2024 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Alex Verdugo, Adam Duvall, Matt Waldron

Playing the waiver wire effectively is crucial to fantasy baseball success throughout the season. Each week of the 2024 campaign, this article will help pinpoint which players are readily available to be picked up in most formats. All of them should help bolster fantasy rosters in the short and/or long term.

***Players included on the list below were rostered in fewer than 70% of Yahoo! Leagues at the time of writing. Stats are up to date through May 28.

Hitters

Alex Verdugo – OF – New York Yankees (63%)

Verdugo is currently riding a nine-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 13 of 14 games. In this stretch, he’s posted a solid .805 OPS with a pair of homers and five doubles across 59 plate appearances.

Verdugo’s most valuable fantasy contributions have been in the RBI department, as he’s driven in 11 runs while settling into the middle of one of the league’s best lineups.

Over these last couple of weeks, Verdugo has recorded a 44.0 HardHit% while posting elite contact rates (91.2% Contact%, 97.0% Z-Contact%).

Expect the production to continue from the 28-year-old outfielder, as the Yankees’ offense supplies him with plenty of chances to plate runs. His .281 xBA suggests his current .260 AVG also has room to rise even further.  

Adam Duvall – OF – Atlanta Braves (10%)

The unfortunate season-ending injury to Ronald Acuña Jr. has led to a regular role for Duvall in the Braves’ starting lineup. If nothing else, Duvall smashes balls out of the yard. In fact, he’s launched three blasts over the past week, adding a double, five RBI, and five runs across 22 plate appearances.

Unless the Braves make a move for another everyday outfielder, Duvall will see consistent bats going forward. For fantasy managers in need of a power boost, he’s a great option.

Duvall will strike out and likely bat for a low average, but he should deliver in the HR and RBI columns. His .488 xSLG sits behind a less inspiring .416 SLG for the year, providing more evidence that a production bump for Duvall could be coming.  

Jose Miranda – 3B – Minnesota Twins (3%)

Miranda remains readily available pretty much across the fantasy landscape. That’s quite surprising at this point since, like Duvall above, Miranda has been on a power surge. The young slugger has smacked three homers over his last nine games, driving in seven runs while going 9-for-31 (.290) in that span.

The power took a little while to show up this season, but Miranda was already hitting well. Going back even further than the past 10 days, he’s hit a cool .308 with a .517 SLG, 11 extra-base hits, and 13 RBI across 95 plate appearances since April 25. It’s time to stop ignoring Miranda, at least in deeper formats.   

Pitchers

Ryan Weathers – SP – Miami Marlins (26%)

Weathers endured his worst outing of the year to close out last month, allowing six earned runs over four frames against the Nationals at home in Miami. Since the calendar flipped to May, however, the first-round pick from 2018 has turned in five straight quality starts, posting an excellent 1.91 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, and 27-to-5 K/BB across 33 innings.

Weathers has been even better than those outstanding numbers over his last three outings, as he has given up only one earned run (two runs) on nine hits and four walks with 19 strikeouts in 21 innings. The lefty has induced a ridiculous 64.7 GB% across those three starts, leading to a .127 AVG (.157 BABIP).

Of course, there’s regression coming, but Weathers’ 3.20 xFIP this month is still promising.  

Matt Waldron – SP – San Diego Padres (14%)

While still on the low side, Waldron’s rostered rate is rocketing up after his performance Tuesday night. In his best outing of the year to date, the 27-year-old righty completely stifled the Marlins offense, firing seven scoreless innings. He racked up eight strikeouts while allowing just six hits and no walks, continuing a four-start stretch of dominance.  

Over those four starts, which were immediately preceded by a blowup in Arizona on May 5, Waldron has cruised to the tune of a 1.96 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 31-to-6 K/BB across 23 innings. Backing up those exceptional marks are a 24.1 HardHit%, 86.3 mph EV, and 2.63 xFIP.

Waldron’s knuckler has opposing hitters baffled and unable to square anything up of late, as he’s allowed only one barrel (1.9%) along with an incredibly impressive 75.0% Z-Contact%. Both of those marks rank among the top-five qualifying pitchers in the league over the last three weeks.

Other Options to Consider

• Nolan Gorman – 2B, 3B – St. Louis Cardinals (58%)
• Wilyer Abreu – OF – Boston Red Sox (48%)
• Michael Wacha – SP – Kansas City Royals (42%)
• Jeff Hoffman – RP – Philadelphia Phillies (32%)