Ten Team Leagues
Mike Fiers (OAK) – There’s some confusion regarding Fiers’ starts next week. Oakland’s schedule on ESPN has him getting one start against Baltimore. But Yahoo’s fantasy baseball section has Fiers aligned for a second start against Tampa Bay. Regardless, he needs to be streamed either Tuesday or Wednesday against the Orioles who have been the worst team in the league all year. Fiers was once a bit of a laughing stock, but since the end of June he’s been a very productive starter. Over his last 12 starts (75 innings) he has a 2.40 ERA and he’s giving up just 1.68 BB/9 over that span. He’s not a massive source of strikeouts and he still tends to get beat via the long ball. But he’s a good arm to have next week against the free fallin’ Orioles.
Anibal Sánchez (ATL) – Sanchez, like Fiers, gets a great matchup next week but it’ll come against the Giants in AT&T Park. The Giants have little to play for with Buster Posey being done for the year and Andrew McCutchen getting shipped off to the Yankees. They had some hype coming into this year after the offseason moves they made, but it hasn’t translated to success. Sanchez has been moderately roughed up lately, but he won’t necessarily kill your team. Hell he hasn’t allowed more than four earned runs in a start all season long. Perhaps the downside to him is that he may not go too deep into games. He’s made it to the sixth inning just once in his last six starts. However, he can get you nearly a strikeout per inning and he hasn’t given up a home run in his last three starts and I like that trend to continue in his next start against San Francisco. It’s also worth mentioning the Giants have lost six straight games so the tanking is real.
Vince Velásquez (PHI) – I don’t know how likely it is you get a quality start out of Velasquez, but he’s got a great matchup against Miami at home next Saturday. He’s only gone six or more innings just once in his last seven starts. However, he offers some strikeout upside (9.98 K/9) and he’s only given up one home run since July. He does tend to give up a few too many free passes, but he’s certainly streamable against Miami next weekend.
12 Team Leagues
Wade LeBlanc (SEA) – LeBlanc’s done outstanding over his last two starts against the Orioles and the Athletics. In those 13 innings of work he’s blanked both teams and given up just nine hits and four walks. Like most of the guys on this list he won’t strike out a ton of hitters, but he’s got a solid matchup next week against the Angels who are pretty bad against lefties. Against southpaws they’re slashing just .227/.298/.371 so LeBlanc’s definitely in play against the Halos.
Lucas Giolito (CHW) – Prior to his last start Giolito had strung together a few decent outings against the Red Sox, Tigers, and Twins. He still has a 5.85 ERA on the season, he doesn’t deliver strikeouts (6.74 K/9), he walks too many hitters (4.67 BB/9), and he gives up dingers (1.36 HR/9). So how does he even crack this list, you ask? Well he has a pair of great starts next week on the road against the Royals and the Orioles. It’s not a big difference, but he does have a 4.27 ERA on the road compared to the 7.91 ERA at home. He’s still a gamble because he hasn’t panned out to the player he was projected to be, but with a pair of great matchups next week he can be used as a streamer.
Austin Gomber (STL) – Gomber’s a guy who doesn’t carry much name recognition and he won’t dazzle you with strikeouts. But he can go out there and deliver a decent performance. Since moving to the starting rotation about a month ago he’s been pretty productive. In his last six starts he’s 4-0 and he hasn’t given up a home run over that span. He may burn you with ratio categories incorporating walks because he does tend to give up some free passes, but with a home start next week against Pittsburgh he can be used.
Deeper League Options
Wei-Yin Chen (MIA) – Chen’s matchup next week is a little risky because it’s on the road in Philadelphia and the Phillies are still in the hunt for the NL East title. However, the Phillies aren’t a great offensive team against left-handed pitching. To date they slash just .231/.314/.357 against lefties so this works in Chen’s favor. Additionally Chen’s done great since the start of August. Over his last five starts (31.1 innings) he has a 1.44 ERA, while he’s also struck out 30 hitters and walked just six. Definitely give him some thought for your deeper leagues.
Brad Keller (KC) – Keller’s been really good over his last five starts. He’s 3-1 with a 1.97 ERA over that span. He has given up four home runs during that stretch, but he doesn’t get burned by free passes so despite the excessive dingers, he doesn’t implode. He gets two starts next week, both at home, against the White Sox and the Twins. This works out great for him because he’s been a much better pitcher at home than on the road.
James Shields (CHW) – I’ve recommended Shields before and have been burned by him numerous times. But in his last two starts, against the heavy hitting offenses of the Red Sox and Yankees, Shields twirled 11.2 innings of work and gave up just two earned runs and eight hits. He did allow six walks in that span, but next week he’s on the road against Baltimore so based on the matchup alone he’s worth mentioning.