FANTASY BASEBALL WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
Logan Henderson (SP Brewers) – Rostered in 24 percent of Yahoo leagues
Due to another round of elbow inflammation, which was the same thing that ended his 2025 season, Henderson didn’t get the chance to make the Brewers out of spring training. He did make a two-inning spot start the second week of the season, but he was otherwise limited to three-inning outings in Triple-A his first few times out. The Brewers finally let him go five innings in his final appearance for Nashville last week, and after getting the call to replace Brandon Woodruff in the Milwaukee’s rotation, he fanned eight in six innings of two-run ball against the Nationals on Sunday.
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Not blessed with overwhelming stuff, Henderson succeeds by hitting his spots with his 91-95 mph fastball and finishing batters off with an excellent changeup. He’s also throwing his high-80s cutter more frequently this year. He’ll probably settle in as a No. 3 starter if he can stay healthy, but he should be one with a strong enough strikeout rate and WHIP to be of quite a bit of use in mixed leagues.
Health is a big question mark with Henderson at this point. He’s topped out at 103 innings as a pro, but the back-to-back elbow issues are worrisome. Still, we’re talking about a free player, not a long-term investment. As long as Henderson is in the Brewers rotation, he needs to be rostered in all leagues.
Gabriel Moreno (C Diamondbacks) – Rostered in 10 percent of Yahoo leagues
Moreno’s progression at age 25 in 2025 made him look like he was on his way to being one of the league’s best catchers in terms of hitting for average and getting on base. This year, though, he seems to want to be more of a power hitter. The bat speed is up, and so are the strikeouts. It hasn’t paid off yet with him having one homer through 15 games, but there’s hope; he’s sporting a career-high pull rate and already has five barrels. That 13.2% barrel percentage is more than twice his career rate.
Moreno’s big problem is that he can’t stop getting hurt. He’s already served an IL stint this year with a mild oblique strain. He was limited to 83 games last year by a fractured finger. Two years ago, he served IL stints due to a sprained thumb and a strained groin. He opened this season batting cleanup for the Diamondbacks, which seemed like a great opportunity given the success enjoyed by Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll as the team’s top three hitters last year. Of course, none are hitting quite as well as hoped at the moment, and since returning from the oblique injury without the benefit of a rehab assignment, Moreno has been dropped in the order. So, it might still be a little while before Moreno really takes off. However, there’s definite top 10-catcher ability here, even if he goes back to hitting more like he did last year.
Jared Jones (SP Pirates) – Rostered in 32 percent of Yahoo leagues
It’s been a long time coming, but Jones finally returned to the mound in a game setting last week, striking out five in three perfect innings for Single-A Bradenton. He topped out at 101 mph in his first game action since last March. He was diagnosed with a UCL sprain in the middle of spring training, and after a setback when he tried to resume throwing in May, he had internal brace surgery. Now he’s making his way back, perhaps with better stuff than ever.
Jones, the 44th overall pick in the 2020 draft, debuted with the Pirates at the start of 2024 and opened his career with a 2.63 ERA and a brilliant 52/5 K/BB in 41 innings over his first seven starts. He wasn’t quite as stellar the rest of the way, especially after missing seven weeks with a lat strain, but he demonstrated ace-type talent with his elite fastball and slider and the improvement in his control.
The Pirates are definitely in a better spot now than when Jones previously pitched for the team, boasting an actual functioning offense that currently rates sixth in the league in runs per game. The club will be careful with him, but he should be efficient enough to put together a fair number of six-inning starts while keeping his pitch count down. Based on the way he threw last week, he’s not going to last in free agent pools until the Pirates activate him at the end of the month.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
– Caleb Killian was featured here a few weeks ago, and he’s interesting again now with the Giants seemingly unsatisfied with Ryan Walker in the ninth. I worry that Keaton Winn will also be a big part of the saves mix if Walker is bumped back to middle relief, but I think Killian is the slightly more interesting of the two, what with his 28% strikeout rate to open the year.
– I’d love to recommend the Tigers’ Brant Hurter with Tarik Skubal sidelined, if only the Tigers would promise to keep using him like they did on Sunday Night Baseball. He threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings after entering during the third and picked up a win over the Rangers. Maybe it will happen, but probably not as much during the team’s current stretch, which features off days Thursday and next Monday.
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