Fantasy Baseball Week 16 Preview: Top 10 sleeper pitchers include Gavin Williams, Christian Scott (2024)

Gavin Williams' long-awaited 2024 debut was an unequivocal dud -- and against the lowly White Sox, no less -- but this week, he gets two good matchups (Tigers and Rays) instead of just one. It's temptation enough for you to roll with a pitcher whose pedigree still sparkles, hoping that the one start was enough to shake off the cobwebs.

Frankie Montas has an unfortunate tendency to light himself on fire just when he seems to have found his footing again, so it's reasonable to wonder if his three consecutive starts allowing two runs or fewer will turn out the same way. Reasonable to wonder but unlikely to happen with matchups as favorable as the Rockies (away from Coors Field) and the Marlins.

Like Gavin Williams, Christian Scott's return to the big leagues Wednesday went less than optimally, but he has the excuse of being pushed to 99 pitches after throwing no more than 81 during his time in the minors. In any case, he should be good and stretched out for his primo matchups against the Pirates and Rockies (again, away from Coors Field).

How many times will I pick on the road version of the Rockies this week? It continues with Andrew Abbott, who has been a model of consistency this year, and even though his FIP and xFIP suggest it won't last, it should for this week, at least.

Mitchell Parker has been a little shakier of late but is still a good enough strike-thrower to take advantage of a favorable two-start slate. The Brewers matchup may seem like a problem at first glance, but they're in the bottom third in OPS against lefties.

Ben Lively will soon fall victim to the escalating home run rates across the league and turn back into a pumpkin for Fantasy, but for now, his numbers are good enough to make him an attractive play with the Rays and Tigers lineups on the schedule.

Jose Quintana has been a tricky one over the past few years, but he just threw seven shutout innings at the Nationals and has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four straight. He'll get to face the Nationals again this week, who have the third-lowest OPS against lefties, and then has an even more favorable matchup against the Rockies in New York.

Among the many overachieving starting pitchers this year, Colin Rea's success is perhaps the most perplexing, but he just threw seven shutout innings at Coors Field and has a 3.34 ERA overall. With tougher matchups, I'd avoid him like the plague, but the Pirates and Nationals make for two appetizing ones in the same week.

The Nationals and Cubs are both in the lower half in runs scored, making them middling lineups at best, and Miles Mikolas has been a quality start machine since about mid-May.

Brayan Bello has more misses than hits this year, but two of his past three starts have been excellent. Both were with favorable matchups, but he'll open with another such matchup against the Athletics this week and then gets a bonus start against the Royals that hopefully won't mess up things too badly.