Austin Lowell | Tue, Aug 25th 2026, 4:19am EDT

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups by Category (2026)

Welcome back to another fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups by category column. This weekly piece covers players who can help in at least one specific category. For example, if your team is scoring plenty of runs and hitting for a strong average but struggling to steal bases, you can scroll directly to the stolen bases section for a targeted pickup.

While most of these players will contribute across multiple categories, their primary value comes from the one they’re listed under. I also rarely repeat players week to week, so it’s not a bad idea to read previous articles to see if any of those players are still available.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups by Category

Without further delay, here are this week’s top fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups by category. All players listed are rostered in fewer than 55% of Yahoo leagues.

Batting average

Nick Sogard (1B, 2B, 3B -BOS): 23%

Nick Sogard is the Red Sox’s latest leadoff hitter, and for good reason. The 28-year-old utility player is 11 for his last 22 with two home runs and eight runs scored.

Sogard has started every game this month for Boston and qualifies at three infield positions. He walks a ton (16%), doesn’t chase (20%) and rarely strikes out (16%). He’s the perfect catalyst for the Red Sox and can be added to teams looking to improve their batting average or runs scored.

Stolen Bases

Tim Tawa (1B, 2B, 3B, OF – ARI): 17%

Tim Tawa does a bit of everything, but lately he’s been stealing bases. Tawa is up to seven on the year (limited playing time) after swiping his fifth bag of the month.

Tawa’s not the fleetest of foot, but he knows how to time his jump and when to be aggressive. He also won’t hurt you in any other category like a lot of one-trick speedsters do. The righty from Stanford actually hit over 30 home runs in the minor leagues two years ago and is up to eight so far this season. He also just reached 200 at-bats.

Tawa’s been hot lately, batting .375 over the last week and .304 since August 9th. With Ketel Marte on the injured list (IL), expect him to continue to start and fill up the stat sheet. He also qualifies at nearly every position.

RBI

Spencer Jones (OF – NYY): 22%

Spencer Jones is starting to heat up and is even producing against left-handed pitching. A lefty himself, Jones started his major league career taking a seat against southpaws, but is now playing every day and mashing against them.

Jones is eight for his last 21 with two homers, four RBI and two steals. The big man has cut down on his strikeouts lately and ranks in the top 50 of offensive players for the month.

Jones should continue to bat sixth in the lineup behind George Lombard and the recently returned Cody Bellinger. Those two should offer him plenty of RBI opportunities, and with Jones swinging a hot stick, his numbers should continue to climb. He’s worth a look in most leagues.

Home Runs

Luis Robert Jr. (OF – NYM): 40%

Luis Robert Jr. is 15 for his last 46 (.326) with five home runs and 10 RBIs. Robert doesn’t steal much anymore, which hinders his value, but the former All-Star is barreling the ball often. He has also reduced his strikeouts.

The Mets center fielder looks very comfortable in New York these days and is finally mashing as fans had hoped. Robert has always had tremendous upside and should put up decent power numbers the rest of the way.

Runs

Alec Bohm (1B, 2B – PHI): 53%

I highlighted Alec Bohm last week for batting average, but this week I’m placing him under runs scored. With the Phillies’ potent lineup and Bohm getting on base so often, it’s no wonder he’s steadily scoring runs.

The corner infielder has now scored 10 times over the last 10 games. He’s hitting an eye-catching .463 over the last two weeks and deserves to be starting everywhere.

ERA

Adrian Houser (SP, RP – SFG): 3%

Adrian Houser has been shutting teams down lately, holding opponents to just two runs over his last five games (four starts). His ERA since June 26th is an impressive 1.50 (63 innings). He’s also thrown back-to-back scoreless outings, holding the Guardians and the Astros off the scoreboard.

Houser has been productive in the past, registering a 2.10 ERA over 11 starts for the White Sox last season. Back in 2021, when he started 26 games for the Brewers, he posted a 3.22 ERA.

The 33-year-old righty has settled in nicely as a starter in San Francisco and is worth considering in most leagues.

WHIP

Walker Buehler (SP – SDP): 26%

I wanted to put George Klassen here, but given his recent control struggles, we’ll leave him on the watch list for now. Instead, we’re going to go with Walker Buehler.

Buehler is by no means a must-add, but it’s hard to ignore what he’s been doing lately. In Walker’s last three starts, he’s surrendered just nine hits and four walks over 18 innings of work. Those strong performances have led to two victories and a fine 0.72 WHIP.

Buehler hasn’t been the most reliable starter in recent years, but he’s on a roll now and could be locked in as the playoffs approach. He’s worth taking a shot at in deeper leagues with the Padres in the hunt for October.

Strikeouts

Kade Anderson (SP – SEA): 55%

Kade Anderson didn’t have the best start to his Major League career, but it was immediately evident how great he could be. The young phenom struck out five batters over 5.2 innings, but he also allowed two home runs. The Cubs took advantage of his mistakes, but Anderson still managed to finish with a solid 27.2% CSW%.

The third overall pick in the 2025 draft and the first pitcher off the board that year was lights out in the minors, striking out more than 40% of the batters he faced while maintaining an ERA just north of 1.00.

Anderson was scooped up in the majority of leagues, but after his not-so-hot start, he could be back on the wire before long. Make sure you pounce if he is, because his talent is too good to pass up.

Wins

Joe Musgrove (SP – SDP): 24%

Joe Musgrove should be activated next week. While there will likely be some rust, Musgrove comes with the type of pedigree that can make a difference in fantasy leagues. He’ll work his way up to 80 pitches in his final rehab assignment this week, and if all goes well, he could start against the lowly Reds in early September.

The Padres are in the playoff race, so they wouldn’t activate Musgrove unless they believe he can help them win. Musgrove is worth a speculative add in deeper leagues.

Saves

Ben Joyce (RP – LAA): 23%

Ben Joyce has been unhittable since his activation nearly three weeks ago. Through seven appearances, the flame-throwing righty has yet to give up a run. He’s collected three saves and nine strikeouts while posting a 0.75 WHIP.

The Angels don’t win a ton of games, but Joyce can be counted on for good ratios to go along with a handful of saves down the stretch.

Austin Lowell is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Austin, check out his archive.

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