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Fantasy Baseball Week 17 Preview: Top sleeper pitchers for both three- and 10-day period, led by Sean Manaea
The best pitchers to stream will vary depending on how your league defines Week 17
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
The All-Star break interrupts our usual Monday-through-Sunday routine in Fantasy, necessitating a schedule change. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on the best way to handle it.
The default setting is to treat the weekend after the break as its own three-day scoring period, but another common approach is to combine it with the first full week after the All-Star break for a 10-day scoring period. I'm providing streamer recommendations for both scenarios here, as always, limiting my selection to those rostered in less than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues.
I have to confess, though, that far more guesswork has gone into his week's streamer selection than most. Rotations have yet to be finalized coming out of the break, and many won't be until close to the lineup lock. I'll try to make updates as necessary.
Sleeper pitchers for short Week 17 (July 18-20)
The Reds lineup ranks in the bottom 10 for OPS against lefties and is less of a threat away from its homer-friendly home, but this recommendation is less about the matchup than Sean Manaea himself. The left-hander showed in his return from a lengthy IL stint just before the break that his sidearm delivery is just as effective as when he first began implementing it late last year, which will likely make him a must-start pitcher moving forward.
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Slade Cecconi struck out nine over seven innings in his final start before the break and has a solid stat line overall thanks to an underrated slider/curveball pairing. He'll be facing the Athletics in Cleveland rather than their minor-league park in Sacramento, making the matchup less dangerous.
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Jeffrey Springs is homer-prone and doesn't miss bats at the rate he once did, but it's hard to argue against his 3.20 ERA and 1.03 WHIP since the start of May, a span of 14 appearances. It's also hard to argue against anyone facing the Guardians lineup, which now ranks in the bottom five in runs scored.
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Trevor Rogers has regained some zip on his fastball and is missing bats at a good enough rate for us to take his 1.53 ERA and 0.82 WHIP through six starts seriously (if not literally). The Rays may not strike you as a favorable matchup, but they have the eighth-worst OPS against lefties.
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Here's where the dart-throwing begins. Michael Wacha has been unreliable of late, but still has a respectable ERA on the year and has maintained one for the past several years. The Marlins lineup surged into the break but still looks pretty weak on paper, so I may be willing to roll the dice against it.
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The Royals lineup is assuredly weak, so even though Sandy Alcantara is coming off three consecutive ugly starts, his strike-throwing has improved enough over the past month or so that I could see him turning in a quality start against it.
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You know how I mentioned that the Guardians lineup is weak? That's especially true against left-handers, of which JP Sears is one. He has also allowed a combined three earned runs over his past three starts.
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Though he had some helium at one point, I dare say that Will Warren is one of the most over-rostered pitchers in Fantasy now, and I feel weird recommending him as a streamer in the same breath. But the Braves lineup is awfully suspect, particularly without Austin Riley, and Warren has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of his past seven starts (short though they may have been).
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Janson Junk doesn't miss bats and gives up tons of hard contact in the air, so I'm inclined to think his 2.68 ERA and 0.99 WHIP won't last. But for one more turn against the second-worst offense in an unappealing week for streamer pitchers? I might take that gamble.
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OK, we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel now, basically just testing the theory that anyone capable of working six innings is worth using against the White Sox. Remember when Andrew Heaney had a 1.72 ERA after five starts? That was neat.
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Sleeper pitchers for long Week 17 (July 18-27)
If I'm enthusiastic about starting Sean Manaea just against the Reds, then adding a second start against a reeling Giants lineup certainly won't dissuade me, particularly since it's in San Francisco.
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Again, if I was willing to call Slade Cecconi a sleeper for the shortened Week 17, then the addition of a second, more favorable matchup in the lengthened Week 17 only bolsters the case.
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Must I repeat myself? While it may be a stretch the call the Marlins a good pitcher matchup these days, it certainly isn't to do the same with the Guardians, who rank in the bottom five in runs scored. Michael Wacha is a wily enough veteran to take advantage.
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The first matchup against the Rays is only favorable because of Trevor Rogers' left-handedness, but the Rockies on the road might be the most favorable matchup of all, regardless of handedness.
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Jeffrey Springs' outlook gets a little worse in the lengthened Week 17 with the addition of a second start against the Astros, who have hit left-handers particularly well. But again, you can have some trust in his 3.20 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over his past 14 appearances.
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