Streaming pitchers isn't for the faint of heart, but if you find yourself without enough reliable options in a given scoring period, it may be what you need to stay afloat. Scott White has 10 recommendations for the upcoming scoring period, all rostered in no more than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues. Generally, only the top two or three are full-throated endorsements, while the rest are more about making the best of a bad situation.
All information is up to date as of Monday evening.
Sleeper pitchers for Week 26 (Sept. 14-20)
Andre Pallante remains a high-floor pitcher with his 55 percent ground ball rate, which would rank second among qualifiers, and I would bet on his 3.45 ERA going down rather than up against the Giants this week.
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After a big misstep against the Astros two turns ago, Andrew Painter mostly bounced back in his latest outing against the Braves, though a high walk total inflated his WHIP. In his eight starts since returning from the minors, he now has a 3.58 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 8.4 K/9. The Mets offense isn't the pushover it once was with Juan Soto back in the fold, but it still ranks 21st overall.
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It's all going to come crashing down for Cal Quantrill at some point, judging by his mediocre track record and unremarkable stuff, but as long as he's facing opponents as favorable as the Blue Jays, I'm going to wager on him furthering this 10-start stretch in which he's put together a 1.79 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 8.0 K/9
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Now six starts into his major league career, Quinn Mathews has some momentum with a 2.16 ERA in his past three, but control remains enough of a concern that I'd stop short of using him if ratios were of the highest priority. He is the best two-start pitcher you could add off the waiver wire this week, though.
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Well, Jacob Lopez's no-brainer two-start week turned out to be a dud, and I'm tempted to leave him off this list altogether even though, I will remind you, he had a 2.36 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 10.9 K/9 in the nine starts leading up to it. He does have a favorable matchup this week, though, and taking him off would mean putting Yusei Kikuchi on. I'm just not convinced that's an upgrade, even if Kikuchi has looked pretty good in his past three turns.
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Cristian Javier has delivered back-to-back gems, allowing a combined two earned runs on four hits with 13 strikeouts in 11 innings, and perhaps even more telling is that his average fastball velocity is the highest it's been since his incredible 2022 season. He's also sporting a career-high swinging-strike rate, so he's not a bad play against the Royals.
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Will Warren has had an extra tick on his fastball in his past two starts, and it's yielded some of his best results in months, with him exceeding six innings each time while registering at least a strikeout per. Whether or not he can sustain it is anybody's guess (probably not), but with his two turns this week, he's a reasonable gamble if volume is the priority.
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After a rough return from the IL two outings ago, Griffin Jax got a favorable outcome against the Braves last time out, allowing one run on two hits in five innings, but I'm not yet fully on board due to his diminished velocity and whiffs. Still, a two-start week would be awfully hard to pass up in a points league, where volume is paramount and his relief pitcher eligibility comes in particularly handy.
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I'm always wary of pitchers who miss as few bats as Ryan Johnson does, but I can't ignore him having a 2.14 ERA and 1.01 WHIP over his past six starts with a two-start slate that includes the Mariners coming up. He's been leaning more on his cutter during that time, which has a .188 batting average against, so it's possible he could come through.
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I have eight seasons' worth of reasons not to trust in Yusei Kikuchi at the time of year when missteps are their most punishing, but he is facing the worst lineup in baseball this week and has enjoyed an impressive three-start stretch in which he's put together a 1.59 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 9.0 K/9. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
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