Must-Add Waiver Wire Pickups: Mid-Week Fantasy Baseball Adds for Week 12

June 17, 2026

Dan analyzes seven must-add fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups, mid-week adds for Week 12 of the 2026 MLB season. Grab these players asap off the waiver wire.

Another Wednesday is upon us, RotoBallers, and you know the drill - another mid-week edition of Must-Add Waiver Wire Pickups for fantasy baseball is here. Whether your league allows for daily adds or you just want to start window shopping for this weekend’s waiver run, I’ve got another batch of hitters and pitchers to help you in the days and weeks ahead.

Leading this week’s list off is an outfielder who is suffering through a terrible season but might be a good short-term investment amid a recent hot streak and with favorable circumstances in the week ahead. Among the rest are a couple of rookie pitchers with promising outlooks and a stolen base specialist.

The players in this column will be rostered in 40% or fewer of Yahoo leagues. For you deep-league players, I’ll highlight a couple that have a roster rate under 10%. Read on to discover my Must-Add Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 12 of the fantasy baseball season.

2026 Fantasy Baseball: Mid-Week Waiver Wire Adds

Lawrence Butler, OF, Athletics

34% rostered

Lawrence Butler’s stock has tumbled since the 2024 breakout that earned him a seven-year, $65.5 million contract extension. Last year, he reached the 20-20 milestone, but it was earned through volume; his team obligated by that fat contract (and few alternative options) to play Butler every day despite his .234/.306/.404 triple slash.

Butler is faring even worse in 2026. In his first 196 plate appearances, he has just four home runs, four steals, and is slashing a meager .193/.276/.290. Lately, though, he has been playing like the star he was two years ago. In 12 games since the start of June, Butler is 11-for-33, and in the last week alone, he added five runs and five RBI.

Butler missed out on much of the fun at the start of the Athletics’ “homestand” at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. However, in the last game against Milwaukee, he drilled a 462-foot moonshot and then had two multi-hit games against Colorado. Now back in West Sacramento, Butler kept it up with another two-hit performance to get things started against Pittsburgh. Coming up is a four-game series against the Angels.

Butler is not a long-term hold, but we need to have the flexibility in our rosters to take advantage of circumstances like this. Stay tuned for future editions for a replacement once Butler cools off.

Gage Jump, SP, Athletics

30% Rostered

Gage Jump was called up on May 26 to shore up an Athletics rotation that was getting knocked around by opponents and decimated by injuries. Jump made his first MLB debut that day, drawing the start against the Mariners. Seattle welcomed the 23-year-old to the bigs by tagging him for nine hits and four earned runs through five innings.

Things have settled down for Jump since then. Through his first three starts in June, Jump has two wins, 14 strikeouts, a 1.96 ERA, and 0.87 WHIP over 18.1 innings pitched. He even got out of his start during last week’s offensive bonanza at Cashman Field in Las Vegas relatively unscathed, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk and registering a season high six strikeouts in five innings.

With Jump’s upcoming schedule, there is reason to be optimistic that his success will continue. Jump will face off against the Angels this weekend, then start against the Giants next week. His next projected start would be against the Dodgers (and a recommended sit), but he will likely see the Marlins and either the Tigers or White Sox before teams head into the All-Star break.

Dominic Canzone, OF, Seattle Mariners

18% Rostered

It’s hard to find a hitter who has been hotter than Dominic Canzone over the last two weeks. Since May 30, the Mariners’ designated hitter has been hitting .426 with five home runs and has just four strikeouts in his 52 plate appearances. In that time, he has pulled his batting average up over 50 points, from .231 to .287, and his OPS has swelled from .744 to .912.

The left-handed Canzone’s career splits have deepened in 2026. He is hitting righties better than ever, slashing .293/.345/.587 against them, but has seen only 16 plate appearances against southpaws, coming away with four walks but just two hits. Canzone’s weakness to same-handed pitching prevents him from getting everyday, but he is making the most of being platooned.

If you can add him in time, Canzone and the Mariners will get to tee off against Shane Baz on Thursday. This weekend’s series against the Red Sox might feature matchups against lefties in all three games, which dampens Canzone’s immediate prospects. But if the rotation patterns for Seattle’s upcoming opponents hold, Canzone should get three straight starts against the Pirates and at least two against the Guardians next week.

Deep League Targets: Mid-Week Waiver Wire Adds

Nasim Nunez, 2B, Washington Nationals

8% Rostered

This one is for all those in category leagues needing help in the stolen base column. Nasim Nunez has 26 steals on the year, tying him with Bobby Witt Jr. for tops in all of MLB. This weekend, Nunez has better odds than usual to add to his tally when the Nationals play a series against the Rays. Tampa Bay has allowed the second-most steals in the league (72) and has one of the lowest caught stealing rates in the league.

Currently rocking a .217 batting average, Nunez doesn’t inspire hope for much else aside from stolen bases. However, since the start of June, Nunez has hit .333 and has added eight runs and seven RBI to his season totals. His opponents next week (Philadelphia and Baltimore) are among the best in the league at preventing stolen bases, so this is as short a buying window as they come. If you can’t add him before the weekend, keep him in mind for future matchups against defensively-challenged opponents.

JR Ritchie, SP, Atlanta Braves

7% Rostered

On April 23, JR Ritchie made his MLB debut. He gave up a home run on his very first pitch and another in the fourth inning of the game, but was otherwise impressive. The two solo shots accounted for the only runs Ritchie allowed that day, as he racked up seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Ritchie’s subsequent four starts didn’t live up to that level of production, though, and the 22-year-old righty was demoted to Triple-A Gwinnett after allowing five earned runs and six baserunners over four innings on May 18. Ritchie was welcomed back recently and looked good in a bulk relief appearance on June 12. In that appearance, Ritchie threw five shutout innings, striking out five, and allowing two hits and two walks.

With the Braves losing Spencer Strider (elbow) to the injured list (again), Ritchie will be getting the start against the Giants on Wednesday, June 17. If your league allows same-day adds (and assuming you are reading early enough in the day), I recommend you take a brief reading break to take advantage of the streaming opportunity.

If adding him immediately is not an option, that’s okay, as the schedule gods are smiling on Ritchie. Assuming he remains in the rotation and their usage pattern holds, Ritchie has a possible two-start week next week with a start against the Padres, followed by another one against the Giants. Further down the line are possible starts against the Mets and Cardinals before the All-Star break.

Jesus Sanchez, OF, Toronto Blue Jays

6% Rostered

Apologies that this week’s list leans so far into outfielders, but Jesus Sanchez has been on my radar for a while, and Toronto’s upcoming schedule compels me to finally highlight him this time around. The Blue Jays are at the start of a stretch where they will play 16 games in 16 days. Their next day off won’t be until July 2, and they have just one more day off after that before the All-Star break. That’s a lot of baseball and a lot of opportunities for Sanchez to help out a fantasy baseball team.

Nothing Sanchez has done this year is jumping off the stat sheet, but given his role in the strong-side of a platoon, he can be a useful asset in fantasy. Through 66 games (212 PAs), Sanchez has seven home runs, 29 RBI, 22 runs scored, and a .287 batting average. His expected stats are the best of his career, and his steady rise in xwOBA over his last 100 PAs points to even better production coming.

This weekend, the Blue Jays go to Chicago to face the Cubs. In 10 career games at Wrigley Field, Sanchez is 12-for-43 with two home runs. After that, the Jays head back to Toronto for a 10-game homestand. Sanchez is hitting .321 at the Rogers Centre this season and has hit all seven of his home runs in a home uniform. Sanchez makes a good add for teams in need of batting average and RBI help.

Other Waiver Wire Targets

• Michael McGreevy, STL
• Willi Castro, COL
• Alejandro Kirk, TOR
• Jake Burger, TEX
• Spencer Horwitz, PIT
• Paul Goldschmidt, NYY
• Blaze Jordan, STL
• Elvis Alvarado, ATH
• Blaze Alexander, BAL

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