Fantasy Baseball Week 20 Preview: Top 10 sleeper pitchers include Ryne Nelson, Aaron Civale
The selection of two-start streamers is particularly weak this week
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
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 20 (Aug. 4-10)
Bryan Bello introduced a cutter to his arsenal on May 23 and has become a much more stable pitcher as a result, putting together a 2.86 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in his past 13 starts. His next one will come against the second-worst offense in baseball, with another favorable matchup immediately to follow.
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Slade Cecconi's strikeouts have trended down in recent turns, raising doubts about his continued effectiveness, but it's still the case that four of his past five outings are quality starts, with three lasting seven innings or more. He seems worth the gamble in a two-start week, particularly with one being against the White Sox.
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The Padres made several trades to improve their lineup at the deadline, but it's still a middling one at best. As long as Ryne Nelson throws his fastball 60-plus percent of the time, good things seem to happen, as evidenced by his 1.95 ERA and 0.95 WHIP over his past nine turns.
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Edward Cabrera's ERA keeps trending down, and he's been working deeper into games as well, going six innings or more in three of his past five starts. The Braves offense has struggled all year, and they're merely playing out the string now.
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No doubt, this is a risky play, particularly with Brandon Pfaadt coming off a seven-run disaster in Detroit. But the Tigers are a good offense, and the Padres and Rockies (particularly on the road) are not. Pfaadt had a 3.50 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 8.5 K/9 in his eight starts prior to the Tigers one and generally works deep into games when he's going well.
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Aaron Civale doesn't offer a ton of upside, but he's been surprisingly good of late, coming off three consecutively scoreless outings in which he struck out at least six. He's scheduled to face a Guardians lineup that ranks in the bottom five in runs scored.
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This marks the point when my confidence in the sleeper pitchers drops off a cliff and I'm having to hold my nose with every pick. I don't think Luis Severino is good anymore, but he has a 2.49 ERA in his past four starts and two pretty good matchups.
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Eric Lauer has been a trendy pickup off the waiver wire recently, and his 2.79 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 9.3 K/9 in five July starts make it easy to understand why. Unfortunately, Coors Field and Dodger Stadium are too scary places for a fly ball pitcher to pitch, so this recommendation is only for those in points leagues -- and even then, only if under duress.
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Justin Verlander is coming off one of his best starts of the season and has allowed just one earned run over his past two starts, giving reason to believe that he may still have something left in the tank at age 42. He has two inviting matchups at the Pirates and against the Nationals.
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Eduardo Rodriguez has been miserable for the most part, but he was decent in his last outing and has the best matchup of all this week: the Rockies away from Coors Field. What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
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