Here are The Game Day’s Week 6 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: 2-Start Pitchers, Spot Starters, & Hitter Picks. Follow along with our full fantasy baseball tips page all MLB season. Use Josh Shepardson’s Week 6 MLB Sleepers to fill out your fantasy baseball lineups with upside plays.
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Week 6 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers
Week 6 Fantasy Baseball 2-Start Pitchers To Add From Waiver Wire
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals (32% rostered on Yahoo!)
- Start 1: vs. New York Mets
- Start 2: vs. Colorado Rockies
Adam Wainwright’s 3.15 ERA in 10 starts totaling 65.2 innings last year overstated how well he pitched. This year his 4.08 ERA understates how well he’s pitching. In all, the 39-year-old righty is in the midst of an impressive resurgence.
According to FanGraphs, among qualified pitchers in 2021, he ranks 19th in SIERA (3.29), 23rd in strikeout rate (26.4 K%), and tied for 14th in called strikes and whiffs percentage (31.9 CSW%).
He has a chance to keep things rolling in his pitcher-friendly home digs for two turns this week. Busch Stadium has the eighth-lowest park factor for runs (0.865) and fifth-lowest park factor for homers (0.865), using FantasyPros three-year-average park factors.
The matchups are favorable, too. The New York Mets rank 20th in wRC+ (88) against right-handed pitchers this year, and the Colorado Rockies rank 27th (79 wRC+). Additionally, the Rockies are dreadful on the road, ranking tied for 27th in wRC+ (71) and striking out at a 26.7% rate.
- Adam Wainwright fantasy baseball tip: Add and use Waino in leagues as shallow as 12-team mixers.
Kwang Hyun Kim, St. Louis Cardinals (37%)
- Start 1: vs. New York Mets
- Start 2: vs. Colorado Rockies
Kwang Hyun Kim is treated to the same pitcher-friendly conditions this week as Waino’s teammate. Kim’s a lefty, though, so the matchup with the Mets isn’t as favorable. The Mets rank sixth in wRC+ (115) against southpaws this year.
However, the matchup with the Rockies is a plus for his fantasy baseball outlook. Their aforementioned road woes are still of note, and they rank 23rd in wRC+ (86) against lefties with a 25.1 K%, to boot.
Kim’s not an innings horse by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s pitched at a high level in his three starts spanning 13.2 innings in 2021. He has a 3.29 ERA, 3.01 SIERA, 1.32 WHIP, 1.7 BB%, and 27.1 K%. Kim was outstanding if fortunate last year and his plate discipline numbers have taken the necessary step forward to stave off regression.
- Kwang Hyun Kim fantasy baseball tip: As is the case with Waino, Kim’s worthy of use in 12-team mixed leagues and deeper formats.
Dane Dunning, Texas Rangers (24%)
- Start 1: @ Minnesota Twins
- Start 2: vs. Seattle Mariners
Dane Dunning is the last of the two-start pitchers I’d suggest using this week, and I tepidly endorse him with a tough matchup against the Minnesota Twins kicking things off. They’re a top-10 offense against righties, and their 22.3 K% does little to generate excitement using pitchers against them.
My preference is to use Dunning as a spot starter in leagues with daily lineup changes, starting him against only the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners rank tied for 16th in wRC+ (91) against right-handed pitchers this year. Further, they’re strikeout prone, sporting the seventh-highest strikeout rate (26.2 K%) against righties in 2021.
Like Kim, Dunning isn’t used deep into games, as evidenced by his 22.2 innings pitched in five starts. He, too, has pitched exquisitely, though. Dunning’s recorded a 3.97 ERA, 3.41 SIERA, 1.28 WHIP, 5.2 BB%, 25.0 K%, and 30.5 CSW% this season.
- Dane Dunning fantasy baseball tip: Dunning’s my third-favorite two-start pitcher this week, but like Waino and Kim, he’s a viable option in leagues as shallow as 12-team mixers.
Texas Rangers SP Dane Dunning is a clear Week 6 MLB Sleeper for fantasy baseball lineups, thanks to his 2-start Week 6 schedule. Dunning is a better Week 6 fantasy baseball sleeper if you only start him against the Mariners, though. (Image: USA TODAY Sports)
Week 6 Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter
Yusei Kikuchi, Seattle Mariners vs. Baltimore Orioles (28%)
Rostering Yusei Kikuchi can be frustrating. He has a couple of duds on his ledger in which he coughed up five runs, but his other three starts were quality starts, including his best performance of the year in his last time on the bump. Kikuchi spun a seven-inning, one-hit, two-walk, seven-strikeout scoreless gem last time out.
This week, he toes the rubber in his pitcher-friendly home park in a solid-if-unspectacular matchup. T-Mobile Park in Seattle has the fifth-lowest park factor for runs (0.915), and it also suppresses homers (0.964 for homers). The Baltimore Orioles rank tied for 18th in wRC+ against lefties this year, but their 102 wRC+ indicates they’ve been a bit above-average against lefties.
- Yusei Kikuchi fantasy baseball tip: I suggest streaming Kikuchi in 12-team-mixed leagues and larger.
Week 6 MLB Sleeper Hitters
Brandon Belt, 1B/OF, San Francisco Giants ( 14%)
Alex Dickerson, OF, San Francisco Giants ( 14%)
- 3 Games @ Colorado Rockies
- 3 Games vs. San Diego Padres
No, you’re not crazy. You’ve seen these two featured in this space before. These two are regulars in the lineup against righties, and the San Francisco Giants have at least four on the docket this week. Most importantly, all three games at Coor Field project to be against righties.
Brandon Belt and Alex Dickerson both boast rock-solid numbers against righties in recent years. In 970 plate appearances against righties since 2018, Belt has a .263/.361/.835 slash with 38 homers against righties. Dickerson’s slashed .278/.341/.511 with 18 homers in 393 plate appearances against righties since 2018.
Revisiting my cursory mention of Coors Field, streaming hitters there is often savvy maneuver. Coors Field ranks first in park factor for runs (1.362), singles (1.230), and triples (2.177) and second for homers (1.257) and doubles (1.345). Park factors for hitting don’t get better than that.
