Eric Cross' Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: Hitters and Pitchers (Week 26)

September 18, 2026

Eric Cross' top fantasy baseball waiver wire adds for Week 26 of 2026 (September 21 - September 27). His favorite free-agent hitters and pitchers under 40% rostered.

We've made it to the end of another fantasy baseball season. This will be my final waiver wire article of the 2026 season here on Rotoballer. It's been a great season, and I hope this article has been helpful and/or entertaining to you throughout the season. This week's report features a quartet of intriguing hitter recommendations, along with a bunch of pitchers to consider adding/streaming over the final nine days of the regular season.

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: Josue De Paula (LAD), Henry Bolte (ATH), Bryce Eldridge (SFG), Coby Mayo (BAL), A.J. Ewing (NYM), Griffin Jax (TBR), Ryan Johnson (LAA)

Travis Bazzana (2B - CLE)

33% Rostered on Yahoo

After a sluggish middle of the season, Travis Bazzana has turned a corner here in September. In his last 11 games, Bazzana is slashing .395/.477/.868 with three doubles, five home runs, 14 RBI, 10 runs scored, and more walks (5) than strikeouts (4). Unfortunately, this has mostly come against me this week in my home keeper league semi-final matchup, so I'm a tad peeved about it, but I digress. This is a waiver wire article, not a venting session.

Duking it out.

Travis Bazzana with his 2nd career multi-homer game!#GuardsBall | #StandGuard pic.twitter.com/pRHF8Ypp4c

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 16, 2026

This recent hot stretch has pushed Bazzana's season line to a respectable .249/.342/.408 in 483 plate appearances this season, along with 14 home runs and 19 steals. And while his quality of contact metrics are all a tick below league-average for the season, his solid 58.6% air rate and 39.2% pull rate have helped. Bazzana is also above-average in zone contact (85.8%), overall contact (76.1%), sprint speed (75th percentile), and all approach metrics.

Dominic Canzone (OF - SEA)

23% Rostered on Yahoo

If you're looking for some power or an outfielder for the final week, Dominic Canzone is my favorite target under 40% rostered. Canzone is currently on a six-game hitting streak and has at least one hit in 14 of his last 15 games. He's also belted three dingers in his last 18 games after experiencing a bit of a power drought in the first three weeks of August.

For the season, Canzone is now up to 22 home runs in 492 plate appearances, with a .257/.327/.481 slash line. He's shown that he can be relied upon as a consistent source of power, currently sitting with a 91.1 mph AVG EV, 12.1%  barrel rate, and 44.8% hard-hit rate, along with an 82.9% zone contact rate.

You don't have to worry about the Mariners benching him against southpaws either, as Canzone hits LHP just as well as he hits RHP, and Seattle has started him regularly against them. That includes over the last six games where the Mariners have faced five southpaws, and Canzone has started in every one of those games.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B/3B - BAL)

10% Rostered on Yahoo

Speaking of power, Christian Encarnacion-Strand is a great target for the stretch run if you need a corner infielder in any of your leagues. Encarnacion-Strand has burst back onto the fantasy scene by slashing .277/.326/.520 with 12 doubles and 10 home runs in his 188 plate appearances with the Orioles this season. And in his last two games against the New York Mets, Encarnacion-Strand has picked up five hits, four extra-base hits, two home runs, and five runs scored.

After a couple of rough seasons leading into 2026, it's been nice to see Encarnacion-Strand get back on track in his first season with Baltimore. In his 188 plate appearances, Encarnacion-Strand has recorded a 15.3% barrel rate, 90.9 mph AVG EV, and a 40.3% hard-hit rate. Those QoC metrics have been aided by a 66.1% air rate, 44.4% pull rate, and a 28.2% pull-air rate as well.

Yes, Encarnacion-Strand is still a very aggressive hitter, currently rocking a 47.6% chase rate and 5.3% walk rate. Long-term, I still have some questions about investing in him because of that. But we're talking short-term here, not long-term. And in the short-term, Encarnacion-Strand is swinging a hot bat. When it comes to the fantasy baseball playoffs, sometimes you just gotta ride the hot hand.

Victor Mesa Jr. (OF - TBR)

26% Rostered on Yahoo

Speaking of riding the hot hand, that's exactly the case here with Victor Mesa Jr. After posting back-to-back months in July and August with a slugging percentage around .500 but with a sub-.240 batting average, Mesa has gotten red hot here in September. In 51 plate appearances this month, Mesa has slashed .383/.431/.681 with seven extra-base hits, three home runs, three stolen bases, 1eight RBI, 12 runs scored, and nearly as many walks (4) as strikeouts (5).

Victor Mesa Jr. starts the scoring with a LONG home run 😳 pic.twitter.com/EW0w4XjKXA

— MLB (@MLB) September 9, 2026

The metrics under the hood have been decent as well. In addition to being an above-average runner with strong outfield defense, Mesa has posted an 11.6% barrel rate, 89.1 mph AVG EV, and a 40.2% hard-hit rate this season, while keeping his strikeout rate at a solid 19.6%. On top of that, Mesa has been around league-average in zone contact rate (81.5%) and overall contact rate (75.2%).

Mesa can provide a bit of everything and has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball over the last few weeks. That sounds like the ideal player to add right now if you need an outfielder.

Pitchers to Consider Adding and Streaming

I'm going to change up the pitching section of my waiver wire report this week. Instead of listing a name or two I like moving forward, it's much more beneficial to all of you if I provide a bunch of pitching targets to possibly add and stream over the last nine days of the fantasy baseball playoffs. I've broken it down by day below and included each pitcher's roster rate on Yahoo and who they will be facing.

Keep in mind that these were taken from the projected starters section of each team's roster resource page on Fangraphs, and are subject to change.

Saturday September 19

• Jacob Lopez, ATH (30% Rostered) on the road against the Cleveland Guardians
• Grant Holmes, ATL (36% Rostered) on the road against the Houston Astros
• Robert Gasser, MIL (17% Rostered) on the road against the Baltimore Orioles
• Christian Scott, NYM (28% Rostered) at home versus the Philadelphia Phillies
• Andrew Painter, PHI (29% Rostered) on the road against the New York Mets
• Andrew Alvarez, WAS (23% Rostered) on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals
• Jackson Jobe, DET (28% Rostered) on the road against the Chicago White Sox

Sunday September 20

• Ryan Johnson, LAA (23% Rostered) at home versus the Minnesota Twins
• Quinn Mathews, STL (26% Rostered) at home versus the Washington Nationals

Monday September 21

• None

Tuesday September 22

• Jake Bennett, BOS (42% Rostered) at home versus the Cleveland Guardians
• Zebby Matthews, MIN (20% Rostered) on the road against the San Francisco Giants
• Sean Manaea, NYM (22% Rostered) on the road against the Texas Rangers

Wednesday September 23

• None

Thursday September 24

• Zac Thornton, NYM (25%) on the road against the Texas Rangers

Friday September 25

• Jacob Lopez, ATH (30% Rostered) at home versus the Houston Astros
• Connor Prielipp, MIN (11% Rostered) at home versus the Texas Rangers
• Christian Scott, NYM (28% Rostered) on the road against the Washington Nationals
• Andrew Painter, PHI (29% Rostered) at home versus the Tampa Bay Rays
• Andrew Alvarez, WAS (23% Rostered) at home versus the New York Mets
• Jackson Jobe, DET (28% Rostered) at home versus the Pittsburgh Pirates

Saturday September 26

• Ryan Johnson, LAA (23% Rostered) on the road against the Seattle Mariners
• Quinn Mathews, STL (26% Rostered) on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers (if they're resting starters)

Sunday September 27

• Sean Manaea, NYM (22% Rostered) on the road against the Washington Nationals

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