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
Royce Lewis (MIN) – 1B, 2B, 3B (Yahoo – 29%)
Lewis left us dreaming of what he might be able to accomplish over an entire season when he posted a .920 OPS and 152 wRC+ over 239 PAs three years ago. It was great. The prospect shine hadn’t worn off. Those were the days. But he continued to have bad injury luck. And then, last year, he played in a career-high 106 games, but he posted a Volpean 85 wRC+. The results have been underwhelming again this year, as he’s hitting .215 with a 91 wRC+. But he has 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases. And his 104 Process provides a sliver of hope that there is still a bit of upside in his bat. Did I mention that I’m a sucker for post-post hype sleepers? More like compost, if you ask me. Silence, you! I’ll take a page from Scott Chu’s playbook and pull up the rolling chart. Now tell me you aren’t at least a little interested.
Christian Scott (NYM) – SP (Yahoo – 30%)
Scott’s 18.1% K-BB since returning from Tommy John surgery in late April had put him squarely on the fantasy radar, but we were waiting for him to have that one stellar outing. Well, it might have happened last night. He went toe-to-toe with Sale and completed six innings for the first time this season, while holding a tough Braves lineup to just one earned run. Digging deeper, I’m a little disappointed that his sweeper yielded just one whiff, which suggests it might not have been as great of an outing as the line suggests. His curveball didn’t record a whiff, either. Still, I think you have to consider it a step in the right direction toward him becoming a more reliable option.
Jackson Holliday (BAL) – 2B, SS (Yahoo – 24%)
Holliday rode the bench yesterday against Skubal, but helped fuel a wild come-from-behind win with a pair of hits and three RBIs. The son of the Sillwater Stinger entered 2026 on a mission to remove the bust label after posting a disappointing .689 OPS last year. He then lost about a month and a half of the season to right hamate surgery and finished the first half with a .702 OPS. However, he has peppered the box score lately, and I think you have to wonder if maybe he’s starting to get back up to speed after the surgery. Suddenly, he has a much better-looking .767 OPS. At 22, Holliday is far from a finished player, and I would very much like to see where this goes.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Hayden Wesneski got a bunch of clicks for his first start since May 6th of last year. As a righty with a sweeper-dominant arsenal, Wesneski has had problems dispatching lefties, making him a matchup-dependent streamer. Regardless of the outcome last night, which came against a righty-dominant Angels lineup, I’d take a wait-and-see approach.
Gabriel Hughes turned in an impressive quality start in his debut in L.A. against the Dodgers three weeks ago. Yesterday, he held the Padres to three earned runs across five innings. His four-seamer, which looks more like a cutter, has demonstrated decent whiffability. But is that enough to make him fantasy relevant while wearing the purple and black? Probably not.
Chase Meidroth socked a two-run bomb off David Bednar Tuesday night and has been decent this season, hitting .276 with a 11o wRC+. Judging by the 25-year-old’s work last season with Triple-A Charlotte, he is probably best for points leagues; he has good plate skills, but offers no power and marginal speed (13 SBs last year).
Dylan Crews has largely disappointed since the Nats selected him second overall out of LSU. At 24, this feels like a now-or-never point in his career. And to his credit, he has strung some hits together over the past week, including a pair of long balls. Overall, he’s hitting just .229 with a 96 wRC+, but like Lewis, he is certainly worth a look for his post-hype appeal. While his ability to be a big-league-caliber bat remains to be determined, at the very least, we know he’s a pretty decent base stealer (17 on 22 attempts last year).
Oh, hey, it’s Luis Rengifo again. The 29-year-old switch-hitter has started eight of the Padres’ last 10 games, which included a since-broken eight-game hitting streak. His 2B, 3B, OF eligibility makes him a decent stopgap in deep leagues, but his career 89 wRC+ suggests you’ll be keeping your eyes peeled for someone better.
AJ Smith-Shawver made his season debut against the Mets in the matinee of yesterday’s doubleheader at Citi Field. He needed 69 pitches to get 13 outs, while surrendering two earned runs on four hits and two walks. The good news is that his fastball velocity topped at 99.6 mph. The bad news is that his heater had just a 48% zone rate; that’s not too surprising since fastball command was a big problem for him as a rookie last season before he underwent Tommy John surgery. His splitter, meanwhile, recorded just one of his two whiffs. AJSS could eventually be a decent play for wins once he gets his sea legs under him, but it’s probably best to take the wait-and-see approach.
Save for a two-run bomb from Gabriel Moreno, Jared Jones was otherwise flawless during yesterday afternoon’s QS. Unfortunately, his adversary E-Rod could do no wrong. Regardless, the underappreciation for Jones by fantasy managers on ESPN has left my hide thoroughly chapped. I get the pitch count is a little bit of a nuisance (he threw 77 yesterday). But he’s 27th on The List for a reason.
We discussed Ezequiel Duran yesterday. He has played just about everywhere for the Rangers, while hitting .275 with 12 dingers, eight steals, and a career-best 118 wRC+. His 105 Process is pretty solid, too.
The Brewers pushed Shane Drohan’s 12th start to Friday; I’d be pretty excited for that, considering the Angels strike out a ton. He owns a rock-solid 17.3% K-BB and is 79th on The List. However, there is a chance that Drohan shifts to the pen if the Brewers swing a deal at the deadline.
Matthew Boyd entered last night’s game in St. Louis with a 3.81 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and a 15.5% K-BB. He’s 58th on The List, and I’d jump at the chance to add him in any of my 12-team leagues if he ended up on waivers.
Streaming Pitchers
Be sure to check Nick’s daily SP streamers article.
Today:
Bailey Ober (MIN) – SP (Yahoo – 18%) vs. KC
Ober is one of the few pitchers whose fastball wouldn’t catch a speeding ticket in a school zone. This isn’t for the faint of heart, but the Royals lineup is pretty thin without Witt, and Ober has, at the very least, a tidy 5.4% career BB rate. However, if Buxton is out again, I could see favoring Ober’s adversary, Noah Cameron; he’s 20% rostered on Yahoo, and could also torch your ratios, but he brings a bit more K upside to the table. Yes, I wish there were better options, too.
Tomorrow:
Janson Junk (MIA) – SP (Yahoo – 3 %) at NYM
The Marlins yanked Junk after just four innings and 75 pitches against the Padres last Sunday. That doesn’t really make you feel good about him, right? I sorta feel the same way, but his pitch quality metrics (5.26 PLV) are stupid good, and I think worth taking a chance on against the Soto-less Mets.
Deep League Players to Watch
Nick Loftin (KC) – 2B, 3B, OF (Yahoo – 2%)
Loftin hasn’t exactly lit up the boxscore, but he’s slashing a respectable .251/ .337/ .408 and playing every day for the Royals.
Brady House (WSN) – 3B (Yahoo – 3%)
Mead’s departure should afford House, who posted a 114 wRC+ with Triple-A Rochester this season, an extended opportunity. For now, though, he looks to be locked in a platoon with Jorbit Vivas.
