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Sleeper hitters for Week 9 (May 19-25)
After a few solid seasons with the Orioles, Ryan O'Hearn has taken off this year with an 80th percentile strikeout rate and far and away the best pull air rate of his career. It's earned him more at-bats against lefties than in the past, but the platoon concern is completely off the table this week with seven righties on the schedule. Most are pretty mashable, too, with Logan Henderson and Lucas Giolito representing the toughest.
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We're to the point now where it's not even worth highlighting how productive Rhys Hoskins has been in recent weeks because his overall batting average (.285) and OPS (.834) are so strong. He hasn't sat out a game since April 22 either. The Brewers have the fifth-best hitter matchups this week, featuring pitchers like Dean Kremer, Carmen Mlodzinski and Baily Falter.
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Of the players with a dozen home runs to this point, all but Trent Grisham are rostered in virtually every CBS Sports league. He's in a four-man outfield rotation for the Yankees, which doesn't help with convincing people to buy in, but at some point you just need to accept the production while it's there. It's unlikely to stop this week with three games at Yankee Stadium and then three at Coors Field.
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I was apprehensive about including Kyle Stowers in my Week 8 sleepers since the Marlins' matchups were nothing special, but he came through with a two-homer game Wednesday and continues to excel by most Statcast measures. He's on the verge of being too rostered to mention in this space, and maybe another righty-loaded week for the Marlins can get him there.
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There are some who like Josh Jung considerably more than I do, but if he stays healthy, he should be a serviceable enough power bat at the hot corner. With five home runs in his past 11 games, he's seeing the ball well enough right now to take advantage of a three-game series against the White Sox pitching staff late in Week 9.
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While April is usually Taylor Ward's time to shine, he took until May to find his footing this year, homering five times in his past 11 games. Week 9 seems like a good time to put his streakiness to the test with the Angels having the third-best hitter matchups.
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Your frustration with Ryan Mountcastle is understandable, but Statcast has him as one of the biggest underachievers so far. He's actually hit safely in all but one May game, batting .302 for the month, so at some point, the power has to break through. I'm betting it'll happen this week with the Orioles boasting the second-best hitter matchups.
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I'd prefer if the Rockies were facing lesser pitchers for their seven home games this week, but beggars can't be choosers when scouring the waiver wire. The splits favor Jordan Beck, who has an .879 OPS at home and a .999 OPS against lefties, of which there are four on the schedule.
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We need one representative from the Phillies lineup given that their hitter matchups are the best of all this week, in no small part because of their four games at Coors Field. Max Kepler is one of their few hitters available enough to mention here and was showing signs of life a couple weeks ago. Notably, his actual stats are well below his .256 xBA and .444 xSLG, suggesting better days are ahead.
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Daulton Varsho has only recently returned from rotator cuff surgery and hasn't quite resumed playing every day yet, but his two home runs Tuesday were both in excess of 113 mph, making them far and away the hardest-hit balls of his career. Big things might be in store for him this year, and with nothing but righties on the schedule for the Blue Jays, Week 9 is a fine time to try him out in five-outfielder leagues.
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