Welcome to Waiver Wire Watch, where we review the top waiver wire adds and drops for each week of the MLB season.
The premise is pretty straightforward. I’ll try to give you some recommended adds each week based on recent production or role changes. When I list a player, I’ll try to list the category where I think he’ll be helpful or the quick reason he’s listed. My hope is that it will help you to determine if the player is a fit for what your team needs or not.
For a player to qualify to be on this list, he needs to be UNDER 50% rostered in Yahoo! formats. I understand you may say, “These players aren’t available in my league,” and I can’t help you there. These players are available in over 50% of leagues and some in 98% of leagues, so they’re available in many places and that can hopefully satisfy readers in all league types.
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds
We’ll start by just looking at the teams with the best overall schedule in the next week. It’s just a part of the equation but it’s good to know which hitters will face an easier road.
Hitters
Brendan Donovan - 1B/2B/3B/OF, STL (54% rostered) was just 38% rostered as of Friday morning
(CONSISTENT PLAYING TIME, BATTING AVERAGE UPSIDE)
It’s finally starting to happen for Donovan. He was just 38% rostered when I started drafting this article, but he’s now above the cut-off line thanks to his going 8-for-17 with three home runs and seven RBI over the last four games. Last year, there was some talk of Donovan breaking out thanks to off-season work on pulling and lifting the ball more. However, Donovan battled injuries last year and to start this season. Yet, Donovan is back in an everyday role in the Cardinals’ lineup and is hitting 20-for-67 (.299) in June with three home runs, seven runs, 11 RBI, and a steal in 17 games. He should continue to be a good source of batting average with solid counting stats, but the runs upside is a bit limited if Masyn Winn remains as the leadoff hitter. If you want another (potential future) multi-position player who you can roster in deeper formats, you can take a look at Daniel Schneeman - 2B, CLE (1% rostered), who doesn’t have multiple positions now but has started games at 2B, SS, 3B, CF, and RF since being called up at the beginning of the month. He’s gone 11-for-37 (.297) in that time with two home runs and one steal. However, he did have 10 home runs in 53 games at Triple-A this year and stole 17 bases this year, so there is some 15/15 full-season upside in his bat. He has a good feel for the strike zone, so should sport a solid enough batting average that will make him rosterable in 15-team leagues while the Guardians keep moving him around.
Jesse Winker - OF, WAS: 49% rostered
(STARTING JOB, SPEED - I GUESS)
Yes, another week with Jesse Winker on the Waiver Wire Watch. Here’s what I said last week, which I believe still applies: “I can’t believe it’s 2024 and I’m recommending Jesse Winker, but I also can’t believe I had to drop Ronald Acuna and add Jesse Winker a couple of weeks ago. Winker’s stolen base pace has died down, with just one over the last week weeks, but he does have 12 on the year despite never stealing more than one base in a season. He’s not the hitter he flashed in 2021, and I think the back injury has sapped some of his power, but he still has a strong feel for the strike zone and finds himself in an everyday job. Now that he’s also running, that adds some much-needed fantasy value to his solid batting average.” This week, Winker added a steal and two home runs to his season totals; he needs to be added in more places.
Zack Gelof - 2B, OAK: 43% rostered
(PLAYING TIME, POWER/SPEED UPSIDE)
Zack Gelof was a trendy middle infield pick in the middle rounds of fantasy baseball drafts this year, but the start of the year was truly poor. He’s hitting just .195 on the season with a 35% strikeout rate. However, things have gotten a little better of late. Over his last 15 games, he’s hitting .245 with four home runs, six runs scored, nine RBI, and three steals. He’s never going to hit for a high batting average, but the power/speed combination is what gets people excited. We should note that Gelof has a 40% strikeout rate over that time so this is still a volatile profile and one that could fall apart quickly.
Jarred Kelenic - OF, ATL: 36% rostered
(POWER/SPEED UPSIDE, NEW LINEUP SPOT)
Meet the leadoff hitter for the Atlanta Braves. When Ronald Acuna Jr. went down, we expected Kelenic to play a little bit more against left-handed pitchers. Then Michael Harris II went down with a serious hamstring injury and all of a sudden, Kelenic is playing every day and also leading off. He has hits in eight straight games and in the seven games he’s been the leadoff hitter, he’s gone 10-for-31 (.323) with two home runs, four runs, four RBI, one steal, and just a 23% strikeout rate. Now, he’s not walking much, which could hurt his ability to stick at the top of the order, but his aggressiveness so far has allowed him to jump on pitches early in the count, which has helped his batting average so if Kelenic can keep getting on base then he’ll hit atop this lineup and that should be great for his counting stats. You could also roster another former top prospect who is slowly showing consistency in J.J. Bleday - OF, OAK (26% rostered). Over the last month, he’s the 178th-ranked player in Yahoo standard 5x5 leagues, hitting .280 with four home runs, 17 runs scored, and seven RBI. He is hitting second in the lineup, which gives him the chance to accumulate runs if he can keep getting on base. Sound familiar?
Byron Buxton - OF, MIN: 36% rostered
(HEALTH, POWER UPSIDE)
It’s wild to think that Buxton is playing well and also not on a lot of rosters, but that’s what years of injuries will do to a player’s stock. The 30-year-old is playing every day in center field and starting to find his footing at the dish over the last two weeks, going 11-for-41 (.268) with one home run, seven runs, seven RBI, and three steals over the last 11 games. Those aren’t eye-popping numbers but the fact that Buxton is running and playing the field and remaining healthy is certainly nice to see. We have no idea how long it’s going to last and a 30% strikeout rate in June isn’t ideal, but I’d still rather gamble on the raw talent of somebody like Buxton than many other waiver wire targets. I’d also maybe trade him during this solid stretch if he was already on my team, haha.
Wilyer Abreu - OF, BOS: 35% rostered
(HEALTH, POWER/SPEED UPSIDE)
This is just your reminder that Abreu was activated from the IL this weekend, so his roster rate should not be this low. He’s hitting .273 with six home runs and seven steals in 54 games this season. The Red Sox will play him against all right-handed pitchers and hit him near the top of the lineup, which will give him solid value in counting stats as well. I’ve also had Alec Burleson - 1B/OF, STL (45% rostered) on here many times and I’m not sure why he’s not being added in more places. He plays every day and is hitting .281 with 12 home runs, 30 runs, and 30 RBI on the season. He’s Yahoo’s 138th-ranked player over the last month and should be rostered in over 50% of leagues.
Andy Pages - OF, LAD (33% rostered)
(PLAYING TIME, POWER UPSIDE)
Say it with me: “PROSPECT GROWTH IS NOT LINEAR.” Many people moved away from Pages when he started to get cold, and it was a mistake since the Dodgers kept playing him, which said a lot about their faith in him. Pages is still here and still playing pretty much every day. He’s also adjusted back to what pitchers were doing in getting him to chase out of the zone. Over his last 15 games, Pages has cut his strikeout rate back down to 22.2% while walking 13% of the time. His average is also .391 over that span with nine runs scored. Pick him back up. If you just want speed, you can go for Jake McCarthy - OF, ARI (10% rostered), who’s hitting .313 over his last 23 games with nine steals. He has 12 steals this season and is still playing pretty much every day for Arizona if you need that jolt of speed.
Eloy Jimenez - OF, CWS (31% rostered)
(HEALTH, POWER UPSIDE)
The White Sox activated Jimenez off the IL on Sunday morning after he missed a few weeks with a hamstring injury. As always, it’s hard to know how long he’ll stay healthy, and the lineup around him isn’t great, but Jimenez has power upside and should play regularly if you’re looking.
Zach Neto - SS, LAA: 28% rostered
(CONSISTENT PLAYING TIME, POWER/SPEED UPSIDE)
I was big into Neto in the preseason after he popped on my article looking for the next Josh Lowe and some other exit velocity articles. Neto hits the ball pretty hard for a middle infielder who wasn’t a big-time prospect, and we’re starting to see that come to fruition a bit here. We keep waiting for Neto to move up the batting order, but we’ll have to settle for him hitting seventh for now. We can also keep riding the hot bat of Paul DeJong - SS, CWS (21% rostered), who has been on this list for about a month now. We’ve seen DeJong have big power spikes in the past, and I’m not sure we’re seeing anything that suggests DeJong is suddenly a new player. However, he’s the 167th-ranked player in Yahoo over the last month on the back of seven home runs and 15 RBIs. Granted, that comes with a .237 batting average, which tells you a little bit about what you’re getting with DeJong. We hope the power sticks, but even in a hot stretch, the counting stats and batting average will just be OK.
Carlos Santana - 1B, MIN: 28% rostered
(HOT STREAK, POWER UPSIDE)
I listed Santana on here as a deep league option, but I think he’s hitting well enough to be a good CI target in most league types, at least in the short term. The Twins platoon more than any other team in the league, but Santana is immune from that. He’ll never post a high batting average overall, but he will spike big weeks of production because he has a great understanding of the strike zone. Santana is in one of those streaks now, going 25-for-79 (.316) over his last 26 games with five home runs and 16 RBI. Shoot, he’s even stolen two bases over that span. With Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis back in the lineup, there will be some solid counting stats for Santana. You won’t hold him forever, but I think you could get solid production for a bit. You could also roster Tyler Soderstrom - C/1B, OAK (43% rostered) who is catcher-eligible in certain formats but has become the starting first baseman for the Athletics, which means everyday playing time. He won’t hit for a high average (despite his .326 mark over the last 14 games), but he has legit pop and bats in the middle of the order, which is more than you can say for most catchers you’re rostering in deeper leagues.
Brandon Lowe - 2B, TB (23% rostered)
(PLAYING TIME, POWER UPSIDE)
As I mentioned last week, I don’t love Lowe, but it’s worth noting that the Rays continue to start him and bat him second or third, including allowing him to make a few starts against left-handed pitching. Given that the Rays had always platooned Lowe before, this is good news for his playing time. He still won’t give you much in the way of batting average, but the power is real, and the lineup spot will help with counting stats, as evidenced by the fact that he has 18 RBI in his last 23 games. If you have speed and batting average covered elsewhere, Lowe could be a decent fit for your roster. If you’re in a really deep league, Enmanuel Valdez - 2B, BOS (2% rostered) could be a solid pick-up. With Vaughn Grissom on the IL, Valdez has been starting at second base for the Red Sox over the last couple of weeks, and he’s also made a big adjustment since coming back from the minors and is not pulling the ball as often. Given that Valdez has power but is not a pure power hitter, it’s been good for him to be using the whole field more often. In his 19 games since coming back, he’s the 129th-ranked player in Yahoo standard 5x5 formats after going 16-for-48 (.333) with four home runs, 10 runs, and 14 RBI. That’s solid production if you’re in those really deep formats.
Ben Rice - C/1B, NYY: 22% rostered
(PLAYING TIME, POWER UPSIDE)
I’m curious to see what happens on Sunday when the Yankees face Max Fried because, so far, Rice has started against two of the three lefties the Yankees have faced this week. If he’s going to get every day playing time and continue to hit sixth (or maybe fifth now that Stanton is hurt), that should give him solid fantasy value. We should note that, despite having just a 20% strikeout rate in Triple-A, Rice also had a .380 BABIP and 20th-percentile zone contract rate. He will draw walks, but he doesn’t make a strong amount of contact, so I don’t have a ton of faith in the batting average. Yet, he has good pull-side power, which is great for Yankee Stadium. I’d rather roster him anywhere I can use him at catcher and I think he’s a must-add in two catcher formats, but I’d be tepid elsewhere.
Nolan Schanuel - 1B, LAA: 5% rostered
(PLAYING TIME, RUNS UPSIDE)
I will admit that I wasn’t big on Schanuel heading into the season because I didn’t think he had enough power for a corner infield spot. He already has eight home runs on the season, which is a surprise this early in the season because I thought 15 home runs was his ceiling, but he also has just a 3.5% barrel rate. I still wouldn’t roster Schanuel for his power, but I do think the batting average should start to tick up considering he’s playing every day. Even while he has hit just .232 in June, he has a 16% walk rate and 14% strikeout rate. I love seeing hitters with that kind of plate discipline, and I think Schanuel could hit .260 or higher from here on out while being a sneaky source of runs as the leadoff hitter for the Angels. If you wanted more power upside, you could go with Joey Loperfido - 1B/OF, HOU (10% rostered). Loperfido has started in back-to-back games since getting recalled from Triple-A, so perhaps this time is different. I still wish he was playing 1B because then he could take the job from Jon Singleton, but the Astros keep using him in LF which just makes him part of that logjam.
Jesus Sanchez - OF, MIA (2% rostered)
(PLAYING TIME, POWER UPSIDE)
Jesus Sanchez has popped in quite a few of my articles this season, including my article on potential power gainers and also my article on fast and short swings, and I was big into him this week since the Marlins were facing plenty of righties. Sanchez delivered, going 6-for-21 with two home runs, four runs, and four RBI. He’s making really strong zone contact, striking out at a career-low rate, barreling the ball almost 12% of the time, and hitting the ball harder in the air than he has in years. If you believe in just X-stats, he should be hitting so much better across the board than he currently is. That’s the part that gives me hope. However, he’s also pulling the ball at the lowest rate of his career and has a 50% groundball rate. In NFBC formats, Sanchez has four games to start the week and only one against a lefty, so he could get another good run for that stretch.
Freddy Fermin - C, KC (3% rostered)
(POTENTIAL PLAYING TIME, POWER UPSIDE)
We’ve seen Fermin do this before, and the Royals are responding to his power output by keeping him in the lineup regularly. He’s started six of the last seven games for the Royals and has gone 10-for-37 (.270) over his last 12 games with three home runs, seven runs, and five RBI. The Royals also get seven games next week, so maybe he gets four or five starts, which is great in two-catcher formats.
Pitchers
Shane Baz - SP, TB 59% rostered (was at 45% while this was being drafted)
I said it last week and I’ll say it again: it’s time for the Rays to call him up. Shane Baz was electric in his last three rehab outings, and the Rays are even limiting how many innings he throws in the rehab starts in order to give him more leash at the MLB level. In his last start, he threw three scoreless innings, striking out six and averaging 96.5 mph on his fastball. Point blank: he’s ready.
Taj Bradley - SP, TB 49% rostered
Bradley was electric against the Cubs two weeks ago and then had a solid outing against the Twins this week. In the Cubs starts, he kept his four-seam upstairs and relied on his splitter low in the zone, and it was tremendous. In his next start, he decided to throw more splitters, and he couldn’t command his splitter as well, which is why he had just three strikeouts. Bradley has clear upside, but his command remains a work in progress, which could make him a bit more inconsistent than people want, which I covered in my article last week on potential waiver wire starting pitchers.
Miles Mikolas - SP, STL 38% rostered
At some point, we have to acknowledge what Mikolas has done of late. He has a 4.59 ERA on the season, but over his last 31 1/3 innings, he’s posted a 2.59 ERA and 0.73 WHIP with 25 strikeouts. Lance Brozdowski pointed out that Mikolas has made a change to his release height on his sinker, which is perhaps helping with the effectiveness of the pitch, but he’s also just pounding the zone with sliders and trying to get hitters to chase sinkers and four-seamers above the strike zone. It’s working of late, and we’ve seen him do this before, so perhaps he can keep it going. His upside is much lower than some of the other names on this list but maybe the floor is higher.
Michael Lorenzen - SP, TEX 29% rostered
I guess people dislike rostering pitchers who don’t strike many guys out, and I understand that, but Lorenzen has also been great over his last seven starts, with a 1.88 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 43 innings. The issue, for many, is that it comes with just 27 strikeouts. On some level, I understand that. It feels like Lorenzen is walking a tightrope with all the contact he allows. But, on the other hand, he pitches for a good team in a pitcher’s park and could be a real boost to your ratios.
Max Meyer - SP, MIA 26% rostered
Two weeks ago we heard the Marlins say that Meyer would be back up in the majors “soon.�� Yet, two whole weeks passed and we are still seeing dudes like Shaun Anderson start instead. I understand you may not have the patience to wait for a nebulous timeframe for his return, but I think he could be worth it. The 25-year-old struggled immediately after being sent down, but a lot of that had to do with his disappointment with the move and his need to re-discover his confidence. Meyer was solid in three starts with the Marlins to begin the season and should be a solid source of ratios once he’s back. Just don’t expect too many wins.
Robbie Ray - SP, SF (22% rostered)
Now is the time to stash Robbie Ray since he just moved his rehab assignment up to Triple-A. He’s still only at about three innings of work (or that’s the plan for this upcoming week) so he’s maybe three weeks away from making his season debut, but I think we’re forgetting the ceiling that Ray has. There are some command concerns with Ray since he’s always had some control issues and command is the last thing to come back after Tommy John surgery. However, his overall talent level and strikeout upside make him worth a stash.
DJ Herz - SP, WAS (15% rostered)
I had Herz in here when he was first called up and wrote: “Herz was called up to fill a spot in the Nationals’ rotation after pitching to a 3.75 ERA in nine starts at Triple-A with 42 strikeouts in 36 innings. He did have 29 walks and a 1.42 ERA, so that’s something to keep in mind, but the eighth-round selection from the 2019 MLB Draft has been good for Washington since coming over in a trade with Chicago. The 23-year-old flashed a 94 mph fastball and a plus changeup in his MLB debut and also features a solid cutter and a slider he can use against lefties. I don’t believe this start against the Braves will go well on Sunday, but Herz could be an option in deeper formats.” The Braves start didn’t go great, but the Marlins start was tremendous, and I’m also not mad at this Rockies start. I know the statline was bad, but he was undone by three home runs, which is just part of pitching in Coors. To me, it’s bigger news that Herz walked nobody in that Colorado start because if we see improved command from him, he has some real upside. It’s still a major risk right now though.
Spencer Schwellenbach - SP, ATL 13% rostered
On Monday, Nick Pollack and I talked during the On the Corner podcast about Schwellenbach, and he sold me on the depth of the rookie’s arsenal and overall solid attack plan with it. Against the Tigers, he really was tremendous at keeping his four-seamer and cutter up in the zone and throwing the slider and curve on the edges of the strike zone. He has six pitches that he’ll mix in and he spots them well, which raises his floor a bit. I do like his slider, but I’m not 100% sure he has the raw stuff to miss bats at the level he did against the Tigers. He may still be a streamer who you sit against the best offenses, but the good news is that few offenses are really good this year.
Drew Thorpe – SP, CWS 13% rostered
I broke down Thorpe’s entire arsenal and redraft league prospects in my Mixing It Up article two weeks ago and while I’m less optimistic about Thorpe’s fantasy ceiling due to his pitch mix and team context, I think he’s a solid real-life pitcher who should pitch deep enough into games to at least push for quality starts. I also like his teammate Jonathan Cannon - SP, CWS - 2% rostered, who showed a solid gameplan last time out of keeping his cutter and sinker up in the zone and then leaning heavily on the sweeper low and away to righties. The sweeper is a good pitch, and I think his locations are good enough for him to be a solid streamer. The problem is that one of these two guys is likely to lose their rotation spot with Mike Clevinger coming back, and we just don’t know who; although, we can agree it should be neither.
Ryne Nelson - SP, ARI - 6% rostered
Nelson has had three great starts in his last four games, but one clunker against the Padres mixed in there as well. The issue is that the strikeouts haven’t been there with consistency. His slider flashes some good movement and has been harder over his last few starts, but I’m not sure the four-seam and cutter will miss enough bats as the main two pitches. However, Nelson has a solid five-pitch mix and has been more efficient in his last few starts, which makes him a solid 15-team league add.
STREAMING STARTER OPTIONS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK (ranked in loose order)
Griffin Canning (LAA) - vs OAK, vs DET
Spencer Schwellenbach (ATL) - at STL, vs PIT
Reese Olson (DET) - at LAA
Cal Quantrill (COL) - at CWS
Miles Mikolas (STL) - vs CIN
Luis Medina (OAK) - at LAA, at ARI
Cade Povich (BAL) - vs CLE, vs TEX
Carson Spiers (CIN) - vs PIT, at STL
Tobias Myers (MIL) - vs CHC
Spencer Arrighetti (HOU) - vs COL
Ryne Nelson (ARI) - vs MIN
Chase Silseth (LAA) - vs DET
Mitch Spence (OAK) - at LAA
Michael Wacha (KC) - vs CLE
Mike Clevinger (CWS) - vs COL
Mitchell Parker (WAS) - at TB
Aaron Civale (TB) - vs WAS
Ben Lively (CLE) - at KC
DJ Herz (WAS) - at SD
Tylor Megill (NYM) - vs HOU
Joey Estes (OAK) - at LAA
Slade Cecconi (ARI) - vs OAK
Kenny Rosenberg (LAA) - vs OAK
Players to Drop
In this section, I’ll give you a few players who are rostered in over 50% of leagues who I think might be OK to cut bait on. I’ll also list the schedule to highlight which teams have fewer games or face a tougher road of pitchers in case you want to churn the bottom of your roster by getting rid of some hitters with a bad schedule.
David Fry - C/1B/OF, CLE: 75% rostered
If you’re using Fry in a two-catcher league, I understand that you may not want to drop him, and that’s OK, but he’s been a pretty league-average hitter over the last month, hitting .257 with three home runs and eight runs scored in his last 20 games. That’s good for the 304th-ranked player in Yahoo formats. Fry was more of a lefty-masher coming into this year before starting off the season hot. He makes a lot of contact and has a solid understanding of the strike zone, but I am just not convinced he’s somebody you need to keep on your roster in a 12-team league.
George Springer - OF, TOR: 66% rostered
I had Springer on here last week and things have not gotten better, so I’ll keep what I wrote from last week: “I just can’t wait anymore. Springer came into the year as a decent bet for a 20/20 season with a .260-.270 average but he was going to score lots of runs atop a good lineup. I don’t believe Springer is “washed,” but I also don’t believe we’re getting any of that. He’s making good swing decisions and getting good pitches and still not delivering. I think the power and speed are not quite where it used to be, and the Toronto offense just doesn’t look that good. In a full season, is Springer like a 15/15 guy who hits fifth or sixth in a mediocre offense? I’m just not sure that’s a player you need to hold in 12-team leagues.”