Working the Waiver Wire: May 14

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  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on May 14, 2026 5:49 am by Anthony Kates | Published: May 14, 2026

    It’s not often that we find ourselves halfway through the month of May and there are two good-to-great closing options freely available on more than half of all waiver wires, but here we are. I guess these are the May flowers that they said the April showers would bring.

    They also brought us a utility bat who is eligible everywhere but catcher and a possibly breaking out Cardinals pitcher who has an old pitch that is newly dominant, moving him from a back of the rotation guy to a mid-rotation, potential top-50 fantasy starter.

    *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.*

    Ezequiel Duran – 1B/2B/3B/SS/OF – TEX – 24%

    Is it 2023 or am I having a fever dream?

    It’s been three years since Duran was even a little bit of fantasy interest but, at least for the moment, we need to be paying attention. Duran has been filling in around the diamond for the Rangers while Wyatt Langford and Josh Smith have been out with injuries, but he may have played himself into a starting role even once both players are healthy. Josh Smith was the starter/utility guy before he got hurt, but he wasn’t producing like he did last year, so the Rangers may want to keep Duran’s productive bat in the lineup instead.

    So far this season, Duran has scored 17 runs, hit three home runs, driven in 16, stolen four bases and has a .294 batting average. He has an .845 OPS and a 138 wRC+, with the best walk and strikeout rates of his career. He is having the best overall statcast season of his career – a career best average exit velocity of 91.4 MPH, the second highest barrel rate of his career of 6.3% and the highest hard hit rate at 44.3%. He’s hitting more ground balls than fly balls, but his home run to fly ball rate is 10.7%, which isn’t an inherently tough number to maintain. His plate discipline numbers aren’t great, but they are some of the best of his career – the lowest chase rate, best zone contact and second lowest swinging strike rate, though he is also swinging the bat less than ever before.

    There is 15-15 upside with decent counting stats and a won’t kill you batting average potential with Duran, especially if he can stay in the starting lineup and continue to hit in the somewhere 2 through 6, so if you need any kind of offensive depth (besides catcher) and you play in a league with 14 or more teams, go scoop him up and ride the wave. The minute he cools off or the Rangers decide to move Josh Smith back into a starting role, we can move onto the next hot, multi-position eligible hitter.

    Rico Garcia – RP – BAL – 35%

    Every Wednesday it seems I have another closer option to recommend to fantasy managers and this week, I have two.

    Garcia is filling in, extremely admirably, for the injured Ryan Helsley at the moment. He has the best strikeout rate of his career, 34.4%, a tolerable walk rate, 10.9%, and the best home run rate he’s ever had, 0.47 HR/9. He’s had a ton of luck, with a .000 BABIP and a 100% strand rate, which seems impossible, but he has allowed only one hit all year, a solo home run. Which is also the only run he has allowed all year. His statcast data is elite – 83.1 MPH average exit velocity, 2.9% barrel rate, 22.9% hard hit rate, he has a 54.3% ground ball rate and an 11.4% line drive rate. His savant page is a sea of red with only two big blue areas: chase rate (25.4%) and that walk rate (10.9%).

    All four of his pitches have generated 2-plus run value, with three generating a whiff rate of 35% or higher (the fourth, his 4-seam fastball, has a 23.7% whiff rate). It’s not uncommon for relievers to kind of pop up out of nowhere and have an elite season, so this kind of a year from a relatively unknown like Garcia isn’t necessarily an anomaly.

    Helsley has yet to resume throwing, as he recovers from elbow inflammation in his right elbow, and is expected out until the end of May, giving Garcia another two to three weeks of closing games for the Orioles. Even when not in the role, Garcia can still have fantasy relevance, in holds leagues, where he already as seven, and in standard leagues, thanks to his 22 strikeouts in 19 innings, his three wins and his criminally low ERA and WHIP.

    Saves should always be a priority when available on the waiver wire, especially when they are being earned by someone who is performing at an elite level.

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    May 14, 2026, 5:47 am