Fantasy Baseball: 22 must-haves for your league's championship week, including Jack Leiter and Drake Baldwin

Made you look!

I wouldn't genuinely go so far as to call these guys must-haves. That was just the buzzword to get you in the door. Chances are that if you make your league's championship game, your roster is loaded, so you don't need to turn to the waiver wire for upgrades.

But players are still getting injured this time of year, and perhaps even putting up less of a fight when they do. If you were to lose someone at a position where you have no backup plan, you'd probably want to know where else you could turn. That's what this list is for.

Well, that and gathering up all the players who could help your opponent if he were to have such a need. They're safer on your bench than on the waiver wire.

First, though, I should probably clarify what I mean by "championship week." We're currently in the third-to-last week of the regular season -- just began it Monday, in fact -- and as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing more we can do about that one. So I'm talking about the two weeks to follow (Sept. 15 and Sept. 22), either of which could be your championship week. Some leagues view the final week as amateur hour and prefer to exclude it. Others like to combine it with the second-to-last week for one big championship game. Regardless, they're both covered here.

I'll still release streamer recommendations for each individual week, as I do every Friday, but with the stakes being higher now, I thought you'd appreciate this chance to get an early jump.

Pitchers

Cameron Schlittler SP NYY N.Y. Yankees • #31 • Age: 24 Remaining starts @MIN, @BAL, BAL Rostered 78% A misstep against a red-hot Blue Jays lineup last time out may give you another shot at Cam Schlittler and his overpowering fastball. One of those Orioles matchups could end up being the White Sox instead, which would be even better.

Jack Leiter SP TEX Texas • #35 • Age: 25 Remaining starts @HOU, MIA, @CLE Rostered 73% Jack Leiter has leaned more on his fastball and changeup in his past three turns -- putting together a 1.89 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 11.8 K/9 -- and has three choice matchups to close out the season.

Jeffrey Springs SP ATH Athletics • #59 • Age: 33 Remaining starts @BOS, @PIT, KC Rostered 65% Jeffrey Springs has been a much steadier performer than he's gotten credit for, allowing three earned runs or fewer in 19 of his past 23 outings with a 1.09 WHIP during that time. The Red Sox matchup is iffy, but it's sort of a freebie given the two that follow.

Kyle Bradish SP BAL Baltimore • #38 • Age: 29 Remaining starts @CHW, NYY, @NYY Fantasy Rostered 72% Honestly, this is more about the pitcher than the matchups, though the first one at the White Sox is pretty nice. If Kyle Bradish is indeed back to pre-Tommy John form, then he's the sort of pitcher you'd start even against the Yankees.

Chase Burns SP CIN Cincinnati • #26 • Age: 22 Remaining starts @STL, PIT Rostered 71% The best part is that Chase Burns will have already gotten a start to shake off the cobwebs from his month-long IL stint by the time you activate him for Week 26 (Sept. 15-21). He recorded double-digit strikeouts four times in the span of five starts before then.

Justin Verlander SP SF San Francisco • #35 • Age: 42 Remaining starts @ARI, STL, COL Rostered 43% Though it's difficult to pin down why exactly, Justin Verlander appears to be in top form again, putting together a 1.06 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 11.1 K/9 in his past three starts. You may want to avoid his start at Arizona next week, but then he closes out the year with a prime two-start slate against the Cardinals and Rockies.

Luis Morales SP ATH Athletics • #58 • Age: 23 Remaining starts @PIT, KC Rostered 76% Luis Morales may soon be more available after kicking off his final two-start week with his first real misstep, and to be honest, I thought his performance before then was too good to be true. But you can't ask for better matchups, even if just one per week, than the Pirates and Royals.

Bryce Miller SP SEA Seattle • #50 • Age: 27 Remaining starts @KC, COL, LAD Rostered 73% Bryce Miller hasn't exactly been lights out since returning from an elbow issue in mid-August, but he's throwing harder and at least giving himself a chance for a quality start. He might get two in his final three turns, and you shouldn't even mind the Dodgers matchup so much given that it's paired with the Rockies on the road.

Parker Messick SP CLE Cleveland • #77 • Age: 24 Remaining starts @MIN, TEX Rostered 55% Parker Messick has been terrific in three of his four starts, each time allowing one earned run or fewer over six innings or more. He has only two turns left, but they're both against offenses that rank in the bottom third in runs scored.

Brandon Sproat SP NYM N.Y. Mets • #40 • Age: 25 Remaining starts WAS, @MIA Rostered 34% It's daring to tout Brandon Sproat here after just one start, particularly since the Mets rotation is overloaded with him in it, but if he comes through again in his start against the Rangers this week, you'll be glad you already have him for two favorable matchups to close out the season.

Jacob Latz RP TEX Texas • #67 • Age: 29 Remaining starts MIA, @CLE Rostered 4% Jacob Latz has a 13 percent swinging-strike rate and three pitches capable of generating whiffs. His recent transition to the rotation has kept his outings short, but he may be ready to go six innings just in time for two plush matchups to finish out the season.

Hitters

Trent Grisham CF NYY N.Y. Yankees • #12 • Age: 28 Remaining schedule @MIN3, @BAL4, CHW3, BAL3 Rostered 78% All four of the Yankees' remaining series are against bottom-feeder rotations, so their surprise 30-homer man should probably just be a fixture in Fantasy lineups down the stretch.

Daulton Varsho CF TOR Toronto • #5 • Age: 29 Remaining schedule @TB4, @KC3, BOS3, TB3 Rostered 54% Sort of like Kyle Bradish on the pitching side, this pick is less about the matchups than Daulton Varsho being unappreciated. He's added 2-3 mph to both his average and max exit velocity this year and, in doing so, has transformed into a masher of the highest order, his slugging percentage pushing .600.

Drake Baldwin C ATL Atlanta • #30 • Age: 24 Remaining schedule WAS4, @DET3, WAS3, PIT3 Rostered 60% With Sean Murphy succumbing to a hip injury Monday, Drake Baldwin now has a chance to secure NL Rookie of the Year honors with everyday duty behind the plate. And particularly with the Braves' seven remaining games against the Nationals pitching staff, he's probably a must even in one-catcher leagues.

Austin Hays LF CIN Cincinnati • #12 • Age: 30 Remaining schedule @STL3, CHC4, PIT3, @MIL3 Rostered 41% Austin Hays has been money all year, apart from a rough patch to kick off the second half, but has surprisingly remained available in the majority of CBS Sports leagues. His final series against the Brewers could spell trouble, but chances are their best pitchers will be resting up for the playoffs at that point.

Jorge Polanco DH SEA Seattle • #7 • Age: 32 Remaining schedule @KC3, @HOU3, COL3, LAD3 Rostered 78% After playing through some nagging injuries for part of the season, Jorge Polanco has become an everyday fixture over the past couple weeks and is batting .380 (19 for 50) with six homers in his past 16 games. He's in line to face some of the weakest part of the Royals and Astros rotations in Week 26 before drawing the Rockies staff in Week 27.

Brenton Doyle CF COL Colorado • #9 • Age: 27 Remaining schedule MIA3, LAA3, @SEA3, @SF3 Rostered 64% The Rockies will spend the entire second-to-last week at home in Coors Field, where Brenton Doyle is batting .321 with an .886 OPS. He may even be useful on the road the following week, given that he's batting .343 with a .919 OPS in the second half.

Kyle Teel C CHW Chi. White Sox • #8 • Age: 23 Remaining schedule BAL3, SD3, @NYY3, @WAS3 Rostered 44% If you need a catcher upgrade but have already missed out on Drake Baldwin, then Kyle Teel, another rookie, is your best bet. He's slashing .365/.467/.603 over his past 17 games, with impressive Statcast metrics all around, and has two remaining series against bottom-feeder pitching staffs and a third in an optimal venue.

Otto Lopez SS MIA Miami • #6 • Age: 27 Remaining schedule @COL3, @TEX3, @PHI3, NYM3 Rostered 59% The Marlins are one of the two teams scheduled to visit Coors Field before the year is done, and Otto Lopez is finding his stroke just in time to take advantage of it, batting .375 (15 for 40) with three homers and one steal in his past 11 games. He may not be so worth using in Week 27, but he certainly is in Week 26.

Dylan Crews RF WAS Washington • #3 • Age: 23 Remaining schedule ATL4, @NYM3, @ATL3, CHW3 Rostered 61% Naturally, we'll need to see Dylan Crews build off his three-hit, four-RBI performance before we entrust him with a lineup spot in Fantasy, but presuming he finishes out this week strong, he has the matchups the next two weeks to position himself well for 2026. He still boasts a top prospect pedigree as a former No. 2 overall pick even though his rookie season was derailed by injury.

Harrison Bader CF PHI Philadelphia • #2 • Age: 31 Remaining schedule @LAD3, @ARI3, MIA3, MIN3 Rostered 24% Harrison Bader has made such a big splash with the Phillies that his full-season line is looking pretty impressive all of a sudden. You could justify using him as a hot-hand play next week, but the real prize is his slate against the Marlins and Twins in season's final week.

Ha-seong Kim SS ATL Atlanta • #9 • Age: 29 Remaining schedule WAS4, @DET3, WAS3, PIT3 Rostered 19% I've mentioned the Braves have one of the most favorable hitter schedules to close out the year, with two series against the Nationals and one against the Pirates, and Ha-seong Kim has recently taken a prominent spot in their lineup. He hasn't done much during an injury-plagued year, but he has speed, a little bit of pop, and job security if you're unfortunate enough to need a fill-in at shortstop.