2017 Fantasy Baseball SP Streamers: Week 8

10-12 Team Leagues

Matt Shoemaker (LAA): Shoemaker gets a road start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday and then gets the Marlins on the road to end Week 8 on Sunday May 28th. The start against Tampa is especially appealing because there’s only 1 team as of May 18th that has struck out over 400 times in 2017, and that’s the Tampa Bay Rays who have struck out a whopping 451 times heading into Friday’s slate of games. The Rays are striking out roughly 10.5 times per game and that bodes well for Shoemaker who has been stepping up his K-rate as of late. Over his last two starts Shoemaker has struck out 16 over 12.1 innings of work. Over the last two weeks, opposing hitters have a miss rate of 36.2% with two strikes against Shoemaker (leage AVG: 22.1%). The Rays average nearly 5 runs per game at home, but Shoemaker’s ERA is almost a run-and-a-half better on the road and is pitching well enough to rack up a healthy amount of K’s early in Week 8.

Zack Wheeler (NYM): Wheeler earns a home start against the Padres next week. The Padres are a bit of an enigma in that they are 24th in batting average on the road (.228), 27th in OBP (.287), but they’re 14th in slugging percentage (.399) evidenced by their 34 HR’s on the road, which ranks 3rd in the league. So they don’t hit well on the road, but when they do they make it count. Wheeler has been pitching pretty well over the last couple starts. The Mets rotation has been torn apart with underperforming stars and injuries, so Wheeler is making the most of the opportunity. The 26-year-old has pitched especially well when he has two strikes in the count:

He’s allowed a slugging percentage of .110 with two strikes this season (3rd out of 161 qualified SP’s): League AVG: .277

Opponents have a well-hit average of .012 with two strikes this season (1st of 161 qualified SP’s); League AVG: .097

Opposing hitters are hitting just .043 against Wheeler with two strikes over the last two weeks (5th of 111 qualified SP’s); League AVG: .186

Wheeler has been a victim of giving up the long ball and that’s what the Padres do well on the road, but Citi Field currently ranks dead last in HR production so far in 2017 so Wheeler is a great option this week.

Chase Anderson (MIL): Anderson’s made this piece before and gotten lit up… And he’s playing Arizona this week in Miller Park, but there’s reason for optimism for this start. Over his last 4 starts he’s compiled a 6.10 ERA with a 1.74 WHIP. His 3.47 FIP suggests he’s pitched better than suggested. Over his last 4 starts he’s given up just 1 HR so it’s nice to see he’s keeping the ball in the park. The Diamondbacks aren’t as threatening of an offense on the road especially since they lost A.J. Pollock for the year. The Diamondbacks have really cooled off after going 16-11 in April. Away from Chase Field the D-Backs are hitting just .205/.280/.329 all of which rank in the Bottom 2 in the league. It’s a bold play as Miller Park is still hitter-friendly, but options are thin this week and Arizona could struggle without Pollock in the leadoff spot.

Patrick Corbin (ARI): There’s some reason to like Corbin next week, and there’s some reason to oppose it. All his splits show he’s a better home pitcher than road pitcher. At home he has a 3.06 ERA with opponents hitting .257/.311/.403 with a .310 wOBA. On the road his ERA is 7.31 with a slash line of .310/.355/.594 and a .390 wOBA so Corbin can still be started at home despite the struggles in his last two starts against the Mets and the Pirates. The big argument against Corbin is that he struggles against right-handed hitters and the ChiSox could easily stack a lineup of righties against him.

The home/away splits against righties were included to show that he may fare better in this start against a righty-heavy White Sox lineup. Chase Field is still more of a hitter-friendly ballpark, but Corbin is worth keeping an eye on especially once the humidor in Chase Field is installed which will allow DBacks pitchers to get a better grip on the ball and this could bode well for Corbin long-term. Corbin’s ownership is also low enough where he could be available in some deeper leagues also.

Matt Garza (MIL): Garza isn’t an overpowering pitcher and the strikeout potential isn’t very high with him. However, if you need a guy that has just been putting out quality start after quality start then Garza could be your guy. He gets two starts next week, both at home against Toronto and Arizona. Both teams struggle on the road and Garza could eat up a good chunk of innings in this start. He’s done particularly well against right-handed hitters so far walking just 3.1% of righties in his 5 appearances (league AVG: 8.0%) and righties have an OBP of just .246 against Garza this season (league AVG: .320). He’s not a big name and he’s not too flashy, but he’ll eat up innings for your fantasy team and could come away with a win. With Donaldson and Tulowitzki still out of Toronto’s lineup, Garza should be considered for his first start and if you drop him you could also pick him up for his start next weekend as well.

Deeper League Options

(As always some of the names listed below are can be used in 10-12 team formats if you aren’t comfortable with any of the suggestions listed above.)

Matt Cain (SF): Really rolling the dice with this deep league suggestion this week! Cain gets a home start in the always pitcher-friendly AT&T Park in Week 8. The Braves will roll into town Friday night without Freddie Freeman. At the time of this writing, Freeman only leads the team in BA (.341), HR’s (14), and RBI’s (25) so that’s not a big deal, right? Wrong! It’s a very big deal! The rest of the Braves lineup has only hit 24 HR’s so without Freeman in the lineup for the next 10 weeks, Atlanta could be in trouble. Cain’s home/road splits are listed below:

He’s a significantly better performer at AT&T Park and Atlanta could struggle mightily without their best player in the lineup. Cain should be streamed in all deeper league formats.

Dan Straily (MIA): It’s painful to include Straily in this piece, but eventually you have to give credit when credit is due. Straily has given up 4 hits or fewer in each of his last 7 starts, which is a franchise record. Over his last 7 outings his 9.08 K/9 rate is slightly inflated due to his 14-strikeout performance against San Diego a few weeks back. Straily gets a home start next week against the Angels. Below are Straily’s home/road splits:

Straily at home could become the new Chatwood on the Road. The Angels average just 3.25 runs per game on the road and boast a slash line of .222/.292/.335 on the road. Mike Trout seems to be hitting Yabo’s every game, but the rest of the lineup isn’t faring as well. Straily is a solid option in deeper formats in Week 8.

J.C. Ramirez (LAA): Ramirez gets two starts next week, both on the road against Tampa and Miami. He boasts a 5.12 ERA on the road this year, but his 3.76 FIP suggests he’s had some rough luck. Ramirez could be a sneaky streaming option in deeper leagues because of Tampa’s strikeout potential. As noted previously the Rays strike out 10.5 times per game and this is a good opportunity for Ramirez to get back on track with his strikeouts as he has only has 6 in his last 14 innings of work, after racking up 33 in his first 33.2 innings of work. Ramirez has a nice fastball that sits comfortably at 95-96 mph so he’s an interesting option in deeper points leagues especially.

Jimmy Nelson (MIL): Nelson, like Anderson, gets a home start against the Diamondbacks next week. So all the road stats for the DBacks and the fact they’ll be without Pollock can be applied for Nelson’s argument as well. Nelson has struck out 16 over his last 12.2 innings of work. Nelson’s not as favorable as Straily and Cain, but in deeper leagues he’s an okay option. Over his last two starts he has a 85.7% strikeout rate with two strikes (league AVG: 64.7%). He’s been particularly good against left-handed hitters with opponents having a .045 OBP over the last 2 weeks. This could diminish Goldschmidt’s value as Blanco, Peralta, and Lamb have been hitting towards the top of the order in Pollock’s absence and those three are lefties. Despite the recent success, tread carefully with Nelson. He has decent speed with his fastball, but he’s a bit of a streaky player and should only be used in NL Only, and deeper leagues.

Follow Dan Malin on Twitter (@RealDANlanta) for any questions regarding streamers during the week.