Hidden Bounties: Waiver Wire Adds for April 27th-May 3rd

Samuel Basallo, Moises Ballesteros, and Carlos Cortes lead this week's targets

By Justin May · April 28, 2026 · Updated October 13, 2026

{"template":"baseball-waiver-wire-picks","weekNumber":5,"weekDates":"April 27th-May 3rd","intro":"We're now a month into the season 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. Before we get started, I’d like to review some past recommendations from a month ago. I’ll be doing this every week just as a personal audit, to see how these play out a month later. \n\nAdds from 3/25: \n\nChase DeLauter: Burst onto the scene with 4 HRs in his first week of action, but has cooled off since. The metrics are still solid and he’s putting together good ABs - just seems to be getting unlucky recently. Unless he has a massively disappointing year from here on out, this could be one of the waiver adds of the year. W \n\nMick Abel: He had a rough relief appearance and a poor start, followed by two dynamite games after joining the rotation. Unfortunately he got injured and hasn’t pitched since 4/14. This one is probably a draw. \n\nCoby Mayo: Started off cold but has heated up lately - but that’s mostly from 3 HRs in 3 days last week - overall he still hasn’t produced like he needs to in order to keep a starting role. L \n\nDidier Fuentes: Didn’t earn a rotation spot like I expected, and had a rough couple of games despite the K upside being present. Potential is there but this is still clearly an L \n\nTJ Rumfield: Batting .250 with 3 HRs and a .727 OPS so far. Not a major win but he’s been better than expected and his approach has been solid. He may be even better ROS honestly and is probably under-owned. I’m taking a W here. \n\nRecord for adds: 2-2 \n\n\nDrops from 3/25: \n\nLuis Garcia Jr.: Just 1 HR and 2 SBs with a .644 OPS, while also being in a platoon role. Just hasn’t been that helpful overall. W \n\nDylan Crews: Was sent down to AAA and hasn’t really looked any better - K issues are still present. Not sure when he might be called up again this year. W \n\nSean Manaea: ERA well over 4 and hasn’t made any starts yet - I don’t expect him to anytime soon. W \n\nLuis Gil: Has an ERA over 6 and was just sent down to AAA. W \n\nRecord for drops: 4-0 \n\n\nNow let’s get to this week \n","adds":[{"playerName":"Samuel Basallo","team":"BAL","position":"C","rosteredPct":"22%","blurb":"Basallo is a guy who I felt should've been drafted in more leagues this year, but he started off slow and was likely dropped in a bunch of leagues since. He was a top prospect with big time power, and it's finally started to show recently. Over his last 10 games, he's hitting .333 with 3 HRs and a 1.042 OPS, and perhaps most importantly, only 5 strikeouts in 37 PAs. With both Ryan Mountcastle and Jordan Westburg on IL with unknown return dates, there's a clear avenue for Basallo to DH most days even if he cools off. He has enough raw power to be a difference maker as long as he continues to keep the Ks down. Given his status as a prospect, he needs to be owned now that he's flashing that upside. ","espnId":"4917646","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4917646.png"},{"playerName":"Moises Ballesteros","team":"CHC","position":"C","rosteredPct":"22%","blurb":"Ballesteros is off to a scorching start, hitting nearly .400 with an OPS of 1.136 in 24 games. His metrics so far give confidence that it's legit, as he's 97th percentile in hard hit rate, 81st percentile in barrel rate, and isn't striking out much (65th percentile K rate). Coming up through the minors, Ballesteros had the raw power and contact ability to succeed, but he had to adjust his approach as his launch angle was poor. Compared to his similar sized MLB sample from last year, in 2026 his launch angle is up from 0.9 degrees to 14.7 degrees, his ground ball rate is down from 62% last year to 38% now, and his pull-air% is up from 4.4% to 17% this year. His AAA numbers in these areas were better than his MLB sample last year, but his 2026 numbers are still an improvement compared to his minor league numbers. His raw power and contact rates have remained steady despite these changes, which is encouraging. I was down on Ballesteros as a prospect because of these approach concerns, but if these changes stick without affecting his power or contact ability, then the upside is huge. He has mostly played DH and should continue to, but he still retained catcher eligibility in Yahoo leagues for this year. That gives him a value bump, as he should be considered a top 12 catcher at this point. ","espnId":"4987418","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4987418.png"},{"playerName":"Carlos Cortes","team":"ATH","position":"OF","rosteredPct":"19%","blurb":"Cortes is crushing the ball right now, and seemingly out of nowhere after he was cast off by the Mets. This year he's hitting .377 with an 1.122 OPS across 67 PAs, and just had a 2 homer game on Sunday. He's certainly getting a lot of hype, and deservedly so because his Savant page is laughable (in a good way) - an 89th percentile barrel rate, 99th percentile xBA and xSLG, and a 100th percentile K rate to go with it. It's nice to see the metrics back up his performance so far, and he's flashed some power upside in the past all while posting solid contact rates (never below 75% contact in a season, which is what we like to see). He was also solid in about 100 MLB PAs last season, so this is really a continuation of that. Of course this is an insanely small sample, and I don't think the now 28 year old is suddenly one of the best hitters in the league, but even if this is just a hot streak, he's got a shot to be better than your current 4th or 5th OF at least for the next several weeks. That's worth rostering in more than the 19% of leagues where he's currently owned. ","espnId":"41595","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/41595.png"},{"playerName":"Jared Jones","team":"PIT","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"17%","blurb":"News broke over the weekend that Jared Jones is starting a rehab assignment this week. The starter who flashed ace upside in the past is making his long-awaited return from elbow surgery. He's still likely got a month of rehab starts as he ramps up, but now is the time to stash if he's available. He cooled off a bit in the 2nd half of 2024, so we were robbed of seeing how he would adjust in 2025. Still, his fastball-slider combo is legit (26% fastball whiff rate, 37% slider whiff rate in 2024) so the strikeout upside is there. Workload may be limited but Jones is still a guy who can help a lot of teams out there. ","espnId":"4918156","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4918156.png"},{"playerName":"Kirby Yates","team":"LAA","position":"RP","rosteredPct":"13%","blurb":"I normally don't have relievers in here since they can be fickle, but with Yates nearing a return from injury, it's rare that we get a reliever who is widely available who won't have questions about his role when he returns. After Jordan Romano was DFA'd last week, and the Angels having no other set closing options at the moment, Yates should waltz right into the closer role once he's ready. Reports from his rehab assignment last week said he still needed to gain weight and add velo, so we're not out of the woods yet. But even in his late 30s he's flashed strong K upside and has been a reliable closer option, so I believe he can come back strong. He's a nice target for save-needy teams. ","espnId":"32623","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/32623.png"},{"playerName":"Peter Lambert","team":"HOU","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"5%","blurb":"Lambert is a pitcher I've written off in the past due to pitching in Colorado for years. Now in Houston, an org who works their magic with veteran SP, he became a bit more intriguing. What really caught my eye was the 23 whiffs he earned in his first start against the Cards. There's only been a few starts this year across the league with more whiffs than that. I watched his next start against the Guardians and was impressed with his pitch mix. He has a mid-90s fastball with good vertical break, a slider and cutter that seemed to tunnel well off of it, and a changeup to keep lefties guessing. He was able to take down the Guardians' lefty-heavy lineup, including striking out Jose Ramirez twice (both times with men on base). He earned 16 whiffs overall in that start, but the most encouraging aspect to me was that it seemed like he was going to come out of the game after 5 innings, but they let him come back out for the 6th and he delivered a clean inning with 2 more Ks. That level of trust from a manager usually takes more time to develop. His top 4 pitches (4-seam, changeup, slider, cutter) all have a whiff rate of 40% or higher through his first 2 starts. It's a ridiculously small sample, but it's awesome to see that many pitches playing up. He has a slurve and sinker that he throws sparingly - so we'll see if those make more of an appearance in future starts. If I had to nitpick one thing it's that his 4-seam is really overperforming based on expected stats (despite the small sample), so that could hurt him soon. I'm still encouraged enough overall to call out that he should be owned in a lot more leagues. ","espnId":"","matchups":""}],"drops":[{"playerName":"Agustin Ramirez","team":"MIA","position":"C","rosteredPct":"83%","blurb":"I came into the year as a Ramirez fan, because the power/speed combo is rare for a catcher and it made him worth drafting. That just hasn't come to fruition so far, as he's hitting .238 with a .670 OPS, 2 HRs and 2 SBs. His metrics are pretty poor across the board with the exception of bat speed, so it's hard to justify a bounce back aside from \"he was better last year.\" His whiff rates are up big time against secondary pitches, and we'll have to see if he can adjust. At the end of the day he's likely never going to be a great ratios guy though. I don't usually like to give up on players so early, but the realization that I'd rather have the 2 catchers I listed above (Basallo and Ballesteros) ROS over Agustin, made this an easy call. It's a quick and easy swap to make out there in a lot of leagues based on their ownership percentages. ","espnId":"5132014","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/5132014.png"},{"playerName":"Jeff Hoffman","team":"TOR","position":"RP","rosteredPct":"76%","blurb":"I was surprised to see this ownership rate still so high, as Hoffman has been awful so far and was just removed from the closer role. The strikeouts were still there, but once a reliever loses a high-leverage role, I tend to not hold out hope for them in redrafts. Just chase some other relievers on the rise who may be out there: Eric Sabrowski, Rico Garcia, Matt Strahm, Brad Keller, Kirby Yates, Juan Morillo, Grant Taylor, Jacob Latz, Gus Varland, Keaton Winn, Jack Perkins (all available in at least 80% of leagues currently). ","espnId":"33841","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/33841.png"},{"playerName":"Ernie Clement","team":"TOR","position":"1B, 2B, 3B, SS","rosteredPct":"60%","blurb":"Jays fans look away - but I just don't see the upside with Ernie. He was a folk hero during their World Series run last year, and actually has better ratios so far in 2026 compared to last season. But with his ceiling being the 12 HRs and 12 SBs he produced in 2024, combined with poor power and speed metrics in 2026, I don't understand why he's being held in so many leagues. The positional eligibility is nice and I imagine most teams are holding him as a bench bat - but you don't need a bench bat for every position, especially if he isn't going to help your team when he does play. There's gotta be better bats sitting on waivers in most of these 60% of leagues where he's rostered. ","espnId":"41287","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/41287.png"}]}