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Nick Mariano's fantasy baseball waiver wire targets for Week 5. Free-agent hitter pickups, emerging starting pitchers, and bullpen arms for every week of the 2026 MLB season.
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As May approaches, you may feel like your team's destiny is already written. This writer and website must urge you that even the mightiest of starts can fizzle out, and the nastiest beginnings can shake off the rust and reveal nothing but gold. The difference is the man(ager) in the arena, as Teddy Roosevelt would say.
Keep making moves and seeking buy-low targets. If you really feel as though your team is circling the drain, then take on those longshot ceiling plays that others are either unwilling to wait on or think they're selling a flash in the pan. But the free agent pool is an evergreen piece of the puzzle, so let's dive into my waiver wire targets for Week 5.
We'll use Yahoo rostered rates up to 40%, listing players in a rough priority order (check our full waiver article for up to 70% rostered!). Please note that most statistics are gathered before Saturday's games, though I'll catch key news and happenings as I write. You can find me on X (@NMariano53) to ask me anything not addressed here.
Nick's Hitter Waiver Wire Targets
Catcher: Carter Jensen (39% rostered), Francisco Alvarez (35%), Moises Ballesteros (17%), Samuel Basallo (21%), Dalton Rushing (27%), Ryan Jeffers (18%), Gabriel Moreno (11%, IL, back on Tuesday?)
Jensen remains scorching hot with a pair of homers and four multi-hit games over the last week. This should be the last week he’s eligible for this column! There’s no reason that Liam Hicks can shoot up to 71%, yet Jensen is still languishing down here.
Rushing only got two starts out of four games in the Coors series, though he still bashed three homers with six RBI. The playing time situation is unlikely to fully resolve any time soon, but his ability makes him a tempting click in two-catcher formats where your C2 provides underwhelming volume.
Jeffers thumped a grand slam on Thursday and is hitting .267 with three homers and 28 R+RBI in 19 games. They will split his time with Victor Caratini more than we’d prefer, though Jeffers is at least the cleanup hitter when playing.
Carlos Narvaez has started in five of Boston’s last seven games after sitting in 4-of-6, going 6-for-16 with a homer and a swipe. Connor Wong isn’t going anywhere, so don’t get overly tempted by the higher “Last Seven” rank.
