Death. Taxes. Tyler Chatwood on the road. Chatwood outside of Coors is like shootin’ fish in a barrel. He tossed 9 shutout innings against the Giants (with MadBum on the mound) giving up just 2 hits and a walk. If you streamed him late into last week he helped you immensely. There are some good options this week in 10-12 team formats and deeper leagues as well. Week 4 also has some big-name pitchers (Kershaw, Strasburg, Archer, Teheran, etc.) lined up for two starts next week. If you’re facing them use some of the guys below to help keep your matchup close.

 

10-12 Team Leagues

Lance Lynn (STL): Lynn really showcased great efficiency and control in his last start against the Pirates. He gave up 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5 over 7 scoreless innings. He really needed this outing as he’s coming off Tommy John surgery. His Week 4 matchup will come Friday against Cincinnati. The big thing for Lynn was that he showcased confidence in his slider against the Bucs. In his first two starts he only threw it about 12.5% of the time. In his last start he threw it 28.4% of the time, while also mixing in his curveball more and fastball less. He gets a road matchup against the Brewers in hitter-friendly Miller Park on April 22nd. See how he looks in this matchup with his control and efficiency.

Brandon McCarthy (LAD): McCarthy gets a juicy home matchup on April 28th that’s worth drooling over. The Phillies currently rank in the middle of the pack in terms of runs scored with 66. Remember though, they scored 17 of those runs in 1 game. This is still a team with a sub-par slash line (.239/.309/.405) and if you take away that 1 big game they’re a bottom 5 offense in baseball. Dodger Stadium is well-known for catering to pitchers and McCarthy will be salivating over this matchup. The only slightly negative aspect to McCarthy is that the Dodgers still have a relatively short leash with him. He hasn’t pitched more than 6 innings in any of his starts and he was removed after 86 pitches in his last appearance.

Francisco Liriano (TOR): So Liriano gets two starts next week: on the road against the Angels and at home against Tampa. You could realistically stream him for both starts, but his 1st start is slightly more favorable. Yes, the Angels are actually worse offensively than the Rays. After his first start of the year (against said Rays) where he gave up 5 earned runs, 8 hits, and 4 walks while recording just 1 out Liriano has been on fire. In his last 2 starts he’s worth 12 innings, striking out 16 and allowing just 3 walks. His 1.50 ERA is backed up by his 1.00 FIP. He’s gradually been working in his slider more and more with each start (40.7% usage rate in his last start) as it’s becoming an effective “out” pitch for him. If he pitches well enough in his next start on Monday then he might be worth hanging on to against Tampa over the weekend and he could potentially find a regular spot on your roster going forward.

Blake Snell (TB): Snell isn’t a guy that’s necessarily lighting it up. In his last start he scattered 4 runs (1 earned) over 4.2 innings pitched. He has a 2.76 ERA on the year, but the 4.20 FIP suggests he’s been the beneficiary of great fortune.  But this is a guy who still has a lot of potential. The control has been better over his last two starts as he’s done a little better in the walks department and hasn’t surrendered a home run. The big thing for Snell is that he’s starting to balance the usage of his changeup and fastball and he has great velocity separation between the two. Again, this is where his control needs to be at the top of its game. Snell gets a road start against Toronto late in Week 4. Toronto is generally very favorable toward hitters, but they aren’t hitting the ball well at all and they will be without Josh Donaldson.

Vince Velasquez (PHI): Velasquez has two starts next week: home against Miami and then on the road against Los Angeles. The Dodgers matchup is in a pitcher’s ballpark, but he’ll be going against Kershaw so the win potential is minimal. His matchup against Miami is nice despite the Marlins aggressive lineup. Velasquez is widely owned in a lot of leagues, which is odd considering he hasn’t had a great start to the season. But if he’s available in your league then this matchup is worth targeting. Miami averages 8.93 strikeouts per game and despite all the negative aspects to Velasquez’s season he does have 19 strikeouts in 15 innings of work. He’s at the bottom of this list cause he’s not the best option, but if he’s available in a categories league he could contribute strikeouts.

 

Deeper Leagues

Wade Miley (BAL): Miley has been one of the most added players in the past few days, but his ownership is still low enough where he’s possibly available in your league. Miley is a guy that is due for regression. He has a 4.14 ERA, .306 BABIP, and 7.14 K/9 over his career. So far in 2017 he’s boasting a 1.89 ERA, .162 BABIP, and 11.37 K/9. So he’s not a guy you should trust long-term, but he has a nice matchup against the Rays on the 25th and this is a team that strikes out on average 9.10 times at home, but 12.00 times on the road which is the most in the majors. Miley’s not a great strikeout guy, but he’s pitching well enough where he can be relied on in a deeper league.

Matt Boyd (DET): Boyd makes the cut again for deeper leagues because he’s fairly under owned. In his last 2 appearances he’s 2-0 and he’s given up just 1 earned run, 8 hits, with 9 strikeouts. He has given up 4 walks, but he’s doing a good enough job of leaving runners on base. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff (fastball sits around 91 mph), but he has 3 other decent pitches in his repertoire, including a changeup with fantastic velocity separation from his fastball. He faces the White Sox next week who boast a .211/.272/.343 slash line as a team and they’re averaging just barely over 3 runs per game.

Wei-Yin Chen (MIA): Obviously the reports of him pitching through a partially torn UCL are concerning, but his situation isn't considered any more serious than the one Masahiro Tanaka is going through.Chen gets a road matchup against the previously-mentioned Philadelphia Phillies. The offensive numbers previously mentioned can be applied for hyping up Chen as well. He’s coming of a stellar performance of 7 hitless innings against Seattle where he surrendered just 1 walk. Chen is a lot like Miley in the case that he’s not a guy you can rely on throughout an entire season, but he’s pitching well enough right now to stream him next week against Philadelphia. In looking at his pitch usage in his last start, he didn’t really do anything differently. Was using all his pitches at about the same rate, and his 3.61 FIP from his last start suggests he caught the Mariners on an off night. Another thing to keep an eye on is that he threw a total of 142 pitches in his first 2 starts on the year. In his last start he threw 100 pitches so fatigue may still be in play, but Chen is an okay deep league option.