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Fantasy Baseball Week 12 Preview: Top 10 Sleepers Featuring Colt Emerson and Bryce Eldridge

The best hitter matchups for Week 12 include players from the Mariners, Athletics, and Giants. Colt Emerson and Bryce Eldridge are among the top 10 sleeper hitters to watch.

CBS Sports·Jun 5, 2026·via CBS Sports

Fantasy Baseball Week 12 Preview: Top 10 Sleepers Featuring Colt Emerson and Bryce Eldridge

Whether you're in need of an injury fill-in or just a hot-hand play, 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 often the best you'll find off the waiver wire.

Be sure to check back Sunday for the latest updates.

Sleeper hitters for Week 12 (June 8-14)

Bryce Eldridge

SF San Francisco

• #8 • Age: 21

Matchups

WAS3, CHC3

Matchups

42%

Bryce Eldridge has had two huge games in the past week, but even better days are ahead, judging by his .298 xBA and .548 xSLG. Those numbers are backed up by premium exit velocities and a much better strikeout rate than projected. The Giants have the third-best hitter matchups this week.

Colt Emerson

SEA Seattle

• #4 • Age: 20

Matchups

@BAL4, @WAS3

Rostered

69%

Compared to Eldridge, not everything looks as good under the hood for the Mariners' star rookie, Colt Emerson, but he's been productive enough with eight extra-base hits, including three homers, in 16 games. The Mariners have the most favorable matchups of any team this week, being one of just two scheduled for seven games, and his left-handedness should pay off against the six righties on the schedule.

Jake Bauers

MIL Milwaukee

• #9 • Age: 30

Matchups

@ATH3, PHI3

Rostered

78%

Frankly, as long as Jake Bauers is playing nearly every day (he's started against two of the past three lefties the Brewers have faced), he's more or less a fixture here. That's how strong his hitting profile is. The Brewers matchups are pretty solid, though, particularly with a three-game set against the Athletics pitching staff.

Isaac Paredes

HOU Houston

• #15 • Age: 27

Matchups

@LAA3, @KC3

Rostered

75%

Just the fact that Isaac Paredes qualifies for this list tells you the sort of disappointment he's been, but his Statcast readings are basically right in line with where they've always been. He enters the weekend having homered in back-to-back games and may be heating up just in time to take advantage of the Astros' fifth-ranked hitter matchups.

Carson Benge

NYM N.Y. Mets

• #3 • Age: 23

Matchups

STL3, ATL3

Rostered

79%

Carson Benge has been a bankable option ever since the calendar flipped to May, batting .313 (36 for 115) with four homers and four steals in his past 29 games. The Mets' schedule this week is nothing spectacular, but it features a bunch of pitch-to-contact guys like Dustin May, Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy and Bryce Elder.

A.J. Ewing

NYM N.Y. Mets

• #9 • Age: 21

Matchups

STL3, ATL3

Rostered

56%

The Mets' schedule this week features nothing but right-handers, which actually helps Benge less than you'd think but is likely to make a difference for his fellow left-handed-hitting rookie, A.J. Ewing, who's batting .302 (16 for 53) vs. righties compared to .136 (3 for 22) vs. lefties.

Nate Lowe

CIN Cincinnati

• #31 • Age: 30

Matchups

@SD3, ARI3

Rostered

18%

Nate Lowe hasn't had much traction in Fantasy since his late-April surge, but he still has a 78th percentile xBA and 92nd percentile xSLG. He also still starts against right-handers, which is what the Reds are scheduled to face in five of their six games, including mashables like Walker Buehler, Lucas Giolito and Zac Gallen.

Jung Hoo Lee

SF San Francisco

• #51 • Age: 27

Matchups

WAS3, CHC3

Rostered

46%

Though Jung Hoo Lee has always excelled at putting the bat on the ball, a greatly improved line-drive rate this year has turned him into a batting average standout -- and in a way that's backed up by a 95th percentile xBA. The Giants have the third-best hitter matchups this week, scheduled to face pitchers like Miles Mikolas, Andrew Alvarez, Foster Griffin, Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon.

Luke Raley

SEA Seattle

• #20 • Age: 31

Matchups

@BAL4, @WAS3

Rostered

56%

If there's ever a time to play Luke Raley, it's when the Mariners have a top-ranked hitter schedule that's loaded with righties. It can still be misleading in terms of how much playing time he'll get because he's often removed for a pinch hitter whenever a left-handed reliever comes in, but he nonetheless finds himself on a 33-homer pace even with that role.

Dominic Canzone

SEA Seattle

• #8 • Age: 28

Matchups

@BAL4, @WAS3

Rostered

24%

Dominic Canzone's hitting profile is even more impressive than Raley's, actually, but he suffers from the same issue of being removed whenever a left-handed reliever comes in. Hopefully, starters Chris Bassitt, Brandon Young, Zack Littell and Miles Mikolas stay in the game long enough for him to do real damage.