Welcome back to Streaming Away, a twice weekly column serving all your fantasy streaming needs. I’ll be using DFS techniques to help you select players for your normal fantasy leagues. With careful execution, you’ll be one step closer to a fantasy championship. As always, the column will run on Sundays and Wednesdays to better prepare you for the thin Monday and Thursday schedules.
For more info about how and why to stream, check out the first edition of Streaming Away.
Editor’s Note: Win a FREE trip to the World Series plus cash prizes!
Monday, September 18
It’s crunch time. Major League Baseball is putting the pressure on by giving us a tiny seven game slate. What’s worse, up to five venues could be affected by rain. New York and Detroit are the highest risks for a postponement – the chance for evening rain is around 50 percent. Since the schedule is so thin, my advice is to hope the games happen.
Pitchers to Use
Three pitchers are streamable on Monday, although only one of them is a desirable asset. Surprisingly, Doug Fister is having a remarkably useful season for his fantasy owners. He isn’t immune to meltdowns. While a third of his 12 starts can be labeled as “poor,” the other eight starts were of high quality. Formerly a pitch-to-contact ground ball specialist, Fister has kept the grounders while buffing his strikeout rate to a career best 8.00 K/9. He’s produced a luck neutral 4.40 ERA. That’s totally acceptable in the current run scoring environment. The Red Sox are visiting the volatile Orioles. Consider Fister a moderate risk, high reward target.
By comparison your alternatives are high risk, moderate reward. Earlier in the season, I might have skipped mentioning Jaime Garcia or Steven Brault. Since it’s gut check time, you may need to roll one of them out as a desperation play. Garcia’s performance isn’t usually closely linked to the quality of his opponent. The Yankees have taken to relieving him early. He hasn’t reached the sixth inning since July. While that certainly hurts his chances for the win or quality start, it may help his rate production in other categories.
Brault tossed six innings of one-hit ball against the Brewers last week. He racked up six strikeouts. Milwaukee gets a rematch versus the southpaw tomorrow – this time at pitcher friendly PNC Park. He’ll probably repeat with a strong strikeout rate. It’s less certain that he can continue to prevent hits and runs. He was superb in Triple-A this season, although he hasn’t had a chance to settle in to the majors. Expect a few mistakes. The quality of his outing will hinge upon how badly those mistakes are punished.
Pitchers to Abuse
Only four of 14 pitchers tomorrow are highly exploitable. Let’s start with Buck Farmer because nearly the entire Athletics offense is available on the waiver wire. Shockingly, Farmer has produced 9.68 K/9 and 3.31 BB/9 while posting a complementary swinging strike rate. In other words, he may be developing into a strikeout pitcher. His biggest issue is with home runs (1.78 HR/9). A deeper delve into his pitch-by-pitch results reveals some interesting outcomes. His change and slider are useful weapons when executed, but it looks like he’s prone to hanging both offerings. Wipe away those mistakes and he may transform into a fantasy asset. Until he shows that capacity, prey upon the 6.62 ERA. If you’re truly desperate, you can hope the Athletics sputter tomorrow.
Nick Pivetta finds himself on the wrong side of a Clayton Kershaw matchup. The Phillie has shown some positive traits – namely 9.39 K/9 and 3.80 BB/9. Like Farmer, he’s struggled with allowing too many base runners and home runs, leading to a 6.75 ERA. Pivetta will probably contribute to the strikeout category – just don’t expect a win or quality rate stats.
Jharel Cotton‘s command took a big step back this season. The fly ball pitcher thrived last year by avoiding free passes and barrels. This year, he’s allowed 3.77 BB/9 and a .284 BABIP. While neither rate is bad, his success is predicated on outperforming the league in those peripherals. That’s why he has a luck neutral 5.81 ERA this year. He’s opposite Farmer and a gutted Tigers offense.
Plan to abuse Matt Harvey. The former ace is marching towards a non-tender this winter. He has a luck neutral 6.14 ERA thanks to terrible peripherals - 1.90 HR/9, 6.69 K/9, and 4.46 BB/9. Look for Marlins.
Hitters: Power
We have plenty of power hitters to target, starting with the Athletics offense. At 54 percent owned, Matt Olson is slightly over my self-imposed cutoff for streaming. If he happens to be out there in your league, consider him a must-roster asset. He has 20 home runs in 188 plate appearances. The next best target is probably Matt Joyce. The A’s leadoff man has thrived since the All Star Break, producing a .264/.347/.569 batting line with 13 home runs. He even has a couple steals. Marcus Semien, Jed Lowrie, Mark Canha, Matt Chapman, and Boog Powell are all varying degrees of available too. And they’re all opposite Farmer.
On the opposite side of the matchup, the best target is Jeimer Candelario. The top 100 prospect is finally showing some life in the majors. Since he was recalled on September 2, he’s batting .333/.429/.500 with as many walks as strikeouts in 56 plate appearances. He has an easy matchup against Cotton.
Justin Bour has yet to homer since returning from the disabled list on September 8. Unless you think he’s still partially hurt, a matchup against homer prone Harvey is a great time to jump on the bandwagon. He’s down to 39 percent owned.
Mitch Moreland is visiting Camden Yards, a notoriously friendly park for left-handed power hitters. Although Dylan Bundy is one of the best pitchers available tomorrow, he’s not somebody we need to avoid for streaming. Moreland has recovered from a mid-season slump.
Other options include top prospect Austin Hays, Jose Pirela, and Chase Utley. I only mention Utley because he’s visiting Philadelphia. I assume the Dodgers will let him wave to the fans from second base.
Hitters: Speed
The only true stolen base target is Jose Reyes. The Mets leadoff man is en fuego. He’s hitting .347/.442/.573 over his most recent 89 plate appearances. That span includes four home runs, eight steals, and more walks than strikeouts. Reyes tends to have these strange streaks – mostly because he makes a lot of soft contact. Since he’s hard to strikeout, his success is entirely up to the BABIP gods. He’s paired against Dan Straily.
Your best alternatives are Semien, Keon Broxton, and Hernan Perez. The pair of Brewers are facing Brault at PNC Park. Broxton is in a funk. Perez has been batting leadoff. I figure they’re both unlikely to steal.
