Working the Waiver Wire: April 29

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  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on April 29, 2026 3:56 am by Anthony Kates | Published: April 29, 2026

    We’re nearly through the month of showers and on to the month of flowers, which means the weather is heating up, the injured list is filling up and prospects are being called up.

    The waiver wire becomes an even more important tool for fantasy managers as the season wears on and finding productive, valuable players before your league mates is crucial.

    Hopefully the four names I’ve provided today are still available where ever you may need their help and they provide you with the production you need to continue to crush the opposition.

    *Note that all listed roster %’s are from Yahoo, at the time of the writing of this article. Almost all of our waiver wire recommendations are widely available across all major platforms, however.*

    Nathan Church – OF – STL – 11%

    Church is a good, not great, player that has more value in deeper leagues than he does in shallower leagues, but he makes a fine injury replacement at the moment. He doesn’t have a ton of power, but should be able to reach the mid-teens with 500 plate appearances and has the speed to get to 25 or so stolen bases. He has a fantastic barrel rate, 11.5%, but a slightly below average hard hit rate, 38.5%, and a not-that-great average exit velocity of 86.8 MPH, so 12 to 15 home runs is probably the max.

    Though he does chase plenty of pitches, he has a 43.5% chase rate, he makes contact with 70% of pitches out of the zone, and has an in zone contact rate of 83.1%, and strikes out less than a quarter of the time. Though the Cardinals are currently two games over .500, they are not expected to compete for a playoff spot, much less the division, this season, so Church should have plenty of runway, even when he struggles. Deep league managers, especially those that start four or more outfielders, should consider scooping up Church and riding his bat while it is hot.

    Carlos Cortes – OF – ATH – 19%

    I understand the hesitation around a 28-year-old rookie displaying immense power and struggled at Triple-A three years in a row before breaking through last year, but growth is not linear, and some players breakout older than others (let’s not forget that Brent Rooker was 28 years old when he broke out with his 30 homer season).

    Case in point why Cortes’ power and breakout feels like it could be real:

    That is a whole lot of red. That’s a whole lot of elite numbers. Add to that an elite contact rate, 87.5%, a great chase rate, 23.7%, a swinging strike rate of just 5.8%, and you have the makings of a real breakout.

    Now, will he sustain a .377 batting average? Of course not. Will he hit 20-plus home runs with a 29.8% fly ball rate? Not gonna happen (that would also be the lowest fly ball rate of his professional career, so I expect that to go up). Will he maintain a single digit strikeout rate? The odds are long, though a strikeout rate under 20% would not be shocking, since he did maintain a rate under 20% the last three seasons at Triple-A and had a 20.2% rate in 99 plate appearances in the big leagues last year.

    This is a guy worth taking a gamble on that could be having the kind of breakout that Rooker had back in 2023, who found his way from Minnesota to Kansas City to San Diego and finally Oakland from 2021 to 2023, en route to becoming a top 50 fantasy player.

    What’s the risk in dropping your worst bat to see if Cortes can be that guy this year?

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    April 29, 2026, 3:53 am