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.
- Week 9: Sleeper hitters | Two-start pitchers
All information is up to date as of Sunday afternoon.
Sleeper pitchers for Week 9 (May 22-28)
Bailey Ober's matchups against the Giants and Blue Jays are nothing special, but he did just hold the Dodgers in check last time out and seems to have overcome the workload hurdle, going six-plus in three straight starts. He's almost too rostered to qualify for this list, which suggests he's good enough that you should activate him whenever he's making two starts.
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Dane Dunning still boasts a 1.69 ERA and 0.88 WHIP despite his 5.5 K/9. It seems unsustainable but has continued long enough (and against lineups like the Angels and Braves) for you to give him the benefit of the doubt in a two-start week.
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It's understandable if your patience is wearing thin with Reid Detmers, who has only once gone deep enough for a quality start and has allowed too many baserunners overall. The strikeout numbers remain good, though, and the Marlins are the sort of offense that could bring out his best.
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Though home runs have historically been Josiah Gray's downfall, he's managed to keep them in check so far this year. I keep thinking the other shoe is about to drop as far as that goes, but probably not this week at Kansas City, which is one of the toughest places to hit the ball out of the park.
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Though he got decent results in his return to the majors Thursday, Taj Bradley is a scarier choice than he may seem given the way he was lit up in the minors between major-league stints. Alas, with him in line for two starts, I'm inclined to give the go-ahead, even though he'll be facing the Blue Jays and Dodgers.
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Michael Lorenzen has been surprisingly effective in three May starts, allowing a combined two runs in a combined 20 innings. We know he's not actually that good, but with matchups against two suspect offenses, the Royals and White Sox, hopefully he can keep pretending.
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Coming off a start that had the potential to save his season, Jack Flaherty couldn't quite stick the landing in a follow-up effort against the Dodgers Sunday. "Trust" would be a difficult word to use for it, but he is facing the majors third-worst offense (Guardians) this week.
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Kyle Bradish has run hot and cold this year, but on the strength of his slider, he's on the right side of streaky now, just in time for a two-start week. You ultimately have to decide if the potential reward of that extra start is worth the risk of him going against the Yankees and Rangers lineups.
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Brady Singer this week represents the ultimate test of whether you value matchups and two-start status more than the caliber of the pitcher himself. Nobody has given up louder contact than him this year, but he's been getting better results lately and will be facing two bottom-five offenses, the Tigers and Nationals.
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This pick may be too clever by half seeing as Alex Wood has yet to go even five innings in any of his four starts. But he came close in his last start and is facing a Brewers team that's been terrible against left-handers, ranking last in both OPS and strikeout rate.
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