If you're into streaming pitchers or simply have a hole to fill in your lineup, Scott White has 10 recommendations for the upcoming scoring period, all rostered in no more than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues. They're no substitute for some of the universally rostered pitchers, of course, but these are the best you'll be able to do off the waiver wire.
- Week 12: Sleeper hitters | Two-start pitchers
All information is up to date as of Sunday afternoon.
Sleeper pitchers for Week 12 (June 20-26)
The matchups (Giants and Dodgers) couldn't get much worse, but Strider's stuff is so good that I'm of the impression he can only beat himself. If these two starts go as well as his last two, this will be the last chance to call him a sleeper anything.
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Springs finally ran into some trouble against the Orioles, of all teams, but he still has a 2.00 ERA and a devastating changeup. It's hard to imagine lightning striking twice against the Pirates this week.
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The risk here is elevated after Ashby left his last start with forearm tightness, but he's been cleared to start Tuesday and remains too talented to sit when he's in line for two. Rarely do pitchers with outlier ground-ball tendencies miss bats like he does.
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Kirby's control has been as good as advertised, and he had his best swinging-strike game yet against the Angels last time out. The secondaries could use some work still, but he'll be facing what amounts to a Triple-A lineup at Oakland this week.
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Even coming off an eight-inning gem, Gibson is generally not a pitcher I'd trust in a categories league, but if you're looking for an extra start in a points league, his matchups (Rangers and Padres) are decent enough.
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Gray's increased slider usage in recent starts has upped his whiff rate, and missing more bats might be a way to reduce his vulnerability to the long ball. The Rangers lineup is questionable enough to justify a roll of the dice this week.
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If you picked up Kelly for his two starts this past week, you might want to hold on just a little bit longer. He'll be facing far and away the worst offense in baseball (the Tigers) this week.
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We've officially reached the "scary" portion of my Week 12 sleeper pitcher picks, so understand that you're playing with fire here. But Gonzales has a 3.14 ERA over his past eight starts and will be facing a bad Athletics lineup and a slumping Angels lineup.
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Contreras hasn't been the immediate success many of us hoped he would be, but the whiffs have been fine. He'll face a strikeout-prone Cubs lineup in his first start and then gets a second bite at the apple later in the week.
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Davies has had a feel for the changeup lately, resulting in three excellent starts to begin the month of June. When he crashes, he crashes hard, but having the Tigers on the schedule in a two-start week makes him awfully tempting.
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