Hitter Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Targets - Eric Cross' Picks After The Draft

March 20, 2026

Eric Cross' hitter fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups after the draft, before the 2026 season begins. His top free agent hitters under 40% rostered in leagues.

We're now just a few days away from the start of the 2026 major league season, and the majority of fantasy drafts are in the books. If you've already had your draft, I bet you're already looking at your rosters to find where your strengths and weaknesses are, along with seeing who the most intriguing players are on the waiver wire. And if you're not, you should be.

Every year around this time, I like to check out roster rates on fantasy baseball platforms, and there are always a bunch of names that have roster percentages much lower than I believe they should be. There are plenty of names this year that fall into that bucket, so many in fact that I'll be splitting up my "waiver wire targets after the draft" article into hitters (below) and pitchers.

The hitters below are all rostered at under 40% in Yahoo! Leagues. Some of them might already be rostered in your leagues, but if they're available, I'd recommend giving them a look to see if they could be good fits for your fantasy teams.

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Caleb Durbin, 2B/3B, Boston Red Sox

32% rostered on Yahoo

In general, I was never the biggest Caleb Durbin fan as a prospect, but I like what he can bring to fantasy teams in 2026. First off, Durbin will be eligible at third base in all leagues, which isn't the deepest position, and he'll also have second base eligibility in Yahoo leagues as well. That versatility brings value.

In 506 plate appearances last season, Durbin had 11 home runs, 18 steals, and a .256/.334/.387 slash line. That line might not pop out at you, but Durbin established himself as one of the better contact hitters in the game during his rookie season, recording a 91.3% zone and 87% overall contact rate while only striking out 9.9% of the time. And while the quality of contact is below-average, Durbin's higher Pull AIR% should serve him well in Fenway Park.

It wouldn't surprise me if Durbin posted a .270/15/20 type of season in his first year with Boston, making him an intriguing pickup in all formats.

Samuel Basallo, C, Baltimore Orioles

30% rostered

The reason why Samuel Basallo is only rostered in 30% of leagues right now is that the majority of leagues use just one catcher, and the catcher position is incredibly deep this season. But even in a one-catcher league where you already have a good starter, I'd absolutely pick Basallo up if he's available in your league, as the bat is good enough to use in a UT spot.

Samuel Basallo had a big day yesterday and has been excelling this spring.

Thursday: 3/3, 2 HR
Spring: 35 PA, .375/.444/.781, 3 HR, 4/9 BB/K

Should be starting regularly between DH and C, giving him a chance at a .260+/25+ season right away.pic.twitter.com/AXA5Y5p5xc

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) March 20, 2026

Basallo has been raking in camp, with a two-homer game on Thursday pushing his spring line up to .375/.444/.781 with three home runs in 36 plate appearances. The power upside here with Basallo is immense. In his 76 Triple-A games last season, Basallo posted an elite 92.2 mph AVG EV and 56.9% hard-hit rate. Those rates are even higher so far this spring.

I'm not one to recommend rostering two catchers in a one-catcher league often, unless you have deep benches, but you don't often find a bat this special sitting on your waiver wire, especially at the catcher position. Basallo should play regularly for Baltimore between DH and backing up Adley Rutschman, and the upside to finish as a top-10 fantasy catcher this season is certainly there.

Sal Frelick, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

23% rostered

Listen, I know Sal Frelick isn't the most exciting fantasy player in the world, but he shouldn't be sitting on the waiver wire in around three-quarters of Yahoo! leagues either. In 594 plate appearances last season, Frelick racked up 76 runs, 12 home runs, 63 RBI, and 19 steals with a .288/.351/.405 slash line. Every number from that previous sentence was a new career-high for Frelick in his third major league season with Milwaukee.

Frelick stands out in the contact, approach, speed, and defensive departments. In each of his first three major league seasons, Frelick has had a zone contact rate above 90% and an overall contact rate above 85%, while being above 87% in each of the last two seasons. He doesn't struggle against any individual pitch type, and has been under a 15% strikeout rate both in 2024 and 2025.

Add in an 87th percentile sprint speed, and you have a good base of skills to work with.

Where Frelick falls short is in power. In 2025, Frelick's xSLG, AVG EV, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and bat speed were all in the botton-8% of hitters. Nobody is going to mistake him for a power hitter, but Frelick was pulling the ball in the air more frequently last season, which helped.

If he can just be a 10-homer guy to pair with 20-25 steals, a high AVG/OBP, and possibly even around 150 combined runs and RBI, that could allow Frelick to finish as a top-150 player this season.

Miguel Vargas, 1B/3B, Chicago White Sox

21% rostered

Miguel Vargas was a player I was targeting heavily in all of my drafts this season, but given his 21% roster rate on Yahoo, that wasn't the case among many other drafters this season. Vargas is coming off a modest 16-HR  season with 80 runs, 60 RBI, and six stolen bases while hitting .234 last season, but the underlying metrics are the reason why I was targeting him in my drafts this season.

At the plate, Vargas is above-average in contact, approach, and quality of contact. In 2025, he finished with a 9.3% barrel rate, 89.7 mph AVG EV, and a 40.5% hard-hit rate while also having a 71% air rate and 23.1% Pull AIR%. As for contact and approach, Vargas was better than league-average in zone contact (83.8%), overall contact (79.4%), chase rate (21.6%), walk rate (9.8%), and strikeout rate (17.6%).

Maybe he'll never fully live up to the expectations he had as a top prospect in the Dodgers' organization, but the underlying metrics suggest Vargas could still be a solid major league hitter and a useful corner infielder for fantasy purposes.

Carter Jensen, C, Kansas City Royals

21% rostered

If Basallo isn't available in your league, I'd recommend giving Carter Jensen a look for many of the same reasons I mentioned above.

Jensen was a force to be reckoned with at the plate last season, cracking 20 homers with 10 steals and a .290/.377/.501 slash line in 111 Triple-A games before adding another trio of taters in his 69 plate appearances with the Royals. Jensen's quality of contact metrics was elite at both levels as well, which is the main reason for my excitement in 2026 and beyond.

In addition to his power, Jensen had a respectable 74% contact rate in Triple-A last season with a 12.2% walk rate. Even if he's more in the .250-.260 range this season with the Royals, Jensen could easily push or exceed 20 home runs while likely adding 5-10 steals as well. I'm enamored with the upside Jensen brings to the table, and you should be, too.

Jordan Lawlar, 3B/OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

14% rostered

Listen, I know some of you have been burned by Jordan Lawlar before. I have as well. But throw some aloe on those burns because Lawlar is still an intriguing target for fantasy leagues this season. Lawlaw has been hitting well this spring with a .282/.391/.615 slash line and four home runs in 12 games. The 28.3% strikeout rate is a bit higher than I'd like to see, but Lawlar is also walking at a 15.2% clip.

All indications are that Lawlar is going to open the season as a starting outfielder for Arizona alongside Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas. He'll start the season with only third base eligibility, but will have outfield eligibility in all formats by the end of April, assuming he doesn't get hurt or struggle to the point of demotion.

While the major league tenure hasn't gone according to plan so far, Lawlar still possesses a fantasy-friendly profile with intriguing upside.

Coby Mayo, 1B, Baltimore Orioles

8% rostered

With Jordan Westburg (elbow) opening the season on the IL with an uncertain timetable to return to action, Coby Mayo is going to get the nod at the hot corner in Baltimore. Despite underwhelming season stats, Mayo's solid September seems to be flying under the radar right now. In 84 plate appearances during the final month of the season, Mayo slashed .301/.393/.548 with three doubles, five home runs, and two steals.

sound on for this one 🔉

Coby crushes his second HR of Spring Training! pic.twitter.com/bLiYMIxx2S

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 19, 2026

Outside of last September, Mayo's major league tenure has underwhelmed, to say the least. But now that he has a chance to play regularly for the Orioles, I'm willing to take a flier on him due to the power potential and how he looked down the stretch last season.

Don't forget, Mayo was one of the top hitting prospects in the game just one year ago, with plenty of hype entering the 2025 season. He's also been red hot this spring, hitting .452 with three doubles, two home runs, and only one strikeout in 34 plate appearances.

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