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
Garrett Mitchell (MIL) – OF (Yahoo – 22%)
Mitchell entered the season as a 27-year-old former top prospect who had flashed some ability at times, thanks to his tremendous speed and raw power. An oblique strain kept him off the radar for the most part last year, but this season he has been a vital part of the Brewers’ success, particularly lately; he’s slashed .321/ .381/ .563 over his last 30 games, including last night’s walk-off single against the Marlins. Whiffs remain a flaw; he’s striking out at a 32.9% clip. But his 90th percentile chase rate has buoyed his profile. Admittedly, he hits wormburners a little more than you’d like; his 53.5% groundball rate is about nine ticks above the league average. Still, the recent results have been too good to ignore. The man is hitting baseballs hard.
Tyler Wells (BAL) – SP, RP (Yahoo – 17%)
Wells entered the season with a 4.11 ERA across 50 career starts. However, he has thrived out of the bullpen. Stop me if you’ve heard that story before. He closed the door on last night’s 3-2 win over the Astros by navigating around a one-out single from Jeremy Peña and a two-out walk to Isaac Paredes. He owns a 2.96 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 20.4% K-BB across 36 appearances, and his pitch quality metrics (5.18 PLV/2.45 PLA) lend credence to his success. Andrew Kittredge could also pilfer some opportunities with Helsley (elbow) shelved. Still, Wells looks, for now, at least, like the reliever to have in the O’s pen.
Jasson Domínguez (NYY) – OF (Yahoo – 12%)
Hitting fifth ahead of Chisholm, Domínguez briefly gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead last night with a double to right-center on a 100 mph heater from Roki Sasaki before advancing to third on an error by Pages and then scoring on another gaffe by Dalton Rushing. Sure, his .685 OPS this season is far from good, but the sample size of 144 PAs remains fairly small. At 23, he still holds a decent bit of post-hype appeal as a former top prospect. The opportunity is there, and given the Yankees’ struggles to score without Judge, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him get the green light to steal more often; he’s a perfect 6-for-6 on attempts thus far.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Colin Rea led last night’s parade of streamers. The 35-year-old veteran did a pretty decent job, holding the Twins to three runs across six innings with six strikeouts. He’ll be a middle-of-the-road streamer against the Tigers next week, and one that could have a pretty scary floor if the wind is blowing out at Wrigley Field.
I’ll admit, I wanted to ignore Michael McGreevy because of his lack of strikeouts, but his impeccable control has, after last night’s gem against the Snakes, led to a sparkling 2.92 ERA. He’s 87th on The List, and his next start should come against an awful Angels team that strikes out in bunches.
Injuries to Kurtz (thumb) and Gelof (knee) prompted the A’s to promote Tommy White this past Wednesday. The 23-year-old righty, who hit ninth and played first in his debut last night, was selected by the A’s 40th overall out of LSU two summers ago, and slashed .303/ .353/ .465 with 10 home runs across 346 PAs combined in Double-A and Triple-A this year. His 5.8% BB rate indicates that he’s a very aggressive hitter, but he could be worth a look in deep leagues.
Dean Kremer needed 83 pitches to get 12 outs last night against the Astros in Houston. He’ll carry a 4.15 ERA and 1.12 WHIP into his next start, which will likely be next week against the Red Sox at Fenway. For now, he’s just an end-of-the-bench guy for 15-teamers.
Daring managers who gambled on Brady Singer at Coors Field were rewarded with a gem, as the 29-year-old righty held the Rockies to just two earned runs on four hits across seven innings. His next opponent will likely be the Mariners next week; that could work out, given the venue (Seattle), but we’re also talking about someone who holds a career 4.27 ERA and 1.32 WHIP across 945 innings and is striking out batters at a career-low 18.9% clip this season.
Peter Lambert got saddled with a no-decision last night despite turning in what might have been his best performance of the season as he struck out a career-best 10 batters across seven innings. His lone blemish came on a bases-loaded walk to Pete Alonso. He’ll carry a 3.03 ERA and 1.11 WHIP into a great matchup next week against the Marlins. He’s 69th on The List.
Judging by the List, Logan Henderson, who thankfully dodged a bullet last night with what the Brewers called forearm cramps, takes top priority. Simply put, his pitch quality metrics are absurdly good, as is his 24.3% K-BB.
Troy Melton dealt with some traffic on the basepaths last night, but held the Angels to just one run across five and two-thirds innings with nine strikeouts. He’s 32nd on The List, one spot behind Henderson.
Air quality concerns postponed last night’s Pirates game. Jared Jones will probably battle some command volatility the rest of the way, as is often the case with pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery. But his brilliant start against the Braves before the break illustrates why he should be universally rostered. He’s 37th on The List.
Jake Bennett earned his fifth win in yesterday’s matinee at Fenway by holding the Rays scoreless across six innings. The 25-year-old left-hander owns a 2.35 ERA and 0.88 WHIP across nine starts. Sure, I wish his strikeout rate of 19.2% were a little higher, but his 2.93 xERA and 95th-percentile extension corroborate his extraordinary talent. Jack Foley recently detailed his success. If he isn’t a must-roster player, I don’t know who is. He’s 44th on The List.
Streaming Pitchers
Be sure to check Nick’s daily SP streamers article.
Today:
Shane Drohan (MIL) – SP, RP (Yahoo – 33%) vs. MIA
Drohan pitched pretty well last Saturday, holding the Pirates to three earned runs on five hits across six and a third innings. I don’t think you can expect a repeat of the Gallows Pole, but his body of work thus far (3.09 ERA and 1.20 WHIP across 70 innings) makes him a pretty solid gamble at home against the Marlins.
Tomorrow:
Noah Cameron (KC) – SP (Yahoo – 21%) vs SD
The 27-year-old southpaw finished the first half with a disappointing 4.89 ERA and 1.42 WHIP across 18 starts. However, he also concluded the first half with 16 strikeouts over his last two appearances. The Padres, meanwhile, own the worst team wOBA in baseball (.297).
Deep League Players to Watch
Lane Thomas (KC) – OF (Yahoo – 3%)
Lane Thomas‘ recent success with the Royals continued last night with a massive 445-foot blast off Michael King that proved pivotal in a 7-6 win over the Padres. The 30-year-old righty is slashing .240/ .342/ .408 with eight home runs and four steals across 272 PAs. He’s making me dream about what he did with the Nats back in 2023.
