Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Top Pickups: Week of May 11

As the fantasy baseball season wears on into May, prospect debuts and closer role shuffling are generally some of the more intriguing storylines on a weekly basis.

While I’d still encourage you to keep an eye on Cam Smith, who is 12% owned on ESPN with a 15.1% barrel rate, I’ll shine some light on some other potential players of interest for your fantasy roster.

It’s always important to keep in mind the size of your league when navigating waivers as well. These players are worth following in shallower leagues, like ESPN’s newer default roster sizes, but maybe not worthy of an immediate pickup. If you play in leagues with 12 teams or more, all of these players are at least worth consideration.

Stats as of May 10. Ownership percentages via ESPN.

Travis Bazzana, CLE, 2B (21% owned)

2026 Stats: .194/.396/.278, 1 HR, 7 SB, 106 wRC+

Bazzana, the former number one overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, made quite a name for himself this past week by hitting his first career home run and swiping five bags.

The aggressiveness on the basepaths has been a little surprising, as Bazzana stole just 12 bases in 84 games in the minor leagues last year and has MLB-average sprint speed. He had stolen eight bases in 24 Triple-A games prior to his call-up, so being an aggressive baserunner has clearly become a priority for him this season.

Bazzana has done a nice job controlling the zone; his 14% K-rate and 18.6% walk rate are both outstanding in a small sample. His 68.3-mph bat speed and 3.8% barrel rate tell us that so far, he’s unlikely to hit for much power, however. Given how weak a position second base is in fantasy, Bazzana is an intriguing new option.

Rico Garcia, BAL, RP (18% owned)

2026 Stats: 17 IP, 2 SV, 0.53 ERA, 33.3% K%, 10.5% BB%

Garcia is filling in as Baltimore’s closer for the injured Ryan Helsley, who was placed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation. Helsley had amassed seven saves prior to his injury, and Garcia already earned two this week in his stead.

As his sparkling ERA indicates, Garcia has been a dominant reliever for the O’s this season. He was brought in for both of the club’s two save situations this week and also earned a win by recording the last four outs of Tuesday’s contest.

The closer role appears to be Garcia’s to lose, making him a valuable fantasy asset until Helsley, who had not resumed throwing as of Sunday, returns.

Logan Henderson, MIL, SP (13% owned)

2026 Stats: 13 IP, 4.15 ERA, 36.7% K%, 3.3% BB%

Henderson was a buzz-worthy name in the early parts of draft season as an interesting late-round arm. He fell off the map a bit after experiencing elbow soreness in spring training, which also caused him to miss much of the second half of the 2025 season.

Now that he’s returned to a major league mound, we’re seeing why fantasy managers were eager to put him on their rosters. It’s still a small sample, but Henderson has struck out 16 batters and walked just two, a great sign that he can miss bats in the zone.

Henderson lines up for a reasonably friendly outing this week against the Twins on Saturday, 5/16. He’s likely to be a popular streamer in daily leagues, given his recent success.

Robby Snelling, MIA, SP (12% owned)

2026 Stats (AAA/MLB): 34 IP, 2.38 ERA, 34.8% K%, 14.4% BB%

Snelling, the 39th pick of the 2022 draft, was called up to make his major league debut this past week. After he dominated Triple-A to the tune of a 1.86 ERA, the Marlins decided to give him a shot.

His first start was forgivable, but not great. Snelling went five innings against the Nationals, allowing three earned runs, walking four batters and striking out two. While it was a bit surprising that Snelling wasn’t able to miss more bats, we can’t make any definitive statements on his ceiling based on one outing.

This week, Snelling also lines up with the Twins, on Thursday, 5/14. Minnesota has performed well against left-handed starters this season, so I’m not sure if I’d be racing to put him in my lineup for that start, unless I had to. Snelling is worthy of putting on your watch list to follow his progress.

JJ Bleday, CIN, OF (10% owned)

2026 Stats: .262/.392/.643, 4 HR, 1 SB, 176 wRC+

Bleday, the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft, has struggled to produce consistently in the majors. He popped 20 homers with a 120 wRC+ in 2024 with the A’s, but then immediately regressed to a 90 wRC+ last season.

After beginning this year’s campaign in Triple-A, Bleday was called up by Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago and has been scorching hot since. The left-hander is striking out as much as he’s walking, has great bat speed (75.2 mph) and his small-sample barrel rate is outstanding (18.2%).

If you are in a league with 10 or fewer teams, you might want to give Bleday a bit more time to see if this level of production is sustainable. However, for leagues with 12 teams or more, he’s certainly worth considering for outfield help based on just how good he’s looked in this small sample.