Eric Cross' Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Hitters and Pitchers (Week 18)

July 24, 2026

Eric Cross' top fantasy baseball waiver wire adds for Week 18 of 2026 (July 27 - August 2). His favorite free agent hitters and pitchers under 40% rostered.

It's hard to believe, but we're already approaching the end of July, and the first two-thirds of the Major League season is in the books. This is the time of the season when some people let their foot off the gas pedal. Don't do that. There's still plenty of season to be played and plenty of time to improve your spot in your league's standings.

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: Curtis Mead (WAS), Brayan Rocchio (CLE), JJ Bleday (CIN), Jasson Dominguez (NYY), Heriberto Hernandez (MIA), Christian Scott (NYM)

Garrett Mitchell (OF - MIL)

24% Rostered on Yahoo

Garrett Mitchell has one of the most interesting and peculiar profiles in baseball. He stands out in so many areas, headlined by his quality of contact metrics, chase and walk rates, and his elite speed. But on the other hand, Mitchell's contact and strikeout rates are among the worst marks in baseball. But there's a bright side here.

Garrett Mitchell is on a HEATER

440 FT for the lead ❕ https://t.co/4gfXfszM6F pic.twitter.com/a3W1F6t4IA

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 17, 2026

Since the beginning of June, Mitchell's contact and strikeout rates haven't been terrible. In his 43 games since June 1, Mitchell has slashed .326/.378/.549 with 13 doubles, five home runs, 20 RBI, and 24 runs scored. But more importantly, Mitchell has trimmed the strikeout rate to 27.6% with an 82% zone contact rate and 67% overall contact rate.

If Mitchell can maintain this recent level of strikeout and contact rates, he could really provide some decent fantasy value over the final two months of the season.

Victor Mesa Jr. (OF - MIA)

6% Rostered on Yahoo

As someone who covers prospects as well, I never thought Victor Mesa Jr would be in one of my waiver wire articles, but he's earned it with his performance of late. In 52 plate appearances this month, Mesa is slashing .261/.327/.609 with five home runs and three stolen bases. All five of those home runs have come in his last 12 games, and he homered in three straight games from July 18 to July 20.

This once hyped prospect might have never ascended to elite prospect ranks as some people expected, but there's still some solid tools here that make him somewhat intriguing for fantasy purposes. In his 123 plate appearances with the Rays this season, Mesa has recorded an 11.3% barrel rate, 38.8% hard-hit rate, and around average contact metrics. He's also an above-average runner who is walking 11.4% of the time with a contact rate above 74% against all three pitch types.

The Rays always seem to mix and match their lineups based on matchups, but Mesa has been playing close to every day for them lately, starting all but one game since the all-star break. In deeper leagues, there's certainly some appeal here.

Tommy Edman (2B/3B/OF - LAD)

28% Rostered on Yahoo

There are a handful of players every year who always seem to wiggle their way into my waiver wire articles at some point during the season. Tommy Edman is one of those players. While his time on the field has been wildly sporadic over the last few years, Edman has still shown he can be a fantasy-viable player in between the IL stints.

In 100 plate appearances this season after making his debut on June 17, that has once again been the case with Edman slashing .360/.439/.535 with nine extra-base hits, two home runs, two steals, 17 RBI, and 16 runs scored.

While Edman might not be the same player he used to be, there's still plenty to like under the hood. Edman makes plenty of contact and keeps the strikeout rate in check, currently sporting an 87.5% zone contact rate, 78.1% overall contact, and an 18% strikeout rate. Edman is also hitting the ball a bit harder this season with a career-best 42.9% hard-hit rate, 90.5 mph AVG EV, and 8.6% hard-hit rate.

Edman can do a little of everything, is in a great lineup, and can be plugged in at several positions in your fantasy lineup.

Ty France (1B - SDP)

20% Rostered on Yahoo

With the recent home run barrage by Esmerlyn Valdez, it appears that the home run surge for Ty France has flown under the radar. France has smacked six home runs in his last nine games and 10 in his last 26 games, dating back to June 19. For the season, France is now up to 16 longballs in 261 plate appearances with a .275/.331/.547 slash line.

Ty France brings the @Padres back within a run in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/Qm8r6U3NLl

— MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2026

Are we seeing a late-career surge from France with the Padres? It certainly seems like we are. We haven't seen France even flirt with 20 home runs since his 20-homer season back in 2022, but he's only four dingers away with more than two months of the season still to be played. And given his current quality of contact metrics, I feel pretty good about him reaching that plateau this season.

Through his first 176 batted balls this season, France has posted a career-best 12.6% barrel rate, 92.4 mph AVG EV, and 50% hard-hit rate. Not only are all three of those metrics career-best marks, but they're head and shoulders above France's previous career highs. It also helps that France's pull rate and pull-air rate have both jumped around 8% from last season. If you need a corner infielder, I'd give France a long look if he's available in your league(s).

Kyle Karros (3B - COL)

20% Rostered on Yahoo

I'm not one to double-dip with a player in my waiver wire articles often, but Kyle Karros remains rostered in far too few leagues, currently sitting at a 20% roster rate in Yahoo leagues. In his 33 games since June 12, Karros is slashing a stellar .320/.421/.602 with 15 extra-base hits, six home runs, and nearly as many walks (15) as strikeouts (22). Yet, his contributions continue to fly under the radar. This isn't even a home/road thing as we've seen with other Rockies hitters, as Karros has more home runs on the road (5) than at home (4).

Many of Karros' metrics under the hood have been solid as well. He's currently rocking an 8.5% barrel rate, 89.7 mph AVG EV, and 43.3% hard-hit rate with an 87.8% zone and 75.3% overall contact rate. Karros is also better than league-average in the walk, strikeout, and chase rate departments. The one area we can nitpick is his metrics against breaking balls and offspeed pitches, but Karros absolutely mashes fastballs.

Yes, the profile isn't loud or flashy, but Karros has been hitting well for over a month now and is a worthwhile target if you need a corner infielder right now.

Keider Montero (SP - DET)

23% Rostered on Yahoo

There aren't many arms I'm super excited about this week, but Keider Montero is a sneaky target this week. In 106 innings this season, Montero has posted a solid 3.14 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, while only walking 5.3% of the batters he's faced. But at the same time, Montero once again has a below-average strikeout rate at 18.6%, which is nearly identical to his strikeout rate in 2024 and 2025.

Detroit Tigers' pitcher Keider Montero rejoined the starting rotation after throwing in relief in 5 previous games. Montero pitched well (5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR) across 81 pitches against the Cubs, supported by a 17.3% swinging-strike rate and a 33% ball rate.… pic.twitter.com/5M3X2F2IV6

— Corbin (@corbin_young21) July 23, 2026

With that said, Montero has been striking out batters at a higher clip over his last three outings, combining for 18 strikeouts in 11.2 innings. He's been going to his slider more this month and has been generating more whiffs with his changeup, which certainly helps. If Montero can just be a league-average strikeout-rate arm moving forward while maintaining decent ratios, he could push borderline Top-50 SP value over the remainder of the season.

There's a chance he moves back into a bulk reliever role later in the season if everyone comes back healthy in Detroit's rotation, but we're a ways off from that happening.

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