In a perfect world, the fantasy baseball waiver wire options would come in a steady flow at each position throughout the season, with each article including a handful of hitters, a few starters and a couple relievers. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned. Right now, the waiver wire is overloaded with appealing relievers, thanks to recent upheaval in several bullpens. There are also some starters to consider, and the landscape of hitters is relatively barren right now, as many top prospects have been in the majors for a while and the next wave has not yet arrived. Fantasy managers may want to stack their rosters with pitchers right now, with a goal of balancing their lineup in a few weeks.
Pitchers to add
Tanner Scott, RP, Dodgers, 45%: After struggling when handed the Dodgers’ closer role last season (0.84 ERA, 0.56 WHIP), Scott is off to a terrific start while working as the setup man for Edwin Díaz. Scott will now get a chance to return to the ninth inning, as Díaz will be sidelined until the second half while he recovers from elbow surgery. Although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could share save chances to some degree, Scott earned a save Thursday and has the skills to run with the role.
Bryan Baker, RP, Rays, 30%: Baker has established himself as the Rays closer and leads the team with four saves. Fantasy managers have been slow to add him, perhaps due to a lack of ninth-inning clarity in Tampa at times during recent seasons. Still, Baker has good odds to compile 25 saves and could reach the 30-save plateau, which means that he needs to be rostered in all 12-team leagues.
Louis Varland, RP, Blue Jays, 31%: The Blue Jays finally moved away from Jeff Hoffman when they asked Varland to bail them out of a ninth-inning mess on Tuesday. Hoffman struggled last year, cost the team a World Series title and hasn’t been any better at the outset of this season. Manager John Schneider finally seems open to the idea of using Hoffman in earlier innings, and Varland (0.00 ERA, 41.3% K-rate) is easily the best candidate to replace him. He is no sure thing but has more upside than any other reliever in this article.
Payton Tolle, SP/RP, Red Sox, 37%: When Sonny Gray left his start with a hamstring injury on Monday, speculation instantly started that Boston’s best prospect would fill the vacant rotation spot. Sure enough, Tolle got the call Thursday, and didn’t disappoint when he struck out 11 Yankees over six innings of one-run ball. The 23-year-old has posted a dazzling 152:27 K:BB ratio across 106.2 innings during his minor-league career and should be rostered in virtually every league.
JR Ritchie, SP, Braves, 20%: Tolle wasn’t the only pitching prospect to turn heads Thursday, as Ritchie struck out seven over seven innings of two-run ball in his MLB debut. The 22-year-old got the call after posting a 0.99 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over five Triple-A starts to open the season. Ritchie is riskier than Tolle, as he had significant control issues at times during his minor-league career, including this year. But his strong debut and membership on a talented Braves team are enough reason to add Ritchie in many 12-team leagues while we wait to find out if he has earned additional starts.
Noah Schultz, SP, White Sox, 39%: Schultz bounced back from an underwhelming debut when he struck out six over five innings while allowing one run in his second outing. I expected managers to be more aggressive in adding a former first-round pick who was dominating Triple-A at the time of his promotion. An effective start against the Nationals on Saturday should be the icing on his cake to get his roster rate over 50%. Overall, I prefer Schultz over Ritchie but not over Tolle.
Hitters to add
Josh Jung, 3B, Rangers, 25%: After a pair of injury-impacted seasons, Jung is showing some skill improvements in his age-28 campaign. The slugger has improved his walk (8.0%) and strikeout rates (17.0%), which has been accompanied by an improved average exit velocity (90.9 mph) that is similar to the mark he posted when he hit .266 with 23 homers and 70 RBI in 122 games in 2023. I recently wrote about the dismal performances at third base this year, which greatly improves the odds that each league has a team that should consider Jung.
Dominic Smith, 1B, Braves, 13%: I see Smith and Brewers slugger Jake Bauers (19% rostered) as similar options for those in deep leagues. Both players occupy the heavy side of a platoon on quality teams, and both have the potential to post a solid homer total. Smith could be a late-career breakout, as he has shown improved skills in terms of his strikeout rate (11.1%) and average exit velocity (89.7 mph). Many observers scoffed when Atlanta tabbed him to replace Jurickson Profar as their DH, but they may have known what they were doing.
Hitters with favorable weekend matchups
Trent Grisham, OF, Yankees, 41%: The Yankees are about to start a series against the Astros, who have watched their pitching staff fall apart in recent weeks. Houston ranks last in the Majors with a 5.81 ERA, and they will start right-handers in all three games this weekend. The matchups are great for the lefty-swinging Grisham, who will spend the series hitting out of the leadoff spot.
Francisco Alvarez, C, Mets, 36%: This is a weak weekend for streaming hitters. I’ll tab Alvarez as my second choice, as he has played well this season (.801 OPS) and will spend the weekend facing a subpar Rockies pitching staff. Unfortunately, the series will take place in New York, rather than Coors Field.
Pitchers to stream this weekend (ranked in order of preference)
Noah Schultz vs. WSH (Saturday, 40%)
Grant Holmes vs. PHI (Friday, 32%)
Max Meyer @ SF (Sunday, 18%)
Ryan Weathers @ HOU (Saturday, 48%)
Spencer Arrighetti vs. NYY (Sunday, 33%)
Kyle Harrison vs. PIT (Sunday, 25%)
Justin Wrobleski vs. CHC (Sunday, 38%)
Andrew Painter @ ATL (Friday, 39%)
Joey Cantillo @ TOR (Saturday, 46%)
Rhett Lowder vs. DET (Sunday, 22%)
Max Scherzer vs. CLE (Friday, 13%)
Noah Cameron vs. LAA (Friday, 28%)
Foster Griffin @ CWS (Sunday, 10%)
Carmen Mlodzinski @ MIL (Sunday, 16%)
Brady Singer vs. DET (Saturday, 21%)
