More: Week 15 two-start pitchers | Prospects Report | Dynasty risers/fallers
Gotta be honest: I don't love the selection of sleeper hitters for Week 15 (July 2-8). Whether it's a case of the right hitters having the wrong matchups or the wrong ones having the right ones, It just doesn't offer that perfect intersection of availability and opportunity.
I can't say there's a single one owned in less than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues who I'm genuinely excited to start this week. Just keeping it real.
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But for many, sleepers are less a luxury than a necessity. If a player gets hurt, loses his job or whatever, you need a replacement, if only for one week.
Perhaps you can find one among these 10.
Lately, Scott Schebler has had a higher priority in the Reds' four-man outfield rotation, serving as the team's primary leadoff man. It's a good place to find himself at this particular point in the season, when five of his 10 home runs have come in his past 24 games. Facing James Shields, Lucas Giolito and Dylan Covey this week should only help his cause.
Jake Bauers has been everything he was advertised to be in his first three weeks on the job, reaching base at a .409 clip with power than has manifested more as doubles than home runs. Nonetheless, he's the 11th-best first baseman in points leagues during that time despite hitting a modest .267. He'll hit better than that against the Marlins and Mets staffs this week.
Back from paternity leave, Yuli Gurriel was just beginning to find his power stroke when he left, having seen it compromised by a hand injury early on. Three of his four home runs (to go along with six doubles) have come in his past 15 games, during which he has hit .349. The Astros draw the Rangers and White Sox staffs this week.
No longer having a position to call his own with the return of Elvis Andrus from the DL, Jurickson Profar has still managed to play close to every day but hasn't seen his BABIP luck improve yet, actually batting just .229 (8 for 35) over his past 10 games. I'll trust him to come around against pitchers like Matthew Boyd, Jordan Zimmermann and Mike Fiers.
After slumping at the start of June, Mitch Moreland has been low-key productive of late, batting .306 (11 for 36) with a homer, two doubles and two triples in his past nine games. The Red Sox have the good fortune of facing all righties this week, including three members of the Royals staff. Moreland has a .916 OPS against righties this year.
Hello again! By now, you've probably learned to tune out my weekly Jeimer Candelario pick, convinced that I must just have a sick fascination with the guy, but let me present you with two facts: The Tigers genuinely do have great matchups and they're in line two face three lefties. Candelario, for all his recent struggles, is still batting .290 with a .937 OPS against lefties. Plus, he's due for some BABIP correction.
Jesse Winker is part of that same outfield rotation as Schebler and sits the more often of the two. But he may actually be the better of the two and is at least as hot, hitting five of his six home runs in his past 20 games. With his walk rate, he's liable to reach base four times in that game against Tyler Chatwood next Saturday.
Are we really doing the Jason Kipnis thing again? Look, I said it was a bad week for sleeper hitters. You can't deny, though, he has looked like a different player over the past month, batting .286 with six homers and an .843 OPS, nor can you deny that his .256 BABIP should be higher given his perfectly typical batted-ball tendencies. With a week against Royals and Athletics pitchers, I'm OK saying yes, we're doing it again.
Back from thumb surgery, Kevin Kiermaier seems to have found his stroke of late, hitting safely in six of seven with a homer and three steals. That power/speed combination is a big reason why he was drafted in most every league this spring and why you shouldn't ignore him in a week he's facing pitchers like Wei-Yin Chen, Trevor Richards and Seth Lugo.
Jose Peraza's ceiling is only so high from week to week given his lack of pop, but his high contact rate has translated to multi-hit games here recently. His production so depends on stolen bases, which are difficult to predict over a short span of time, that he's always a dicey recommendation, but you may have also heard the Reds have good matchups this week.
Best hitter matchups for Week 15
1. Twins @MIL3, BAL4
2. Nationals BOS3, MIA4
3. Tigers @TOR1, @CHC2, TEX4
4. Reds CHW3, @CHC3
5. Indians @KC3, OAK3
Worst hitter matchups for Week 15
1. Royals CLE3, BOS3
2. Athletics SD2, @CLE3
3. White Sox @CIN3, @HOU4
4. Cardinals @ARI3, @SF4
5. Padres @OAK2, @ARI4
