4 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups & Stashes (2026)

With the second half right around the corner, there are still some real difference-makers sitting on fantasy baseball waiver wires in most leagues. Our analysts broke down two hitters and two pitchers worth adding now, all of whom remain lightly owned relative to the numbers they’ve been putting up.

4 Players to Add Now: Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Targets & Stashes (2026)

Here’s more from our latest episode on top fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups.

Heriberto Hernandez (OF, DH – MIA)

Hernandez is the lowest-owned player of the group at just 5% on FantasyPros consensus roster percentage, and the case for him traces back to last season. In 87 games, he hit .266 with 10 home runs and a 118 wRC+, but playing time concerns kept him off draft boards heading into this year. That’s no longer a problem. He now holds an everyday role in the Marlins outfield, and over 67 games this season he’s hit 13 home runs with 5 steals. His batting average sits at just .236, but a 115 wRC+ shows the underlying production is real.

The Statcast gains back that up. His average exit velocity is up 2 miles per hour, from 89 to 91. His barrel rate has climbed from 11% to 12%, his hard-hit rate has jumped from 45% to 50%, and his bat speed has increased a mile and a half, from 73.4 to 74.9. He still has some swing-and-miss issues, but he’s clearly figured something out recently, hitting .324 with 5 home runs over 11 games in July heading into the break. The speed adds a little extra juice to the profile, drawing a comparison to the kind of breakout Jesus Sanchez had a couple of years ago. The home ballpark isn’t ideal for power, but the Marlins have been productive enough as an offense this year to offset that. Double-digit homers and a couple more steals down the stretch look very achievable, making Hernandez a pickup in all 12-team leagues and deeper.

Curtis Mead (1B, 2B, 3B, DH – WSH)

Mead’s season and career have been revived since leaving the White Sox for the Nationals. In May, he hit .261 with 4 home runs, and the power started showing up even more in early June. But he hit just .196 for the month of June, which dragged his overall numbers back down and is likely why he’s still only 19% owned on FantasyPros consensus.

From the start of July through the All-Star break, he’s hit .400, and the power has kept coming. He hasn’t had a month yet with fewer than three home runs, and with July not even finished, that number is likely to move to four. The underlying profile change is significant: his barrel percentage has more than doubled to 12%, well above league average, paired with his highest career hard-hit percentage and his highest career pulled-air percentage, on top of an improved ability to get the ball in the air. That combination of barrel rate, hard-hit rate, launch angle, and pulled-air rate is exactly the type of profile that tends to produce big results. He’s also striking out at just an 18.5% clip while walking at a healthy rate, and he’s doing it in the middle of one of the best offenses in baseball, hitting around Nationals bats like James Wood, who scored 89 runs in the first half, along with Abrams and Luis Garcia, both having career years. That lineup context means plenty of runs and RBI opportunities. He can be streaky, but with July eligibility at both corner and middle infield, he’s a strong add before he climbs much further in ownership.

Cade Cavalli (SP – WSH)

Cavalli is the highest-owned pitcher on this list, but he’s still under 30% on FantasyPros consensus and likely under 50% even on CBS, where ownership tends to run higher. His season line has been a mixed bag: a 3.83 ERA and a strong 25% strikeout rate, but a 1.35 WHIP, and just five wins in 20 starts despite a good offense behind him, largely a byproduct of a poor Washington bullpen.

The case for him now is built on his last six starts. Over that stretch, he’s posted a 3.72 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP, with a 28% strikeout rate and just a 5% walk rate. A 3.03 FIP over that span backs up that the improvement is real rather than lucky. He struck out 13 in a start against the Red Sox at Fenway, and followed that with a good outing against the Yankees to close the first half and another strong start against the Phillies. Early in the season, roughly one in four of his starts were good; recently, it’s closer to three in four. The main lingering concern is the WHIP, which was inflated by several early-season starts where he allowed seven, eight, or even nine hits. Lately those outings have trended down into the four-or-five-hit range, supporting real optimism for a strong second half.

Brandon Pfaadt (SP, RP – ARI)

Pfaadt’s season started rough enough that he was moved to a relief role before eventually being optioned to the minors to work things out as a starter. Since returning on May 30th, he’s made three notable starts, all against divisional opponents. Against the Giants, he went 5.1 innings with 2 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 1 earned run. Against the Padres, he went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, no earned runs, no walks, and striking out 6. Right before the break against the Dodgers, he went 5.1 innings with 2 earned runs, no walks, and 2 strikeouts.

Those three starts featured low walk totals, though also modest strikeout numbers, which may cap his overall fantasy ceiling. Still, for a pitcher who looked completely finished earlier in the year, posting a 1.74 ERA in July with zero walks issued and multiple wins is a real signal. His pitch mix has shifted too: his last start against the Dodgers featured a heavier dose of fastballs and changeups, while his sweeper usage, previously his main strikeout weapon but a pitch that seemed to be getting him into trouble, dropped from around 13% usage to just 4% in that outing. His curveball and cutter combination has looked consistent as well. He’s unlikely to develop into an ace, but he looks like a real candidate to be one of two or three valuable arms left in Arizona’s rotation the rest of the season, especially with Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly both looking uncertain to stick. He also pitches in front of a strong defense, which matters for a pitcher who isn’t leaning heavily on strikeouts and is trying to work deep into games. At just 6% owned on FantasyPros consensus, he’s available in the vast majority of leagues.

If you want to dive deeper into fantasy baseball, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Baseball Tools as you navigate your season. From our Lineup Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup, based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team, and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy baseball season.