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:

Monday, April 11, 2016

Brandon Finnegan CIN @ CHC Jon Lester

Shane Greene DET vs PIT Jonathan Niese

I am not sure how much I value the rookie Finnegan, but his first outing of the season he looked sharp. He only handed out one free pass, an issue that has dragged down his prospects up to this point in his career. The lefty does have great strikeout potential, though, and while I am not high on his team overall, if he can keep the ball in the zone, and rack up Ks at something near a strikeout per inning, he is intriguing if you need a spot starter.

Greene had a truly disastrous 2015 after joining the Tigers from the Yankees. He underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in August, and has looked healthy this spring. He generates a ton of groundballs, and has a good if not great defense behind him. If his sinker and slider are working, he will be an attractive wire pickup as he is owned in under 25 percent of leagues currently.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Hector Santiago LAA @ OAK Kendall Graveman

It has seemed like Santiago has been around for much longer than six years, but the 28-year-old southpaw is still young enough to hold promise as a useful starting pitcher for fantasy teams. He has always flashed good strikeout potential, but his lack of control and his tendency to allow fly balls has limited his productivity. Pitching in Oakland will help with the fly balls, but beware of how the walks mount in his starts and the eventual damage to his WHIP.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

A.J. Griffin TEX @SEA Taijuan Walker

Griffin might not have a secure slot in the Texas rotation, with Yu Darvish due back sometime in May and Chi Chi Gonzalez waiting in the minors for a chance to rejoin the starting staff. He is working his way back after missing all of 2014 and most of 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has never been a hard throwing SP, relying more on his control to produce on the mound. The injury recovery makes him something of a wild card, but he did win a rotation spot out of spring, and is a potentially appealing option for a spot start if you need some innings and decent peripherals.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Ross Stripling LAD vs ARI Robbie Ray

Robbie Ray ARI @ LAD Ross Stripling

It is hard not to recommend a starting pitcher that was tossing a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his 2016 debut with his team's rotation. Do we expect such mastery to continue? Certainly not, but he does get the Diamondbacks at home instead of on the road, and while I do not like the four walks he issued against the Giants, he is well worth taking a shot on this week.

In the other dugout, Robbie Ray heads to the mound in LA with his control issues still a concern. He has strikeout capabilities, but tends to put too many runners on base to be consistently effective. He is coming off a quality start, however, and is an intriguing waiver wire pick up.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Jimmy Nelson MIL @PIT Jeff Locke

Jeremy Hellickson PHI vs WAS Joe Ross

Bartolo Colon NYM @ CLE Cody Anderson

Nelson was capable and efficient in his first start, not walking batters which has been a major issue holding him back from being a useful starting pitcher on a regular basis. He offers average strikeout potential, so if he has suddenly found his control, he could be a cheap wire pickup. You might want to wait a couple more starts, however, to make certain he will not be as free with the walks as he has been over the past few seasons.

Hellickson is now pitching on a rebuilding team, and that will limit his attractiveness to fantasy owners. He was extremely sharp in his first start against the Reds, striking out six and not walking a batter. He is going to suffer from lack of offense behind him, and the bullpen is mess, so victories and/or quality starts will be limited in 2016. His groundball tendencies will play well at his home park, and while it is clear that Washington has a better overall team than Philly, Hellboy has the skills to succeed, at least as far as his peripherals if not in the win column.

Colon and Anderson face off against one another in Cleveland on Friday, and both offer intriguing streaming options. Colon is coming off a seven strikeout effort against the Phillies in his first start, and while Cleveland is not necessarily as easy an opponent, there is no reason not to believe that BFBC can continue to contribute at the back end of the Mets rotation. He will probably settle in around a 4.00 ERA and will certainly not keep striking out hitters at a 9 K/9 rate (look for that ratio to drop below league average soon enough), but he is an intriguing. low-ownership pick up early in the season. Anderson has disappointed with less than mediocre strikeout numbers in the majors, but he is also throwing at increased velocity this season, so there is hope that he will improve his swing-and-miss skills. He could be poised to bust out this season, and at 18 percent owned, this is a prime time to take advantage of his availability.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Chris Young KC @OAK Chris Bassitt

Bud Norris ATL @MIA Tom Koehler

Young was effective for the Royals out of the bullpen and as a starter last season in their march to the World Series championship. He is not an exciting option to snag off the wire, as he does not offer much in the way of Ks, and his control inflates his peripherals. His 4.59 FIP and .221 BABIP in 2015 both hint that he was lucky last season. Does that mean he cannot be lucky again? No, but pick and choose where to employ his services. Pitching in Oakland is just such an opportunity to use him as a spot starter.

Norris has moved on to the Braves, his fourth team in a eight-year MLB career, and despite getting tagged with the loss against the Nationals in his first start, he did pitch well. He will give his owner average to slightly better than league average K numbers, and has good control. Atlanta is going to win some games this season, and while Miami's park does not figure to affect the groundball inducer all that much, it cannot hurt, either.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Tyler Chatwood COL @CHC Jon Lester

Chatwood gets to pitch away from Coors Field, which is generally a good thing for most Colorado pitchers (or opposing pitchers, for that matter), even with the changes to the park that have been implemented, including the higher outfield walls. Pitching at Wrigley Field can be almost as bad as taking the mound in Denver, but things are generally in favor of pitchers in the early part of the season on the north side of Chicago. Chatwood will not generate a boatload of strikeouts (his MLB K/9 rate is a pitiful 5.3), and he is coming off a second TJS, both of which are red flags. He could wear out as the season progresses, so this is the time to grab him for some early season starts.

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.