Hidden Bounties: Waiver Wire Adds for June 1st - June 7th

Featuring Zack Gelof, Spencer Horwitz, and Jacob Gonzalez

By Justin May · June 2, 2026 · Updated October 13, 2026

{"template":"baseball-waiver-wire-picks","weekNumber":10,"weekDates":"June 1st - June 7th","intro":"Welcome back to another week of waiver hunting! Hope everyone's fantasy season is going well, especially with the injury bug hitting quite a bit this week. 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. Just a heads up, some add recommendations I made from previous weeks that should be rostered in more leagues: Troy Melton, TJ Rumfield, David Sandlin, and Christian Scott are the main ones who are still under 25% rostered but shouldn't be. \n\nBefore 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\n\nAdds from 4/28: \n\nSamuel Basallo: .326 AVG with a .931 OPS since 4/28. A solid catching option. W \n\nMoises Ballesteros: Has an ugly .088/.192/.132 slash since 4/28 and has lost playing time. L \n\nCarlos Cortes: .289 AVG and a .784 OPS since 4/28. Just 1 HR and 1 SB in that time but the ratios are solid, and he’s continued to start against RHP despite the crowded depth chart. W \n\nJared Jones: Wrote him up early before he returned so he’s only made one MLB start. Can’t really have any conclusions from that. Draw \n\nKirby Yates: Has not taken over the closer job like I expected. He seems to be getting closer to doing it but at this point, he’s earned just one save. L \n\nPeter Lambert: Tough one to rate here as he’s been somewhat helpful with 3 wins and 2 QS since 4/28, but just not a slam dunk add. The 3.93 ERA hasn’t hurt anyone so I’ll take a W \n\n\nSeason record for adds: 13-12 (5 draws) \n\n\nDrops from 4/28: \n\nAgustin Ramirez: Was optioned to AAA and has not been called back up yet. W \n\nJeff Hoffman: He’s earned his high leverage role back recently but has still been inconsistent, allowing 9 ER in 14 IP in the past month. W \n\nErnie Clement: A .288 AVG and .805 OPS with 5 HRs since 4/28. Oof. L \n\n\nSeason record for drops: 16-4 (3 draws) \n\n\nNow let’s get to this week \n","adds":[{"playerName":"Zack Gelof","team":"ATH","position":"2B","rosteredPct":"23%","blurb":"It's a hitter-heavy week, led by Gelof who has shown a nice power/speed blend this year. He currently has 6 HRs and 6 SBs, and while the ratios aren't anything to write home about, he's been much improved compared to his last couple of seasons. I honestly thought he was a AAAA player previously, but this year he's giving me confidence that he can stick in the big leagues. Gelof reducing his K rate to 24% so far is a big reason that he made the list this week. The underlying numbers show improvement as well, with his chase rate being a career low 21%, and while a 78% zone contact isn't great, it's an improvement over previous years. An article on MLB.com a few weeks ago mentioned both mental and mechanical adjustments that Gelof made over the offseason, including leveling his swing - so at least there's reasoning to why the contact rate has improved, giving us more of a reason to buy in. The big issue at play is what happens once Max Muncy returns. Gelof has been playing 3B primarily while Muncy was out, and may have won the starting job. Still, Muncy is a former 1st round pick and they likely want to give him every chance possible to show that upside. Gelof could play more 2B in place of McNeil, but I'm not sure the A's bail on McNeil that quickly. Muncy is currently on a rehab assignment, so we'll be able to find out soon how this playing time shakes out. I'm placing my bets on Gelof keeping a starting job somewhere though, so that's why I wanted to feature him this week. ","espnId":"4414531","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4414531.png"},{"playerName":"Spencer Horwitz","team":"PIT","position":"1B","rosteredPct":"18%","blurb":"Horwitz was a guy I thought about as a potential underrated power breakout this year, but I ultimately decided against targeting him because at 28 years old and having not shown much power, I figured he was who he was at this point. Boy was I wrong. He's currently sitting at 7 HRs in just over 200 PAs this year, with a well above average .857 OPS. It could be a long hot streak, but the guy is a great hitter with great plate discipline. His K rate is 93rd percentile and his walk rate sits 89th percentile currently. I'm not sure the power breakout is legit given he's in the 9th percentile for average EV and 29th percentile for barrel rate - but he's been pulling the ball in the air more often and has a puncher's chance at 20 HRs given his ability to square up the ball consistently. He's batting leadoff for a surprisingly good offense (5th in runs scored currently!) and may have earned more games against lefties, since he's started against the last two LHP they've faced. He gets a boost for OBP leagues too. I know 1B is deep this year and I'd still prefer guys like Rumfield over him, but Horwitz is hot right now and can certainly help some teams out there. ","espnId":"4228472","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4228472.png"},{"playerName":"Jacob Gonzalez","team":"CHW","position":"2B","rosteredPct":"6%","blurb":"Gonzalez is puzzling to me. I've been in and out at various points with him as a prospect, but this year he's showing some major upside. He had an insane 19 HRs in just 52 AAA games after not showing much power in previous years. There are quite a few power breakouts this year across the minor leagues, so it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. However, an encouraging thing with Gonzalez is that he's made a big jump in his EV numbers, going from a 100.5 mph EV90 in 2025 to a 105 mph EV90 this year. The barrel rate and hard hit rates are way up as well, and all this without an increase in strikeouts. Exactly the underlying data improvements that we want to see to help justify it as a legit breakout. He's never had issues with strikeouts and has solid contact metrics to back it up, plus he's improved his walk rate this year. I've been skeptical that he has enough raw power to be useful in fantasy, but he's checked a lot of boxes this year and quieted my concerns. Now the big question is, how much playing time does he get? Based on the first couple of games, it looks like he'll be platooned at least to start, despite not having issues with lefties in the minors. That's a topic I could go on for an hour about - but that's for another time. Murakami is out 4-6 weeks per reports, so that appears to be how long Gonzalez will get to earn a big league role once everyone is healthy. The tough part for him is that the infield is full and he won't unseat any of those starters - so he either has to learn OF (a position he hasn't played yet in the minors) or hope to earn DH time. That's a difficult path to go down because the bat absolutely needs to play up and any cold streaks could see him lose that role quickly. He's still an add for me for the playing time he'll get in the next month or so, but there could be a time limit on it. ","espnId":"","matchups":""},{"playerName":"Yoendrys Gomez","team":"MIN","position":"RP","rosteredPct":"5%","blurb":"This is probably not an add that most folks need to make, as your standard 10-12 team leagues still have a lot of solid RP available. But I've been finding myself adding Gomez in quite a few deeper leagues recently where I needed bullpen help. I was a fan of his back when he was trying to become a starter in Chicago, and intrigued by him being traded to the Rays. I thought they might unlock him and he would become a solid backend starter. It didn't work out, but he now found a home as a leverage reliever for the Twins. His K/BB is pretty ugly, but he has the best pure stuff in the Twins bullpen by far. They seem to trust him as well, as he's gotten the most saves and appears to be separating himself from the giant committee that they've been operating with. He's better for save/hold leagues given the unpredictable nature of the Twins' pen, but those in deeper leagues, or in saves only leagues where all the closers get scooped up quickly, should give him a look. ","espnId":"42898","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/42898.png"},{"playerName":"Colton Cowser","team":"BAL","position":"OF","rosteredPct":"4%","blurb":"I've gone back and forth pretty much every single week this year on Cowser, debating if I should call him an add since spring training. I've added and dropped him a few times in leagues this year as well. Finally after a 10 day stretch where he's produced a 1.000+ OPS and cut his K rate to 20% in that time, I'm going for it. I may be jumping the gun here since he still isn't playing every day, but on the off chance he's actually recaptured his 2024 magic, I'd rather be early here. The struggles against breaking and offspeed pitches are a big concern this year as his whiff rates were basically the worst in the league against those pitches - but he improved big time in May by cutting his whiff rate by over 10% against both pitch types. He's also been crushing breaking balls in particular, with a .684 SLG against those pitches in May (compared to a .000 SLG in April - yes, you read that right). The sample size is small and as I mentioned above, I'm still not sure that he's earned a starting role back. But he's got the elite raw power to be a fantasy asset, and improving his numbers against non-fastballs is huge. Hopefully those gains stick but I'm willing to take a chance on him. ","espnId":"4416990","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4416990.png"}],"drops":[{"playerName":"Eury Perez","team":"MIA","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"80%","blurb":"I know I shy away from putting injured players here, but just because I know I'll see a lot of questions about him, I wanted to share my thoughts. In case you missed it, Eury is going to miss about 8 weeks with a gracilis strain, putting a return likely sometime post-all star break. Recent reports suggested he could beat that timeline, but the Marlins are historically very conservative with injuries and won't do anything that could jeopardize next season for Eury. I can't see them rolling him back out there unless he's absolutely, without a doubt 100%. Most folks out there have IL slots and can afford to keep him, but this is mainly for those leagues with only a few slots that may be filled up already. In those cases, Eury is a fine drop to me. He likely returns in late July/August but the Marlins are likely to be conservative with him and will monitor his workload. Plus he hasn't been what we expected so far this year either, with a 4.60 ERA to this point. We need to bank on him getting healthy quickly, the Marlins allowing him to return quickly, and him improving big time compared to what he's produced this year so far. That's just too much that has to go right, so if you need the roster space I'm fine with cutting Eury. ","espnId":"4917854","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4917854.png"},{"playerName":"Steven Kwan","team":"CLE","position":"OF","rosteredPct":"55%","blurb":"This is painful for me as I'm a big Kwan fan. I love his game for real baseball and he was so fun to watch these last few years. It's been a rough time in 2026 though, as he's batting a career worst .207 with just 1 HR and 2 SBs. His struggles also caused him to be removed from the leadoff spot, a lineup position he's occupied daily for the past few seasons. I'm honestly shocked. He's still taking walks and making contact at an elite clip like usual. However he's just not hitting the ball with any authority whatsoever, as his average EV is the worst in the league. His BABIP is pretty low at .231, but I'm not expecting it to go up much because his profile right now is mostly soft fly balls. For a guy who has minimal power/speed upside as is, fantasy owners can't stomach awful ratios too. Sadly it's time to drop in redrafts. ","espnId":"41996","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/41996.png"},{"playerName":"Lucas Erceg","team":"KC","position":"RP","rosteredPct":"45%","blurb":"Erceg was a nice pop up saves option early in the year after Carlos Estevez had a rough start and then went on the IL. It looked like he had some upside at first and I saw the appeal, especially with him not sharing the closer duties with anyone. However, his numbers have been rough - a 6.33 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP, while leading the MLB with 5 blown saves. The good just hasn't outweighed the bad for me, and the rough K/BB doesn't showcase better days ahead. He still has the closer role as of now, but is definitely on the hot seat. Regardless there are likely better closer options available in most leagues. After this most recent blown save, I'm out. ","espnId":"36618","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/36618.png"}]}