Fantasy Baseball Week 12 Preview: Top 10 sleeper pitchers feature Eury Perez, Jack Leiter
Eury Perez's long-awaited return lines him up for two starts right away
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
Not that you'd sit just any pitcher, of course, but if you have an opening or two and could use a streamer off the waiver wire, you've come to the right place. Scott White has 10 recommendations for the upcoming scoring period, all rostered in less than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues.
All information is up to date as of Sunday evening.
Sleeper pitchers for Week 12 (June 9-15)
Shane Smith is one pitcher who I'm honestly having a hard time deciding whether he's good or not, but he's been missing more bats as the season has gone on and is still boasting a 2.45 ERA. Pitching for the White Sox obviously holds him back, but the Rangers are one of the few teams to be outscored by them. The Astros rank in the bottom half of the league as well.
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It's right into the fire for Eury Perez, who'll be making his return from Tommy John surgery Monday, lining him up for two starts. The matchups are good, and the velocity has been up to snuff on his rehab assignment. I'm not saying he's without risk, but the reward in a two-start week would seem to be worth it.
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Griffin Canning's high walk rate makes his 2.90 ERA too good to believe, but he's coming off his best start of the season (six shutout innings against the Dodgers) and lines up for two turns against mid-tier offenses.
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Jeffrey Springs bounced back from a rough outing against the Blue Jays two turns ago with his fifth quality start since the start of May, giving him a 3.66 ERA during that seven-start stretch. It's not amazing success, but it's good enough for those chasing volume in a Head-to-Head points league, particularly since the Angels and Royals make for inviting matchups.
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Luis Ortiz has legitimately become a good bat-misser with the Guardians, but since he's below average in every other respect, the overall stat line is underwhelming. Still, you'll want to take advantage of his two-start status in a Head-to-Head points league, where his relief pitcher eligibility also comes in handy.
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You may be surprised how low a two-start Noah Cameron is on this list given his 0.85 ERA and 0.79 WHIP through five career starts, but he doesn't really excel in any of the ways you would want a pitcher to, whether it's missing bats, throwing strikes, putting the ball on the ground or inducing weak contact. He'll be facing two tough offenses, too, both of which rate even better against lefties.
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Mitch Keller's rough outing against the Astros on Thursday makes him slightly less appealing as a sleeper, interrupting a stretch of five straight quality starts. He's struggled to win games for the Pirates as it is, and while I could see him adding his tally against the Marlins, the Cubs are another matter.
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Clarke Schmidt has been working six innings from time to time while missing bats at a pretty nice clip. None of the numbers will blow you away, but this far down the sleeper pitchers list, you wouldn't expect them to. He gets two starts, and one is against a Royals lineup that ranks near the bottom of the league.
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The Rockies offense is so bad that it's taken Coors Field off the forbidden list for maybe the first time in its 30-year history, which is why I feel comfortable using Hayden Birdsong there. I'd feel even more comfortable if he had turned in a six-inning start yet, but he's mostly been as good as advertised since joining the rotation three turns ago.
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Jack Leiter's two-start status evaporated over the weekend, and now he lines up for just one against a Twins offense that ranks in the middle of the pack. Even so, the rookie has a 2.20 ERA over his past five starts.
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