Fantasy Baseball Week 1 Preview: Top 10 sleeper pitchers for both four-game week and 11-game week
Whether you're folding opening weekend in with the first full week or counting it on its own, Scott White has some sleeper pitchers for you.
By
Scott White
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1 min read
You're here because you want to stream some pitchers. If you want some hitters to stream, we've got you covered, but this is all about the pitching side. Streaming in Week 1 would be a new level of desperation in Fantasy Baseball, but I get it. Strange times.
Here's my question: What do you mean by Week 1? You'd think it would be straightforward enough, right? But with the season beginning on a Thursday, do you section off the four-day weekend and start fresh on Monday, or do you fold it in for a massive, 11-day scoring period?
The default setting for CBS Sports leagues is the former, but the hallmark of CBS Sports leagues is customization. So if you like your scoring periods plus-sized, I have you covered there, too. We'll begin with the four-day variety, though.
Sleeper pitchers for short Week 1 (July 23-26)
He should be fully stretched out, and an increase in velocity this offseason has us hoping for big things.
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The swingman is entrusted with a full-time rotation spot this year and has a cush matchup right off the top.
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The talk of summer camp with his high-octane fastball and power slider, Burnes is worth putting to the test right away.
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Despite a high ERA, Keller showed good strikeout potential as a rookie and is a popular breakout pick this year.
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He's back from a multi-year bout with injuries and looking to re-establish himself as a must-start option after a strong camp.
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Not the most favorable matchup, but he works efficiently and should provide length, perhaps even dominating if his splitter is on.
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Some experimentation with breaking balls has generated preseason buzz for this perennial tease. Can't go wrong with the matchup.
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His new cutter showed real promise in camp, and the matchup should make for an easy landing if things don't go as planned.
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He's not someone you'll want to trust in long-term, but he'll keep the ball on the ground against a team with few sluggers.
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The matchup is good, right? It's a four-day scoring period, so we're running out of options.
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Sleeper pitchers for long Week 1 (July 23-Aug. 2)
The second matchup isn't as good as a first, but this could be the week Wood emerges as a must-start pitcher.
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It's just as true for Stripling as it is for Wood. Both have been must-start pitchers in the past and have a tremendous supporting cast.
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This list is looking familiar, right? The matchups are nothing special for Burnes, but the skills could be.
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The ground-ball specialist with some bat-missing ability excelled in a starting role down the stretch last year, delivering a 3.28 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 9.8 K/9 over his final 12 starts.
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The second matchup doesn't look any better for Shoemaker, but I just trust him so much more than most of the other available pitchers. Get used to seeing him in this space.
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If you're fully buying into the new curveball, you're putting Eovaldi even higher on this list with those matchups.
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Two strong matchups (with the Blue Jays now playing in a pitcher's park) makes him awfully hard to pass up after the camp he just had.
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The matchups are nothing special, but I think he's just undervalued coming off a down season. His supporting cast has a chance to bail him out even if I'm wrong.
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Though it defies reason, Sanchez has been a steady rotation presence for a contender in back-to-back years, and he at least has one terrific matchup this week.
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He kept his ERA under 4.00 last year with more than a strikeout per inning, so you'll take a two-start week with a matchup against the Tigers.
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