Eric Cross' Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Hitters and Pitchers (Week 16)

July 10, 2026

Eric Cross' top fantasy baseball waiver wire adds for Week 16 of 2026 (July 13 - July 19). His favorite free agent hitters and pitchers under 40% rostered.

Some weeks, the waiver wire report is full of safer and "boring" targets, which isn't a bad thing. But I'd be lying if I said that weeks like this one weren't a bit more exciting to write. This week's waiver wire report is chock-full of upside, both at the plate and on the mound.

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 waiver wire recommendations: Jake McCarthy (COL), Tommy Edman (LAD), Kody Clemens (DET), Javier Sanoja (MIA), Garrett Mitchell (MIL), Ian Seymour (TBR).

A.J. Ewing (OF - NYM)

30% Rostered on Yahoo

I'm surprised that a rookie who is on pace for 21 home runs and 27 stolen bases over a full season is still available in 70% of Yahoo leagues, but that's exactly the case here with A.J. Ewing. In his first 54 games with the New York Mets, Ewing has racked up eight doubles, seven home runs, and nine steals with a .277/.356/.446 slash line.

First career leadoff homer for Ewing! 😤 pic.twitter.com/rMaw14YK4L

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 8, 2026

Ewing has settled in as the Mets' regular leadoff hitter against right-handed pitchers, which is a great spot to be with Juan Soto, Bo Bichette, and Francisco Lindor hitting directly behind him. And given Ewing's blend of contact, approach, and speed, him slotting at the top of the order already makes a lot of sense. On top of having a 95th percentile sprint speed, Ewing is currently running an 85.1% zone contact rate, 76.8% overall contact rate, 10.5% walk rate, and a 43.3% hard-hit rate.

Ewing can do a bit of everything, providing solid contributions in all five standard fantasy categories. And if you play on Yahoo, he has second base eligibility there as well, which is a nice added bonus.

Kyle Karros (3B - COL)

22% Rostered on Yahoo

After not doing much at the plate in April and May, Kyle Karros found his footing in June, slashing .357/.444/.586 with 11 extra-base hits in 81 plate appearances. He's carried that momentum over into July as well, smacking three home runs, two doubles, and a triple in his first 39 plate appearances, along with six walks and a .281/.410/.688 slash line. When you pop the hood on Karros' profile, there are a lot of solid metrics, a few great metrics, and only one notable red flag.

Karros has posted above-average quality of contact metrics with an 8.5% barrel rate, 89.7 mph AVG EV, and a 44.3% hard-hit rate, all of which he maximizes with an above-average air and pull rate. In fact, Karros' 41.3% Sweet Spot rate ranks in the 96th percentile. On top of that, Karros has been better than league average in zone contact rate (87.3%), overall contact rate (75.3%), chase rate (24.5%), walk rate (12.9%), and strikeout rate (21.3%).

However, the one area of concern I have with Karros is his 41.2% whiff rate on breaking balls and 40.6% whiff rate on offspeed pitches. He's been mashing fastballs, though, to the tune of a .307 AVG and .527 SLG.

Cole Carrigg (OF - COL)

34% Rostered on Yahoo

Someone is going to need to provide me with an explanation of why Cole Carrigg is rostered in only 34% of Yahoo leagues. Are the other 66% of you sleeping on the job? Well, hopefully this article can help boost that roster rate a little bit.

In his first month with the Rockies, Carrigg has slashed .293/.370/.554 with four home runs, two steals, 21 RBI, and 23 runs scored. Yes, I thought he'd provide more steals so far given his 90th percentile sprint speed and the aggressiveness he's shown on the basepaths throughout his minor league career, but I'm sure the steals will tick up moving forward.

HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE COLE CARRIGG NOW? pic.twitter.com/4ZHjCpi8Og

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 16, 2026

Outside of the speed department, Carrigg has posted a solid 82.6% zone contact rate, 73.7% overall contact rate, and an 11% walk rate, while keeping the strikeout rate in check at 20.2%. Sure, his 39.4% chase rate is higher than I'd like to see, but Carrigg has the contact skills to make it work. And while Carrigg's AVG EV and hard-hit rate are below league-average, he's able to get the most of his power thanks to a 63.5% air rate, 47.3% pull rate, and 25.7% pull-air rate. Playing half of your games in Coors Field doesn't hurt either.

With his ability to provide decent numbers across the board, Carrigg is a player who should be rostered in many more leagues than he currently is. If he's still available in your league, I'd highly recommend you hustle your tuckus over to the waiver wire and slam that add button.

Jake Mangum (OF - PIT)

8% Rostered on Yahoo

Jake Mangum has the need, the need for speed. If you're looking for a boost in the stolen base department, you found your guy. Mangum is one of 17 players to have at least 18 steals this season, and he's the only one of that group to also be hitting over .300. But you have to know what to expect and not expect with Mangum. What you can expect is a good batting average, plenty of steals, and a decent amount of runs scored. What you shouldn't expect is any notable contribution in the power department.

Mangum is one of the worst power hitters in the league and ranks near the bottom of all quality of contact metrics. But outside of power, Mangum has an 82.5% zone contact rate, 79.7% overall contact rate, and a 94th percentile sprint speed. I'm a bit worried that his ridiculous 47.9% chase rate is going to bite him in the rear end at some point, but Mangum is still worth targeting for his contributions in the AVG, R, and SB departments. That's pretty intriguing for someone available in over 90% of Yahoo leagues.

Jared Jones (SP - PIT)

25% Rostered on Yahoo

If you want Jared Jones on your fantasy team(s), I'd act quickly after his last outing. In his outing on Wednesday against a good Atlanta offense, Jones tossed six perfect innings with eight strikeouts. This was Jones' longest outing of the season, and he's now combined to allow just two hits, one earned run, and two walks over his last two starts (10 innings) with 14 strikeouts. These weren't easy lineups to face either, with Jones' previous start coming against the Philadelphia Phillies.

18 up, 18 down

Jared Jones is perfect two times through the order 👀 pic.twitter.com/Grgeay2Kcp

— MLB (@MLB) July 9, 2026

Jones was very fastball and slider heavy in his outing against the Braves, throwing his 4-seamer 71% of the time and his slider 27% of the time, while only mixing in one changeup. This hasn't been the case all season, though, as Jones has gone to his changeup 15.6% of the time and his curveball 10.1% of the time overall. All four of Jones' offerings have a whiff rate north of 26% with all three of his secondary offerings being above 34%. And on top of that, Jones' 4-seamer is currently averaging 98.6 mph.

Remember all the hype with Jones back in 2024 before he got hurt? Well, after shaking off the rust, Jones is starting to look like that guy once again. You're not going to find this much upside sitting on your league's waiver wire very often.

Jacob Webb (RP - CHC)

6% Rostered on Yahoo

We're closing things out today with an arm who has been closing out games for the Chicago Cubs lately. With Daniel Palencia on the injured list, Webb has picked up three saves over the last three weeks, with two already here in July. The latest report I saw for Palencia is that he should begin throwing again after the All-Star break, with a late-July or early-August return being the current ETA. That means we should get at least another three weeks of Webb closing out games for the Cubs.

Webb has been a reliable reliever over the last few years, posting an ERA under 3.20 in each of the last three seasons, including this season, where he has a 3.18 ERA and 27.5% strikeout rate in 39.2 innings of work. It might only be for a few weeks, but if Webb can give you a few saves over that stretch, it will be a worthwhile addition. Not every move is a season-long addition. Sometimes we need to target guys who can help us in the short-term, before moving on to the next waiver wire target.

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