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 

TJ Friedl (CIN), OF (43% rostered on Yahoo, 18% rostered on ESPN)

It looks like TJ Friedl is starting to get locked in with the Reds. The team’s primary centre fielder is hitting leadoff for the team and has rewarded them as of late. He is coming off his third career multi-homer game on Wednesday, which is always exciting to see considering he is definitely not a power bat. Friedl is a contact/speed combination who has a knack for getting on base. He puts plenty of balls in play, as he rarely chases or whiffs, which makes his approach fairly sustainable. Once on base, he poses a threat to steal, as he already has 8 stolen bags. He notably hasn’t shown the same sprint speed this year as he did in 2023, but he’s still getting in done on the basepaths.

Cade Horton (CHC), SP (18% rostered on Yahoo, 6% rostered on ESPN)

Everyone gets excited when a top prospect comes up, and Cade Horton is the latest of these, joining the Cubs’ rotation for Sunday’s start against the Mets to fill in for the injured Shota Imanaga. This start might scare you off, and I don’t blame you for not wanting anything to do with it. However, other fantasy managers are pouncing, and he has the White Sox next. It might be the play to pick him up now, bench him, and let him run wild after he gets that first start out of the way. He’s often been viewed as a command arm, but struggled with walks in AAA this year, largely because he was returning from a shoulder injury.

Horton is mainly a fastball/slider guy, as both offerings are solid. The slider has looked way more than solid at points in AAA, as it has carried nearly a 40% whiff rate. He also has a curveball and changeup, which look solid, though they aren’t used often. It’s always a risk to roll with prospect pitchers in fantasy, however, take the chance on grabbing Horton before your peers do, as you will be able to take advantage of a start versus the Cubs’ crosstown rivals.

Victor Scott II (STL), OF (39% rostered on Yahoo, 15% rostered on ESPN)

Victor Scott II is perhaps the best source of stolen bases who can still be found on the waiver wires of most leagues. While there are plenty of reasons to assume that his batting average probably won’t sit where it’s at across the season, he’s proven that he can provide consistent production, especially when he combines his excellent baserunning with his elite launch angle management. His discipline isn’t awful either, which makes for plenty of value. He does hit towards the back (often at the very back) of the Cardinals’ lineup, which has perhaps led to him being available in leagues at a rate higher than you’d honestly expect with the production he’s given. That and the fact that he doesn’t produce against lefties.

 

 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 Cade Horton, who fantasy managers are clearly trying to get the head start on. Each of these pitchers, in particular, was intriguing because they all had pretty juicy matchups, facing offenses that can struggle to come alive, especially when the opposing pitcher is executing their pitches well.

Bryce Elder may not be the best arm out there, but he’s put together a bit of a good stretch. He’s made it a habit of going on nice little streaks and yesterday, he put together another really solid outing. While he allowed three runs, he notched 8 strikeouts and kept the WHIP under one. Unfortunately, he took the loss on the night, but he still rewarded ratio and strikeout needy managers somewhat, which makes this a streaming win.

Tomoyuki Sugano was one of the biggest streaming wins of the day, as he looked awesome against the Angels. Orioles pitchers have not seen much success this year, but Sugano is really locking in at the right time. This was another great start against a great opponent for streaming. This might be the point where you’re tempted to hold onto him, especially with the Twins on the docket.

Jose Quintana looked solid against the Rays, though he didn’t give managers too much apart from a low ERA. You’re not upset with this stream, but you aren’t very happy either.

It’s been a bit of a difficult stretch for Max Meyer, as after tearing up the Reds, he put together two truly abhorrent starts. Unfortunately, Meyer continued the downward trend against the lowly White Sox yesterday, allowing 5 earned runs across a little over six innings. There’s so much to like with Meyer, but since he caught the eyes of everyone in the fantasy world, he hasn’t lived up to the hype. It’s a shame because we’re all ready for him to be awesome.

The ESPN list of added players is the same as yesterday, though in an ever-so-slightly different order. They were covered yesterday, but in case you missed it, here’s a quick reminder of why these players are worth your time.

Can you believe that Javier Báez is one of the most popular waiver adds in the sport right now? And has been for over a week? He took over the Centre Field role for the Tigers, adding another position to his eligibility. He’s still the same free-swinger of old, but hey, he’s producing at a great rate. It’s fun to see him doing this and it’s great to see him as a popular pick for fantasy teams, even if we’re all holding our breaths that he will maintain at least good production the rest of the way.

Kyle Stowers was one of my must-add picks last week and certainly rose to the occasion. Right after I named him as a must-add player, he went off, putting together a 2-home run, 6-RBI game, and looked great for the rest of the week.

Tony Gonsolin and Robbie Ray are a pair of California team arms who have looked excellent as of late. Gonsolin took advantage of two great matchups (coincidentally against the same team!) and has a solid matchup against the Athletics at home next on the schedule. Ray has just been flat-out excellent as of late, showcasing volume, great ratios, and strikeout ability, which has given him a 5-0 record on the season.

Byron Buxton is the guy we know and love. He had an excellent run this past week, hitting home runs galore and knocking batters in left and right. He will probably always be slightly underrated due to the imminent injury risk, as well as the tendency to strike out a lot. Buxton’s rostership numbers just keep continuing to grow, though, so maybe grab him now if you’re even considering it.

Category Specific Players to Add 

 

Luisangel Acuña (NYM), 2B, SS (11% rostered on Yahoo, 6% rostered on ESPN)

It feels like there always has to be a fun contact/speed player in the category-specific players section, and Luisangel Acuña fits the bill today. Ronald’s younger brother isn’t going to give you the MVP-type numbers, but he still has shown that he can be a menace on the basepath, all while making contact at a solid rate. He also gives you a bit of positional flexibility if you are really in need of help at either shortstop or second base. Pick Luisangel up if you need to up your average or stolen base numbers; he shouldn’t be too hard to grab.

 

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.

Lucas Giolito (BOS), SP (14% rostered on Yahoo, 8% rostered on ESPN)

Lucas Giolito looked AWFUL in his last start, yet we’re still keeping him around as he finds his way back into the groove of being in an MLB rotation. We’ve seen what Giolito can do, and while his days of having that ace potential are perhaps over, he’s still an arm that can give you a great start now and then. Just look back to his first start of the year, where he gave fantasy managers a quality start and seven strikeouts.

Sean Burke (CWS), SP (6% rostered on Yahoo, 3% rostered on ESPN)

He isn’t the best pitcher available, but Sean Burke gets one of the best matchups in Miami. He’s coming off a couple of outings with solid results, even if he didn’t look his best in the most recent one. Still, he’s riding a wave of good production and should take advantage of a lineup that doesn’t instill much fear in pitchers. It’s more of a deep league play, but if you desperately need help in one category for the last day of your week, consider taking the chance on Burke.

 

Deep League Players to Watch 

 

Trey Sweeney (DET), SS (7% rostered on Yahoo, 3% rostered on ESPN)

Who would’ve thought that the Tigers would be such a potent offense? I’m not even sure if the most optimistic of Tigers fans would’ve expected this. With the lineup around him playing outstandingly well, Trey Sweeney has locked in and has started producing. He’s had a fantastic week of production leading up to today and yet he still isn’t rostered in many leagues. This is likely because he doesn’t have any particular standout traits offensively, but you can do much worse and it’s always good to pick up a hot player before they cool down.

Â