Hidden Bounties: Waiver Wire Adds for Week 2

Featuring Nolan Schanuel, Randy Vasquez, and Miguel Vargas

By Justin May · April 1, 2026

{"template":"baseball-waiver-wire-picks","weekNumber":2,"weekDates":"","intro":"It's been an exciting first week of action. Obviously we don't want to overreact to small samples but there are still plenty of interesting players out there in a lot of leagues. 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. Let's 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 too. Reminder that these recommendations are mainly intended for redraft leagues ","adds":[{"playerName":"Nolan Schanuel","team":"LAA","position":"1B","rosteredPct":"22%","blurb":"I included Schanuel in my spring training article that looked at some contact hitters who could have a breakout power hitting year. I set 20 HRs as an optimistic goal, and through the first week of action he's already hit 2 bombs. Obviously it's still very early but I like this version of Schanuel. He's never had issues making contact and his approach has been solid, but he made a concerted effort to increase his bat speed for the second offseason in a row. Last year, his bat speed jumped 2 mph compared to 2024. This year so far, he made another jump. The bat speed is still sub-20th percentile so it's not something to go crazy about, but with his ability to pull the ball in the air and square pitches up consistently, every little bit of power gain helps. So far the metrics don't show that he's selling out for power - which is good because that's not what we want. I like seeing the same hitter who just made slight adjustments to improve his power output. Even though he doesn't provide speed, a solid ratios bat with 20 HR upside is nice to have in a CI slot in most leagues. ","espnId":"4739755","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4739755.png"},{"playerName":"Randy Vasquez","team":"SD","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"21%","blurb":"Vasquez is an example of how I wish I could post these articles immediately during games. He definitely popped in his start against the Tigers on Saturday, finishing with a line of 6 IP, 2 hits, 3 walks, no runs allowed, and 8 strikeouts. He dazzled during spring as well, showcasing improved velocity and stuff - so this wasn't new. Kicking myself a bit for not tagging him as a sleeper during spring, but he's still out there in a lot of leagues. I went back and watched his entire start, and I wasn't completely blown away, but there were still a lot of positives. He stayed ahead in the count and spotted his fastball well. He also did a good job stealing strikes with his cutter and curve. A 65% strike rate overall is solid, and 85% on his fastball is great. Now the Tigers did get caught looking at a few fastballs, and Tork and McGonigle nearly added 3 runs to his ledger, but this is still the best version of Vasquez that we've seen. His fastball velo is up a tick, and he finally flashed some strikeout upside that's been eluding him the past couple years. I'm hoping it sticks, but him showcasing these improvements since spring training gives me confidence in it being legit. ","espnId":"4722847","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4722847.png"},{"playerName":"Miguel Vargas","team":"CHW","position":"3B","rosteredPct":"15%","blurb":"Some might remember the insane hype for Vargas a few years ago when he showcased terrific plate discipline in spring and was called up by the Dodgers. It was tough sledding after that and eventually he was traded to Chicago. He flew under the radar all the way through last season, but this offseason he started gaining steam again as a breakout candidate. I'm a believer in the skills - he has solid plate discipline as mentioned above, and also has a sound approach. He's been consistently among the league leaders in pull-air%, helping his average raw power play up in games. If you can't tell, I'm a sucker for hitters who avoid Ks while having a good approach. I fully expect Vargas to improve upon his 16 HRs from last season, and 3B is a thin position this year - now's the time to scoop up a solid option like him. ","espnId":"42453","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/42453.png"},{"playerName":"Nolan Gorman","team":"STL","position":"3B","rosteredPct":"5%","blurb":"Speaking of solid 3B options, we also have Nolan Gorman this week. I don't think there's a person on Earth who would call his 2024 and 2025 seasons \"solid,\" but he seems like a changed hitter this year. He made an offseason adjustment to his stance, and it paid dividends in spring. He showcased improved contact rates and cut his strikeout rate to 17%, while still providing power. It was just 46 plate appearances, but with us currently seeing the same trends in the regular season, I'm optimistic. Strikeouts have really plagued Gorman and made him unstartable for fantasy. His bat speed was also just 61st percentile in 2025, so any reduction in that area in order to improve contact would not have gone over well. Fortunately his bat speed remained the same so far, and his approach is still the same (elite pull-air%). I think people are going to start noticing his improvements soon, so now is a good time to add him early. ","espnId":"41174","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/41174.png"},{"playerName":"Joe Boyle","team":"TB","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"5%","blurb":"Boyle was one of my late round SP targets so I'm glad he had a strong first start. He wasn't originally in the rotation but an injury to Ryan Pepiot afforded him another starting opportunity. Boyle was definitely inconsistent last year. I loved the adjustments he made and we saw his ceiling in a few starts - but he was still plagued by too many walks overall. His first start of 2026 showed drastic improvement though. He threw first pitch strikes to 71% of batters, and threw 69% strikes overall. His splitter was ineffective, but he still managed to hold the Cardinals to 2 runs over 6 innings of work. Just 75 pitches too - efficiency that we haven't seen from Boyle often. It appears he added a sweeper too, which produced a couple of whiffs. All in all this was a great outing to build confidence. Pepiot is likely to return soon, so it's unclear how many more starts Boyle will get. Unfortunately he's the odd man out with everyone healthy, but if he keeps pitching like he did on Saturday, then he should be up again soon. I'd make the add now just in case they find a way to keep him in the bigs - if not then he's still someone to monitor. ","espnId":"4298087","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4298087.png"}],"drops":[{"playerName":"Carlos Estevez","team":"KC","position":"RP","rosteredPct":"81%","blurb":"Estevez has been the talk of the relief world this week. Many expected him to rack up a ton of saves and be a rock for their fantasy pen, but after he allowed 6 runs including a walk off grand slam to Dom Smith, I think it's time to let go. The Royals have said that Estevez won't see high leverage opportunities for awhile - how long that is remains to be seen. Even if he does get his role back, the elephant in the room is that his velocity was down big time all spring. And I'm not talking just 1-2 mph either - his fastball was down 5 mph. There's a good chance that Lucas Erceg, a solid reliever in his own right, takes the job and runs with it while Estevez is figuring out what's wrong. Relievers are wonky, and if they have questions about both their role and their performance, I can't find a reason to hold. ","espnId":"34861","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/34861.png"},{"playerName":"Andrew Vaughn","team":"MIL","position":"1B","rosteredPct":"42%","blurb":"This would be a much easier discussion if this were White Sox Andrew Vaughn we were talking about. But after a trade to Milwaukee last season, he exploded for an .869 OPS in 64 games. His underlying metrics were solid across the board as well - so why drop him? Hamate injuries are tricky - he's currently expected to miss 4-6 weeks as he recovers, but after that there's a chance it saps his power for most of the season. For a guy who absolutely needs power in order to provide any fantasy value, that's not a good sign. It's possible you can stash on IL for the next few weeks anyway, but in leagues with small/no IL, or teams who have a full IL, I think Vaughn should be an easy cut. ","espnId":"42394","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/42394.png"},{"playerName":"Xander Bogaerts","team":"SD","position":"SS","rosteredPct":"37%","blurb":"Xander finds himself here not because of anything he's done this year, but just a review of the last few years in general. Look, he's a talented hitter, he had some great years in Boston and was an amazing fantasy option for awhile. I just don't see the upside anymore. He still makes good contact and the ratios won't kill you, but just 22 homers and 33 steals the past two seasons really isn't helpful - especially with the amount of viable SS emerging. A 10 HR, 20 SB player with middling counting stats and ratios just isn't worth holding on redraft teams. This is especially true if people have him as a bench bat. We want to shoot for upside early on in the year to try to catch these breakouts - a player who can put up Bogaerts-like numbers will still be there on waivers for the stretch run if you need it. ","espnId":"31606","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/31606.png"}]}

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