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
Mickey Moniak (COL) – OF (Yahoo – 39%)
First up is a player who is currently hitting a home run every 12.5 at-bats. Moniak missed about a month before coming back on June 22, and it took him a while to get going as he hit .130 in the first five games after his return. But his timing is back now—his first two games in July have produced six hits, five runs, five RBIs, and a pair of homers (he also homered on June 30). Moniak’s had an up-and-down career, but even though he’s in a platoon, he rakes when he’s in the game. And batting near the top of the lineup in Coors Field is a pretty good formula for success. Let’s remember he’s also a former number one overall draft pick.
Based on his ownership, there’s a chance someone dropped him either during his hiatus or in the week where he struggled. If you’re lucky enough to be in a league where he’s available (and that’s apparently 61% of you), now’s the time to grab him.
Kody Clemens (MIN) – 1B,2B,OF (Yahoo – 24%)
Clemens has appeared in this space before, but since he’s both infield- and outfield-eligible and just 24% rostered, here he is again. Clemens has been steadily getting more at-bats each month and hit seven homers with 17 RBIs in June. He also scored 17 runs, struck out less than 20% of the time, and hit five doubles. That’s a pretty good month, and he started July with a bang as well, hitting his third homer in the last week and driving in three.
Clemens has excellent Statcast metrics, including an 80th-percentile Barrel rate and a 92nd-percentile Average Exit Velo at 92.7 mph. He’s also carrying solid contact ratios and has a .905 OPS with runners in scoring position. Now that he’s an (almost) everyday player who’s batting third in the order, he simply looks more comfortable at the plate, even when facing lefties (he struggled mightily against them last season, slashing .192/.218/.482). One thing worth noting: he’s considerably more productive at home and has just a .218 average in road games.
Josh Lowe (LAA) – OF (Yahoo – 2%)
I’m not really sure what happened to the Josh Lowe that hit .292 and went 20/30 with the Rays in 2023, but there might still be a glimmer of that player left. Like Moniak, Lowe came to the Majors last week after a month-long hiatus, but Lowe’s absence was due to a AAA demotion. That might have been just what he needed, however, as he hit .299 over 26 games with Salt Lake and had nine homers, six steals, and a 1.014 OPS.
Now back in LA, Lowe appears to be continuing that momentum. He had just 18 at-bats in June, but hit .444 with a homer and a steal (the homer being a grand slam). It looks like he’s manning center with Mike Trout on the IL, and (as he’s been most of his career) is sitting against lefties, but Lowe can be a contributor in homers and steals in categories leagues if you’re in a deeper format.
Ian Seymour (TBR) – SP (Yahoo – 31%)
Seymour’s the most-added pitcher in both platforms listed below, but I want to talk about him extensively since I like him so much. Seymour started 2026 in the Rays’ bullpen, despite the fact that he pitched 145 innings for them in the Minors and was their Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He was also a pretty effective starter last season. But regardless of all that, he’s been getting stretched out as a piggy-back reliever/starter since early June, and now it appears he’s getting the ball as a normal member of Tampa’s rotation.
It’s where he belongs. You might look at Seymour’s season ERA (which sits at 4.32) and find it uninspiring, but he had two bad outings in the ‘pen in his first couple of weeks where he gave up eight combined runs—take those away and his ERA’s under 3. In those appearances where he’s been pitching multiple innings, he’s got a 0.95 WHIP with nearly a K per inning.
This season he’s changed his pitch mix a bit, using his changeup a third of the time whereas last year he threw his fastball most often. The change is a devastating pitch, with a .141 BAA and a .197 SLG, and Seymour’s gotten 23 of his 50 K’s with it.
The only real concern I have with Seymour is his extreme fly ball rate. While he generally gives up weak contact, a Ground Ball rate that’s roughly equal to your Pull Air rate is not ideal. But as long as he’s limiting baserunners and keeping the barrels down, a solo shot or two won’t hurt him too badly. Seymour’s an add for me in all formats.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
As I mentioned above, Seymour’s the top add here, and it’s not close. He deserves it, though, and if he stays in Tampa’s rotation (little reason why he wouldn’t at this point), he belongs in yours.
Slade Cecconi hadn’t given up more than three runs in a start since May 2, but a tough (and underrated) White Sox lineup got to him in the later innings. The third time through the order proved too much and he was pulled in the sixth after giving up his fourth and fifth runs without recording an out. Cecconi’s been throwing his sinker more over the last month, and it’s proven effective (the fastball is a bit dinger-prone), which is why he had a 1.88 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in June. He’s still worth streaming in most matchups, but his 18% K-rate shouldn’t put him in your rotation.
As for Javier Sanoja, he’s a points league play given his extremely solid 10% K-rate, which is all the more impressive given his 4th-percentile Chase rate. Basically, he swings at everything but somehow still hits it. While he batted .300 in June, he did so mainly at the bottom of the Marlins order. He carries a minuscule 1.7% Barrel rate, has a career OBP under .300, and will be lucky to hit double-digit homers. I don’t really see the appeal unless you’re going for batting average.
I really want Hurston Waldrep to be great. In nine starts last season, he went 6-1 with a 2.88 ERA, but then had surgery in February to remove loose bodies in his elbow. It’s been a long road back, but he got his first start last night against the Cardinals. After a first-inning Jordan Walker homer, he settled down and threw 76 pitches to get through five-and-a-third. Given he walked four in his first appearance (in just two innings) and allowed just one free pass in this one, it’s a big step forward. I would add him for the upside and see if he returns to last season’s form.
It looks like Dustin May’s complete-game gem a couple weeks ago might have been his peak. He’d been rolling for several weeks up to that point (1.05 WHIP in May) and capped it off with that June 15 101-pitch shutout, but his back flared up in his next appearance and he was pulled after two innings. He then had to skip his next start, so last night’s outing was his first in eleven days. And unfortunately, it went sideways quickly: the first three Braves all reached base. Then things went from bad to worse, as the 34th pitch of May’s inning resulted in a comebacker that ricocheted off his foot and into right field for a bases-clearing double. Luckily, X-rays were negative. But he might still miss some time.
ESPN
Streaming Pitchers
Check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings for the complete breakdown on every start for the next few days. There are two pitchers to highlight.
Grant Holmes (ATL) – SP (Yahoo – 17%) vs NYM
Holmes last appeared as a bulk reliever for the Braves, who felt having him in the ‘pen meant he could let loose his slider (and its 40% Whiff rate) more aggressively. But given some of the struggles with their other starters, he’s getting the ball to open Friday’s game against the Mets. Holmes’ bullpen appearance was very effective (and efficient), as he needed just 47 pitches to get through four innings. He had four strikeouts (the slider was working) and allowed only one baserunner. Holmes should be able to tame the underachieving NYM offense and should be good for 5-6 innings if he stays out of trouble.
Brandon Young (BAL) – SP (Yahoo – 32%) @ CIN
Young’s last appearance against the Nationals had some good and some bad. The good: he struck out eight in five innings. The bad: he also allowed nine baserunners. Young’s got an impressive 3.11 ERA this season in 72.1 IP, but his 4.61 xFIP suggests there will be regression. But it probably won’t come at the hands of Cincinnati, who have trouble scoring runs even at home and are 29th in the league in batting average. Young will have the unfortunate draw of facing Hunter Greene, but Greene likely won’t pitch deep into the game in his debut even though he’s mostly stretched out from his rehab stints.
