Working the Waiver Wire: April 21st

​

  • By Nathan Baker

    Last Updated on April 21, 2026 4:35 pm by Paul Williamson | Published: April 21, 2026

    Our quartet of waiver wire additions this week are all available in deep leagues, featuring a pair of platoon first baseman destroying right handed pitching, a former top prospect imminently returning from injury, and our first player, who would be a fantasy star if not for playing time concerns, which may imminently be resolved.

    Dalton Rushing – C- Dodgers – 7% Rostered

    Dalton Rushing was a consensus top 50 prospect when he was promoted last season, primarily to give the Dodgers more offensive potency in their mission to keep Will Smith fresh. Rushing played the occasional game in left field, which isn’t an option now with the acquisition of Kyle Tucker, but he’s taken his opportunities to catch as well as anyone could’ve hoped.

    Through 23 plate appearances so far, Rushing has already hit five home runs-this would put him on a 22 home run pace if he had the same number of plate appearances as the major league leader, Yordan Alvarez, who has 10. Having already eclipsed his home run total from all of last year, his positional versatility is a point of focus for Rushing in his search for playing time on the Dodgers, making him a prime candidate to fill in for any injury at catcher, corner OF, 1B or DH.

    Dominic Smith – 1B – Braves – 13% Rostered

    Smith’s major league success to this level had only been confined to 139 games from 2019- 2020 (.937 OPS), but it appears as if the Braves have reignited his offensive threat, at least thus far in his 2026 campaign. He won’t sustain a .997 OPS all season, but his approach this year is far more reminiscent of that from 2019 and 2020, where he pulled the ball more, especially in the air, and swung more freely.

    Interestingly with Smith, there is an inverse correlation with his chase rate and his overall major league success, which is an anomaly amongst major league hitters, but it does make sense with this hitter. As a pull-to-power guy, Smith’s power presents itself when he makes early swing decisions to meet the ball early, which does result in degraded decisions, but significantly increased damage when he does connect. This trade-off will see him slump at some point, but he still does possess the talent to have a big year against right handed pitching, great for daily lineup setting leagues.

    Want to get access to the rest of Nathan’s article? You’ll need to have a FANTASYPASS membership. Click here to learn more and sign up! Premium Access Required

    Come join us at SportsEthos by filling out an application by clicking here
    Click here to join us on Discord!
    Follow us on X by clicking here
    Follow us on Bluesky by clicking here
    Follow Nathan on X at @nbakerngb

    April 21, 2026, 4:35 pm