FAAB Waiver Wire Bidding - Fantasy Baseball Pickups to Target for Week 23 (August 31 - September 6)

August 29, 2026

Joey's FAAB fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and bidding guide for Week 23 (August 31 - September 6). His recommended FAAB dollars to spend on waiver wire adds.

Welcome back, RotoBallers, to our Week 23 fantasy baseball FAAB waiver wire pickups for August 31 - September 6. For those new to this weekly series, we dive into the best fantasy baseball waiver wire targets every week for leagues that use FAAB (free agent acquisition budget) and our recommended dollar bid amounts for waivers.

This week's edition will dive into the 10 best waiver wire pickups for Week 23 of the fantasy baseball season. This list will include seven hitters and three pitchers that fantasy managers should be bidding on. These waiver wire pickups are widely available in most leagues, as we will be looking at players rostered in under 40% of Yahoo! leagues.

Let's dive into the best waiver wire targets for Week 23 of the fantasy baseball season.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Hitters to Target

Tristan Peters, OF, Chicago White Sox

32% rostered
FAAB Bid: 4-5% 

Chicago White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters is absolutely on fire at the plate right now. He is slashing .361/.451/.754 with six home runs, six doubles, 14 RBI, and two stolen bases over his last 22 games since August 2. This stretch has raised his batting average by 15 points, and Peters went five straight games hitting a home run from August 22 to August 26.

Tristan Peters has homered in FIVE straight games! pic.twitter.com/CVJ0vPRRLL

— MLB (@MLB) August 27, 2026

Given the way Peters is currently smashing the baseball, he is a top waiver wire pickup of the week. He entered Friday's contest with a .282 batting average, 12 home runs, and seven stolen bases across 128 games this season. That's enough reason to spend around 4-5% of your remaining FAAB to grab him.

Walker Jenkins, OF, Minnesota Twins

17% rostered
FAAB Bid: 8-10% 

The Minnesota Twins have finally called up their top prospect. Outfielder Walker Jenkins is MLB Pipeline's No. 15 overall prospect, and he has the tools to be a viable fantasy option down the stretch. Jenkins slashed .323/.417/.559 with 14 home runs, 18 doubles, three triples, 31 RBI, and 17 stolen bases across 73 games at Single-A, High-A, and Triple-A this season.

Jenkins absolutely tore the cover off the ball at Triple-A before his promotion. He had a .362 xwOBA, 91 mph average exit velocity, 7.9% barrel rate, 44.2% hard-hit rate, 13.7% walk rate, 92.6% zone contact rate, and a .442 expected slugging percentage. The Twins outfielder is the best waiver wire pickup of Week 23.

Connor Norby, 1B/2B/3B, Miami Marlins

12% rostered
FAAB Bid: 2-3% 

Miami Marlins infielder Connor Norby has been a steady bat in the lineup over the past two weeks. He is batting .359 with two home runs, five doubles, nine RBI, and one stolen base since August 15. Norby also entered Friday's series opener against the Washington Nationals with a current 12-game hitting streak.

Norby will eventually cool off at the plate, but it might not be a bad idea to roll with him while his bat is hot. He has lifted his batting average by 26 points during this stretch and has collected eight RBI in his past six games.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B/3B, Baltimore Orioles

12% rostered
FAAB Bid: 3-4% 

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand is back to hitting the ball well again. Encarnacion-Strand had a strong offensive stretch from July 18 to July 31, hitting .324 with three home runs, two doubles, and 11 RBI over nine games. He then went through a rough 2-for-21 stretch in early August before heating up again.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand puts the @Orioles ahead in the 9th! pic.twitter.com/dd4QI84O5u

— MLB (@MLB) August 27, 2026

Encarnacion-Strand has now returned to being a consistent fantasy option. Since August 11, the Orioles infielder is slashing .309/.316/.600 with four home runs, four doubles, 15 RBI, and one stolen base. He went 8-for-14 with four extra-base hits and five RBI against the Cardinals earlier this week and currently owns a .561 expected slugging percentage.

Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Minnesota Twins

12% rostered
FAAB Bid: 5-7%

Minnesota Twins shortstop Kaelen Culpepper should be rostered in more leagues in Week 23 of the fantasy baseball season. Since being called up by the Twins on August 7, Culpepper continues to impress at the plate. The 23-year-old rookie is slashing .333/.381/.526 with three home runs, two doubles, and six RBI across 16 games.

His underlying metrics also suggest that he could be a reliable fantasy option down the stretch. Culpepper has a .337 xwOBA, .267 expected batting average, .455 expected slugging percentage, and a 44.2% launch angle sweet-spot rate. His consistency early on makes him a nice waiver wire pickup in all 12+ team leagues.

Heriberto Hernandez, OF, Miami Marlins

10% rostered
FAAB Bid: 4-5% 

If you are looking for some power this late in the season, Miami Marlins outfielder Heriberto Hernandez should be a priority add. He is batting .234 with 20 home runs, 14 doubles, 55 RBI, and nine stolen bases across 102 games this season. His power potential, combined with his recent offensive numbers, makes him a solid add this weekend.

Hernandez is slashing .298/.421/.574 with four home runs, one double, 11 RBI, and one stolen base over his last 13 games since August 12. With an 87th percentile expected slugging percentage (.480), 86th percentile average exit velocity (91.5 mph), 87th percentile barrel rate (13.1%), and an 87th percentile hard-hit rate (48.3%), he's worth a look in some 12+ team leagues.

Hector Rodriguez, OF, Cincinnati Reds

3% rostered
FAAB Bid: 2-3%

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Hector Rodriguez has wasted no time making an impact in the big leagues. Rodriguez entered Friday's contest with three home runs, five RBI, a .440 slugging percentage, and a .731 OPS in his first 16 career games. While he likely won't provide much in the batting average department, he's a nice source of power for those deeper leagues.

That's some serious pop, Héctor pic.twitter.com/jHb26IGg1u

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 26, 2026

Rodriguez hit 27 home runs across 104 games with Triple-A Louisville this season. If you are in need of some power in 15+ team leagues, Rodriguez could be worth adding. He has been seeing consistent at-bats in this Cincinnati lineup in recent weeks.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pitchers to Target

Cal Quantrill, SP/RP, Texas Rangers

37% rostered
FAAB Bid: 4-5% 

Texas Rangers pitcher Cal Quantrill has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in August. He has a 0.72 ERA across five appearances (four starts) this month. He has allowed just two earned runs across 25 innings pitched and has thrown 13 straight scoreless innings over his last two starts. In his most recent outing, Quantrill threw six shutout innings with six strikeouts against the Los Angeles Angels.

Some negative regression is obviously heading Quantrill's way, but he's someone fantasy managers should be rolling with until that regression hits. He has thrown the ball really well since late July and won't be losing his rotation spot any time soon.

Mason Montgomery, RP, Pittsburgh Pirates

28% rostered
FAAB Bid: ~7-10% if you need saves

Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Mason Montgomery has fully taken over the closer job in Pittsburgh. He has pitched the ninth inning in eight of his last nine appearances and has picked up four saves this month. Since the calendar flipped to August, Montgomery has a 0.00 ERA, a 3.2% walk rate, and a 58% strikeout rate across nine outings.

Montgomery is easily the best relief pitcher pickup of the week. He should be a nice source of saves in the final month, and his strikeout numbers have been a tick up over the last few weeks. The southpaw has struck out multiple batters in 12 of his last 16 appearances. If you are in need of saves, pick up the southpaw.

Elvis Alvarado, RP, Athletics

7% rostered
FAAB Bid: 5-7% 

Hard-throwing right-hander Elvis Alvarado has seemingly taken over the Athletics' closer job. Alvarado has closed out each of the Athletics' last three close games. He delivered one scoreless inning with two strikeouts in a 4-3 win over the Astros last Saturday, threw one scoreless inning with one strikeout in a 4-2 win over the Twins on Tuesday, and threw another scoreless inning in a 7-4 win on Wednesday.

If you are in need of some saves and miss out on Montgomery, Alvarado is a solid backup plan. He has a 31.6% whiff rate and a 29.8% strikeout rate across 44 innings pitched this season.

More Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Advice

Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!