Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Week of September 21

Welcome to the last week of fantasy baseball. Hopefully, if you are reading this, that likely means that you’re in your championship series. Congratulations!

If you’re not, we still want to say thank you for following along with our waiver wire series throughout the season. We will be back with draft content, rankings, and offseason articles in no time.

Without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive into this week’s picks. You’ll quickly notice that this week’s picks include a couple of young players who might not have lived up to the hype, paired with a few veterans who had down seasons. Well, maybe that’s just all that’s left this late in the game.

Stats as of first pitch on September 20. Ownership via ESPN.

Jakob Marsee – OF – Miami Marlins (29.3%)

2026 Stats: .232/.349/.361, 11 HR, 23 SB, 101 wRC+

Marsee entered the season as one of the hot names in fantasy after a scorching start in 2025. However, this season has not gone nearly as planned. A miserable start to the season washed away his fantasy value, but over the past month he has recovered, slashing .350/.464/.550 with nine extra-base hits.

At this point, I’m just trying to find hot hitters. Sure, name value does matter, and so does a track record, but someone like Marsee can finish the season strong and give your team a boost. We know he has a lot to play for in the final days of the season.

Jonah Tong – SP – New York Mets (8.5%)

2026 Stats: 21 IP, 2.43 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 8.57 K/9, 3.86 BB/9

If you are like me, you expected Tong to do much more this season. Five total games and 21 innings were far less than I expected.

Maybe I’m reading too much into his last start, but six innings of zero earned runs and six strikeouts definitely caught my attention. I think that the ability to be a productive pitcher is still there, and he has a great opportunity to show it in his next outing.

Tong will go up against Washington on the road in a matchup that I like. I wouldn’t say that Washington’s lineup is too threatening, and Tong has the ability to rack up strikeouts. This might be a bit of a roll of the dice, but that’s what you have to do in the final week of the season.

Bailey Ober – SP – Minnesota Twins (15.7%)

2026 Stats: 123 IP, 4.32 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 6.44 K/9, 2.63 BB/9

I know, I know, you think that this is probably a bad pick. Ober has not provided the type of fantasy value that he has over the past couple of seasons, and the inability to get swing-and-miss is concerning.

Even if he does not give you a strikeout upside, over his past five starts, he has only allowed more than two runs once – his last outing allowing three to the Yankees.

If you are running thin on starting pitching, Ober might be the perfect fit. He has two starts this week, first at San Francisco, then against the Rangers. They might not be perfect matchups, but I think that they’re good enough to be intriguing for a two-start week.

Travis Bazzana – 2B – Cleveland Guardians (29.5%)

2026 Stats: .248/.340/.410, 15 HR, 19 SB, 113 wRC+

Well, would you look at that. Cleveland’s late-season run is pushing them into the playoffs. I wrote about this exact scenario at the beginning of September, and it’s becoming true. Cleveland always has a way of making it come true. A big reason for their success has been Bazzana, who has slashed .279/.378/.603 with six home runs over the past month.

Bazzana might be on a hot streak, but let’s not forget the pedigree and talent this player has. We aren’t talking about a nobody who had a couple of good matchups, but instead a highly drafted and regarded player becoming what we thought he could be.

Kenley Jansen – RP – Detroit Tigers (42.7%)

2026 Stats: 43 IP, 3.35 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 10.26 K/9, 4.81 BB/9

If you have watched Jansen in 2026, you likely have an elevated heart rate. He’s been up and down, blown saves, and looked unhittable at times. I’m not sure how much he has left in the tank and if 2026 will be it, but he is just three saves away from reaching 500.

It might take a miracle for him to get there this season, but you know he will be pitching to his best. Is his best good enough? I guess we’ll have to sit back and see. Regardless, he can still rack up a few strikeouts and a few saves, so he’s worth a roster spot.