With the latest lineup lock Monday, we're down to only six more in 2026. And that's presuming your league counts every week. Many, particularly of the Head-to-Head variety, don't.
It's crunch time, in other words, which means you can no longer devote roster space to some flight of fancy. Your decisions need to be more practical, more focused on the task at hand. The week that matters most is the one directly ahead of you.
Or is it? What if you've already clinched a playoff spot? What if you've secured a first-round bye? What if you have the luxury of looking ahead to the weeks that will ultimately determine the championship? Or what if your lineup is already settled and you just want to make sure the most streamable hitters and pitchers don't fall into the wrong hands?
What I've done here is review every team's remaining schedule, tallying up the number of series against bad pitching staffs and bad starting lineups so as to identify some of the players who could benefit. It's no substitute for my sleeper pitcher and hitter articles, which will be released every Friday as usual, but it could give you the jump on your competition.
The starting point for this exercise is the next scoring period, the one that begins on Monday, Aug. 17. From that point forward -- six scoring periods in all -- each team will play 12 series. The ones with the most series against "bad" pitching staffs (benefiting their hitters) and the ones with the most series against "bad" lineups (benefiting their pitchers) are listed below, along with some players who you may want to stash in light of this information.
Obviously, I've ignored players who are universally rostered in CBS Sports leagues. You're not on the fence about stashing them. The focus is more on those who you may not be totally sold on, even if you've picked them up already. The matchups say you should hold.
Remaining series against 'bad' pitching staffs:
- Cleveland Guardians: 7
- San Diego Padres: 7
- Chicago White Sox: 6
- Houston Astros: 6
- Los Angeles Dodgers: 6
- New York Yankees: 6
- Seattle Mariners: 6
- Texas Rangers: 6
- Arizona Diamondbacks: 5
- Athletics: 5
- Atlanta Braves: 5
- Detroit Tigers: 5
- Miami Marlins: 5
- Philadelphia Phillies: 5
- St. Louis Cardinals: 5
Clutch hitters for the stretch run
A miserable start to the season is the only reason why Steven Kwan is available enough to mention here, but he's clearly righted the ship with a .398 (43 for 108) batting average since the start of July. The Guardians are tied with the Padres for the most favorable hitter matchups remaining.
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Did I say tied with the Padres? Why, they have their own former Fantasy standout in the midst of a prolonged hot streak, and judging by their remaining matchups, yeah, I'd say Ty France might just keep it going. The 32-year-old is batting .333 (51 for 153) with 11 homers in his past 43 games.
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George Lombard surged to the majors with a huge summer at Triple-A and has made an immediate impact as an everyday shortstop. Judging by the Yankees' remaining schedule, his continued introduction should be relatively gentle, and he's capable of impacting the game in so many ways that you wouldn't want to miss out on the upside.
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Long a what-if because of his tremendous data set, Dominic Canzone finally shed the platoon label to begin the second half and ... fell into a slump almost immediately. His splits against left-handers remain excellent, though, likely ensuring he'll remain in an everyday role, and his best matchups are concentrated in what may be your league's championship game, with two series against the Angels and one at Colorado in the final two weeks.
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Long a what-if because of his tremendous data set, Dominic Canzone finally shed the platoon label to begin the second half and ... fell into a slump almost immediately. His splits against left-handers remain excellent, though, likely ensuring he'll remain in an everyday role, and his best matchups are concentrated in a span of time that may include your league's championship game, with two series against the Angels and one at Colorado in the final two weeks.
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Cole Young has been underrated from the start and deserves more attention for the breakthrough he appears to be enjoying over his past 35 games, batting .298 (39 for 131) with seven homers and a couple extra miles per hour of exit velocity. As with Canzone, his best matchups are coming in the final two weeks of the season, when you're likely to need them most.
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Zack Gelof just came off the IL Monday, but he did so with a double and a home run, picking up where he left off during what appears to be a breakout season. His triple eligibility and power/speed combo will make him particularly handy if he can take advantage of the Athletics' favorable matchups, the best of which are this upcoming week.
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Max Clark's arrival has met with some growing pains, such as an inflated strikeout rate and poor contact quality, but he's managed to put together a respectable stat line in spite of them. It's unlikely the out-of-contention Tigers would pull the plug on him, and I'm trusting the talent will win out with so many bottom-feeder pitching staffs ahead.
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Heriberto Hernandez was at his hottest in June and July, but there's still a ton of red on his Baseball Savant page as well as a clearer path to playing time with Liam Hicks out of the picture.
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Spencer Torkelson may be in the early stages of the same sort of turnaround that we've seen from the top name on this list, Steven Kwan, and the matchups ahead only help his chances of sustaining it. His numbers have lagged despite a similar underlying data set to a year ago, and now he's batting .316 (25 for 79) with four homers in his past 21 games.
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Remaining series against 'bad' lineups:
- Athletics: 7
- Boston Red Sox: 7
- Arizona Diamondbacks: 6
- Los Angeles Dodgers: 6
- Toronto Blue Jays: 6
- Washington Nationals: 6
- Chicago Cubs: 5
- Cleveland Guardians: 5
- Kansas City Royals: 5
- Minnesota Twins: 5
Clutch pitchers for the stretch run
The Jacob Lopez we've seen since his return from the minors in early July (and particularly in his past three starts) is much like the one we saw down the stretch last year. He's showing surprising swing-and-miss ability with his deceptive delivery and unusual fastball shape. His matchup next week could be tough, but he should get two cracks at the bottom-ranked Mariners offense down the stretch and also potentially face the Rangers, Blue Jays, Guardians and Angels.
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J.T. Ginn's turns won't line up exactly the same as Lopez's, but he'll have the same chance of securing some of those favorable matchups (neither pitcher will face every one, of course). With his penchant for inducing weak contact on the ground, Ginn is more of a floor play while Lopez is more of a ceiling play.
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The Brewers technically have just four remaining series against "bad" lineups, as I've defined them here, but they also have several series against tweener lineups like the Orioles, Phillies and Cardinals, who have at times looked bad this year. Dustin May is backed by a terrific supporting cast and should be able to take on plenty of innings still.
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As I've already explained for Dustin May, the Brewers' remaining matchups are more good than great, but Shane Drohan has gone overlooked for too long now. He's a quality strike thrower who misses bats at a better than average rate and induces fairly weak contact. He's been throwing six innings with more regularity of late.
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Though a rookie, Walbert Urena also has innings to spare, and as one of the league's top ground ball pitchers, he has been remarkably steady for the Angels, sustaining an ERA below 3.25 for 14 consecutive starts. Like the Brewers, the Angels just missed the leaderboard for most remaining series against "bad" lineups.
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You may wonder why Roki Sasaki isn't higher on the list after seemingly righting his mechanics to deliver a 1.88 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 9.8 K/9 over his past four starts, particularly with the Dodgers having six remaining series against "bad" lineups, and the reason is because his workload is already in dicey territory. Those six favorable series are confined to the last three weeks of the season, which could pose a problem if the Dodgers decide to rein him in ahead of the playoffs.
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Jackson Jobe just came back from Tommy John surgery and looked terrific with a harder fastball from a lower arm slot, but he lasted only five innings and may continue to be babied with the Tigers having nothing to play for. The matchups are kind of a mixed bag, too, and may not wind up being so favorable if his turns don't line up just right.
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Gage Jump has been a pitcher of extremes in his rookie season, with some of his more recent work causing his roster rate to plummet to the level we see now. His latest outing was his finest work yet, though, seeing him strike out 11 Red Sox over six innings. He credited trusting his stuff in the zone more, which absolutely seems like the key to his success moving forward and gives some hope he'll be able to make the most of the Athletics' many favorable matchups coming up.
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Dean Kremer has more or less ditched his sinker in two starts with the Twins, and both have been good, with the latest against an Orioles lineup that knows him well being closer to great. It's a rather weak selling point for a pitcher with a mediocre track record, but then when you add the favorable matchups -- which include five series against "bad" lineups and two more against the Tigers, who are pretty vulnerable themselves -- Kremer may be worth a shot.
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By now, Joey Cantillo's flaws are well known -- he walks too many, which leads to short outings and a high WHIP -- but he has a chance of helping in ERA and strikeouts, particularly with the right matchups. You won't want to start him at Coors Field next week, but his schedule becomes more favorable in the two weeks to follow.
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