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 players you can leave on the wire.
Top Priority Players to Add
The List is your best tool for figuring out your playoff pitching. Here are some rapid-fire, elevator pitches for some batters I’d look at to aid a playoff push.
Trey Yesavage (TOR) – SP (Yahoo! – 15%)
Not a batter, but deserves a shoutout. Nine strikeouts in five innings of one-run ball in his debut. Slam dunk add in all league sizes.
Jordan Beck (COL) – OF (Yahoo! – 18%)
Plays the rest of his games this week at Coors. Hitting well, just without the power to put up big fantasy numbers at the moment. .849 OPS hitter at home, compared to .663 on the road.
Sal Stewart (CIN) – 1B, 2B, 3B (Yahoo! – 10%)
Power binge in his debut with three home runs in 10 games. His K% has been high in the majors at 25% compared to 15.6% this year in the minors, so there’s hope for his average to improve from .250, where it sits now.
Parker Meadows (DET) – OF (Yahoo! – 8%)
Should be rostered while he’s healthy. Batting leadoff for the Tigers and averaging .360 with one home run in the last week. He’s struggled this year compared to last, but he’s been productive since his most recent IL stint. Should be rostered well above 8% while he’s batting leadoff.
Kody Clemens (MIN) – 1B, 2B, 3B OF (Yahoo! – 9%)
Cheap power hitter, .216 average with 19 homers. Slight platoon risk, but only one day of facing southpaws this week. He’s a streaky hitter with his 23.2% K%, but you might be able to catch the tail end of this power surge.
Otto Lopez (MIA) – 2B, SS (Yahoo! – 35%)
Some power and some steals. Batting .289 in the past month compared to his season average of .250, should translate to some home runs during his three upcoming games at Coors.
José Caballero (NYY) – 2B, 3B, SS, OF (Yahoo! – 25%)
Your best source of steals, he has three in the last week while batting around .300. Pretty good pitching matchups against the Twins and Orioles.
Jake Mangum (TBR) – OF (Yahoo! – 5%)
Your second-best source of steals — two in the last week while batting .286. MAN-GUM, not MAG-NUM.
Mickey Moniak (COL) – OF (Yahoo! – 9%)
Somehow, the 33rd-best player over the last two weeks and up to 177th on the season, who knew? Plays at home all week for that sweet Rockies boost. Up to 21 home runs and nine steals for the season with a .268 average. He might be the greatest to ever do it.
Caleb Durbin (MIL) – 2B, 3B, SS (Yahoo! – 16%)
Five home runs and five steals with a .281 average in the last month. He’ll play the Angels and the part of the Cardinals’ rotation that features Miles Mikolas, so you gotta get in on that.
Yahoo! and ESPN Most Added Players
Yahoo!
Connelly Early is a popular streaming pick against the Athletics. He was dominant in his debut, keeping the very same Athletics off the board over five innings with 11 strikeouts. I don’t love that he’s facing the same team, so I’d shy away unless you’re looking for strikeouts in particular.
Sal Stewart is hitting well and has a reasonable path towards hitting even better as he continues to adjust. Good contributor for all categories, but there’s some rookie risk once teams start scouting him more effectively.
Joey Cantillo has had a superb month and faces the middle-of-the-road Tigers bats. I’d look here before taking Early.
Cam Schlittler plays the not-so-scary Twins and has looked like a true breakout. Let the man fly.
ESPN
Daylen Lile seemed like a flash in the pan, but he’s turned into a supernova. Just hope he doesn’t collapse in the middle of your playoff run.
Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells, the Orioles’ late-season reinforcements, both hit the ground running. Both appear to be excellent additions for the final stretch.
Harrison Bader is batting leadoff ahead of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. He’s a solid contributor on his own, but his value will tank if his spot in the lineup changes.
Trevor Story has been excellent all season; he should be rostered everywhere.
Streaming Pitchers
Check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings for breakdowns and recommendations for every start.
Ryan Weathers – SP (Yahoo! – 7%)
Weathers will face the Rockies at Coors tomorrow. I hate recommending Coors, but there aren’t many pitchers available in most leagues for Wednesday, and I’d rather bet on Weathers’ talent and track record than Cade Povich’s matchup.
