Eric Cross' Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Hitters and Pitchers (Week 22)

August 21, 2026

Eric Cross' top fantasy baseball waiver wire adds for Week 22 of 2026 (August 24 - August 30). His favorite free-agent hitters and pitchers under 40% rostered.

Week 22 of the fantasy baseball season doesn't seem real. Over three-quarters of the MLB season is behind us, and that proverbial finish line is sneaking up over the horizon. Let's finish the season strong and make the necessary waiver-wire adds to give our teams the boost they need.

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: Cole Young (SEA), George Lombard Jr. (NYY), Angel Genao (CLE), Andruw Monasterio (BOS), Jackson Jobe (DET), Grant Taylor (CHW)

Kade Anderson (SP - SEA)

40% Rostered on Yahoo

You had to know this week's report was going to start with Kade Anderson. Do yourself a favor and go check if he's available right now before you read this article. If he is available, add him immediately. Go ahead, I'll wait...

Kade Anderson doesn’t allow a run for the 13th time in 18 starts. He was awesome tonight. Final line: 5.2IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 7K, 8 groundouts, 12 whiffs, 79 pitches, 53 strikes. pic.twitter.com/aOhwCLI9Lo

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) August 15, 2026

Anderson put together one of the best seasons by a pitching prospect in the history of baseball this season in Double-A. In his 18 starts for Arkansas, Anderson recorded a pristine 1.06 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 3.9% walk rate, and a 40.5% strikeout rate across 93.1 innings. He only allowed 11 earned runs total in those 18 starts, with five of those coming in one outing. A whopping 13 of his 18 starts yielded zero earned runs, and Ander had at least six strikeouts in all but three outings.

Listen, I know rookies are always a tricky and risky investment in redraft leagues, but Anderson is no ordinary rookie. This is the best pitching prospect in the game with future ace upside. And that's not a term I throw around lightly. I'm not overly concerned about any innings limit or shutdown for Anderson either, as he's still 25.2 innings under what he had at LSU last spring (119 innings). So Anderson getting 6-7 starts and another 30 or so innings with Seattle is reasonable.

Matt McLain (2B - CIN)

29% Rostered on Yahoo

Look who it is! It's our old pal Matt McLain, who I'm sure has burned plenty of you reading this article right now. I'm certainly included in that, as I had McLain on my home keeper league a couple of years ago. Well, despite all the inconsistencies over the years, McLain has given us some glimpses of the upside that made him so intriguing for fantasy back in his rookie season, and we're seeing that version of McLain again recently.

In 68 August plate appearances, McLain has already racked up four home runs and four steals with a .237/.324/.508 slash line. On top of that, McLain has managed a 42.9% hard-hit rate and 16.7% barrel rate this month, and has an xBA of .272.

Matt McLain GRAND SLAM ‼️@Reds lead! pic.twitter.com/xWqn9e7Lfe

— MLB (@MLB) August 20, 2026

Yes, there are still flaws in his game, and I have my doubts about him all of a sudden becoming a consistent player in the batter's box. But the upside is also intriguing due to McLain's power/speed blend, and his zone and overall contact rates aren't bad. He's also walking at a career-best 11.2% clip this season. If you need a middle infielder, I'd consider giving McLain a look to see if he can keep this production going over the final five weeks of the season.

Josh Bell (1B - MIN)

29% Rostered on Yahoo

It feels like I've discussed Josh Bell in a waiver wire article every single year I've been writing about fantasy baseball. He's settled into that role of a solid veteran bat that will always find his way onto fantasy rosters at some point throughout the season, even if he's not usually drafted in 12-team redraft leagues. This season has been no different.

In 499 plate appearances, Bell has slashed a solid .258/.321/.433 with 17 home runs, 77 RBI, and 64 runs scored. That's more than a 20/100/80 pace right there. What, a 100 RBI player doesn't interest you? Well, he should!

Obviously, picking up a guy like Bell isn't a league-winning move, but it's certainly a move that winning managers make. Bell is above-average nearly across the board offensively in terms of contact, quality of contact, and approach, and on top of that, he's been on a roll here in August, slashing .361/.435/.607 with four home runs and more walks (8) than strikeouts (7). Go answer the door, because Josh is ringing that Bell.

Griffin Conine (1B/OF - MIA)

22% Rostered on Yahoo

Another hitter that has been rolling here in August is Miami's Griffin Conine. In 63 plate appearances so far this month, Conine has slashed .278/.381/.574 with five home runs. He enjoyed a nice July as well, cranking six home runs with a .257/.342/.543 slash line across 79 plate appearances.

Griffin Conine crushes a solo HR 109.4 MPH off the bat to tie it!

His 1.049 OPS in August is the 4th-best mark in the NL 🐠 pic.twitter.com/gkNLbAif8c

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 18, 2026

When you look under the hood at COnine's profile, his quality of contact metric will immediately pop off the page. He's recorded an impressive 16.8% barrel rate, 92.7 mph AVG EV, and 54.9% hard-hit rate this season, all of which are new career-best marks for him here in his third Major League season. If he had enough batted balls to qualify, Conine would be near the top of the leaderboards in those metrics, along with xSLG, xBA, and xwOBA as well.

However, there's a downside in terms of his contact and strikeout rate. While Conine has been pounding the you know what out of the ball when he makes contact, we've also seen him post a 30.3% strikeout rate, 75% zone contact rate, and a 61.9% overall contact rate. I'm not expecting the AVG to remain overly high, but if you need power, Conine is a great target this week.

Mason Montgomery (RP - PIT)

17% Rostered on Yahoo

It's a bit surprising to see a locked-in closer who is pitching well available in over 80% of Yahoo leagues. But that's exactly the case with left-hander Mason Montgomery. Even after adding a few bullpen arms at the deadline who had closer experience, including Luke Weaver and Camilo Doval, Montgomery has been the man called upon to close out games for the Pirates this month, nabbing three saves in his six appearances.

Mason Montgomery, Wicked Elevated 100mph Two Seamer. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/8cm1mbHsNk

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 25, 2026

For the season, Montgomery has been a strikeout and groundball merchant, recording a 39% strikeout rate and 56.1% groundball rate. On top of that, he ranks highly with his 32.9% whiff rate, 86.9 mph AVG EV allowed, and .183 xBA.

On top of having a 4-seamer that averages 98.4 mph and a sinker at 98.9 mph with a 38.2% whiff rate, Montgomery will also mix in an upper 80s slider and a mid-80s curveball, both of which have a whiff rate closer to 40%. The slider has been an especially dominant offering, recording a .036 BAA, .036 SLG allowed, and a 37.5% whiff rate this season.

Montgomery is one of just three pitchers this season to have a strikeout rate north of 30% and a groundball rate above 50%, joining Milwaukee's Aaron Ashby and Toronto's Louis Varland.

Ben Joyce (RP - LAA)

21% Rostered on Yahoo

It's not very often when I can write about two intriguing closing options, so if you need saves, this is an ideal waiver wire article for you. The Angels are once again out of contention with a subpar bullpen that hasn't really found any consistency in the later innings. Until now, that is.

After missing the last four months of 2025 and the first four months of the 2026 season while recovering from right shoulder surgery, Joyce has been flawless in his first six appearances, recording three saves.

Joyce has only allowed one hit and one walk in his six innings so far, while averaging his usual 101.7 mph on his fastball. That's actually up half a tick since last season, and Joyce's sinker velocity has increased from 94.8 mph to 95.8 mph. He's also working in an upper-80s slider close to 10% of the time, which is an offering he only used 2.9% of the time in 2025. It looks like Joyce will have zero competition for this role over the final five weeks of the season.

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