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. 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
Mickey Moniak (COL), OF (29% rostered on Yahoo, 12% rostered on ESPN)
I’ve included Mickey Moniak on here a couple of times, as he’s been prone to these hot streaks like the one he is currently in the midst of.
Moniak is a priority pickup, really for two reasons. Reason #1 is Coors Field. This is an important weekend, as for some of you, this is championship weekend. Moniak gets the Angels, a pretty poor pitching team, at the ballpark in which hitters succeed the most. He is a huge play for home runs, as he’s been their second-best home run hitter this year. The second reason Moniak is valuable is that he hits second in the order. It’s not a great lineup, but it’s still the spot where he will have the best chance to rack up RBIs and runs.
Trey Yesavage (TOR), SP (23% rostered on Yahoo, 7% rostered on ESPN
The Trey Yesavage debut earlier in the week was INCREDIBLE, getting whiffs like crazy against a Rays lineup in a ballpark that is never easy to pitch in.
Now, Yesavage gets a pitcher-friendly ballpark out in Kansas City, where he should hopefully take advantage of it and rack up strikeouts while keeping the Royals off the board.
Yesavage is a three-pitch pitcher who features a four-seamer, splitter, and slider. His four-seamer is released at an incredibly high point, and its steep arm angle leads to plenty of induced vertical break, which is conducive to plenty of whiffs and pop-ups. The splitter is absolutely nasty, getting crazy whiffs when thrown low and the slider is similar, as it is a true bullet slider that he throws to batters on both sides of the plate.
Yesavage is a hot young arm who is amped up and ready to go for a matchup against the Royals on Sunday. Grab him if you can.
Bubba Chandler (CLE), SP, RP (30% rostered on Yahoo, 13% rostered on ESPN)
Speaking of top pitching prospects who debuted recently, Bubba Chandler is a must-add for today’s start. Chandler was a bit of an enigma this year, as many felt he would be called up to the big leagues in May. This didn’t happen, and it took most of the year for him to get called up. Once he was up, the Pirates said they were going to use him out of the bullpen with the possibility of him making starts in the future. He has now made two starts, with very different results.
Chandler’s debut against Milwaukee saw him getting lit up with tons of singles left and right. Against the Nationals, he tightened up and carved through that weak lineup, showing us why evaluators ranked him above some of the hotter pitching prospect names.
Chandler gets the Athletics, who are admittedly a pretty solid lineup, though this is away from their hitter-friendly home ballpark in West Sacramento. Chandler’s stuff and control are too good for him not to be able to rack up strikeouts, and this just feels like one of those starts where the ratios will be solid. He’s an exciting arm who wants to prove why he’s such a big part of his club’s plans.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
As it often has been, yesterday’s group of adds featured a crop of pitchers all throwing that day except for Yesavage.
Brandon Sproat is yet another exciting Mets prospect pitcher who has come out swinging. He, similarly to the others, has an excellent sweeper, which he leans into quite a bit. He had a rather mediocre start against the Nationals, as their lefty hitters took advantage of his sweeper focus, tagging him for four runs in four innings, though he did average over a strikeout an inning. With young pitchers, the floor is low, but with talent like Sproat, the ceiling is high.
Parker Messick was one of my high-priority pickups last week, as I am a believer in his command despite not having the most impressive stuff. He definitely proved me right against the Twins, as he was absolutely cruising against them. This was until he got to the sixth, where he allowed two runners to score and got pulled. Still, he notched nine strikeouts and had a solid WHIP, which is a lot better than many other pitchers last night!
Luis Severino has been two different pitchers this year, looking solid on the road and abhorrent at home in West Sacramento. In his match against the Pirates, he started out looking a little shaky, allowing three runs (though ultimately, only one of those was earned). He locked in, though, and didn’t allow any more runs in five innings, notching three strikeouts in the process and earning the win.
Mitch Keller has been a popular streaming option all year, despite being a rather middle-of-the-road pitcher skills-wise. He wasn’t particularly sharp against the Athletics, as he allowed four earned runs against them in five innings. At least the WHIP was 1.00?
ESPN’s group of player adds is quite an interesting bunch, featuring mainstays, young breakout players, and veterans in the midst of bounceback stretches.
Tyler Wells is back for the Orioles, and he looks the best we’ve maybe seen him. He’s had three great starts so far, returning wins in each contest. He isn’t getting tons of strikeouts, but he’s always been a pitcher who’s about the ratios, particularly the WHIP, which he is great at keeping low, which can be unusual from pitchers who don’t get tons of whiffs.
Jorge Polanco was featured in my Saturday column last week, and since then, he has just continued to bring production to fantasy managers. Now he does only have two home runs this month, but we’ve been seeing him put the ball in play quite a bit as his batting average has been exceptional. He has also been getting quite a few runs and RBIs, maintaining this late-season hot streak that feels reminiscent of how he started the year.
Andrew Kittredge has slotted into the co-closer role for the Cubs, sharing the duties with Brad Keller following the injury to Daniel Palencia. I have always been a Kittredge fan, as his slider is nasty and he’s always been a model of consistency. This year, Kittredge has looked great, as while his ERA is up a little bit, it’s come with a dramatic decrease in his WHIP and an increase in his strikeout rate. He just feels like the type of closer you can rely on, as long as his manager trusts him in that spot.
Kyle Bradish is a bit of an oddity, as there was a time when he was in that Aces Gonna Ace tier, but in the lower end, where he will always have to prove himself before earning it again. His last start against the White Sox was another great outing, as he nabbed nine strikeouts and kept the WHIP at 1.00. Unfortunately, Bradish gets the Yankees two more times next, which makes him not really worth the hold.
Category Specific Players to Add
Isaac Paredes (HOU), 1B, 3B (47% rostered on Yahoo, 59% rostered on ESPN)
Holy moly, Isaac Paredes is back. This could be amazing or disastrous for the Astros, depending on how it’s handled. Paredes is an excellent home run hitter, as despite struggling with raw power, he pulls the ball like few others do. This has led to him routinely outperforming his expected stats, especially with batting average and home runs. Paredes is absolutely one of the best players available through the wire, but there are concerns that he won’t look 100%, which would make him a wasted pick up here. The potential for home runs and the offensive categories that come with these, though, is just too good to ignore.
Cedric Mullins (NYM), OF (42% rostered on Yahoo, 33% rostered on ESPN)
Cedric Mullins hasn’t been a great addition to fantasy teams this year, as he has struggled quite a bit to put up consistent ratios. With that said, he provides something that some managers may need: stolen bases. He’s also a decent play for home runs, as he could hit twenty on the year. Unfortunately, the aforementioned meh ratios combined with him hitting near the back of the lineup make him more of a category-type play, but he still could help you in a couple of those categories.
Streaming Pitchers
WAIT! You haven’t read Nick Pollack’s starting pitcher streamer rankings for today? Get on that pronto. He ranks every expected starter for each day, highlighting who you should start, sit, and claim off waivers. The whole series of these can be found here: https://pitcherlist.com/category/fantasy/sp-streamers/
In terms of whom I would recommend you pick up? A couple of names come to mind.
Jeffrey Springs (ATH), SP (35% rostered on Yahoo, 5% rostered on ESPN)
As our fearless leader would say, it hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows for Jeffrey Springs. The former near-ace looked pretty mediocre this season, pitching some gems but also a lot of duds. With that said, you can blame plenty of that on the ballpark he was pitching in, as West Sacramento is a tough venue to find your footing in. On Sunday, Springs gets the Pirates at their home park, PNC Park. A solid strikeout pitcher who can go deep into games, playing at a pitcher-friendly park against a terrible offense? Sign us up. That changeup can still be nasty.
Joey Cantillo (CLE), SP, RP (25% rostered on Yahoo, 14% rostered on ESPN)
It’s always exciting to watch a pitching prospect become a key figure in a team’s rotation, something that Joey Cantillo has done for the Guardians this year. He may not go the deepest into games, and the command has been somewhat spotty as of late, but he’s kept solid ratios and has a decent strikeout rate. Against the Twins, expect a decent showing.
