JJ Bleday is performing well in fantasy baseball, while A.J. Ewing has made a strong debut. This week's waiver wire guide highlights players under 40% rostered in Yahoo! formats.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: JJ Bleday continues to rake, A.J. Ewing makes good first impression
Welcome to Waiver Wire Watch, our weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire guide. We'll be doing things a little differently this season, with Eric Samulski publishing the initial waiver-wire article on Friday afternoon. Then James Schiano updates it every Sunday to make sure you get the most up-to-date information.
The premise of the article is pretty straightforward. We'll give you some recommended adds each week based on recent production or role changes. When we list a player, we'll list the category where we think he’ll be helpful or the quick reason he’s listed. We hope it helps you determine if the player fits what your team needs. Not every "trending" player will be a good addition for your specific roster.
To qualify for this list, a player needs to be UNDER 40% rostered in Yahoo! formats. We understand you may say, “These players aren’t available in my league,” and we can’t help you there. These players are available in over 60% of leagues and some in 98% of leagues, so they’re available in many places, and that can hopefully satisfy readers who play in all league types.
**⚾️*Baseball is back on NBC:*MLB returns to NBC and Peacock in 2026! In addition to becoming the exclusive home of Sunday Night Baseball, NBC Sports will broadcast MLB Sunday Leadoff, “Opening Day” and Labor Day primetime games, the first round of the MLB Draft, the entire Wild Card round of the postseason, and much more.
MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Minnesota Twins
MLB Lineup Report: Sal Stewart cleaning up, Ben Rice getting more chances against lefties
Fantasy-relevant batting order notes from every MLB team.
(RECENT CALL-UP, STOLEN BASE UPSIDE)
Ewing has played three games for the Mets and is already almost too highly-rostered to qualify for this article. It's been a meteoric rise for Ewing, who began this season at Double-A. In 30 minor league games, he slashed .339/.447/.514 with two homers and 17 steals. He's unlikely to hit for a ton of power, but he did hit a 110 mph line drive home run this week against the Tigers, so the pop is in his bat; he just hits the ball on the ground often in order to make the best use of his speed. There will be some adjustments that need to be made for a hitter who has very little experience above Double-A, and pitchers will find a way to attack him, but Ewing has also shown a great understanding of the strike zone in the minors, so he's unlikely to get himself out. Considering he stole 70 bases in the minors last year, he could be a huge addition for fantasy managers who need speed.
(PLAYING TIME OPPORTUNITY, POWER UPSIDE)
Basallo probably deserves a look in more one-catcher formats. Yes, he's going to sit against left-handed pitchers, but most catchers are sitting out two or more games a week. Basallo has a 10.3% barrel rate, a 48.3% hard-hit rate, and has started to heat up a bit at the plate. He's riding a seven-game hitting streak, and is hitting .378/.395/.568 in 11 games in May with seven RBI. He has just a 34% fly ball rate, so the home runs have not come yet, but he has plenty of power in his bat, so that feels like only a matter of time.
(REGULAR PLAYING TIME, BATTED BALL QUALITY)
Earlier this season, Stott was really struggling, but Eric had him in a do-not-drop article and said, Stott "still has a 95% zone contact rate, a 6.6% SwSt%, and the quality of contact he is making has been good. His hard-hit rate is 50%, which is up 20.5% from last year, the 4th-biggest improvement of any hitter in baseball. His average exit velocity is up two mph, his bat speed is up one mph, and he is pulling the ball 12% more. His attack direction, which measures the horizontal angle of the bat’s sweet spot at the point of contact, has gone from two degrees towards the opposite field to four degrees to the pull side, which is tied for the 4th-biggest change in baseball. So what we’re getting is a player who is making elite levels of contact, hitting the ball harder than ever, and making a conscious change to pull the ball more. He’s also a player who has stolen at least 24 bases in three straight seasons. All of that should entice us." While the batting average hasn't improved yet, Stott has three home runs and 12 RBI in May with a 10.8% barrel rate, so the quality of contact is starting to lead to impactful hits as the weather is warming up.
(REGULAR PLAYING TIME, POWER UPSIDE)
Garcia appeared in an article I wrote this week on hitters who have stood out on the Process+ leaderboard. Garcia's swing decisions have been slightly below average, but better than we usually see from him. He's also making a lot of contact and still showing good power. His hard-hit rate is up to 53%, and he's posting a career-high average exit velocity. He's squaring the ball up more than he ever has and seems to be focused on peppering line drives and not just trying to lift the ball. His swinging strike rate is the lowest it's ever been, and he's chasing less than he has since 2020. Oh, and his zone contact rate and contact rate are the highest they've ever been. He may not be a 30-home-run bat anymore, but he could easily hit .245-.255 with 25 home runs this season, hitting in the middle of an offense that's beginning to heat up. That deserves more love.
(REGULAR PLAYING TIME, BATTING ORDER BUMP)
Duran is already more than halfway to his total plate appearances from last season. Injuries for the Rangers have thrust him into a (pretty much) every-day role in Texas, and he has delivered for them. Over the last 20 games, he has the second-highest wRC+ on the team and is hitting .333/.408/.561 with two home runs, two steals, 12 RBI, and 13 runs scored. This is more about playing the hot streak here, but if you need a multi-position guy to fill in gaps in your roster in a deeper format, he'll do the trick. Austin Martin - 2B/OF, MIN (5% rostered) could also be settling into an everyday role with Matt Wallner now in Triple-A. He's started the last four games for the Twins, and only one of those was against a left-handed pitcher, which had been his role early in the season. There's nothing meaningfully different about Martin from previous seasons in terms of his swing or quality of contact. His swing is a bit less steep, so he's making more contact; however, he also has a very passive approach with just a 35% swing rate overall. Martin has speed; he's stolen seven bases in 30 games this season, so his patient, contact-first approach could lead to a good batting average and stolen base production, if that's what you're looking for.
(APPROACH CHANGE, PLAYING TIME OPPORTUNITY)
We've had Bleday on here for two weeks now, but we're shocked that his roster rate is still so low. Bleday has come back from the minors on a mission, hitting .321 with six home runs, 10 runs scored, 18 RBI, and a 10/13 K/BB ratio in 16 games. His bat speed is up from 71.7 mph to 74.8 mph, and his hard-hit rate is surging to 56%. That has helped his average exit velocity go from an 88.4 mph career rate to 93.9 mph. He's also running just a 21% groundball rate, so much of what he's hitting is on a line or in the air. Alex Fast also had a great tweet about some swing changes that Bleday made, but this could be very real, and he needs to be added in more places.
(REGULAR PLAYING TIME, PAST SUCCESS)
Steer also appeared in the same Process+ article as Garcia. We’ve seen Steer be a useful fantasy contributor before, and we like having any member of the Reds lineup who is getting regular playing time. Over his last 30 games, Steer is hitting .291/.381/.505 with six home runs, 19 runs scored, 11 RBI, and two steals. The offense around him has not been producing, so the counting stats are not where we'd like them to be, but he has a 15% barrel rate and 23/12 K/BB ratio over those 30 games, so he's looking pretty good at the plate.
(HOT STREAK, POWER UPSIDE)
We have to start by just making it clear that this is highly unlikely to last. Raley is tied for 17th in baseball with 10 home runs, despite having just 124 plate appearances, which is about 50-60 below most of the other players inside the top 20 in home runs. He ranks 2nd among hitters with at least 110 plate appearances in HR/FlyB at 35.7%. His career average is 19.2%, so that's a pretty sizable gap. That being said, Raley’s bat speed is at 75.4 mph this season, which is up from 73.8 mph last year. He also has a slightly steeper swing, which has led to a 16.1-degree launch angle. That’s a significant escalation from his 9.8-degree mark last year. It has led to a significantly higher swinging strike rate and lower contact rate, but Raley is barreling the ball 24.3% of the time and has a 57.1% hard-hit rate, both of which are top seven for hitters with at least 110 plate appearances. However, his 24.1% swinging strike rate and 63.2% zone contact rate are the worst among hitters on the same list. All of which is to say, the power is very real, but the contact issues are a major concern and are likely to catch up to him eventually. Use him while he's crushing the ball like this, but don't expect it to last.
(RECENT CALL-UP, POWER/SPEED UPSIDE)
The A's called up Bolte this week. Their 5th-ranked prospect had been on a tear at Triple-A, batting .348 with a 1.076 OPS, 12 home runs, seven doubles, three triples, 28 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases in 37 games. That came with a manageable 39/17 K/BB ratio, which is important because Bolte has hand contact concerns in the past. He had just a 69 percent contact rate overall last year, but that’s up over 75 percent this year. There will still be some swing and miss in his game, but his teammate Nick Kurtz had just a 70 percent contact rate in the minors in 2025, and that worked when he got called up. Bolte seems likely to play most games for the A's and is worth a gamble, as I covered in a video I recorded this week.
(PROSPECT PEDIGREE, REGULAR PLAYING TIME)
The Diamondbacks promoted their top prospect Waldschmidt last week and should give him plenty of runway as a starter moving forward. In six games, he's gone 5-for-18 with two doubles, three RBI, and a 5/1 K/BB ratio. He has enough raw power to flirt with a 25-homer pace from this point on and the speed to steal a handful of bases as well. Much like Austin Martin, he doesn't swing a lot and has just a 38% swing rate so far in his MLB games. However, he also doesn't chase outside of the zone or swing and miss much, so that's going to be really helpful and also make him a strong asset in OBP and OPS leagues.
(REGULAR PLAYING TIME, POTENTIAL APPROACH CHANGE)
Gelof has hit .270/.316/.527 in 27 games since being called up, with five home runs and two steals. We may remember the version of Gelof that went 14/14 with a .267 average in 69 games in his rookie season in 2023, but that version is still likely fictitious. However, Gelof has made some changes to his contact profile that should prevent him from being as bad as he was the last two seasons. His swing rate and chase rate are both down this season, and, despite chasing LESS outside of the zone, his contact on pitches outside of the zone is up 36%, which should be a good indication that when he is offering, it's on pitches he knows he can foul off or put in play. It's just a 27-game sample size, so who knows if this will continue, but seeing his swinging strike rate fall from 20.4% to 12% is really interesting, and he's worth a gamble given his power and speed and the fact that second base is a black hole in fantasy right now. Angel Martinez - 2B/OF, CLE (21% rostered) is another player who will run hot and cold given his approach at the plate, but he's hot right now. Over his last 20 games, he's slashing .258/.286/.530 with five home runs, 10 RBI, and four steals. He does not walk, and he swings a lot, so the batting average will likely always be iffy, but he also makes a ton of contact, so he's going to go on hot streaks when he's seeing the ball well.
(HOT STREAK, SPEED UPSIDE - MAYBE)
After a slow start, Antonnaci is hitting .322/.414/.441 in his last 20 games with 12 runs scored, six RBI, and three steals. He doesn't have much power and has just a 38.5% hard-hit rate over that span, but he's trying to lift the ball and drive it into the gaps, which we like. He has also started to play against lefties, which the White Sox weren't letting him do early on. He's also now starting to run, with three steals in his last eight games. He stole almost 50 bases last season, so we always figured the speed would come and be paired with an elite contact profile. If you were just looking for batting average and some potential runs scored, another option would be Antonacci's teammate, Chase Meidroth - 2B/3B/SS, CWS (15% rostered). Over that same 20-game sample, Meidroth is hitting .311/.354/.446 with two home runs, 13 runs scored, and eight RBI. Like Antonacci, he has just a 34% hard-hit rate, so there's not a ton of power in his bat, but he makes a ton of contact and will draw a walk, so he's a fine option in deeper formats as a super utility type player for your bench.
(PROSPECT PEDIGREE, HOT STREAK)
Benge is another hitter who appeared in my Process+ article. Sometimes prospects just need a little bit of time to figure things out. Carson Benge got off to a slow start to his MLB career, but over his last 20 games, he's hitting .338/.377/.492 with two home runs, 11 runs scored, 10 RBI, and two steals. He also has a 12/4 K/BB ratio over that span and a 45.3% hard-hit rate, so we like that he's not striking out much and is making firm contact. He's not going to hit for big-time power, but he already has eight steals this season, and the Mets have moved him into the lead-off spot, which is going to be great for his counting stats. He needs to be added in far more places.
(HOME GAMES, POWER UPSIDE)
The Rockies have a seven-game week coming up, including three games at home, so their hitters should be on our radar. Now, they will face one lefty at home and one lefty during a four-game series in Arizona, so that means guys like Rumfield, Jake McCarthy (5% rostered), and Edouard Julien (9% rostered) will sit at least twice next week. However, they are still worth a look if you're streaming hitting spots. Rumfield also appeared in that article I wrote this week on Process+ leaders, along with teammate Troy Johnston (7% rostered) so they would be my preferred options of the group, but McCarthy is a good target if you need speed.
(PROSPECT STASH)
Sometimes you need to get ahead of prospect promotions before they happen. I think the next impactful hitter to be called up could be Arroyo. It may seem like Edwin Arroyo has been around a while because he was a major part of the Luis Castillo trade four years ago, but Arroyo is just 22 years old. He's hitting .348 with nine home runs, 30 RBI, and seven steals in Triple-A this season to go along with a 1.025 OPS. He has also been playing some third base and could supplant Ke'Bryan Hayes. Another possible stash would be Yohandy Morales - 1B/3B, WAS (0% rostered). The 24-year-old is now hitting .348/.435/.598 with nine home runs and 25 RBI in 39 Triple-A games. The power is intriguing, and a clear improvement from his 15 home runs in 128 games last year. He does have a 13 percent swinging strike rate and 72.6 percent contact rate overall; however, both of those were improvements on what he did last year. The bigger news is that Morales has been playing more first base lately, and the Nationals don’t have a clear first baseman at the MLB level.
(TWO-CATCHER TARGET)
Tired of their offensive woes, the Giants first promoted Rodríguez last week to take some starting reps from the incumbent Patrick Bailey, then shipped Bailey to Cleveland last weekend, which opened the door for Rodríguez to be something close to their full-time catcher. He will likely split time with Daniel Susac, once Susac is off the IL, but Rodriguez is the better offensive player. The 24-year-old was acquired from the Yankees in the Camilo Doval trade at the last deadline and had an 87% contact rate overall in Triple-A. He's aggressive and very aggressive in the zone, which may need some adjusting against big league pitching, but he will also take a walk and stole 21 bases last season, so he could provide some batting average and speed in deeper formats.
(SHORT-TERM OPTION, STARTING JOB)
This is another pick-up that's not a long-term one, but Shewmake has been starting and hitting in the middle third of the order with Jeremy Pena out. He's gone 12-for-27 with two home runs and five RBI. Plus, the Astros get a three-game series to begin the week with a pretty poor Twins pitching staff, and then get the Cubs over the weekend, but are likely to see Jameson Taillon and Colin Rea. This could be a solid week for Shewmake in deeper formats if you need a MIF. Or you could go with Kody Clemens - 1B/2B/OF, MIN (1% rostered), who is yet another player who appeared in my Process+ article.
Much like with Arroyo, now is the time to stash Jones, who will likely make one more rehab start and then join the Pirates' rotation at the end of the month. I recorded a video on him this week. I'd also be looking to stash Troy Melton - SP, DET (2% rostered), who may only need one more rehab start before the Tigers bring him up to help their beleaguered rotation.
Garcia still isn't over 40% rostered? Ryan Helsley became yet another closer who is on the IL, as the Orioles' closer hit the injured list with elbow inflammation. Since then, the Orioles have had three genuine save chances, and two of them went to Garcia. Andrew Kittredge was also charged with a blown save, but he did not enter in the 9th with a lead. Garcia has also been far better than Kittredge this season, so he's the player we're looking to add, but we also just saw all of Jhoan Duran, Daniel Palencia, and Raisel Iglesias get hurt and return in like three weeks, so we can't just assume Garcia is going to have this role for a month-plus.
At some point, you need to stop speculating on bad closers or streaming mediocre starting pitchers and just get an elite reliever into a lineup spot. That would be Ashby. The former starter has thrived in a long relief role for the Brewers this season and leads baseball in wins with seven. He also has a 2.00 ERA and a 38.1% strikeout rate in 27 innings across 20 appearances. He may only give you 3-4 innings in a week, but they're likely to be helpful ones.
Bryce Miller made his season debut on Wednesday and looked electric at times, sitting over 97 mph with his four-seam fastball, which was two mph up from last season. He showed off his deep repertoire against a right-handed heavy Astros lineup. However, despite his stuff returning to form, he didn't get tons of whiffs, with just eight on the day. His command was solid overall, which is nice to see in his first start back, but he couldn't put guys away and allowed eight hits and two runs with one walk and three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision. There's also a chance he enters into a piggyback situation with Luis Castillo, which could hurt Miller's value if he's the one who starts the game. There remain a lot of questions here, but he's worth adding while we sort those out.
Henderson is still just 34 rostered? Why? He's looked really good in his two starts since being called up in the wake of Brandon Woodruff’s concerning drop in velocity and ensuing trip to the injured list. His trusted changeup continues to look sharp, and he has also shown off a new sweeper that would be a crucial pitch for him against right-handed hitters. Woodruff got fluid drained from his shoulder last week, so we're still not convinced he's going to be healthy in a week or so, which means we're comfortably adding Henderson in most places.
Since April 14th, Latz has recorded the only saves for Texas. He's also blown two, but he's allowed only seven hits and two walks in his last 11.1 innings with five saves over that time. There haven't been many save chances of late, and he's still a left-handed former starter who throws 94 mph. That's not really the profile of a lockdown closer. We're happy to add him, but not assuming this is a rest of the season type of thing.
I know it hasn't been great lately for Schultz, but this could be a good week for him with two starts against the Mariners in Seattle and the Giants in San Francisco. I worry about the strikeout upside here, and the command has not been as good as we'd like to see, but the velocity and raw stuff remain intriguing. I think he could produce some solid results for you this upcoming week.
The Rays are stretching Jax out as a starter, and now may be the time to scoop him up before it fully clicks. I broke down Jax’s full arsenal in my streaming starting pitcher column this week, so you can check that out for more detailed thoughts.
There are still plenty of reservations around Ben Brown. He has never really succeeded as a starter because of his limited pitch mix. He's yet to throw more than four innings so far this season. Matthew Boyd isn't expected to be out too long. However, we also have to acknowledge how well Brown is pitching lately. He struck out seven Braves in four innings on Thursday while allowing just one hit. He is mixing in a sinker this season, which is another pitch he can throw to righties, but we have yet to see him face a team's full lineup multiple times, so I'm not 100% convinced that this will work as a starter. That being said, there are so many injured pitchers that it's worth adding Brown on the chance that something has clicked.
This is now the third week in a row we've had Lambert on here, and even if we don't think he's going to be some "league-winner," he's been a really nice add so far. We recommended Lambert after his first two starts, so we're going to keep him on here now. A start in Chicago against the Cubs isn't ideal, but He's probably just a streamer or a deeper league add, but Lambert is pitching well enough to be on rosters. He's shown a 95 mph four-seam fastball with good vertical movement that he keeps up in the zone. He has also shown the ability to keep the changeup low/away from lefties, while the cutter looks like a decent pitch. It's unclear if this production will stick, but we like the four-seam, cutter, change combination, and the breaking balls are just fine.
We're just going to keep saying that Prielipp should be rostered in far more places. No, he hasn't gone deeper than five innings in any of his starts, which is an issue, but the Twins are pushing him past 90 pitches, so it's going to happen. The Twins have also said they are going to try not to overwork him, so they may give him extra days of rest here and there. He won't be skipped in the rotation, but it's unlikely he has a two-start week, which will hamper the value a bit. Still, his spot in the rotation is secure; he has a solid enough fastball, a decent changeup, and a wicked slider. There's a lot to like here.
Christian Scott is another pitcher whose arsenal I broke down in this week’s streaming starting pitcher arsenal. He gets the Nationals and Marlins in a two-start week next week, so he should be added in most league types.
Do not let Nick Pollock convince you to call him "Buck," but you can let him convince you to pick up McDonald. He's a sinker/sweeper pitcher who is inducing plenty of groundballs and pitching to a 2.92 ERA in two starts for the Giants so far. He won't rack up strikeouts, but he seems like a good bet to pitch deep into games, and the sinker should be good enough to get weak groundballs against lefties, while the combo with the slider will carve up righties.
This is a bit of a matchup play this week with Mlodzinski set to face the Cardinals in St. Louis. The right-hander is not a streaming starter you want to watch, and the WHIP can be disastrous, but he's allowed just two runs in each of his past two outings and has some whiff upside (even though we haven't seen it lately).
Ginn has a decent two-start week with matchups on the road against the Angels and Padres. The Padres are worse against lefties than righties, so there is some risk here, but Ginn is inducing lots of weak contact this season by using his sinker on the fringes of the strike zone, and I think this could work in deeper formats. Other two-start options would be Walbert Urena - SP, LAA (6% rostered), who faces the Athletics at home and the Rangers at home, and JR Ritchie - SP, ATL (18% rostered), who gets the Marlins on the road and the Nationals at home.
Who knows what's happening in the Giants' bullpen, but Erik Miller remains on the injured list, and Ryan Walker is no longer on the active roster. Since May 1st, the Giants have had only three save opportunities. Walker blew a save, and Kilian converted two. On the season, Kilian has a 1.40 ERA with two saves in 19.1 innings. He has a 12.2% swinging strike rate but a pretty modest strikeout rate, and SIERA is not a big believer. That being said, he's probably the best arm in the bullpen, and this team should start to win a few more games soon.
Did you know Zeferjahn has increased his fastball velocity more than any other pitcher in baseball? There are some command issues here, but he has good Stuff+ numbers, is being used in high-leverage spots, and can miss bats. Somebody needs to close for the Angels. You could also stash Ben Joyce - RP, LAA (6% rostered), who is in Triple-A working his way back from shoulder surgery and could take over the closer's role at some point over the summer.
JJ Bleday is a player who has been performing exceptionally well, making him a popular choice for fantasy baseball teams.
A.J. Ewing's strong debut has caught the attention of fantasy managers, indicating he could be a valuable addition to rosters.
Players are selected based on recent performance or role changes and must be under 40% rostered in Yahoo! formats.
Consider how the trending players fit your team's needs, as not every popular player will be a good addition for your specific roster.
Aston Villa defeated Liverpool 4-2, securing Champions League qualification while leaving Liverpool needing a win against Brentford to secure their own spot. Watkins scored twice in the second half, highlighting Villa's dominance.
Notts County secures League Two play-off final spot after 0-0 draw with Chesterfield
Cleveland Browns' 2026 NFL schedule reveals a grim outlook despite offseason changes.
See every story in Sports — including breaking news and analysis.