If you need a fill-in for an injury or are simply looking for a spark, Scott White has you covered with 10 sleeper hitters for the upcoming scoring period, all rostered in less than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues. They're not must-starts by any estimation, but they're the best you'll find off the waiver wire.
- Week 25: Sleeper pitchers | Two-start pitchers
All information is up to date as of Sunday evening.
Sleeper hitters for Week 25 (Sept. 11-17)
Suzuki is finally performing up to his exit velocities, batting .347 (42 for 121) with eight homers since the start of August. It has him in a good position to take advantage of a three-game series at Coors Field this week.
| ||
Jones' numbers make him a deserving play regardless of the matchups, but it just so happens that the Rockies' seven home games give them the most favorable matchups of any team this week. And he is slightly better there, batting .295 with a .905 OPS.
| ||
With eight home runs in his past 29 games, Hayes' latent power is finally beginning to shine through, and he'll be facing a couple of particularly homer-prone pitchers (Patrick Corbin and Joan Adon) to kick off this week.
| ||
The Rockies' seven home games are of course good for all their hitters, but there may not be a single one who benefits more than Blackmon, who's batting .308 with a .907 at Coors Field vs. .254 and .703 everywhere else.
| ||
Schneider has become a fixture in the Blue Jays lineup and continues to reach base at a ridiculous clip. Considering he's startable at both corner and middle infield, there isn't much justification to sit him with seven games coming up.
| ||
Flores had gone quiet for a couple weeks, but the bat woke up over the weekend, particularly with a 3-for-4 performance Friday. A four-game series at Coors Field to begin Week 25 should be enough to keep him going.
| ||
Not only do the Twins have the fifth-best hitter matchups this week, thanks in large part to their four-game series at the White Sox, but they're scheduled to face nothing but righties in seven games. That's especially good news for Julien, who sits against lefties but reaches base at a near-.400 clip with a near-.900 OPS against righties.
| ||
Having joined up with the Royals at the trade deadline, Velazquez already has nine homers in 26 games, delivering premium exit velocities while keeping the strikeout rate under 30 percent. With the way Dylan Cease, Cristian Javier and J.P. France have performed lately, not to mention Touki Toussaint and Mike Clevinger, Velazquez stands to do even more damage this week.
| ||
Speaking purely in terms of OPS, no Twins hitter performs better against righties than Wallner (.923), and as you may have heard, they're scheduled to face nothing but righties this week. Particularly if home runs are your chief target, he might be the play for you.
| ||
Kepler's splits aren't as extreme as some of the other left-handed hitters in the Twins lineup, but he still benefits from the Twins' righties-only schedule given that much of his power comes against them. The matchups themselves are pretty good, too, ranking fifth among all teams.
|
Best hitter matchups for Week 25
1. Rockies CHC3, SF4
2. Giants CLE3, @COL4
3. Cubs @COL3, @ARI3
4. Yankees @BOS4, @PIT3
5. Twins TB3, @CHW4
Worst hitter matchups for Week 25
1. Angels @SEA3, DET3
2. Dodgers SD3, @SEA3
3. Athletics @HOU3, SD3
4. Guardians @SF3, TEX3
5. Nationals @PIT4, @MIL3
