2018 Fantasy Baseball SP Streamers: Week 17

Ten-Team Leagues

Sonny Gray (NYY) – Up until July 6^th Gray had carried a 5.85 ERA on the year with a 4.04 BB/9 and opponents had a .332 BABIP against him. He was particularly awful at home where he had four straight starts giving up at least four earned runs in each start. However, over his last three trips to the hill he’s allowed just two earned runs in 16.1 innings of work while amassing 19 strikeouts. He has a 1.10 ERA over that span and there still may be some regression in line for him based off the 2.92 FIP and 3.53 xFIP. He’s still only inducing a 10% swinging strike rate over that span, but he does get to face the Orioles next week. In his last start against Baltimore on July 11^th, Gray lasted six innings of shutout ball after striking out eight hitters. There’s still some slight concern because the start comes at home where Gray has had some awful struggles as previously mentioned. But he’s been performing at a higher level and gets a really good matchup worth streaming.

Andrew Heaney (LAA) – Heaney has had himself a very nice month. Since July 3^rd he has a 2.88 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 34.1 innings of work. He’s induced a 13.5% swinging strike rate and he’s done this all against the Mariners, Astros, and Dodgers. He did give up two home runs Friday night and most of the damage came towards the end of his start. Still, he was pretty efficient lasting eight innings and throwing only 81 pitches. Heaney’s lone start next week comes against Tampa Bay in Tropicana Field so there’s a decent park upgrade and the matchup isn’t terrible either. It shouldn’t be too difficult for Heaney to earn your fantasy team a quality start during the next scoring period.

Jon Gray (COL) – Gray was sent to the minors at the end of June with a 5.77 ERA, but it was obvious there was serious positive regression in the forecast for him. After all he did have a 3.14 FIP and a 2.85 xFIP. Even at this time he was generating a decent amount of swinging strikes at 13.4%, but his strand rate was pretty terrible at 63.1% and opponents had a .386 BABIP off him. So Colorado sent him down so he could correct his stuff. Since coming back he’s made two home starts against Seattle and Houston, two respectable offenses. In those two starts he lasted a total of 14.1 innings, giving up just two earned runs and collecting 12 strikeouts to just three walks. He also didn’t allow a home run in hitter-friendly Coors Field. Gray gets two starts next week on the road in St. Louis and then in Milwaukee to finish out the week. There’s no doubt there is some concern about the opposing offenses, but the silver lining lies in the fact he’s not pitching at home and he’s been doing much better.

Anibal Sánchez (ATL) – Sanchez, like Gray, will be a two-start pitcher next week with better matchups. The first will come at home against the Marlins and the second will be on the road against the Mets. Sanchez is coming off two fairly rough outings but he’s still in play with two great matchups next week. He’s a mediocre source of strikeouts (8.54 K/9), but in 13 appearances he has logged seven quality starts. Plus the Marlins are slashing just .245/.312/.369 on the season and the Mets aren’t doing much better at .229/.309/.380 so there’s plenty of confidence heading in to his next two starts.

12-Team Leagues

Dereck Rodriguez (SF) – Rodriguez is no stranger to the streamers article as he’s been a frequent guest in the deeper league section. However, his ownership is slowly on the rise so he merits acknowledgement in the 12-team section. He’ll never wow you with the strikeout numbers as has been mentioned previously. But in nine starts this season he’s only had one bad outing and that was back in early June against the Nationals. In seven of those nine starts he’s allowed two earned runs or less. He’s also pretty good at keeping the ball in the park, which may be a by-product of the confines he pitches in with a 0.61 HR/9. Most pitchers that take the mound on a Tuesday will also get a second start the following Sunday, but the Giants schedule is a little odd next week and Rodriguez is limited to just a Tuesday start, but it comes in Petco Park against the Padres. While the Padres have benefitted from getting Wil Myers ’ bat back in the lineup they’ve still scored just 392 runs (third-fewest in the league) in 106 games.

Jake Odorizzi (MIN) – After a bit of a rough stretch in early-to-mid June, Odorizzi has bounced back over his last five starts. He has a 2.63 ERA (2.91 FIP) over his last 27.1 innings of work and he’s yielded just two home runs and tallied 33 strikeouts. He draws the Royals at home next Friday night and in his last appearance against Kansas City on July 22^nd he generated 22 swinging strikes. It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility to see a dominant repeat performance next week.

Félix Hernández (SEA) – King Felix is far from the pitcher he was in the past, but he’s still serviceable as a streaming option from time to time. After all he twirled a couple gems in back-to-back starts against the Red Sox and Yankees in June. Overall in his last six starts he has a 3.82 ERA (4.22 FIP), and he’s collected 30 strikeouts and eight walks. The long ball has been an issue as he’s surrendered a home run in each of his last four starts, but he hosts the Blue Jays next Thursday in Safeco Field. Toronto isn’t necessarily a pushover, but Hernandez can possibly earn you a quality start in this matchup.

Deeper League Options

Marco Estrada (TOR) – Estrada’s first start off the DL will be worth monitoring because it may provide some confidence for his start next week against Seattle. Estrada hasn’t been stellar by any means this season and he’s coming back from an injury. Not to mention he left his final rehab start early due to a blister this past Tuesday. So his progress in Sunday’s start against the White Sox will be worth monitoring. The reasoning behind suggesting him against Seattle is that the Mariners offense has gone a bit cold as of late. In July, Seattle has scored just 57 runs, which is by far the least in the league. The next closest is Baltimore with 73 runs. Additionally, Seattle has a .641 OPS as a team this month so it’s a good time to target their fledgling offense.

Mike Fiers (DET) – Fiers managed to lower his ERA on the season to 3.54 as he recorded his sixth straight quality start Friday night in a no decision effort against Cleveland. He’s not a great source of strikeouts, but he can get five or six on a good night. The nice thing about Fiers is that he’s allowed just eight walks in his last 39.1 innings of work and he’s allowed just four home runs over that span as well, with two of them coming last night against Cleveland. Next week Fiers takes the bump against Cincinnati and the Reds are no pushover against right-handed pitching or on the road, but Fiers is in play in your deeper league based on recent performance.

German Marquez (COL) – This is equivalent to last season’s “Desperation Play of the Week” section that I used to incorporate in this article. It’s not even that terrible of a call either. Marquez is astronomically better on the road than at home. Check out the splits:

Now his road matchup next week does come in Milwaukee against the Brew Crew. It’s a good offense in a hitter-friendly environment so there’s still danger. However, there’s no denying his comfort playing away from Coors Field and while he may be pitching in another one of the beer-sponsored parks, I expect him to be stone cold sober and give the Brewers fits.