Weekend Waiver Wire Rankings: Fantasy Baseball Pickups for Week 23

September 4, 2026

Weekend fantasy baseball waiver wire rankings for Week 23 (2026). Free-agent hitters and pitchers to add include Andrew Painter, Henry Bolte, Max Clark, Mason Montgomery, Tyler Mahle, and Griffin Conine.

Labor Day weekend has arrived, and there are only three weeks left in the 2026 MLB season.  With not much time remaining, fantasy managers need to plan ahead and add players who could be a potential league winner down the stretch. At RotoBaller HQ, we prioritize who to add off the waiver wire in all league sizes with our fantasy baseball weekend waiver rankings for Week 23 (August 31 through September 6) for leagues that allow daily moves.

Heading into the weekend, we saw MLB rosters expand. Prospects such as Yohandy Morales, BJ Murray, Jared Serna, and Nick Morabito all got the call to the big leagues. In injury news, Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela is day-to-day with quad tightness. Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers was pulled from Thursday's game against the Royals with left hamstring tightness. Cubs right-hander Ben Brown, who is currently on the injured list, has been ruled out for the season with a stress reaction in his neck. 

Stay on top of our weekly waiver wire rankings and turn on MLB news alerts in our free mobile app to stay ahead of the curve. Once you're done here, check out our fantasy baseball prospects articles for the latest names to stash and pick up.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups List

Since many fantasy baseball leagues have daily waiver wire moves or multiple waiver wire runs per week for adding players, this later-week rankings list should help you keep track of players emerging over the weekend before we reach Sunday night waivers. This article will guide you through our weekly ranking of the relevant waiver wire pickup options, including how to prioritize them for your league (depending on the league size).

Waiver wire pickup options, including how to prioritize them for your league- depending on the league size:

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Outlooks

Some of the top waiver wire names include Mason Montgomery, Griffin Conine, Max Clark, Tyler Mahle, Henry Bolte, and more. Read some of the waiver wire outlooks below:

Mason Montgomery, Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed reliever Mason Montgomery's fantasy stock is on the rise, and he is the clear favorite for saves of late after shutting the door yet again in Thursday's 5-2 win over the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park. Montgomery threw a clean ninth inning with one strikeout to pick up his eighth save of the year. Right-hander Luke Weaver worked the eighth frame for his 18th hold of the season. It looked like Weaver might take over the closing duties in the Steel City over lefty Gregory Soto when the Bucs acquired him in a deadline deal with the New York Mets, but it has been Montgomery who has been the preferred ninth-inning choice.

The 26-year-old southpaw has converted eight straight save chances while giving up two runs in his last 26 innings pitched to lower his ERA for the year to 2.97. He also has a 1.06 WHIP with 90 strikeouts and 22 walks over his 57 2/3 total innings in 2026. The hard-throwing lefty should see his ownership continue to climb with the fantasy postseason approach. Right now, Montgomery is rostered in just 34% of Yahoo leagues.

Griffin Conine, Miami Marlins

Across 335 plate appearances in 2026, Washington Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews is hitting .217/.290/.365 with 10 home runs, 30 RBI, 41 runs scored, and eight stolen bases. While the 24-year-old's top-line numbers for the year don't leap off the page, his 9.8% barrel rate and 44.2% hard-hit rate both support higher-level production.

Crews has also been better in the second half of the season than he was in the first half, posting a .710 OPS with four home runs and three stolen bases across 146 plate appearances since the All-Star break after logging a .613 OPS with six home runs and five stolen bases across 189 plate appearances before the break. The 24-year-old has a tendency to hit the ball in the air the opposite way, which has led to his actual production lagging behind his expected output.

However, if Crews can start to pull the ball more often and hit a few more line drives, he could quickly see improvements in both power and batting average. Fantasy managers should temper their expectations for the former top prospect, but Crews remains a viable waiver wire target with some five-category upside.

Max Clark, Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers outfield prospect Max Clark has been hit-or-miss in his first 30 major-league games since making his debut on July 31 against the Athletics with a 3-for-4 performance with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. The 21-year-old former third overall pick in 2023 came into Thursday's slate with a .257 average (27-for-105) with two home runs, seven doubles, three triples, 14 RBI, 14 runs scored, a stolen base, nine walks, and 25 strikeouts in 118 plate appearances.

The left-handed-hitting outfielder came into Wednesday's game against the division-rival Minnesota Twins with a .179 average over his previous 10 games, but he reminded us why he has plenty of upside to close out the 2026 campaign with a 3-for-4 performance with three doubles, an RBI, three runs scored, and two walks. Clark became the first Tigers player with three doubles in a game since Miguel Cabrera did it in 2018. The Tigers' top overall prospect, per MLB Pipeline, has high-end power-speed potential and is only rostered in 19% of Yahoo leagues. There will be growing pains, but fantasy managers should ride the upside.

Tyler Mahle, Los Angeles Angels

Right-hander Tyler Mahle went 3-9 with a 5.13 ERA (4.37 FIP) and 1.39 WHIP with 89 strikeouts and 37 walks in 94 2/3 innings and 18 starts to begin the 2026 season with the San Francisco Giants before the Atlanta Braves acquired him in a trade at midseason. Since the move to the first-place Braves, the 31-year-old veteran has looked like a different pitcher, going 2-1 with a 1.48 ERA (2.87 FIP) and 0.96 WHIP with 32 strikeouts and only five walks in 30 1/3 frames over five starts.

Mahle has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his five starts so far for Atlanta, and he gave up only one earned run with no walks and a season-high nine strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings in his last outing on Sunday, Aug. 30, against the Colorado Rockies. He will have a pretty big test his next time out this weekend against the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies. In two starts already this year against the Phils, Mahle allowed five earned runs on nine hits while walking seven and striking out nine in 10 2/3 innings. Mahle will be a riskier fantasy streamer in that matchup, but regardless, he deserves more waiver-wire attention down the stretch. Mahle is currently rostered in just over half of Yahoo leagues.

Henry Bolte, Athletics 

Since making his MLB debut in mid-May, Athletics outfielder Henry Bolte has hit the ground running. Across 376 plate appearances this year, the 23-year-old is hitting .274/.350/.389 with eight home runs, 30 RBI, 41 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases. Swing-and-miss is a potential red flag in his profile, as he's struck out in 27.4% of his plate appearances. However, Bolte hits the ball hard (47.2% hard-hit rate) and on the ground a ton (62.4%).

When combined with his elite speed, Bolte's mix has allowed him to consistently run high batting averages on balls in play throughout his time in the A's system. After posting a .407 BABIP across 488 minor league plate appearances in 2025, Bolte's BABIP in the big leagues this year is .372. If he can continue to improve his strikeout rate while also raising his launch angle just a bit, Bolte has five-category breakout potential. In leagues where he remains available, Bolte should be a priority waiver wire target for fantasy managers.

First Base Waiver Wire Rankings

Pickups are in priority order:

Second Base Waiver Wire Rankings

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Third Base Waiver Wire Rankings

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Shortstop Waiver Wire Rankings

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Outfield Waiver Wire Rankings

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Catcher Waiver Wire Rankings

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Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Rankings

Closer/Reliever Waiver Wire Rankings

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Who Should I Pickup Fantasy Baseball Tool

Trying to decide who to pick up off the waiver wire?  heck the Who Should I Pickup tool:

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2026 Player Decisions.  Today's focus is on specific players such as Walker Jenkins, Andrew Painter, Mason Montgomery, Henry Bolte, Tyler Mahle, Max Clark, Griffin Conine, Spencer Jones, Zach Thornton, Jeff McNeil, Tristan Peters, Zebby Matthews, Javier Sanoja, Mickey Gaspar, Jake Burger, Ethan Salas, Yohandy Morales, JJ Bleday, Elvis Alvarado, Lazaro Montes, and Rafael Flores Jr.  These are some common searches for 2026 fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups.

Using The Tool.  This is a simple tool but very powerful.  The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare in the first box, and search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name.  Compare up to four MLB players at once, and then click the Who To Pickup?  button to see who the recommended waiver wire pickups are based on fantasy baseball rankings, projections, and more.

Improvements For Who Should I Pickup?  You may have noticed our Who Should I Pickup?  tool has gotten an overhaul.  We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win on the waiver wire in 2026.  You'll see MLB player tiles with stats, projections, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!

How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire rankings and projections based on their research, and updates them constantly throughout the week. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked.

Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pickup

Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pickup tool for 2026 for players like Walker Jenkins, Andrew Painter, Mason Montgomery, Henry Bolte, Tyler Mahle, Max Clark, Griffin Conine, Spencer Jones, Zach Thornton, Jeff McNeil, Tristan Peters, Zebby Matthews, Javier Sanoja, Mickey Gaspar, Jake Burger, Ethan Salas, Yohandy Morales, JJ Bleday, Elvis Alvarado, Lazaro Montes, and Rafael Flores Jr.: