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, May 2, 2016
A.J. Griffin TEX @ TOR R.A. Dickey
Nate Karns SEA @ OAK Kendall Graveman
I am a big supporter of Griffin this season, and while he is not going to provide a lot of Ks, he has three off-speed pitches (changeup, slider, curve) working to offset his 88 MPH fastball. He generates a lot of weak contact, as witnessed by his .219 BABIP, and some regression to the mean is undoubtedly in store. I would prefer if he were pitching at home instead of in Toronto, but you take what you can get when you stream pitchers.
Karns, unlike Griffin, is not a starting pitcher I was high on going into the season. He has problems harnessing his control, and a 24:12 K/BB ratio is nothing exciting. He is coming off a good start against the Astros, holding them to just two hits and no runs over seven innings. He has been roughed up in two of his four starts, so if the trend continues, you might want to take a pass on him pitching in Oakland. The matchup has the potential to generate a decent stat line for Karns, however, and the venue is pitcher friendly.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Josh Tomlin CLE vs DET Justin Verlander
Tomlin is 3-0 on the 2016 season, but you take a chance if you rely on him as one of your primary starting pitchers. He does not have the velocity on his fastball to generate a bunch of Ks but as long is his control and command are in evidence, he is useful as a back of the rotation SP. He has a 11:2 K/BB ratio on the season over 17 innings, and when his command is absent, he can get lit up by opposing hitters. Facing the Tigers could be one of those occasions, but the Detroit offense has been spotty at times, and Tomlin does get to pitch at home in this matchup, and he has been much more successful in Cleveland than on the road last season and so far this year, too.
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Rubby De La Rosa ARI @ MIA Jose Fernandez
Tyler Chatwood COL @ SD Cesar Vargas
De la Rosa is coming off a pair of dominant starts, posting a 16:3 K/BB ratio over 13 innings. He is the type of SP that teases owners with a stretch of powerful pitching, then it all blows up in our faces when he gets rocked. The idea to jump in when he is pitching well, and depart at the first signs of any struggles on the mound. Facing the Marlins in Miami makes for a good matchup, even with him facing the ace of the Miami staff, Senor Fernandez.
Chatwood is much more intriguing with a game on the road in San Diego. Even with the changes to Petco Park, it is preferable to have your SP pitching in southern California than in Colorado. Chatwood has been superb on the road, having allowed only one earned run over 19.2 innings. He is not a good source of Ks, but he has excellent control and generates a ton of groundballs, both of which, when coupled with his road dominance, make him useful on Wednesday.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Derek Holland TEX @ TOR J.A. Happ
Holland has been silencing opposing bats with efficiency this season, posting a tasty 2.48 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over his five starts covering 29 innings. Of course, if you are searching for Ks, you need to look elsewhere, as he has struck out just 18 on the season to go against his 8 walks allowed. A 78.6 percent strand rate and .239 BABIP indicate that an adjustment is coming, but he finally seems healthy and is pitching effectively and efficiently through April. Plus, there is nothing much else available for streaming purposes on Thursday.
Friday, May 6, 2016
Chad Bettis COL @ SF Madison Bumgarner
Jesse Hahn OAK @ BAL Kevin Gausman
It feels odd to be recommending two Rockie SPs in a week, but with the team on the road, some of the risk is alleviated, especially at AT&T Park, which is playing as an extremely favorable stadium for pitchers. Bumgarner is a tough opponent in this matchup, but the park factor plays strong in favor of Bettis. Bettis had been coming off three consecutive quality starts before he had problems with his endurance in his last start against Pittsburgh. If the team uses him properly, by not over-extending his pitch count, he is a good option on the road.
Hahn was pitching successfully at Triple-A before his recent call up to Oakland. He had posted a 2.14 ERA in four games with Nashville, and followed that up with a three hit, 6.2 inning outing against the Astros. He has shown the potential to miss bats in the minors, but you should not expect him to provide much more than league-average Ks with Oakland. He does have to face a tough opponent in the form of the Orioles, on the road, but as I have said many times before, if Billy Beane likes a pitcher, I will give him a run in my rotation, as well.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
A.J. Griffin TEX @ DET Mike Pelfrey
Nate Karns SEA @ HOU Dallas Keuchel
I wrote about both these starters up above, and you can go take a peek at what I said about them in the Monday entry. Comerica Park is a good stadium for pitchers, even with the offense that Detroit can generate. Griffin's ability to change speeds with his off-speed stuff should also help him calm down the Tiger bats.
Minute Maid Park is playing much more favorable to pitchers this season, and the Astros ace, Dallas Keuchel has been struggling through the first month of the season. That makes Karns an intriguing streaming option, especially with him handling Houston well in his last start in April.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Justin Nicolino MIA vs PHI Aaron Nola
Josh Tomlin CLE vs KC Edinson Volquez
Before you think about adding Nicolino, you may want to check out how he fared earlier in the week against the Diamondbacks. If he has a successful second start to follow up his initial victory against the Dodgers, he may be worth a look-see. Of course, his lack of K potential is not exactly enticing, and the Phillies have been playing better than most expected this season. Use Nicolino only if you must have another start this scoring period.
Tomlin was analyzed up above in Tuesday's entry, and obviously nothing has changed since that was written. Tomlin's home/road splits last season do not inspire a ton of confidence, but if he can keep the ball in the park and on the ground, he should be able to continue his early season success against the Royals.
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.