in bulk relief against the A’s today in Chicago.
Eury Pérez gets a Guardians offense that is 27th in MLB by wRC+ in Miami after 7 innings of perfection in his last time out. The Guardians are also missing two of their more productive hitters in José Ramírez and Angel Martínez. I’d be happy starting Eury and he should stay on your roster if you’re in one of the 24% of leagues he’s available.
Casey Mize is hosting the Phillies in Detroit, matched up against Cristopher Sánchez. Even with the Phillies’ offense waking up a bit, they’re still just 17th by wRC+ over the last month (26th on the season). Everything in Mize’s statistical profile looks better than it ever has. I was not a fan in years past, but he looks great this year, increasing his swinging strike rate and strikeout rate while continuing to shun walks.
Griffin Jax rounds out the ESPN most-added starters, matching up against Seattle at home. I don’t think he’s a streaming starter at this point, just a guy you should be rostering and starting in most matchups. Nick has him as the sixth-best start today, so go out and grab him if he’s available.
Not pictured is Hunter Greene in sixth place, rising to a roster rate of 63.6%. Needless to say, he should be added everywhere. The top position player being added in ESPN leagues is Carson Benge. The Mets outfielder is providing a strong power-speed combination of skills with 11 homers and 14 steals. He’s an asset in batting average in all but the shallowest of leagues as well, hitting .269 on the season. Benge has been hitting cleanup or 5th for the Mets over the last week, so we could even expect some improvement in his relatively poor RBI total batting behind Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Bo Bichette.
Three new streaming starters to add to the list in Yahoo leagues. Shane Drohan gets a start at Pittsburgh in the second game of a doubleheader. Drohan is yet another Milwaukee success story. He’s got a strong 15.4% K-BB in 63.2 innings, supported by a 27.7% CSW. Pittsburgh has the best offense in baseball over the past 30 days by wRC+, so there’s a certain amount of risk here.
Reynaldo López is pitching at St. Louis. Lopez has shown some continued skills erosion, with his walk rate ticking up to 10%, his K rate dropping to 21.3%, and a lost tick and a half of fastball velo. He’s outperforming his ERA estimators by about a run and a half, thanks to a .263 BABIP and a 77.5% strand rate. I’m never a fan of betting on pitchers with this profile, but I also would have missed out on his amazing 2024 run, where he finished with a 1.99 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP despite ERA estimators in the 3-3.50 range. That said, the Cardinals’ offense ranks 21st in MLB over the past month, so it’s a decent team to target, although Jordan Walker has been heating back up in July.
Noah Cameron is starting at Baltimore. After a rookie season where his results far outpaced his underlying stats, Cameron isn’t benefiting from the same sort of good fortune this season. The Orioles offense has been cold lately (22nd in wRC+ over the past 30 days) and bad against lefties all year (23rd in wRC+ vs lefties). I’m not thrilled with this one, but you could certainly do worse. I’m fully in line with Nick’s take – you shouldn’t start him, but he’s one of the better guys you shouldn’t start.
Category Specific Players to Add
Kahlil Watson (CLE) – OF (Yahoo – 2%)
Watson has made 5 straight starts in center and right field for the Guardians, outlasting Cooper Ingle on the MLB roster. Watson’s a detriment in batting average, with serious contact issues leading to a 36.6% K rate. The Guardians are letting him run wild on the bases, though, with 8 attempted steals (7 successful) in 16 times on base. He’s hit everywhere in the Guardians’ lineup, so you may even add some run production, but he’s definitely a play for a short-term boost in steals.
Graphic by Carlos Leano
