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What’s not to love about Madison Bumgarner? The guy rolls out World Series wins, dominates on the mound in the playoffs, and drives a pickup truck like he’s still living in the mountains of North Carolina. On Sunday, Bumgarner absolutely destroyed a pitch into the left-field bleachers for his second homerun of the season. His “newspaper” sure is swatting these days.
Speaking of pitchers that can hit, Steven Matz, in his Major League debut, went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs to help his cause. He also threw a solid seven and two-thirds innings for his first Major League win. Dude did it without batting gloves, too. I love hitters that go without batting gloves, and he’s a pitcher.
Below are some of my starting pitcher streamer sleepers for the first half of Week 13 to consider adding off your league’s waiver wire. Some of these SP options can be considered sleepers for your team depending on the league format and depth, including NL-Only, AL-Only and head-to-head formats.
Monday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Jimmy Nelson (MIL at PHI) – Ownership: 14% Yahoo!, 12% Fleaflicker
What started out as a season in which Nelson could possibly average a strikeout an inning has since bungled down to trying to figure out when he won’t give up six earned in a start. In all fairness he has been mostly solid at home. However, Nelson on the road is extremely suspect. He is walking over 11% of all batter and is giving up a .333 BABIP. Both of those numbers don’t bode well against a poor Philadelphia offense that can at least make contact.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Cody Anderson (CLE at TB) – Ownership: 6% Yahoo!, 6% FLeaflicker
Anderson posted solid numbers in both Double-A and Triple-A this season and that translated into a solid first outing against…the Rays. Last week he went 7.2 innings giving up six hits, one walk and striking out four in a no-decision. As long as he puts up comparable numbers against an anemic Rays squad in a strong pitcher’s park, there should be no problems for his owners.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Mike Pelfrey (MIN at CIN) – Ownership: 17% Yahoo!, 13% Fleaflicker
Normally I wouldn’t put too much stock in teams hitting better at home than on the road, but the Reds are the exception to that role. They clearly love hitting at Great American Ballpark as they have put up some solid home numbers to reach a wRC+ of 109. Pelfrey hasn’t been terrible on the year, but his low strikeout numbers combined with his 4.06 FIP means that his 7.4% HR/FB rate could really take a hit.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Tuesday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Taylor Jungmann (MIL at PHI) – Ownership: 3% Yahoo!, 4% Fleaflicker
When in doubt, roll out a pitcher against the Phillies. Philadelphia is last in OBP, SLG, BABIP and wRC+ when facing righties. Jungmann has been solid in his four starts. He is 2-1 with 19 K, 7 ER, and 22 hits allowed in 23 IP. His only down side is that he is seemingly on a pitch count with the Brewers so his owners should not expect more than six innings.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Marco Estrada (TOR v. BOS) – Ownership: 31% Yahoo!, 21% Fleaflicker
Estrada has now flirted with a no-no in two straight starts and is starting to cement his role as a legit one or two starter in the Jays rotation. At 31 years of age, Estrada seems to be getting in to a groove that we all thought was possible when he was drafted in 2005. Even if the Red Sox give him some fits, which they may not since they are dealing with some health problems, Toronto is sure to score a boatload of runs and give Estrada some solid run support for the win.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Kyle Hendricks (CHC at NYM) – Ownership: 13% Yahoo!, 10% Fleaflicker
Hendricks has been torched in his last two starts against both the Twins and the Dodgers. Clearly there are more red flags in the former more than the latter, so streaming owners should think hard about if they want to start Hendricks every five days. That being said, he won’t have as many problems against the anemic Mets, who have won three straight and will be due for a loss on Tuesday. The Rotoballer Matchup Rating slates Hendricks at a green 105. Go for green.
Matchup Rating: Must Stream
Andrew Heaney (LAA v. NYY) – Ownership: 5% Yahoo!, 5% Fleaflicker
Despite scoring a fourth-most 108 runs against lefties, the Yankees only own a .249 AVG, good enough for 18th in the big leagues. The former Marlin was torched last season but he seems to have improved his command in the minors en route to an FIP of 3.08. He should present some cheap value with a smattering of runs allowed.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Wednesday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Chad Bettis (COL @ OAK) – Ownership: 7% Yahoo!, 11% Fleaflicker
There’s no reason to think Bettis will have any type of a solid outing against Oakland. The best hitters on the A’s are on the left side of the plate and have done a good job of leading Oakland to a sixth-best weighted run creation against right-handed pitchers. Bettis has been successful against some solid offenses, but his luck may run out on Wednesday.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Aaron Harang (PHI v. MIL) – Ownership: 37% Yahoo!, 30% Fleaflicker
This has disaster written all over this start, doesn’t it? Harang has looked lost for most of the season and he has given up at least four earned runs in his last five starts. Milwaukee sports a wRC+ of 82 against right-handed pitchers, so at least something has to give on Wednesday.
Matchup Rating: Desperate Stream
Robbie Ray (ARI v. LAD) – Ownership: 9% Yahoo!, 7% Fleaflicker
Anytime a starting pitcher toes the mound against the vaunted Los Angeles offense, then that pitcher is surely someone that a fantasy owner has to think long and hard about starting. Luckily the Dodgers are not quite as potent against southpaws and Ray has been throwing some 95 MPH gas for the Dbacks Notebook" href="http://www.rotoballer.com/mlb-fantasy-news/?team=ARI">Diamondbacks. Look for Ray to have a strong start.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
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