Daily Waiver Report — Saturday, August 29, 2026

Carter Jensen is smashing the ball at 100.2 mph exit velocity over the last seven days, and his ownership is actually dropping. That's the kind of market inefficiency that wins waiver wars in late August. The Royals' catcher posted a .431 wOBA with an 83.3% hard-hit rate, cut his strikeout rate from 25.7% to 20.0%, and pushed his walk rate up to 24.0% — all while playing every day (25 PA). At 51% rostered, he's not a hidden gem, but the -2% ownership slide means managers are sleeping through a breakout week. If he's somehow available in your league, this is the priority pickup today.

Today's Top Adds

Connor Norby (1B/2B/3B, COL) — Add Now

Norby is the hottest bat on the wire right now: a .459 wOBA over the last seven days, up sharply from .405 over 30 days, fueled by a 95.2 mph average exit velocity and 62.5% hard-hit rate. He's slashing .348 with 2 homers across 27 plate appearances — a solid five-game sample that deserves immediate action. Ownership has surged from 1% to 12% in a week, and Coors Field upside means this number will keep climbing. Grab him before tomorrow's report makes him a 25% guy.

Kaelen Culpepper (SS, MIN) — Add Now

Culpepper is making contact and doing damage. His strikeout rate dropped from 23.8% over 30 days to 17.4% in the last week, and the results followed: .364 AVG, 2 HR, and a .449 wOBA across 23 PA. The 91.9 mph exit velocity won't blow you away, but the profile improvement is real — he's putting the ball in play more often and punishing it when he does. At 12% owned and rising fast (+6% in seven days), he fills a premium position with legitimate upside.

Carter Jensen (C, KC) — Add Now

Already highlighted above, but the full picture bears repeating: .278 AVG, 2 HR, .431 wOBA, 100.2 mph EV, 83.3% hard-hit quality. He improved across every plate discipline metric — strikeouts down (25.7% → 20.0%), walks up (18.1% → 24.0%). The -2% ownership dip is baffling. At catcher, this kind of underlying quality is gold. Act before the correction.

Watch List

Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B/3B, BAL)

CES posted a .440 wOBA with a 99.5 mph exit velocity and 83.3% hard-hit rate over the last week — a massive jump from his .307 mark over 30 days. The .381 AVG over 21 PA with 1 HR is tantalizing, but at just 12% rostered with minimal ownership movement (+2%), the market hasn't caught on yet. Another week of this and he becomes an Add Now.

Tommy White (1B/3B, ATH)

White's wOBA jumped from .242 to .298 — modest, but directionally encouraging. The strikeout rate dropped to 15.4% from 19.4%, and his 92.4 mph EV with 66.7% hard-hit quality shows improving contact. At 2% owned with no homers in the sample, he's a deep-league stash only, but the approach gains are worth monitoring.

Jonah Cox (OF, SF)

A .535 wOBA will get your attention, and Cox earned it with a .385 AVG and 2 homers. The strikeout rate is still alarming even after dropping from 43.3% to 33.3%, and the 80.8 mph exit velocity is a serious red flag that suggests batted-ball luck rather than real power. At 0% owned, he's a free speculation — but only in the deepest of leagues until the EV catches up.

Drew Gilbert (OF, SF)

Gilbert's .443 wOBA and 98.6 mph exit velocity are the real deal. The 62.5% hard-hit rate and 2 homers over 23 PA show legit pop, and his strikeout rate (21.7%) is reasonable. At just 1% owned, this is the watch-list name most likely to graduate to Add Now territory quickly.

Steven Cruz (RP, KC)

The 2.19 FIP is eye-catching despite a 5.45 ERA — classic sign of a reliever getting unlucky on sequencing. His K rate ticked up from 15.7% to 20.0%. Early signal in five appearances, so keep monitoring for saves or holds opportunity.

Tyler Stephenson (C, CIN)

Stephenson's 100.6 mph average exit velocity and 100.0% hard-hit quality over 20 PA is elite-tier contact. The .375 AVG and .351 wOBA haven't produced homers yet, but that barrel rate suggests the power is coming. Ownership cooling (-6%) creates a buying window for catcher-needy managers.

Andruw Monasterio (1B/2B/3B/SS, BOS)

The quad eligibility is valuable, but a .167 AVG and .243 wOBA make this a pure process play. The underlying numbers — 4.8% strikeout rate, 100.0% hard-hit quality, 99.5 mph EV — are wildly disconnected from the results. That BABIP correction could come fast, but at -12% ownership and 13% rostered, the market has already moved on. Contrarian watch.

Stream of the Day

No streaming-specific signals were detected today — no pitcher matchup or spot-start triggers fired in the overnight scan. Check back tomorrow for Sunday streaming options. In the meantime, if you need a short-term bat, Connor Norby playing in Coors Field is as close to a streaming hitter as it gets — the park factor amplifies an already hot bat.

Ownership Movers

  • Connor Norby (COL): 12% (+11% in 7 days). Justified. The .459 wOBA and 95.2 mph EV are legitimate, and the multi-position eligibility at Coors makes the adds rational. Still underowned relative to his production.
  • Kaelen Culpepper (MIN): 12% (+6% in 7 days). Justified. Declining strikeouts and rising production at a shallow position. This trend has legs.
  • Christian Encarnacion-Strand (BAL): 12% (+2% in 7 days). Slow uptake given the explosive week. The .440 wOBA and 99.5 mph EV suggest this ownership number should be higher — managers may be burned by his .307 30-day mark.
  • Tommy White (ATH): 2% (stable). No movement yet, and understandable — the .298 wOBA isn't headline-worthy. But the process improvements are real.
  • Jonah Cox (SF): 0% (stable). Despite the gaudy .535 wOBA, the 80.8 mph EV is keeping savvy managers away. Smart restraint for now.

Quick Hits

  • Tyler Stephenson's 100.0% hard-hit quality over 20 PA is the highest mark in today's entire signal batch. Every single ball he put in play cleared the hard-hit threshold. Zero homers somehow. Regression is coming — in the good direction.
  • Carter Jensen's 24.0% walk rate over the last seven days is an absurd number that screams elite pitch recognition. Even if it normalizes, it was 18.1% over 30 days — still well above average for a catcher.
  • Andruw Monasterio's 4.8% strikeout rate is the lowest in today's data by a wide margin. He's putting the ball in play almost every at-bat — and barreling it at 99.5 mph. The .167 AVG defies logic and won't last.
  • Two San Francisco outfielders — Jonah Cox and Drew Gilbert — both flashed this week, but with dramatically different profiles. Gilbert's 98.6 mph EV is nearly 18 mph harder than Cox's 80.8 mph. Gilbert is the one to target.
  • Steven Cruz's ERA-FIP split (5.45 ERA vs. 2.19 FIP) is the widest gap in today's data. That's a 3.26-run discrepancy screaming bad luck. If he's in a leverage role in Kansas City, the correction could deliver serious value.