Two-Start Pitchers/Pitching Streamers: Week 9

There are 32 dual start SPs to choose from this coming week. Unfortunately, better than half of those hurlers are relegated to the bottom tier, comprised of those pitchers better left on the bench or the waiver wire if you value your pitching stat line in the upcoming scoring period. There are a good number of top tier arms to employ, but a scant five to take a chance on in the middle tier. The season is winding down, and now is the time to stabilize your place in the race to claim the league championship, so decide wisely when setting up your team’s rotation.

Please realize that these articles feature most recent rotation information available when the article is written, but that circumstances do change due to weather conditions, injuries and general craziness with managers. If a pitcher listed here as having two starts ends up with one (or perhaps none) in the upcoming week, apologies but this article is meant to provide analysis, it is up to the manager to set the lineups or rotations.

Without further adieu, here are this week’s two start pitchers:

These nine SPs are the ones you should be glad are on your roster, and that you should plug in and leave be. Of these arms, Zack Greinke and Jack Flaherty have been the most suspect, but their matchups are good in Week 9, and that secures their placement among the upper tier of starters.

Corbin Burnes has now tossed three consecutive quality starts (QS), the latest a gem of a one-hitter against the Tigers where he collected 11 Ks with no walks. He has two home contests on the slate in Week 9, with the end of the week matchup against the struggling Royals. He is the real deal, and with a 1.99 ERA and 0.90 WHIP, he is providing excellent ratio stats, to go with a useful 64:19 K/BB ratio.

Dylan Cease does not provide much in the way of strikeouts with a sub-par 5.9 K/9 rate over his 46.0 IP this season, and he allows a fair number of baserunners as evidenced by his 1.30 WHIP. The good news is he is backed by a prolific offensive attack and thus sports a 5-2 record in 2020. He gets his tougher matchup against Minnesota at home, and his road start is in Cincy, not an overly daunting location to take to the hill.

Cease’s teammate Dane Dunning has the same set of opponents on tap, with the Twins coming to the South Side for their game and then a trip to the south of Ohio to face the Reds. The 25-year old rookie righthander only has four starts under his belt, but he is striking out better than a batter per inning (9.5 K/9 through 20.0 IP), although he does have some control issues that could be worked on (3.2 BB/9). His FIP and ERA are nearly identical (2.77 vs 2.70), although a .231 BABIP does hint that some adjustment may be in his future to push up that excellent ERA a titch.  

Ryan Yarbrough winds up the middle tier this week, and he has been at best inconsistent this season. Coming back from a groin issue, he did not look especially sharp facing the Nationals on the road, handing out four earned tallies over just 2.2 IP. He gets the same opponent at home in his first start of Week 9, and then gets to face the Orioles on the road, an opponent who has not been exactly beating up visitors at Camden Yards with their 10-15 record at home. He is a poor K producer but is demonstrating good control (6.1 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 through 39.2 IP), and is keeping the ball in the yard while increasing his GB/FB percentages this season. He does have the advantage of being backed by a good if not great offense with the AL East leading Rays supporting his mound efforts.

There is a full boatload of arms to avoid inserting into your fantasy rotation this week. Based on recent performance, none of these SPs are worthy of your trust, especially as we head into the final stretch of the 2020 season, such as it has been. The risk is too high with all these hurlers, despite the draw of getting a pair of starts from them. Two bad starts is twice as painful as a single poor effort, keep that in mind.

Potential Streaming Options for Week

There is no promise that each game day will provide a streaming option. First of all, the pitcher must be available in at least 50% of leagues to be a viable candidate to snag off the wire. Then, the pitchers discussed above are not included as they have a different sort of value, even though some might be available as free agents in your league. Plus, some days the matchups and/or venues just do not figure as positive enough factors to favor plugging the arm into your rotation, even for one start. That all being said, here are this week’s best streaming candidates:

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Trevor Rogers MIA vs BOS Zack Godley

The Marlins rookie southpaw has been getting more effective, stretching his starts by an inning over his three trips to the bump, lasting through six innings in his latest outing against the host Rays. He has been improving his ability to miss bats, as well as demonstrating better control of late: 12.5 K/9 through 15.0 IP, and just three walks over his last 11.0 IP after handing out five in his first start. He gets Boston at home in the Marlins’ pitcher-friendly park.

Luis García HOU vs TEX Kyle Gibson

Garcia’s first start has to be considered a success: one hit and two walks over five scoreless complete innings. He has a good matchup at home here, and the strikeout numbers should improve, as he was effective at generating whiffs in the minors.

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Griffin Canning LAA vs ARI Caleb Smith

Canning will be looking to finally gather in his first victory of the season when the Diamondbacks come to Anaheim mid-week. The Arizona offense is not intimidating, and the second-year righty has been throwing well enough generally if he can last long enough to pick up a victory soon. He is just a so-so K manufacturer with a 7.7 K/9 rate through his 39.2 IP on the season.

Keegan Akin BAL vs TB Blake Snell

 Akin has not allowed an earned run in his two starts, and he features a tempting 2.08 ERA and 1.15 WHIP to lure in potential owners, as he is owned in less than 10% of leagues on both the Yahoo and ESPN platforms. He is striking out better than a batter per inning with 15 Ks through his 13.0 IP, although he does need to work on his control (4.8 BB/9).

Friday, September 18, 2020

Tejay Antone CIN vs CHW TBD

This space recommended Antone as a streaming option in his last outing on September 6^th against the Pirates, and he delivered, yielding just a single earned run over five innings with six Ks. He does have another scheduled appearance on the hill before this contest, and taking on the powerful White Sox offense does have some downside to it, but you got to like his stingy 2.49 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, as well as his propensity to generate swings and misses as evidenced by his 11.7 K/9 through 25.1 IP.

Jaime Barria LAA vs TEX Kolby Allard

Barria was recommended here last week for his upcoming start against the Rockies at Coors Field. This matchup is slightly more favorable, at home against the last place Rangers who are 4-17 on the road in 2020. He is an average K producer with an 8.2 K/9 rate this season through 18.2 IP.

Saturday, September 19, 2020

Justin Dunn SEA vs SD Mike Clevinger

Dunn gets the Padres at home, or he would not garner a mention here. His control is awful (5.5 BB/9!) and he is a below average K option (6.8 K/9 through his 33.0 IP in 2020). He is a much better pitcher at home this season, though and in a limited slate of potential streaming options, that pushes him into contention.

Feel free also to send any starting pitching or other fantasy baseball questions to ia@fantasyalarm.com for a private response to your specific issue. The more detail you can provide about your team and league, including settings (H2H vs roto, points or categories, weekly or daily moves, roster size, league size, etc.) the better the response will be suited to your individual situation. As ever, good luck and Godspeed in all your fantasy endeavors.