Working the Waiver Wire: June 3

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  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on June 3, 2026 3:55 pm by Anthony Kates | Published: June 3, 2026

    *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.*

    Jorge Mateo – 2B/SS/OF – ATL – 20%

    Mateo has been en fuego since the start of May and has slowly, but surely, taken of the primary starting shortstop role in Atlanta, bumping Ha-Seong Kim to the bench. In 55 plate appearances this month, he has a 13-3-8-5-.327 fantasy line, with a .922 OPS and a 157 wRC+. He’s rocking a 12.5% barrel rate and a 45% hard hit rate, with an elevated 75.2% contact rate. Yes, he has a 40% chase rate, but he is making contact with 62% of pitches outside the zone at the moment, so a chase rate that steep has not been a huge detriment. Mateo has never had an above average offensive season in his MLB career, but he is riding some momentum into a starting role in one of the best offenses in baseball. With multi-positional eligibility, positive contributions across the board and some career best numbers already, this could be a breakout in the making. Or maybe it’s just an exceptional hot streak we can ride out before grabbing the next hot hitting middle infielder.

    Either way, fantasy managers should want to grab any and every piece of the best offenses in baseball and Mateo is one of those pieces.

    Spencer Horwitz – 1B – PIT – 21%

    It really shouldn’t come as any surprise that Horwitz is producing like he is at the moment. Yes, he does have the highest wRC+ of his big league career, but in each of his three big league seasons with 150-plus plate appearances, he has a wRC+ of 119 or higher. He’s posted a double digit walk rate all three seasons and his strikeout rate has dropped in each of the last two. He’s making more contact even though he is swinging less, has less swinging strikes than ever before and has raised his fly ball rate for the second consecutive season. He has a zone contact rate of 95.2%, which is an absolutely insane number, has a chase rate of 25.8%, but also makes contact with 73% of pitches outside the zone and has seen fewer strikes and fewer first pitch strikes than at any point in his career.

    And over the past month he has been particularly hot, with hits in 21 of 27 games, a fantasy line of 13-4-16-1-.312, an OPS of .932 and a 159 wRC+. Horwitz doesn’t have the premium power a typical first base generally generates, but he gets on base a ton, rarely strikes out and is on pace for the best fantasy season of his career…if he can stay healthy. Which has been the key point for Horwitz – in his first two “full” seasons, he failed to have more than 411 plate appearances in either season, though he showed that he has the fantasy upside to provide top-12 to top-15 fantasy 1B production. This is the best Pirates team in a long time and Horwitz has bat in the leadoff spot in eight of his last nine appearances, which should lead to a boost in his overall numbers. If you need some 1B or corner infield help, a guy like Horwitz can help paper over multiple holes.

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    Gregory Soto – RP – PIT – 48%

    I mean, what are we doing? Soto is locked in as the Pirates closer, he has their last seven saves, he has allowed a run or more in just four of his twenty-eight appearances and he is having one of the best seasons of his career. He has the best strikeout rate of his career, 31.8%, one of the best home run rates of his career, 0.32 HR/9, he’s limiting quality contact and hard hits, his line drive rate is at an obscenely low 10.3% and his sinker-slider combo has been absolutely dominant. At one point there were questions about who was going to be closing games out in Pittsburgh and why was Dennis Santana outright named the closer, but he’s having a dreadful year and no one else has stepped up to challenge Soto in the role. He is currently the fourth most valuable fantasy reliever and he isn’t even rostered in half of all Yahoo leagues.

    That is outrageous. If he is available in your league, even if you don’t need the additional saves, he needs to be picked up just to keep your opponents from grabbing him and enjoying the free value.

    Cade Cavalli – SP – WAS – 48%

    Is the breakout really happening with Cavalli? After a disappointing rookie season last year (albeit one with lower expectations, since he made his big league debut in 2022 and had to work his way back through a multitude of injuries just to get here), Cavalli is showing off the skills and upside that made him a once top prospect in the Nationals system.

    Since the beginning of May, Cavalli has made six starts. He has two wins, four quality starts, 36 strikeouts, 10 walks, two home runs allowed, a 3.44 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP over 34 innings. His statcast numbers have been average, with an 89.3 MPH average exit velocity, 8.3% barrel rate and 41.7% hard hit rate, but he generated a 50.5% ground ball rate and limited batters to just a 15.8% line drive rate. He had a 31.3% chase rate, 10.6% swinging strike rate and a 77.6% contact rate, with his change up and curveball absolutely dominating hitters. He had a better May than April and has gone deeper into games the further we have gotten into the season (he has thrown 5-plus innings in his last five starts; he threw 5-plus innings in just three of his first eight starts).

    Cavalli has the stuff and upside to produce a top-35 season and he should be picked up by any pitching needy team.

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    June 3, 2026, 3:55 pm