Hidden Bounties: Waiver Wire Adds for April 13th-19th

Noah Schultz, Brayan Bello, Kyle Manzardo featured this week

By Justin May · April 13, 2026 · Updated October 15, 2026

{"template":"baseball-waiver-wire-picks","weekNumber":1,"weekDates":"April 13th-19th","intro":"We're now a few weeks in and there's still plenty of targets out there. Obviously the samples are small, but it's still time to be active on waivers to avoid missing breakout players. The tough part about this being a weekly article, is that sometimes it's published a few days after a player's big breakout game. That's why I try to post instant updates on Twitter/X if there's something notable happening in that night's games as well. We'll look at some recommended waiver adds for this week, and of course some of you may need to decide on a couple of drops - so we'll cover those as well. These recommendations are mainly intended for redraft leagues, but some could be out there in dynasty leagues. Also just a reminder that some players from previous articles are still under-owned: TJ Rumfield, Mick Abel, Joe Boyle, Foster Griffin. All guys who I believe can be difference makers ","adds":[{"playerName":"Noah Schultz","team":"CHW","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"24%","blurb":"Schultz is getting added in a lot of leagues after news of his call up surfaced over the weekend. He's currently scheduled to start Tuesday's game against the Rays in front of his home crowd. His prospect status took a nosedive last season as he dealt with a knee injury for most of 2025. His walk rate soared to nearly 14% across 73 IP in AA and AAA, and his overall execution wasn't good enough to get hitters out consistently. Fast forward to this year, and he has a 1.29 ERA with a 40% K rate and a miniscule 4% walk rate in 14 IP. It's pretty easy to point to the injury as the cause of his rough year, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and treat this as a top prospect add. The main concern for this season is workload - after 88 IP in 2024 and 73 IP last year, we're probably looking at around 100 IP for 2026. But, that's a problem for later in the year. His fastball/sweeper combo is legit, and he can help a lot of teams out there right now. ","espnId":"","matchups":""},{"playerName":"Brayan Bello","team":"BOS","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"22%","blurb":"Back in 2024, I wrote about Bello after he was struggling big time in the first half. Long story short, he stopped throwing his 4-seam fastball and it was making him too predictable. I was happy to see him reintroduce it after that, and he improved his numbers drastically in the 2nd half. Fast forward to 2026, and the 4-seam is gone again. Why? I don't actually think that's the main culprit here, as the 4-seam was primarily used against lefties, but righties are crushing him to the tune of a .916 OPS this year. I do however think there's a pitch mix issue at play. After getting ahead in the count 0-1, he's been getting crushed for a 1.023 OPS, and after being ahead 0-2, the number is still a way too high .829 OPS. For some reason his numbers are better when he falls behind in the count, which is very uncommon. Looking at his pitch usage and pitch plots, when he gets 2 strikes, he's essentially either bouncing a curveball that hitters aren't chasing, or leaving a cutter or sinker in the zone that ends up getting clobbered. The simple answer is, don't do that - but I'm sure the Red Sox coaching staff has a better answer than me. His cutter and changeup are getting an insane amount of whiffs so far (both over 50%!), but his walk rate is way too high (15.6%). Putting all of this together, the issue seems fixable. He just needs to adjust what pitches he's throwing in certain counts and once again avoid being too predictable - that should help the Ks go up and the walks go down. Since he's had issues with this in the past and overcame it, I believe he can do it again. ","espnId":"4720856","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4720856.png"},{"playerName":"Kyle Manzardo","team":"CLE","position":"1B/DH","rosteredPct":"10%","blurb":"Manzardo's performance so far hasn't inspired anyone. A triple slash of .119/.229/.190 is among the worst in the league. Just 1 home run for a guy who hit 27 a year ago, and a career high K rate on top of it. I thought he was a candidate to hit 30 HRs this year, so this start is painful for me too. Looking under the hood, his zone contact, EV/barrel numbers, and swing characteristics are all similar to where he was last year, but the big area of concern is that his chase rate has risen to 33% - well past the danger zone for hitters. This is leading to more whiffs and also more poor contact, particularly on the ground, as his groundball rate has risen to 48%. That is way too high for a guy who relies on pulled fly balls as much as he does. It seems like pitchers have adjusted how they're pitching to him - as the percentage of pitches he's seeing below the zone has increased from 23% in 2025 to 40% this year. He didn't chase as much last year and whiffed less often on pitches below the zone, but this year he's getting eaten alive by back foot breaking balls from righties. I'm no hitting coach, but for a guy who's had average chase rates and pretty solid contact rates throughout the minors + last year in the majors to suddenly be among the league worst at making contact just can't hold up. I think he can make the necessary adjustments to reduce the chase and hit more balls in the air. I don't think he's suddenly a bad hitter - he's in an awful slump and needs to adjust, but he's going to be a lot better than he is now. ","espnId":"4917927","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4917927.png"},{"playerName":"Dominic Canzone","team":"SEA","position":"OF","rosteredPct":"6%","blurb":"The first few iterations of this article focused on rising players who were performing well. I guess this week just happens to be \"guys I still believe in despite playing horribly right now.\" Like Manzardo, Dominic Canzone's start has been rough. Since hitting 2 HRs on opening day, he's hit 0, with a slash line of .167/.265/.267 over his last 12 games. It's a small sample sure, but this guy was a popular sleeper pick and has been dropped in plenty of leagues already. It's too early to use expected stats to make any valid points, but his exit velocity is currently 98th percentile, hard hit rate is 86th percentile, and he's had a slight uptick in bat speed. Basically he has a good approach and hits the ball hard consistently - just like last season. The one difference from last year? His BABIP was .354, compared to .200 so far in 2026. He was absolutely blessed by the BABIP gods last year since .354 is insane for anyone, let alone a player with poor sprint speed. Regardless, the .200 number he currently has should go up. He won't hit .300 again as that took plenty of good fortune. But .250 with 20+ HRs is attainable. There's still going to be value here as a 4th OF on fantasy teams, and he'll be helpful in a lot more than the 6% of leagues who currently roster him. ","espnId":"4345621","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4345621.png"}],"drops":[{"playerName":"Jose Caballero","team":"NYY","position":"SS","rosteredPct":"61%","blurb":"I had to do a double take when I saw this roster %. I understand that most people are rostering him for steals, but he just hasn't been that helpful - a .146 AVG and .384 OPS with 0 HRs to go with his 5 steals so far. He's likely hurting teams a lot more than he's been helping. Anthony Volpe is supposedly beginning a rehab assignment this week, so Caballero is likely losing significant playing time in the near future. I think it's time to get ahead of the curve and drop, to avoid missing out on some breakout players. Worried about losing steals? Just add Nasim Nunez. He's available in 95% of leagues, plays every day, and has been better than Caballero so far (with more steals too). ","espnId":"42135","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/42135.png"},{"playerName":"Noelvi Marte","team":"CIN","position":"OF","rosteredPct":"40%","blurb":"Marte was a post-hype sleeper last year and delivered, posting a solid .748 OPS with 14 homers and 10 steals in 2025. He had issues against lefties though, enough to where Terry Francona voiced his concerns about it in spring. The Reds also brought in a slew of OF to compete for a spot, so Noelvi didn't have guaranteed playing time coming into the year. Of course if he was hitting, he would keep a starting role - but after posting a .332 OPS to start 2026 with terrible metrics across the board, it looks like his time is up. News broke this morning that he is being sent to AAA. It looks like they're giving Rece Hinds another shot instead. There's a chance Hinds takes the job and runs with it, but either way there's just no need to hold Noelvi in redrafts now that he's not on the roster, and his issues don't seem like a quick fix. ","espnId":"41307","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/41307.png"},{"playerName":"Lance McCullers Jr.","team":"HOU","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"32%","blurb":"McCullers has suffered from so much bad luck over the years - I really do want him to succeed. He gave us a reminder of the past with a dazzling 7 inning, 1 ER, 9 K game against Boston, which made him a popular waiver target. Since then it's been back to back rough games, and his ERA currently sits at 5.87 We saw this happen last year as well - a great start followed by too many poor games. I'm looking for something to cling to in order to hold but I just can't find it. He's throwing his cutter more often but the results are…just okay. I don't see a guy who is going to flip a switch and be a pitcher you want to hold long term. He's exclusively a streamer in favorable matchups. ","espnId":"32764","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/32764.png"},{"playerName":"David Peterson","team":"NYM","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"22%","blurb":"Peterson came out of nowhere last year to post a 3.06 first half ERA, something that the Mets desperately needed. He fell off in the 2nd half, but some still listed him as a potential breakout player. He keeps the ball on the ground and has been striking out a batter per inning, but he was a heavy regression candidate for me coming into 2026. Now that he's finally showing that negative regression, it just doesn't make sense to hold. On top of that, the Mets have plenty of SP options in AAA to call on if they need it, so I don't envision Peterson staying in the rotation much longer without a serious jump in production. ","espnId":"40921","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/40921.png"},{"playerName":"Willi Castro","team":"COL","position":"2B, 3B, OF","rosteredPct":"20%","blurb":"After hyping up Thairo Estrada last year and Willi Castro this year as potential MI draft bargains, I'm thinking it's time to stay away from Colorado bats who project as just average hitters. Castro has been dreadful so far with a .220 AVG and .618 OPS, but unlike the bats in the \"adds\" section, the advanced metrics don't paint a better picture. It's been a rough season across the board for him, and that culminated with him being benched Saturday and Sunday in San Diego. I wouldn't hold out hope for a 10 HR/10 SB season - it's time to cut bait. ","espnId":"34230","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/34230.png"}]}