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Fantasy Baseball Week 9 Preview: Top 10 sleeper pitchers include Logan Henderson, A.J. Smith-Shawver
A couple rookies are looking like more than just streamers
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 afternoon.
Sleeper pitchers for Week 9 (May 19-25)
After being left to simmer in the minors for several weeks, Logan Henderson returned Wednesday looking just as effective as in his first big-league start, his fastball and changeup playing off each other beautifully. With the Brewers rotation in dire straits right now, you can trust that he'll stick around to face two bottom-six offenses.
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It would be a stretch to say A.J. Smith-Shawver's latest outing against the Nationals in which he registered a career-high 17 whiffs was his best of the young season given that he threw eight one-hit innings two turns ago, but the point is that he continues to trend up, having put together a 1.50 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in his past five starts. And he faces those same Nationals again in Week 9.
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Drew Rasmussen entered the weekend on a four-start skid and had yet to go six innings in a start this year, but he reversed both trends Saturday at Miami, casting his 2.93 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in a more favorable light. He'll be facing a Blue Jays lineup this week that ranks in the bottom 10 in runs scored.
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After a bumpy start to the season, Gain Williams has been missing bats at a much higher rate recently and may have turned a corner with regard to strike-throwing in his latest outing. There's some downside risk against the Twins and especially the Tigers, who have been surprisingly prolific on offense so far, but Williams has earned his way back into two-start consideration for the upside.
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Jose Soriano has been unsteady in the early going but retains one of the highest ground-ball rates in baseball and is coming off his best start of the season -- against a tough Padres lineup, no less. He'll be facing one mid-range lineup (Athletics) and one not-so-tough one (Marlins) in Week 9.
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It's almost like Yusei Kikuchi needs to rediscover himself every year, because while he's throwing sliders at the elevated rate that allowed him to break through in Houston, he's not getting the same results. He's coming off back-to-back quality outings, though, and has seen his velocity tick up recently, so he'll probably fare well enough against a suspect Marlins lineup.
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The elite strike-thrower that Nick Martinez became down the stretch last season has returned over his past three starts, seeing him come through in an especially big way against the White Sox last time out. He'll be facing one of the few lineups this week that ranks even lower in runs scored.
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You're always playing with fire with Mitch Keller, who will have stretches when he looks like an ace before hitting a massive course correction that ultimately keeps his ERA over 4.00. The volume of a two-start week is worth pursuing in a points league, though, where the stink of such a disaster start won't stick with you all season long. It helps that Keller threw a gem at the Mets last time out.
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Will Warren's fastball ranks among the best in the league in both whiff rate and opponent batting average, and his sweeper exceeds 3,000 rpm. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that he's begun to pile up strikeouts, collecting 24 in 17 innings over his past three starts. His starts still tend to run short, but a week with two against bottom-five offenses seems like a fine time to try him out.
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To use Jameson Taillon is to have a feeling of foreboding because he's homer-prone and doesn't miss bats at even an average rate. But he was a quality-start machine last year and is beginning to trend that way this year as well with three in his past four chances, including against the same Marlins lineup last time out.
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