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
Matthew Boyd (CHC), SP (39% rostered on Yahoo, 28% rostered on ESPN)
Boyd boyzzzz unite! I could talk at length about why I love Matthew Boyd so much as a pitcher. Sure, he does have a bit of an issue with home runs, but I don’t care. Since returning from Tommy John surgery last year, he has shown flashes of being a guy you can rely upon as a season progresses. If you love the combination of fastball up and changeup down from lefties, Boyd is your guy, as he is in many ways the blueprint for the aces that we see pitching like this today.
The main reason why Boyd is a must-pickup now, though, is his upcoming schedule. He gets the White Sox today, which of course, is a golden matchup. He then goes to Great American Ballpark, which, yeah, isn’t the best place to pitch, but the Reds haven’t found any sort of offensive consistency this year. From there he gets Rockie Road and the Nationals. This is the kind of stretch on a schedule that fantasy managers dream of, and you’re getting it from a pitcher with great stuff who is somehow available in most leagues. It also helps that he has a firepower offense giving him run support, so as long as he pitches pretty well and goes deep enough in the game, he should be able to muster some wins.
Kyle Manzardo (CLE), 1B (28% rostered on Yahoo, 12% rostered on ESPN)
I know I’ve banged the drum on Kyle Manzardo for a while now, but the main point still stands. There are 21 hitters who, thus far, have hit double-digit home runs. Very few of these guys make it to the waiver wire, and if they do, often they’re like Taylor Ward, who has a wRC+ of 70. Manzardo is the best source of home runs that you can find on the wire, and while he hasn’t been amazing in other areas, he’s still young and was vaunted for his contact abilities as a prospect. His pitch recognition will continue to improve, and he will become a very reliable 1B/DH type both in real baseball and fantasy baseball. For now, he’s a waiver wire regular, but he’s a good one, especially if, again, you are in desperate need of home runs.
Ryan Weathers (MIA), SP (19% rostered on Yahoo, 6% rostered on ESPN)
Ryan Weathers returned against the Cubs, and it was awesome! So much so that I would seriously consider starting him against the Cubs the next outing. Yes, I know that he will be limited and that the Cubs are an elite team, but hot dang, he looked really good.
Weathers is pretty similar to Boyd in that he’s a primarily four-seam/changeup-focused lefty. This has proven to be a good combo, especially against the heavy righty lineups. Weathers also brings a sweeper, which, admittedly, isn’t the best. It struggles to get strikes at the rate of some of the great breaking pitch third offerings that can be found throughout the league.
Weathers is a pitcher who has looked great in the past at points and has the potential to be even better. Yes, the upcoming schedule isn’t pretty for him, but if he can survive it, he could potentially be the Marlins’ best pitcher, at least until we see Eury Perez come back.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Yesterday was a day of streamers, as four scheduled starters were the most common waiver picks, while the other player was Hyeseong Kim, who looks like yet another Dodgers success story. He was heralded for his speed and contact abilities, and has thus far shown that in L.A. He probably will get sent down when Tommy Edman returns, as Edman will take that second base spot, though if Kim continues to prove his worth, he could be a great bench utility type player for the Dodgers.
Stephen Kolek was coming off a genuinely outstanding game, as he put together a complete game to earn the win in a total routing of the Rockies at Coors Field. His follow-up did not live up to the standard he previously set, as he allowed 5 runs across 5 innings. It’s probably best to expect more outings like today’s than his first two of the year, though he still could be a great streaming pick for wins or in matchups against bottom 5 offenses.
Cade Horton didn’t have the best of starts, but it was a weird game, and he got the win. Across his five innings, he did give up three runs, and his WHIP was over 1, but it certainly could’ve been worse. Two of his runs came in the first inning, which shows that he was able to lock in as the game went on, and he shook off what were potentially nerves. In Horton, you have a guy with a high ceiling, but a lower floor due to the nature of young starters, especially those who have just been called up. You have to feel bad for Shane Smith, who was on the mound for a six-run second inning, though he was only charged with one earned run because of a White Sox error that extended the inning.
Ranger Suárez is a great command arm who has returned from an injury and has looked a bit up and down. Managers were able to shake off his season debut, though, when they saw that the Pirates were up next for Suarez. He had a really solid game against the Pirates, giving managers a seven-inning quality start that featured six strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.00. Suarez is one of those pitchers who is right on the border of “burn and churn” and hold.
Dustin May is a similar ratio-focused arm to Suarez, though with a different arsenal. May has leaned entirely into the sinker and sweeper combination lately, to mixed results. His ratios took a hit in a loss to the Angels, as he allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings. The saving grace of this performance was the 8 strikeouts, as you don’t always get lots of strikeouts from May. It wasn’t a super successful outing, but if you were desperate for Ks, he was a good pitcher to have on the mound.
We talked about a few of these guys yesterday, so I will keep it quick with them. Trent Grisham has been great so far, and he leads off for the Yankees. He’s bound to give you plenty of much-needed runs, and he amazingly already has 12 home runs! For context, his career high is 17. Perhaps the trade that involved Juan Soto and Michael King was actually the Trent Grisham trade…
AJ Smith-Shawver has been a popular pickup as of late. He terrorized the Nationals and is in line to take them on again, which makes him a valuable player to hold for another start. Though, he is far from the best pitcher. The results have been great and he’s been getting strikeouts, but his arsenal isn’t the best. His fastball is below-average and his slower stuff, while potent, isn’t located with the intent you want. Still, he has had some great starts and has an excellent matchup on the docket, so keep him around for now.
Andrew Abbott is somewhat similar to Smith-Shawver, though with some better aspects. His fastball isn’t great and neither is his command, but something is intriguing about these lefty changeup guys. He also has a great matchup coming up against Cleveland, so hold for now, but don’t get too attached to him, as there are plenty of streamer options with similar skills who will have better matchups in the future.
Heliot Ramos is an exciting name to see on here, as he is the ultimate “buy while he’s hot” player. He’s been insane lately, upping his batting average my a ridiculous amount just over a week. Ramos has been an extremely hot and cold guy for a while now, so there’s definitely some fear that he will revert to the 84 wRC+ hitter he was last September, as opposed to the 215 wRC+ guy he’s been this May. If Ramos is available, pick him up now, but be prepared to drop him when things go south.
Category Specific Players to Add
Gavin Lux (CIN), 2B, OF (21% rostered on Yahoo, 17% rostered on ESPN)
The Gavin Lux epic hot streak from early in the season is now long over, but he’s still a player worth considering rostering. The key to Lux is batting average. He doesn’t have much power in that bat, as evidenced by his one home run on the season. Despite his decent speed, he rarely steals, so you don’t get much value there either. He also hits near the middle of the Reds’ lineup, so runs and RBIs can be hard to come by. With that said, his reluctance to chase and swing-and-miss helps his ratios tremendously, and his xBA, while lower than his current average, shows a player who will hit above .260.
Jake Meyers (HOU), OF (9% rostered on Yahoo, 5% rostered on ESPN)
Jake Meyers is pretty similar to Lux in many ways, especially in that they both have a batting average above .290 thus far this year. Now Meyers notably whiffs more but strikes out less, which is always a funny thing to see, but overall, yes, he’s a similar pickup to Lux. What differentiates him though is his willingness to steal. He has a similar sprint speed to Lux, but he already has 7 steals. Meyers is a great speed/contact option for you to pickup, though the peripherals show a guy who probably regresses to an about .260 batting average.
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.
Colin Rea (CHC), SP, RP (38% rostered on Yahoo, 15% rostered on ESPN)
Colin Rea isn’t the flashiest streaming pick out there, but he’s looked decent, at least against weak offenses. Now, he’s lining up against one of the weakest offenses out there: the White Sox. This might feel like a bit of a cheaper streaming pick, but he’s looked good this year and there’s no reason to believe he won’t put up a decent line against the White Sox, especially with an excellent offense giving him run support and a clearer path in view for him to go deep into games.
Justin Verlander (SFG), SP (29% rostered on Yahoo, 13% rostered on ESPN)
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down season for Justin Verlander, who has had some really tough matchups early in the year. He’s also had a few good matchups, such as the ones against the Angels or the one against Rockie Road. He gets the Athletics at home on Sunday, which looks to be a good matchup. The A’s have been a solid offense, though they’ve largely found success playing in a great offensive environment in West Sacramento. San Francisco is much less hitter-friendly, so this makes this a very good streaming matchup.
Deep League Players to Watch
Eli White (ATL), OF (5% rostered on Yahoo, 2% rostered on ESPN)
Atlanta’s occasional leadoff hitter has been a nice surprise this year, as the team has really leaned on him a lot due to injuries and underperformance. Like seemingly every stand-in for the team, he’s looked really solid. He’s a pretty average hitter, but what makes him nice is his speed. He has some of the fastest sprint speed in baseball, which makes him a valuable contributor in the runs and stolen bases columns, even if we are hoping to see even more steals from him.