FANTASY BASEBALL WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
Colt Carrigg (OF Rockies): Rostered in 19 percent of Yahoo leagues
The switch-hitting Carrigg has yet to convince the Rockies that he should be a fixture against right-handers — he’s been on the bench four of the last nine times Colorado has faced one — but that day seems to be coming. The 65th overall pick in the 2023 draft has hit .309/.385/.593 in 97 plate appearances since getting his first callup last month. He actually has a 1.045 OPS so far against righties, compared to .906 versus lefties.
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Carrigg probably shouldn’t be performing quite this well. He has above average bat speed, but his exit velocity numbers haven’t been very good, either in the majors or at Triple-A Albuquerque. His hard-hit rate in the majors in 33 percent, and Statcast gives him an xBA of .249 and an xSLG of .424. Fortunately, Coors Field helps there; he’s hitting .348 at home and .257 on the road. He already has three triples in his 14 games at home. Carrigg’s production will fade some, but since he doesn’t strike out overly much, he should remain decent, and as he gets more comfortable, he’ll likely become bolder on the basepaths. Carrigg is just 2-for-4 stealing bases so far, but he was 30-for-37 in 57 games in Triple-A this year and 46-for-56 in Double-A last year. He shouldn’t need to excel offensively in order to contribute in mixed leagues.
As mentioned, Carrigg is still sitting a fair amount against righties at the moment. However, the Rockies are most likely going to trade either Mickey Moniak or Jake McCarthy prior to the deadline. They might go ahead and move both. That would free up more at-bats against righties for Carrigg, and the 24-year-old ought to get the chance to finish out the season as a true regular, probably even if the team wants to give Brenton Doyle another chance at some point.
Grant Taylor (RP White Sox): Rostered in 18 percent of Yahoo leagues
Probably the best-case scenario for the White Sox is that Seranthony Domínguez gets back to being serviceable in the closer’s role. However, he’s been as wild as ever through 33 appearances, walking 18 and posting a 4.85 ERA in 29 2/3 innings. As a result, Taylor got his third save of the year on Saturday and could be in line for many more in the second half.
While Taylor opened games four times in the first half of April, the White Sox rebuffed any talk of him reemerging as a starting pitcher this season. Fortunately, the opener thing didn’t stick; with no possibility of wins or saves, even a reliever as talented as Taylor can’t be of use in fantasy leagues as an opener. Taylor has been working exclusively in the later innings recently, and his last 10 appearances have produced two saves and three wins. They’ve also produced two blown saves and two losses, since, like Domínguez, he hasn’t been at his best of late. Taylor is much more impressive talent than Domínguez, though.
Taylor has struck out 35 percent of the batters he’s faced this year. He was at 34 percent in 36 2/3 innings as a rookie last year. His walk rate is down to eight percent, and he’s above average in terms of getting grounders. The talent is there for him to start if the White Sox want to revisit the idea next year. For now, though, expect at least a handful of saves, even if he’s never treated as a true closer this year, and a few more victories. He’s a borderline top-20 RP at this point.
Henry Bolte (OF Athletics): Rostered in 12 percent of Yahoo leagues
While he’s not out of the woods just yet, Bolte’s major league career is certainly off to a successful start. Through 48 games, he’s hit .291/.370/.367 with 11 steals in 15 tries. The lack of power is a little disappointing, but it’s probably not permanent; Bolte has demonstrated 96th percentile bat speed and an 83rd percentile hard-hit rate. His 27 percent strikeout rate is concerning but also expected, given that he came in at 35 percent in 2024 and 29 percent in 2025 before improving to 22 percent in Double-A last year.
Bolte’s bigger problem than the strikeouts is his tendency to hit groundballs, but that was also expected; he was a pretty extreme groundball guy in the minors, too. He’s at 66 percent in the majors, easily the highest mark in the league. Next up are Jake Mangum at 62 percent and Noelvi Marte at 61 percent. Fortunately, as one of the fastest players in the league, he will turn some of those grounders into infield hits. However, he’ll never match the similarly speedy Chandler Simpson there, since he’s a right-handed hitter and since he tends to hit his grounders pretty hard.
Still, Bolte is worth considering where he’s available. Part of the reason is that Brent Rooker is now out for the year after knee surgery, alleviating playing time concerns. Denzel Clarke still might come back from his hamstring injury to challenge for outfield at-bats, but there’s been nothing recently to suggest that it will happen any time soon. Bolte’s power is more theory than a practical reality right now, but if the A’s unlock something within his swing that allows him to get the ball in the air more frequently, his fantasy ceiling in one of the league’s best situations for hitters would be really exciting. As is, he’s still an everyday player in a productive lineup with top-flight steal ability. That’s not too shabby.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
– I’m not expecting Nick Gonzales to maintain his surprising .312 average, but he remains available in 68 percent of Yahoo leagues, and he became a little better of a bet for fantasy purposes due to the unfortunate news regarding Konnor Griffin‘s finger Tuesday. Gonzales had been out of the Pirates lineup twice in the 10 games since Griffin returned from the IL last month, but he’ll get all of the playing time he can handle with Griffin sidelined and might be looking at moving up in the order.
– Tyler Wells seems to be the man in the ninth in Baltimore with Ryan Helsley back on the injured list. They might bring in an upgrade later this month, and they’re becoming increasingly optimistic that Félix Bautista could return from shoulder surgery to contribute in September. For the short term, though, Wells is a decent pickup.
– One month after giving the prospect a surprising seven-year, $31 million deal, the Brewers called up switch-hitter Luis Lara on Tuesday for his major league debut. He was hitting .321/.432/.470 with nine homers and 24 steals for Triple-A Nashville. The 21-year-old has a terrific approach at the plate, but he’s not ready to hit for power in the majors, and it seems unlikely that he’ll play regularly right away. For now, he’s probably just an NL-only guy.
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