There's no replacement for a high-end hurler, of course, but if you're looking to stream pitchers, 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. Most likely, they're the best you'll find off the waiver wire.
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- Week 22: Sleeper hitters | Two-start pitchers
All information is up to date as of Sunday evening.
Sleeper pitchers for Week 22 (Aug. 21-27)
Continuing the trend with his start against the Cubs over the weekend, Ragans has shown serious upside with the Royals, introducing a slider to give him a full arsenal of swing-and-miss pitches. And he couldn't ask for a better matchup in Week 22 than the Athletics.
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Lugo has generally been reliable this year, a recent blip against the Dodgers notwithstanding, so he seems like a safe choice against a Marlins lineup that ranks in the bottom six in runs scored despite its recent acquisitions. He looked good against the Diamondbacks over the weekend.
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Silseth is running neck-and-neck with Cole Ragans for top breakout pitcher of the second half, having also seen better results because of an improved slider. He did finally stumble in a start against the Rays over the weekend, but he has a better matchup at the Mets this week.
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The Rays have once again made something out of nothing with Littell, who has delivered solid results through four starts mostly by peppering the strike zone. You get the feeling it could all go south rather quickly, but probably not with two home starts against the Rockies and Yankees.
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Ashcraft has a 2.17 over his past nine starts, but his FIP during that stretch is 4.48, thanks in large part to him having just 5.9 K/9. You're rolling the dice with his matchups this week at the Angels and Diamondbacks, but at least in points leagues, it may be worth it.
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We've seen enough from Urquidy over the years to know he's better than his 5.50 ERA, and indeed, he showed improvement last time out, allowing one run while striking out seven in five innings. It's enough to consider him in a two-start week, particularly since one is against the Tigers.
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Blackburn has a 2.10 ERA over his past five starts, striking out a batter per inning. He's of course disadvantaged pitching for the Athletics, but he gets two bites at the apple this week with favorable matchups against the Royals and White Sox.
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Hendricks' upside in a given start is only so high due to his limited strikeout potential, but he has generally come through with a quality effort when faced with a favorable matchup. He has such a matchup this week at the Pirates.
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Clevinger has gotten good results in his past two outings, though it would be a stretch to say he was retro Clevinger given the lack of swings and misses. I'm disinclined to believe in it, but the two-start status is awfully tempting when the matchups are the Mariners and Athletics.
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What we have here is a middling pitcher with a middling matchup (Cardinals), which is sometimes the best you can hope for when scouring the waiver wire. As long as your top priority isn't strikeouts, Sanchez could be a worthy choice for you given the work he's done so far.
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