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

 

Isaac Paredes (HOU), 3B (57% Rostered on Yahoo)

Isaac Paredes has had a modest start to the year, going 4-for-19 with three doubles, but his current stat line isn’t the reason you need to go add him. Despite a solid debut season with the Astros in 2025, his ADP was diminished this offseason due to playing time concerns, with the Astros having Christian Walker, Jose Altuve, Jeremy Peña, Carlos Correa, and Yordan Alvarez to man the infield positions and designated hitter. However, Paredes has started all five of Houston’s games so far as their three-hole hitter, splitting time between first base, second base, third base, and DH. It helps that Pena is still banged up and getting extra time to rest, but the Astros didn’t hesitate to put Alvarez in the outfield when they needed to start both Pena and Paredes.

The guaranteed playing time makes him a starting-caliber third baseman for fantasy, but his appearances at first and second make him even more enticing. Triple eligibility could be in his future later on this season, and that would be especially valuable at second base, which is one of the shallowest positions. He slashed .254/.352/.458 with 20 homers in 102 games last season, thanks to his league-leading pull air rate of 38.5%. He’s already decently rostered at 57% on Yahoo, but a middle-of-the-order bat for the Astros with multi-position eligibility looming should be universally rostered. 

 

Emerson Hancock (SEA), SP (31% Rostered on Yahoo)

Emerson Hancock had one of the standout pitching performances of the season so far on Sunday night, striking out nine over six no-hit innings against the Guardians. It’s especially notable that he completely changed his pitch mix compared to what we’ve usually seen from him. He threw his four-seam fastball 52.6% of the time and his sweeper 25.8% of the time, which is vastly more than the 26.8% and 3.2% that he used those pitches last season. He’s worth an add in all leagues to see if this new approach continues to work for him.

 

Jack Leiter (TEX), SP (45% Rostered on Yahoo)

Jack Leiter looked great on Monday, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk with eight strikeouts over six innings against the Orioles. His slider was especially on point, registering a 64% whiff rate and 55% CSW% on 22 pitches. He got 21 total whiffs on the night and should be rostered in more than 45% of leagues heading into his next start against the Reds.

 

Parker Messick (CLE), SP (23% Rostered on Yahoo)

Parker Messick shut down the Dodgers on Monday night, tossing six shutout innings while striking out five. He allowed five hits and walked none. It was a great start for the youngster who came into this season with great sleeper appeal after posting a 2.72 ERA in seven starts at the end of 2025. Shutting down the best offense in baseball is plenty enough to prove his breakout potential is real, and he should be added in any league where he’s available.

 

Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players

 

 

I’ve already discussed Emerson Hancock, who has already been widely added for good reason. Lucas Erceg is also a solid add at the top of the list, thanks to Carlos Estévez imploding in his first appearance of the season. He may end up heading for a stint on the injured list, and either way, Erceg is likely the next man up for saves in that bullpen. Cody Ponce was a popular streaming pick-up, but unfortunately suffered a knee injury and had to be stretchered off the field. An MRI on Tuesday should tell more about the severity, but it didn’t look good. Randy Vasquez impressed in his first start of the season, striking out eight over six scoreless innings. I’m not as excited about him as guys such as Hancock, Leiter, or Messick, but he’s not a bad pick-up if you have an empty roster spot to fill. Clay Holmes was another streaming pick for Monday, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts over 5 ⅔ innings against the Cardinals. This start didn’t move the needle on him for me in either direction, and he’ll remain a streaming option moving forward.

 

 

The most added list on ESPN also features Hancock at the top, with four hitters following suit. Munetaka Murakami and Sal Stewart are two rookies who have gotten off to fast starts. Murakami has three home runs already, and Stewart has gone 8-for-12 with one homer, three doubles, and five walks. Both are already highly rostered, but definitely pick them up if they’re somehow available. The same can be said for Wilyer Abreu, who is already rostered in most leagues on other sites and is set for another year as a solid outfielder for fantasy. The only name on this list that is widely available is Joey Wiemer, who has two home runs so far this year. While it’s nice to see from the former prospect, it’s not enough to rush to the waiver wire to add him.

 

Category Specific Players to Add 

 

Matt Wallner (MIN), OF (7% Rostered on Yahoo)

Matt Wallner hit his first home run of the season on Monday, which is a nice reminder of the power potential he provides that is most likely sitting on your waiver wire right now. He has been mostly overlooked for fantasy over the past few years as a platoon guy, but the Twins manager recently confirmed that Wallner is locked in for an everyday role this season and won’t sit against lefties. That’s great news for the slugger, who hit 22 homers in 104 games in 2025.

 

Justin Crawford (PHI), OF (23% Rostered on Yahoo)

There have been so many great rookie performances over the first handful of games that Crawford is kind of flying under the radar. He hasn’t done anything spectacular, but is a solid 3-for-9 to start his career. He hasn’t actually stolen any bases yet, but with three straight seasons of 40+ stolen bases in the minors, he is one of the best bets for steals that is widely available in Yahoo leagues. He doesn’t look overmatched by major league pitching thus far, and could be a very solid player for the Phillies as their everyday center fielder.

 

Streaming Pitchers

 

Be sure to check out Nick Pollack’s SP Streamer Rankings to figure out who you need to start, stream, or sit each day this season. There is one name that I particularly like for today.

 

Andrew Painter (PHI), SP (31% Rostered on Yahoo)

From a strictly streaming perspective, Andrew Painter wouldn’t be my first choice, but he is my favorite of the low-rostered streaming options in terms of rest of season potential. It’s hard to know exactly what we’ll see from the youngster in his first major league start, but he has too much upside to only be rostered in 31% of leagues. He gets a nice matchup against the Nationals and could be a fantasy difference maker for the rest of the season if he comes out looking like he’s putting a rough 2025 behind him.