Must-Add Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 6 Fantasy Baseball (2026)

May 2, 2026

Joey breaks down his must add fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for Week 6 of the 2026 MLB season. Add these players now off the waiver wire and win more.

Welcome, RotoBallers, to another week of must-add waiver wire pickups. With another week almost in the books, it's time for another list of waiver wire pickups.

We will dive into the seven best waiver wire pickups heading into Week 6 of the fantasy baseball season. This list will feature an up-and-coming star hitter with the Athletics and a reliever who is emerging as the top closer on his respective team.

So, let's look at the best waiver wire targets this weekend.

2026 Fantasy Baseball: Week 6 Waiver Wire Adds

Moises Ballesteros, DH, Chicago Cubs

At this point in the season, Chicago Cubs designated hitter Moises Ballesteros should be rostered in more than 31% of Yahoo! leagues. He has been a major bright spot for the Cubs' offense and has been one of the top rookie hitters to begin the season. Ballesteros is currently slashing .324/.386/.595 with five home runs, five doubles, and 16 RBI across 28 games.

There aren't many young hitters who just have a knack for hitting. Ballesteros is one of those hitters, as he ranks in the top 20% of the league in expected batting average (.287), expected slugging (.500), hard-hit rate (53.3%), and launch angle sweet-spot rate (40%). He is going to be an all-around strong contributor throughout his first full Major League season.

Although Ballesteros is in a rough 1-for-16 slump at the plate, his one hit during this stretch was a grand slam against the Padres earlier this week. He also already has catcher eligibility in Yahoo! leagues, making him a prized pickup this week. The Cubs slugger is simply too good to leave on waivers heading into Week 6.

Moisés Ballesteros crushes a GRAND SLAM 😳 pic.twitter.com/UNX1qOHT0a

— MLB (@MLB) April 28, 2026

Josh Jung, 3B, Texas Rangers

If Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung is still available in your league, he is a must-add in all formats for Week 6. Jung is batting .321 with four home runs, 11 doubles, and 19 RBI in his first 29 games this season and has been on another level at the plate over the last two weeks. The former All-Star has a .408 batting average with 12 extra-base hits since April 16.

This recent hot stretch makes Jung the top waiver wire pickup of the week. He has a .303 expected batting average, a 91.9 mph average exit velocity, a 53% hard-hit rate, a 41% launch angle sweet-spot rate, and a 33.1% squared-up rate while also carrying a low whiff rate (17.7%) and strikeout rate (16.8%). The 28-year-old is finally putting it all together with injuries fully in the past.

There are plenty of signs that Jung will keep this up. Those metrics above all rank in the upper half of the league, and the Rangers' third baseman is all over offspeed/breaking pitches. He is 17-for-42 at the plate on all non-fastball pitches in the early going. That's enough reason to add him in all leagues.

Carlos Cortes, OF, Athletics

Athletics outfielder Carlos Cortes has come out of nowhere to become a must-pickup in all 12-plus team leagues. Cortes has a whopping .386 batting average with four home runs, five doubles, one triple, 13 RBI, and a 1.113 OPS in 26 games this season. He has been even better over his past 10 games, as the 28-year-old has 17 hits across his last 33 at-bats (.515 batting average) to go with six extra-base hits since April 20.

There's no denying how great Cortes has been so far this year. He continues to produce at the plate, and his metrics fully back that up. The switch-hitting outfielder currently ranks in the 99th percentile in xwOBA (.447), 100th percentile in expected batting average (.362), 97th percentile in expected slugging (.600), 87th percentile in barrel rate (14.5%), and 87th percentile in launch angle sweet-spot rate (40.3%).

Los is on 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/SCHjgwv0Mj

— Athletics (@Athletics) April 25, 2026

So, make the move to pick him up. He has been a hit machine and has shown plenty of power early on. Cortes is easily one of the better waiver wire pickups this week.

Spencer Arrighetti, SP, Houston Astros

Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti looks poised for a bounce-back campaign after missing most of the 2025 season due to injuries. Arrighetti started the year down in Triple-A, but the Astros called him up just three weeks into the season with all the injuries to the rotation. This was the right-hander's shot to show his potential in the big leagues once again.

After just three starts, it's clear that Arrighetti could be in for a strong season. He threw six innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts against the Rockies on April 15, delivered five innings of two-run ball with three strikeouts against the Guardians on April 20, and threw seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts against the Yankees in his most recent outing.

Those three starts make Arrighetti one of the best starting pitcher waiver wire targets this weekend. He is off to a fantastic start on the mound and has an elite 31.1% whiff rate and 26.9% strikeout rate. Make sure to pick him up before someone in your league does.

Kyle Harrison, SP, Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers know how to develop pitchers. Offseason acquisition Kyle Harrison could be the next to find success in the Brewers' pitching lab. Milwaukee traded for Harrison in early February to bolster its starting pitcher depth before the season. Now, the southpaw looks like a completely different pitcher on the mound.

Harrison just put together the best start of his young career in his last outing on Sunday. He threw six shutout innings with one hit, one walk, and 12 strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates and induced 23 swings-and-misses in that start. That outing marked the third time in which the left-hander struck out at least six batters in a game.

Kyle Harrison's first month as a Milwaukee Brewer:

🔵 2.28 ERA
🔵 30 K in 23.2 IP
🔵 31.3 K%#ThisIsMyCrew x @MLBPS_US pic.twitter.com/YuWVgC0cDW

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 27, 2026

While it's still too early to say the Brewers have fully fixed Harrison, the 24-year-old is on track for his best season yet. His strikeout rate is up (31.3%), his whiff rate is up (29.1%), his hard-hit rate is down (32.7%), and his expected ERA sits at just 3.43 on the year. With Harrison adjusting his arm angle slot by 6° from last year, he's looking like a potential breakout candidate.

Jack Perkins, SP/RP, Athletics

Jack Perkins is fully in the saves mix for the Athletics right now. He has saved three games since April 21, and manager Mark Kotsay is going to him more and more in the later innings. Perkins has pitched in the eighth or ninth inning in each of his last six appearances out of the bullpen. In two of those eighth-inning appearances, the right-hander also got the ninth inning and closed out the game.

Given the way Perkins has pitched in recent weeks, he should continue to get save opportunities. The 26-year-old has not allowed a run in his last 9 1/3 innings of work and currently ranks in the top 12% of the league in chase rate (44.6%), whiff rate (33.1%), strikeout rate (30.9%), and walk rate (5.5%). Perkins is the most qualified closer for the Athletics right now.

Jacob Latz, RP/SP, Texas Rangers

Reliever Jacob Latz is emerging as the Texas Rangers' new closer. The 30-year-old has saved each of the Rangers' last two games. He closed out Wednesday's 3-0 win over the New York Yankees with two scoreless innings and then was called upon again in the ninth inning of Friday's game against the Detroit Tigers. Latz threw another scoreless appearance to earn his third save of the season.

The left-hander appears to be the team's new closer heading into Week 6 of the fantasy baseball season. His last three appearances have come in save opportunities, and there is no other reliever in Texas' bullpen threatening to take this job from him. That's why Latz is the best reliever waiver wire pickup of the week. He should continue to see the bulk of save opportunities moving forward.

Other Waiver Wire Targets

• Nasim Nunez, WSH
• Brooks Lee, MIN
• Jake Bauers, MIL
• Casey Schmitt, SF
• Cole Young, SEA
• Noah Schultz, CWS
• Foster Griffin, WSH
• Jared Jones, PIT (IL Stash)

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