Eric Cross' Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups - Hitters and Pitchers (Week 26)

Eric Cross' top fantasy baseball waiver wire adds for Week 26 of 2025 (September 22 - September 28). His favorite free agent hitters and pitchers under 40% rostered.

Welcome to my final waiver wire article of the season here on RotoBaller. I've enjoyed writing this article each Saturday this season, and hopefully, this article has been beneficial to you and your fantasy teams over the last six months. If you're still reading this here in late-September, it probably means you're still in contention for a championship or pushing for a finish in a money spot. Let's finish the season strong!

The players below are all under 40 percent rostered in Yahoo! leagues. Some of them might already be rostered in your leagues, but if they're available, I'd recommend considering them to see if they could be good fits for your fantasy teams.

Last week's recommendations were Daylen Lile (WAS), Otto Kemp (PHI), Harrison Bader (PHI), Jake Burger (TEX), Andrew Benintendi (CHW), Joey Cantillo (CLE), and Parker Messick (CLE).

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Mickey Moniak (OF - COL)

33% Rostered on Yahoo

The season Mickey Moniak is having doesn't seem to be talked about enough. In 130 games, the former #1 overall pick is slashing .272/.308/.528 with 50 extra-base hits, 24 home runs, 60 runs scored, 68 RBI, and nine steals. And over his last six games, Moniak has been red hot, collecting 11 hits, five home runs, and driving in 11 runs. For the season, Moniak has posted an impressive 13.8% barrel rate and a 45.5% hard-hit rate, both of which are exponentially higher than last season's metrics.

Mickey's Taco's pic.twitter.com/bH7L2JShWV

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 18, 2025

If you need some power over the final nine days of the season, Moniak is a great target who is currently available in two-thirds of Yahoo leagues. You'll get two home games this weekend, but then Colorado heads out on the road for the final week of the regular season. But don't fret, Moniak has nine home runs in 196 road plate appearances this season, and all six projected starters who the Rockies will be facing next week are right-handed pitchers.

Brandon Marsh (OF - PHI)

10% Rostered on Yahoo

After recommending Otto Kemp and Harrison Bader last week, let's go back to the City of Brotherly Love this week with Brandon Marsh. The hefty-bearded veteran outfielder has been swinging a hot stick here in September, slashing .388/.444/.714 with nine extra-base hits, three home runs, 12 RBI, and 15 runs scored in 54 plate appearances. He's also walked five times to only nine strikeouts.

It's been a bit of an up-and-down season for Marsh, who yet again was limited due to injuries. But when healthy, he's put together a sneaky-good season. In 404 plate appearances, Marsh is slashing .283/.345/.450 with 59 runs, 11 home runs, and six steals. Marsh has continued to post above-average quality of contact metrics with a 91.1 mph AVG EV and 47% hard-hit rate. And on top of that, he's dropped his strikeout rate from 32.4% to 24.5% while increasing his zone contact rate by 4% and his overall contact rate by 5.1%

Josh Bell (1B - WAS)

11% Rostered on Yahoo

While he never gets talked about, Josh Bell is having another solid season here in 2025. In 133 games for the Nationals, Bell has slugged 20 home runs with a .232/.320/.401 slash line. That slash line might not make you want to hurry over to your waiver wire to pick him up, but Bell has been heating up of late, hitting .324  with four home runs and 16 RBI over his last 11 games.

Josh Bell has 4 HR and 12 RBI over his last 3 games 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TG0HBGguZ0

— MLB (@MLB) September 9, 2025

Bell's quality of contact metrics have ticked up this season, with an 11.7% barrel rate, 90.2 mph AVG EV, and a 46.6% hard-hit rate. He's also improved his walk rate and strikeout rate from 8.5% and 19.9% in 2024 to 10.7% and 16.6% respectively this season. His zone contact rate has also ticked up from 81.2% to 84.9%.

Thomas Saggese (2B/3B/SS - STL)

2% Rostered on Yahoo

After bouncing around from the bench to Triple-A for most of the season, Thomas Saggese is finally getting a chance to play regularly with St. Louis down the stretch and is making the most of his increased playing time. Saggese has picked up hits in eight of his last nine games, with three multi-hit games during that span. He's also walked four times, scored seven runs, and driven in six.

You can expect Saggese to continue starting at shortstop for St. Louis over the final nine days of the season, as Masyn Winn has been ruled out for the season. Nothing in Saggese's profile stands out, but he can do a little of everything while being eligible at two or three positions, depending on which platform you play on. In 261 plate appearances overall this season, Saggese has posted a 90.3 mph AVG EV, 44.4% hard-hit rate, and a 79th percentile sprint speed.

Trey Yesavage (SP - TOR)

27% Rostered on Yahoo

As one of the best pitching prospects in baseball coming off an impressive Major League debut, I'm surprised Trey Yesavage isn't rostered in more leagues right now. Yesavage allowed one earned run over five innings while striking out nine in his debut earlier this week after posting a 3.12 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and a minor league leading 41.1% strikeout rate in 98 innings before getting called up to Toronto.

Trey Yesavage getting ROBBED of an Immaculate Inning in his MLB Debut. 😑 pic.twitter.com/7tDWM3j7VU

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 16, 2025

Yesavage wasted no time showing the world that he can be one of the better strikeout arms in baseball, with his nasty splitter leading the way. That splitter picked up five of Yesavage's nine strikeouts in his debut with a 78.6% whiff rate. Yesavage also features a mid-90's fastball and an upper-80s slider. He's lined up to face the Kansas City Royals on Sunday before a home matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays next weekend to close out the regular season.

Connelly Early (SP - BOS)

32% Rostered on Yahoo

It's not often that I get to feature two exciting rookie arms in a waiver wire report, but that's exactly what I get to do this week. The first two Major League starts for Connelly Early have been nothing short of spectacular. Both coming against a good Athletics offense, Early has allowed just one earned run across 10.1 innings with one walk and a whopping 18 strikeouts. Early's first career strikeout was against Nick Kurtz, and he even got Jacob Wilson to strikeout in that debut outing.

Early doesn't blow anyone away with his 4-seamer, but the combination of velocity (94 mph on average), movement, and extension (7.1 feet) makes it a solid offering. Early will also mix in a changeup, curveball, sinker, slider, and the occasional sweeper. All five of his most-used offerings have a whiff rate above 27% so far, and four of them are above 36%. Like with Yesavage, Early is scheduled to take the mound on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays before facing the Detroit Tigers next weekend.

Specialized Targets

With so little time left in the fantasy baseball season, often times we're looking for a boost in a specific category or two to make up ground in a Roto league, or take a category in a head-to-head matchup. Here are some lesser-rostered players who could give your team(s) a boost.

Nate Eaton, BOS: Eaton has found himself playing close to every day for Boston lately and has four steals over the last week and a half. He's also hit a home run, scored six runs, and has four multi-hit games during this span.

Jose Caballero, TBR: Caballero currently leads the Major Leagues with 48 steals, and six of those have come over the last two weeks. He's been starting most games, either at shortstop or third base, and could really provide a notable boost in the stolen base column over the final week.

Sal Stewart, CIN: I've recommended Sal Stewart as a waiver wire target before, and I'm going to sneak him in once more here. Stewart has smacked four home runs over the last two weeks and has been starting regularly in the 4th or 5th spot in the order while splitting time between first base and third base. Five of the Reds' final eight games are at home.

Keegan Akin, BAL: The Baltimore bullpen has been ravaged by injuries this season, which has forced Baltimore to call upon Keegan Akin to close out games recently. But hey, he's doing a fine job and has picked up four saves in the last nine days, including three in the last four days. Akin has allowed just two earned runs in nine innings this month.