If you play in a Head-to-Head league, it sometimes behooves you to add and drop starting pitchers to try to make up for a horrible start from one of your primary starting pitchers, or just to pick up the necessary innings in a league that imposes minimum inning limits in a scoring period. Nothing worse than winning the pitching categories only to wind up with a big fat goose egg because you did not collect enough innings to qualify for a specific week.
Streaming is not always viewed kindly in fantasy circles, and some leagues take steps to prohibit or at least discourage the practice of picking up a starting pitcher for one or two starts, then tossing him back onto the waiver wire. If you have a weaker starting rotation in place, or suffer from injuries, lack of performance or the dreaded minor league demotion, you may not have any choice if you want to remain competitive.
If you are willing to take the chance with lesser owned starters, and the possibility that your wire pickups will further damage your fantasy stats in the current scoring period, however, these weekly articles that we are publishing on Sundays should help you sort through the chaff and perhaps hopefully find a gem or two to toss out in your daily lineup to help propel you towards the championship.
Realize that these pitchers are all owned in 50 percent or less of leagues. and thus may be available in your league on the waiver wire. I am only going to highlight those pitchers that I believe can provide a boost to your rotation, so no bottom-of-the-barrel SPs will be brought to your attention. Also, please understand that this set of pitchers is being assembled early before the next scoring period (in most leagues, at least) commences, and weather, injury, demotions or crazy managerial decisions can interfere with our well-laid plans, so be ready to adjust if you can make daily lineup adjustments.
Here are the recommended streaming options for this week:
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Monday, April 18, 2016
Chase Anderson MIL @ MIN Phil Hughes
Hector Santiago LAA @ CHW Carlos Rodon
Anderson saw an error lead to three unearned runs in the first inning of his last start, but then he settled down to pitch shutout ball through the balance of his six inning outing. He is just an average strikeout producer, but does exhibit good control, and is a moderate groundball inducer. The matchup against the struggling Twins and the hittable Hughes make him a decent streaming option.
Santiago has been pitching well, with a 1.02 WHIP over three starts, but does not have any results to show for the effort. He has a 10:3 K/BB ratio over his 13.2 innings, but the 5.25 FIP hints that he is lucky that he has not been tagged with any losses yet this season. A moderate groundball producer, he will need to limit the fly balls when he takes the mound in Chicago. The White Sox are in the bottom third of AL offenses, and that makes Santiago one of the two SPs I would recommend on Monday.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Shane Greene DET @ KC Yordano Ventura
Robbie Ray ARI @ SF Matt Cain
Greene had a good start to his 2015 season, but an injury and resulting surgery to remove a blood clot derailed his first season in Detroit. He won a rotation spot with a strong spring, and while he faces the reigning champs on the road in this matchup, he is generally a good source of Ks, and KC is in the middle of the AL with regard to strikeouts this early season. Detroit has a powerful offense and while Ventura is a tough pitcher, so is Greene when he is on top of his game.
Ray is a former Tiger who is coming into his own in Arizona. He still has problems harnessing his control, and it looks to be worse starting this season, but that can be corrected. He should also start to rack up Ks at a better rate, as he is not a below league average strikeout artist. His mound opponent, Cain, is looking quite mortal these days and pitching in San Francisco should help Ray out this start.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Bartolo Colon NYM @ PHI Jeremy Hellickson
Chad Bettis COL @ CIN Tim Melville
Kendall Graveman OAK @ NYY Nathan Eovaldi
I certainly did not expect to be writing with a suggestion to start Colon in 2016, but the ageless wonder keeps putting up the numbers for the Mets and his fantasy owners. In hs two starts, he has 13 strikeouts, and only one walk. Dominance, control and command are a fine set of tools for a SP. Will he struggle at some point this season? To be certain, but right now is the time to plug him in your rotation, especially against the lackluster Philadelphia offense, which is sitting deal last in the NL and 28th overall in the majors.
Bettis gets to pitch away from Coors, but heading to Cincy is not necessarily that much of an improvement for a pitcher. Plus, the Reds are playing .500 baseball early on, and hitting well. So why stream Bettis? True, he is inconsistent, but also has two victories and is backed by a fine offense. He also sports a sub-3 ERA over 18.1 innings and should start generating more groundballs, as has been his tendency during his career with the Rockies.
Graveman does not generate many strikeouts, and thus has to rely on his control and force hitters to drive the ball into the ground. He has been effective at those aspects of his game so far this season, and he will need to keep the ball in the park to have a chance to pick up a win on the road in New York. If you need Ks from your pitching staff, look elsewhere, but if peripheral stats excite you, Graveman is a decent option. Plus, I generally trust any pitcher that Billy Beane targets for his team’s starting staff.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Jeff Locke PIT @ SD James Shields
Only one option that I can recommend for Thursday, and that I do with some reluctance. Locke worked on changing his delivery, simplifying it, this spring. He is still working out the kinks, however, as seen by his lack of command and control (he currently sports a 5:9 K/BB ratio over 10.2 innings this season). Pitching at Petco should help him out, and his offense should provide him with good backing, especially with Shields having issues with his control early on in 2016.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Jonathan Niese PIT @ ARI Patrick Corbin
Nick Tropeano LAA vs SEA Felix Hernandez
Chase Anderson MIL vs PHI Aaron Nola
Neise moved to Pittsburgh and arguably the top pitching coach in the majors, Ray Searage. Those moves should help him revive his career, after having a down 2015 with the Mets. Nothing will suddenly turn him into a high strikeout pitcher, of course, but he has tended to rely on his ability to get groundballs from opposing batters, which keeps the ball in the park, and effective control. His grounder-inducing skills will be on call on the road in Arizona, but it would help if his offense were to rouse themselves from their early season slumber.
Tropeano gets to face Seattle at home, so despite facing King Felix, he has a chance to continue his successful addition to the rotation. He is benefitting from Andrew Heaney’s forearm injury, and five innings of shutout ball in his first start was impressive. He is a source of Ks, and has been a control pitcher in his career, so the skills are there to take advantage of while he remains in the Angel rotation.
I talked about Anderson in the Monday entry above, and will not rehash those comments. Pitching against Philly should be a nice experience for most starting pitchers this season, as they rebuild and see what their young players can do for them. Of course, Milwaukee is also retooling this season, and Nola is a tough opponent. Still, if you need a SP to stream, Anderson with his moderate groundball tendencies is a decent option at Philly.
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Robbie Erlin SD vs StL Michael Wacha
Hector Santiago LAA vs SEA Hisashi Iwakuma
Erlin was extremely sharp in his first start this season, holding the Phillies to one earned run on four hits and two walks. He also struck out seven and posts a 0.93 ERA and 0.62 WHIP. Both of those peripherals will regress, naturally, and the Ks will normalize, too. He will keep the ball in the park, and on the ground, however, making him an effective if not overly exciting SP. Getting the Cards and Wacha at home is definitely a plus in this matchup.
Santiago is a two-start pitcher this week, and you can glance up above in the Monday entry to learn more about the southpaw. He gets to take on Seattle at home, and his home splits last year indicate that to be a good thing. Seattle is a middle of the pack team when it comes to striking out, but Santiago should improve on his early mediocre K numbers as the season goes forward, and as noted a couple of lines above, he was a much better pitcher in LA last season than on the road.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Robbie Ray ARI vs PIT TBA
Shane Greene DET vs CLE Carlos Carrasco
You can look up at Tuesday’s streaming options to see what I think of these two starting pitchers. We do not know who will taking the hill against Ray on Sunday, and Greene gets to pitch opposite the hard-throwing Carrasco, so these two options are not slam dunk certainties. Of course, if you are streaming pitchers, noting is a certainty for your team. These two pitchers are the best of the bunch to wind up the week, though of the two I prefer Greene.
I enjoy responding to reader questions, so feel free to post. If you do not want your comments to appear in this public forum (if say your league members also read these articles), then feel free to contact me at ia@fantasyalarm.com for a more private response. I play in a ton of fantasy leagues, and am willing to discuss any baseball issues you may want to raise, not just starting pitching issues. As ever, good luck and Godspeed in your fantasy endeavors.