Your season is not over. You’re just a few moves on the fantasy baseball waiver wire away. Don’t quit now and appreciate the grind that is the fantasy baseball season. That’s what I’d tell anyone losing interest in fantasy baseball and losing focus with the mission. This week’s waiver wire has some elite options that have been recently called up or moved into new positions on their respective teams.

There are a lot of great fantasy baseball waiver wire additions and we’re attacking them all in this week’s column. If you have any questions about your waiver wire, hit us up in the Fantasy Alarm Discord or hit me up on Twitter!

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pitchers

Cade Horton, SP, Chicago Cubs

  • ESPN: 15% / Yahoo: 39%
  • FAAB: 6-8%

Any questions we previously had about Cade Horton are slowly going away. He’s fired off four straight scoreless outings spanning 19.2 innings. Because of this stretch, he’s lowered his ERA to 3.18 on the year.

Horton still hasn’t figured out how to miss bats at the major league level after missing bats at every minor league level but he does generate a 11.8% swinging strike rate, so maybe some more whiffs are in his future. The *only* real hindrance is the pitches and the innings. Horton was pulled out of their last game at 67 pitches and is not really an option in quality start leagues. He’ll help ratios and get you wins.

 

Phil Maton, RP, Texas Rangers

  • ESPN: 5% / Yahoo: 19%
  • FAAB: 7-9%

We’ve seen Robert Garcia lose his job as the team’s closer and the last save opportunity that the Rangers had the ball was given to Phil Maton. He closed the door on the Yankees and from the looks of things, he’s going to grab a stranglehold on the job.

Maton’s strikeouts are way up this season and he’s just simply been elite across the board. It’s not often a winning team, in the middle of a postseason race, changes a closer and he’s widely available on the fantasy baseball waiver wire.

 

Cade Cavalli, SP, Washington Nationals

  • ESPN: 1% / Yahoo: 6%
  • FAAB: 3-5%

A consensus top-40 MLB prospect back in 2023, Cade Cavalli has simply been unable to stay healthy, but he’s made 15 starts in the minors this season and made his first major league start since 2022 this past week.

It went well.

19 WHIFFS? ARE YOU SERIOUS!

He not only had 19 swings-and-misses, but he touched 100 MPH on his fastball and averaged 97.3 for the entire outing. There’s a LOT to like here and what the potential can be for the rest of the season.

 

J.T. Ginn, SP/RP, Athletics

  • ESPN: 2% / Yahoo: 8%
  • FAAB: 4-6%

J.T. Ginn has fully converted back to becoming a starter and he’s raising eyebrows. In his start on Friday night against the Orioles, he got off to a rocky start allowing three runs in the first inning but he finished with nine strikeouts while generating 17 whiffs.

His changeup was his best pitch, at least the pitch that had the most swing and miss attached to it.

His 58 strikeouts in 53.1 innings is hard to trust because he’s mainly pitched out of the bullpen, but this start was a step in the right direction. A big step in the right direction. He has had a home run problem allowing over 2 HR/9, which is definitely concerning considering his home ballpark.

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Infielders

Luke Keaschall, 1B/2B/OF, Minnesota Twins

  • ESPN: 9% / Yahoo: 40%
  • FAAB: 15-17%

Whatever you think is enough FAAB to acquire Luke Keaschall, up the bid. After you up the bid, up it even more. Keaschall has returned to the major league level guns blazing, homering in his first at-bat, having two straight multi-hit contests, and has SIX RBI. Before fracturing his forearm, Keaschall was batting third for the Twins and had stolen five bases over his first seven games.

The power isn’t something we should heavily rely on considering his 35-40 grade power he came up with, but the contact is legit. The speed is legit. The lineup positioning is legit. He’s hit fifth in the Twins order in each of the first two games and if he keeps raking they’re going to try and maximize his at-bats and move him up. Keaschall, a top-50 prospect heading into the year, is living up to all the hype. He’s a must add if he’s available right now.

 

Jorge Polanco, 2B/3B, Seattle Mariners

  • ESPN: 36% / Yahoo: 41%
  • FAAB: 6-8%

After getting off to a hot start in 2025, Jorge Polanco started struggling a bit but he’s all the way back. Over the last month, Polanco has a .379 OBP, .513 SLG%, .891 OPS, .250 ISO, .382 wOBA, six home runs and 14 RBI. He’s hitting just .255 on the year but his expected batting average is .281 this season.

With the additions to the Mariners lineup, Polanco has been moved to the six-hole and it’s such a good run production spot. Polanco’s up to 18 home runs already this year, which is more than each of the last three seasons. Polanco is a 25 home run second baseman this year and that’s something that can only be said about a handful of guys. In fact, only Ketel Marte, Brandon Lowe, and Jazz Chisholm have hit more bombs than him.

 

Drake Baldwin, C, Atlanta Braves

  • ESPN: 10% / Yahoo: 20%
  • FAAB: 6-8%

Yeah. Drake Baldwin is an elite offensive catcher. There aren’t many like him. He’s already belted 13 bombs across his first 254 at-bats. He has 24 extra-base hits, 29 runs scored, and 46 RBI to go with the bombs. That’s in just 83 games!

And it’s ALL real. Look above. It’s REAL. It actually could get better because he’s been a little unlucky to this point. Since the calendar turned to August, Baldwin has only sat once and that hasn’t been the case all year long. He’s been mixing in behind the dish and at DH, but they’re not playing Marcell Ozuna as much or playing both him and Sean Murphy as much.

 

Lenyn Sosa, 1B/2B/3B, Chicago White Sox

  • ESPN: 14% / Yahoo: 32%
  • FAAB: 6-8%

This recent surge from Lenyn Sosa has seemingly come out of nowhere but it’s been welcomed. He has multiple position eligibility and he’s playing every day too. Over his last 30 days, he’s played 21 games and has six homers, 16 RBI, 14 R, and has a .295/.356/.551 slash line. Just in the second half of the season, he’s upped his average to .323 with an OPS of .934.

The 13 home runs is interesting because if you look at Sosa since 2022, he’s hit for a lot of power at every level. He’s had a .500 SLG% or better each season and that’s starting to translate at the big league level.

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Outfielders

Isaac Collins, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

  • ESPN: 4% / Yahoo: 16%
  • FAAB: 8-10%

Whatever happened during the All-Star break for Isaac Collins I’ll take two of. He’s been incredible since the break as he’s hitting .391 across 17 games with two home runs, 11 R, 14 RBI, and three stolen bases. It’s all coming together as he’s posted a 1.058 OPS, .457 wOBA, and a 201 wRC+. 100 wRC+ is an average MLB player; Collins is at 201.

He went into Friday’s game as the Brewers number three hitter and has repeatedly hit in the top half of the lineup since the All-Star break. With how good he’s been, he’s not moving down any time soon.

 

Jakob Marsee, OF, Miami Marlins

  • ESPN: 4% / Yahoo: 15%
  • FAAB: 7-9%

Speed. That’s Jakob Marsee’s game. But he’s been on base a LOT and has been productive everywhere. We’ll start with the speed, however, and revisit how his seasons at the minor league level have gone;

  • 2023, A+ & AA - 46 SB in 129 games
  • 2024, AA & AAA - 51 SB in 137 games
  • 2025, AAA - 47 SB in 98 games

Through eight games, Marsee’s already swiped two bags at the major league level, but his plate discipline has been incredible. He’s walked six times through eight games and has had a 15% BB rate or higher at every level except one, and it was 12.9% at Triple-A last season.

He’s not going to hit many home runs, but he has six extra-base hits, five runs scored, and five more driven in. Buy now before it’s too late.

 

Matt Wallner, OF, Minnesota Twins

  • ESPN: 3% / Yahoo: 10%
  • FAAB: 4-6%

Matt Wallner is a powerful lad. He hits for a lot of power and the ball leaves the yard when he connects with a pitch. He homered again on Friday and that was his 16th bomb and fifth bomb since July 27th, a span of 11 games. This is what Wallner does, but he’s actually improvised in some areas. His K-rate is below 30% for the first time in his career and he has a 12.6% BB rate, a career-high.

Wallner’s the perfect fit for those not too worried about their ratios and are looking for lightning in a bottle in terms of a power surge. He’s a very low-average hitter, but he’s had some unlucky batted ball luck this season. He has a .243 BABIP and a .218 AVG, but his xBA is over .230 and in each of the last two seasons had an OBP of .370. There is a lot to like here with Wallner.

 

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