Hidden Bounties: Waiver Wire Adds for May 25th-May 31st

Featuring Stephen Kolek, Gage Jump, and Hunter Gaddis

By Justin May · May 26, 2026

{"template":"baseball-waiver-wire-picks","weekNumber":9,"weekDates":"May 25th-May 31st","intro":"Welcome back to another week of waiver hunting! I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend. 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, and Christian Scott are the main ones who are still under 25% rostered but shouldn't be. 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. Adds from 4/21: Josh Jung: .310 AVG with an .817 OPS since 4/21. Overall he's helped more than hurt. W Oswald Peraza: .280 AVG and a .755 OPS and getting fairly regular playing time since the article. W Dean Kremer: Hit the IL right after the article. Ouch. It's a draw due to injury sadly. Kyle Teel: Shockingly hasn't played yet after it looked like he was returning soon. Suffered a setback and this is quickly becoming a lost season for him. Draw due to injury. Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: .238 AVG and a .619 OPS with just 1 HR since 4/21. L Season record for adds: 10-10 (4 draws) Drops from 4/21: Shane Baz: 4.84 ERA in 6 starts since the article. Less than a K per inning as well. Hasn't made anyone regret dropping. W Alec Bohm: .272 AVG and .765 OPS with 4 HRs in his last 28 games. I would take a victory if he were an add rec, so this is an L Jordan Romano: Was designated for assignment shortly after the article. W Masyn Winn: .238 AVG and a .601 OPS, 0 homers and 1 steal since the article. Even for a SS that's just not helpful. W Season record for drops: 14-3 (3 draws) Now let's get to this week ","adds":[{"playerName":"Stephen Kolek","team":"KC","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"13%","blurb":"Kolek was an intriguing depth arm in San Diego before getting shipped to Kansas City at the deadline last year. He made 5 starts for the Royals in 2025 and produced a 1.91 ERA. The underlying metrics were solid too, but unfortunately he started 2026 in AAA as the Royals' rotation was healthy to start the season. Injuries have quickly piled up with Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic both landing on the IL with elbow injuries. Ragans recently made a rehab start but reportedly did not recover well from it, and is being reevaluated in a few days. Bubic is progressing in his rehab but doesn't have a set return date. What that means for Kolek is he likely has a few weeks to audition for a rotation spot. He won't unseat Ragans, Bubic, Wacha, or Lugo - but he is essentially now in a rotation battle with Noah Cameron, who has a 4.72 ERA on the season. Kolek's numbers won't jump off the page, but he limits hard contact and doesn't walk people - a recipe for success for pitchers without big strikeout stuff. He has a deep pitch mix to keep hitters off balance as well. This is evident in the numbers, as his stats don't have much of a dip when facing hitters the 2nd or 3rd time through the order. He's made 4 starts in the majors this year, and has 3 QS and 3 wins in those games. The strikeout upside isn't there, but any teams in need of QS should give him a look. He gets 2 middling offenses next (Rangers and Reds) and has a chance to stick around for more if he continues pitching well. ","espnId":"5190073","matchups":"Rangers and Reds","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/5190073.png"},{"playerName":"Gage Jump","team":"ATH","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"9%","blurb":"News broke just this morning that Gage Jump is getting the call and will make his debut this week, either against the Mariners or Yankees at home. He's got a big fastball that should play well up in the zone, and a slider and curve that both produced whiff rates north of 30% in AAA. A sweeper and changeup round out the arsenal but those pitches aren't thrown very often - yet they still give him a couple of additional weapons to keep hitters off balance. He also has a bit of a funky delivery that may take time for hitters to adjust. That combined with a great fastball should help him avoid the low floor that rookies often have. He'll need to throw strikes, as the walk rate was high - but we see that from a lot of pitchers in AAA, and he didn't have control issues in the past. Honestly I thought that Jump might spend the entire season in AAA, but the A's had a need in the rotation after Civale got hurt in his last start. Jump wasn't tearing up AAA so far, but the strikeouts were there and he's coming off of back to back scoreless outings, including a 7 inning gem with 9 Ks a few days ago. That game likely played a role in the decision to call him up as well. It's worth betting on his stuff even if he plays in an unfavorable home park. I had him below Snelling (still sad about the injury) but aside from him, Jump had the best redraft outlook to me among the rookie SP who have debuted this year. ","espnId":"","matchups":"Mariners or Yankees at home"},{"playerName":"Hunter Gaddis","team":"CLE","position":"RP","rosteredPct":"7%","blurb":"Gaddis entered the season as a solid RP for holds leagues, but had a rough start and fell behind this year's RP waiver wire darling Erik Sabrowski. Now Sabrowski has hit the IL with elbow inflammation (oof), and Gaddis has registered 6 straight scoreless outings since May 9th, earning 3 holds and a save in that span. Cleveland has always had a clear RP hierarchy - one of the things we love about them. They also have a middling offense and solid pitching staff, so they find themselves in a lot of close games. Gaddis looks to take over the 8th inning duties again, and historically it's been a great spot for fantasy production. Obviously there's no real boost here in saves only leagues, but for save/hold leagues, he's someone to target. ","espnId":"4187661","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4187661.png"},{"playerName":"Justin Foscue","team":"TEX","position":"1B, 2B","rosteredPct":"4%","blurb":"It feels like a decade ago that I was intrigued by Foscue's strong hit tool as a prospect, wondering how it might play in the bigs (it was 2023, by the way). But since then in a few short MLB stints, he just never popped enough to stick on the roster. Could things be different this year? It certainly feels like it so far. He's hitting .311 with an .871 OPS since being recalled on May 5th. The metrics are solid as well - a 13.3% barrel rate and 92.6 mph average EV - both of which would be well above average percentile ranks if he qualified. He has struck out 30% of the time so far, which is odd since he never had K issues in the minors. His fast swing rate is up so he could be selling out for power to try to stick on the big league roster, but the previous samples were so small that it's hard to be confident in a conclusion like that. His whiff rate isn't crazy high - so I can see the Ks coming down over time. He's also pulling the ball in the air frequently so there's a chance at a decent power output despite the below average bat speed. He's been playing 2B every day while Josh Smith is out, and as of now it appears that Smith is at least a few weeks from returning. I'm not sure that Foscue will do enough to earn more playing time once Smith returns, but putting it all together, Foscue is a decent deep league add based on how he's hitting right now. ","espnId":"","matchups":""},{"playerName":"Esmerlyn Valdez","team":"PIT","position":"1B, OF","rosteredPct":"3%","blurb":"Valdez was a popular breakout prospect in 2025 after making major improvements in his contact rate while providing a strong power output. He further cemented his status as a legit prospect with a good showing this year: He hit 10 HRs while striking out just 21% of the time in his first stint in AAA, earning a call up this week. In short, he's got big time raw power with some approach concerns, but if the contact improvements hold and he gets enough playing time, he's got plenty of fantasy upside. I prefer him over the other recent Pirates call up, Jhostynxon Garcia, aka \"The Password.\" I have fewer concerns about Valdez' hit tool given that his contact and chase rates are quite a bit better than Garcia's, and they offer similar power upside. Garcia and Valdez have each played 3 out of 4 games since Valdez was called up, but notably Valdez has seen all 3 starts in RF, showing that he may take a starting role from Jake Mangum if he keeps hitting. I'm still skeptical of Valdez long term since I'm not sure the bat plays well enough to keep him in the lineup in future years - and I'm not sure he gets a long enough leash to play through any struggles and figure it out. But for right now, he's a good speculative add to see if he can get hot and provide some power. ","espnId":"","matchups":""},{"playerName":"David Sandlin","team":"CHW","position":"SP, RP","rosteredPct":"0%","blurb":"It was just announced last night that Sandlin is getting called up to join the White Sox today. He was buried behind a plethora of arms in Boston, but an offseason trade gave him a chance to join a less crowded pitching staff in Chicago. He began the season injured but clearly impressed enough in his recent outings to earn a promotion. Whether his role is as a starter or reliever remains to be seen, but I'm confident that he will join the rotation at some point this year, if not right away. He's got big stuff, led by a mid-90s fastball that has been difficult for hitters to square up. He also throws a sweeper, sinker, curve, and cutter - with his sweeper and curve both having whiff rates over 30% so far in AAA. The swing and miss potential is there, and his fastball has performed well enough to provide hope of a smooth big league transition. He's still building back up after his injury, but he's been cleared for around 75 pitches in his recent outings. He's been inefficient with his command this year but hopefully we see more outings like his last game (1 walk, 1 ER, and 7 Ks over 4 IP). Even if his first couple of outings are in relief or as a bulk pitcher as he builds up, he can easily replace Erick Fedde in the rotation soon. He's worth an add based on the ceiling that his stuff provides. ","espnId":"","matchups":""}],"drops":[{"playerName":"Ildemaro Vargas","team":"ARI","position":"1B, 2B","rosteredPct":"66%","blurb":"This one may be controversial based on the ownership rate, but Vargas has cooled off drastically after a red hot April. In May, he's slashing .231/.271/.286, and based on the advanced metrics it doesn't seem like he'll turn it around soon. When a 34 year old with years of MLB experience suddenly produces out of nowhere, it's usually a flash in the pan. At the end of the day, he doesn't provide power or speed, or take walks. His best asset is not striking out, and based on the overall profile it's not even that helpful in points leagues. Be thankful for the great April he gave you, but it's time to send him back to the wire. ","espnId":"32985","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/32985.png"},{"playerName":"Justin Wrobleski","team":"LAD","position":"SP, RP","rosteredPct":"57%","blurb":"Wrobleski had an insanity run of 5 starts from April 6th-May 3rd, allowing just 2 runs in 32 innings. But he struck out just 13 hitters in that span and was a major regression candidate. The regression seems to be hitting in his last few starts, as he's allowed 14 runs in his last 19 innings. His stuff hasn't been good enough overall, as he sits 2nd percentile in whiff rate and 5th percentile in K rate. There's just nothing here to suggest that he can hold a sub-3 ERA as the season progresses, and it's more likely to be well over 4. That combined with a complete lack of K upside just kills his fantasy value. I understand that any pitcher in the Dodgers' rotation deserves the benefit of the doubt and people will want to roster him - but I think his run is coming to an end soon. River Ryan (a waiver add from last week) is looming to take his rotation spot and Wrobleski doesn't inspire enough confidence to hold. Any future starts he gets are more likely to produce the results he has recently as opposed to the insane 5 start run in April. ","espnId":"4417203","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4417203.png"},{"playerName":"Angel Martinez","team":"CLE","position":"2B, OF","rosteredPct":"53%","blurb":"Martinez is another guy who, like Vargas, had a ton of fanfare early this year. This is a tougher drop recommendation since Martinez is just 24 and a breakout is more believable, but I just don't see much upside. His power is below average and his plate discipline is poor. He's essentially reliant on BABIP luck for his production. He does provide some speed which is helpful, but he doesn't get on base enough to really make a difference there. He hasn't been that bad in May, hitting 4 HRs with a .707 OPS, so maybe I'm going out on a limb here. But he did the same thing last year where he was red hot for a stretch and then cooled off considerably. I don't think he's suddenly a 20/20 guy, and I'm not sure he's even a regular in the Guardians' lineup by season's end. ","espnId":"42497","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/42497.png"},{"playerName":"Lawrence Butler","team":"ATH","position":"OF","rosteredPct":"38%","blurb":"The downfall of Butler has been odd, as he went from perennial 20/20 threat to now being out of the lineup entirely. He's still just 25 so maybe a AAA reset would help at this point - or maybe he's dealing with an unreported injury. Whatever the cause, he's been rough this year, hitting .168 with a .520 OPS. His batted ball profile did have risks before so it's not entirely surprising, but few expected him to be this bad. He's started one game since 5/20 and each of those games featured a righty starter. It's clear he's been overtaken by Henry Bolte and Carlos Cortes for playing time and is now a bench bat. Bench bats just have no place on fantasy rosters aside from deep 30 team leagues. ","espnId":"4917919","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4917919.png"}]}

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