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 5 (April 21-27)
The sad truth is that Tyler Mahle is the only pitcher rostered in less than 80 percent of leagues who inspires anything resembling confidence in me, so he'd probably be at the top of this list regardless of the matchup. The Giants offense has actually been pretty prolific so far, but it helps that he'll be a fly-ball pitcher at a pitcher's park.
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Landen Roupp is coming off his best start, but it seemed like only a matter of time given that his most-thrown pitch, the curveball, is verging on a 60 percent whiff rate, which might be the highest I've seen for a pitch thrown with such frequency. The Brewers lineup has been lacking apart from a 17-run game in Colorado a couple weeks ago.
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Clarke Schmidt showed no ill effects from his shoulder injury in his first start back from the IL and now lines up for two against so-so lineups. But is he actually good? Well, he was for the limited time he was healthy last year.
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Jose Quintana isn't good enough for his roster rate ever to exceed 80 percent, but he's steady enough that he'll likely appear on this list whenever he's in line for two starts, which happens to be the case in Week 5.
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Though Shane Smith has come up a little short in the strikeout department, he has demonstrated an impressive arsenal and has done a fine job keeping runs off the board so far. The trend should continue against the Twins, who have had a miserable time scoring runs.
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There are Triple-A lineups better than the White Sox's, so Luis Severino shouldn't have much trouble delivering a quality start against them even though he's a shell of what he once was.
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You can't count on Osvaldo Bido for much in the way of innings or strikeouts, but he excels at getting weak contact in the air, which makes him a safe bet to limit damage against weak lineups. The Rangers and White Sox have been among the weakest so far, and at least one of those (the White Sox, obviously) is likely to remain that way.
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Jordan Hicks has regained his old velocity this year while retaining his usual high ground-ball rate, making him usable during a two-start week. Strike-throwing remains enough of an issue that he's better left for points leagues, though.
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Zack Littell has had two good starts and two bad so far, but he throws strikes at such a high rate that he's likely to accumulate innings even when at less than his best. Volume is such a differentiator in Head-to-Head points leagues that you might want to roll the dice on him in that format even though his two matchups are less than favorable.
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David Festa has looked sharp since returning from the minors, sporting better than a 40 percent whiff rate on both his slider and changeup, but his first two starts both fell shy of five innings. The White Sox obviously make for a favorable matchup, but if he doesn't go the minimum required for a win, it's kind of a moot point.
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