Fantasy Baseball Week 21 Preview: Top 10 sleeper pitchers include Paul Blackburn, Spencer Arrighetti (2024)

Paul Blackburn's first two starts with the Mets have been strong, and whether credit goes to his increased cutter usage or just the usual ebb and flow of a baseball season, the timing couldn't be better with the Athletics and Marlins on the schedule this week.

Spencer Arrighetti followed up a 12-strikeout effort two turns ago with 13-strikeout game over the weekend. Imagine what he can do against an inept White Sox lineup in Week 21 (Aug. 12-18).

As confounding as Tyler Anderson's success was earlier this season, it's become more understandable in recent starts, his swinging-strike rate going from 11 percent in his first 17 to 15 percent in his last six. No reason to shy away against a Blue Jays lineup that ranks in the bottom 10 in runs scored.

An extreme ground-ball pitcher, Jose Soriano has done a fine job limiting damage all season long and has put together a 2.81 ERA over his last nine starts, with six of them lasting six innings or more. He'll be facing a Braves lineup that was badly struggling prior to a series at Coors Field over the weekend

Hayden Birdsong has followed up two excellent starts with two shaky ones, but he still has a secondary arsenal full of swing-and-miss pitches and will be facing an Athletics lineup that's among the more strikeout-prone in baseball. It's a risk/reward-type play.

Jose Quintana has a pretty good thing going right now, having put together a 2.76 ERA in his past 10 starts. There's a 4.40 FIP to go with it, and I don't have some high-minded explanation for the success, but the Athletics lineup is vulnerable enough that I'll trust it to continue for another week.

We've officially reached the dangerous portion of the sleeper pitcher rankings given that Joe Musgrove is coming off a two-month absence for a bone spur in his elbow that, by the way, is still there. He's been a Fantasy mainstay the past few seasons, which is the only reason you might consider him, but this seems like a textbook case of "do I feel lucky?"

Ben Lively is one of the unusually high number of pitchers that have succeeded in spite of themselves this year, which makes him a dangerous play, always. But he gets two bites at the apple this week, and the matchups against the Cubs and Brewers aren't so bad, really.

I'm reluctant to recommend Andrew Abbott again after he burned us against the Marlins in Week 20 (Aug. 5-11), but when the assignment is to find 10 sleeper pitchers, I can only be so picky. At his best, he works deep enough to get a win, and you can hope for at least one against the Cardinals and Royals this week.

Tyler Mahle held his own in his first start back from Tommy John surgery last time out, with his splitter coming in at its highest velocity since 2021. He really should be vetted further, but he lines up for two starts now. Fortune favors the bold, right?