Streaming pitchers isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you find yourself without enough reliable options in a given scoring period, it may be what you need to stay afloat. Scott White has 10 recommendations for the upcoming scoring period, all rostered in no more than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues. Generally, only the top two or three are full-throated endorsements, while the rest are more about making the best of a bad situation.
All information is up to date as of late Sunday.Sleeper pitchers for Week 22 (Aug. 17-23)
Ian Seymour
RP
TB
Tampa Bay
• #61
•
Age: 27
Matchup
vs. TOR
Rostered
80%
Ian Seymour is too good not to be universally rostered by now, and I’m skirting this article’s usual rostership cutoff just to drive home that point. With a 3.40 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 11.9 K/9 in his past 10 appearances, he’s an absolute must against the league’s second-worst offense.
Kyle Leahy
SP
STL
St. Louis
• #62
•
Age: 29
Matchups
at CIN, at PHI
Rostered
60%
A switch flipped for Kyle Leahy about halfway through this season to turn him into an elite strike-thrower, and the result has been a 1.86 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 8.9 K/9 over his past 10 starts. He also has a 50 percent ground ball rate during that time, which should help with the smaller venues he’s working with this week, not that the Reds or Phillies offense is particularly imposing.
Dustin May
SP
MIL
Milwaukee
• #21
•
Age: 28
Matchup
vs. SEA
Rostered
71%
The Brewers have convinced Dustin May to lead with his cutter, and his two starts with them have been money. The Mariners rank dead last in runs scored, so I don’t know why you’d shy away from him against them.
Andre Pallante
SP
STL
St. Louis
• #53
•
Age: 27
Matchups
at CIN, at PHI
Rostered
68%
There’s nothing flashy about Andre Pallante, but his penchant for putting the ball on the ground has made him a quality start machine, with three of his past four outings fitting that description. His lack of strikeouts holds him back in 5×5 leagues, but with two starts this week, that’s less of an issue.
Tyler Mahle
SP
ATL
Atlanta
• #54
•
Age: 31
Matchups
at MIN, at MIL
Rostered
43%
Tyler Mahle’s strikeouts have spiked as he’s cut back on his cutter over his past three starts, the last two of which have come with the Braves. The matchups this week could be better, but when a pitcher who’s trending up lines up for two turns, you might just have to roll the dice on him.
Luis Castillo
SP
CHW
Chi. White Sox
• #58
•
Age: 33
Matchups
at CHC, vs. NYM
Rostered
50%
After getting away from his changeup in Seattle, Luis Castillo brought back his bread and butter in his second start for the White Sox last time out, and it was a truly dominant outing, yielding 10 strikeouts on 21 whiffs over seven one-hit innings. No telling how sustainable it is, but with two turns coming up this week, the reward probably outweighs the risk.
J.T. Ginn
SP
ATH
Athletics
• #35
•
Age: 27
Matchup
at KC
Rostered
67%
J.T. Ginn has become highly bankable this year as a pitcher who induces weak contact on the ground and took a streak of three straight quality starts into his weekend matchup against the Rangers. He came within a run of a quality start in that one, but he’s still an easy choice against the Royals in Week 22.
Brandon Young
SP
BAL
Baltimore
• #63
•
Age: 27
Matchups
at TB, vs. TB
Rostered
55%
Consecutive looks by the same offense can be dangerous for a pitcher, but the Rays haven’t faced Brandon Young all year and have sunk to the middle of the pack in runs scored. It’s still a bit perplexing to me how the right-hander has been so steady, but he has 3.33 ERA overall, with half of his outings being quality starts.
Gage Jump
SP
ATH
Athletics
• #61
•
Age: 23
Matchup
at KC
Rostered
48%
Gage Jump’s past two starts have been a microcosm of his rookie season. When he throws strikes closer to 70 percent of the time, he dominates, but when he throws them closer to 60 percent of the time, he struggles. The scales tip slightly in his favor with a matchup like the Royals, but understand that using him comes with risk.
Landen Roupp
SP
SF
San Francisco
• #65
•
Age: 27
Matchup
at CLE
Rostered
71%
The underlying data for Landen Roupp is still strong enough that I’d be tempted to use him against the third-worst offense this week, even if he’s struggled to throw strikes in his past four turns. For the record, he’s allowed 15 walks over his past 19 1/3 innings, but he gets a lot of weak contact on the ground.
