RADIO
How about that Germany-Brazil game? Talk about a beatdown. In terms of surprising defeats in international sports history, it would rank second behind Rocky knocking out Drago in the fifteenth round. Watching the fans’ reactions in Brazil eerily reminded me of the Soviet Politburo accepting the inevitable after Rocky’s improbable victory over the 6'5'', 261-pound Drago. Anyway, on to baseball.
Below are some of the starting pitcher streaming sleepers for the second half of Week 15 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. This last weekend before the All-Star break is rather interesting as Saturday is stacked with streaming options while the other days offer somewhat worse matchups.
Thursday SP Streamers
Edinson Volquez (PIT at STL)
Ownership: 11% Yahoo!, 7% ESPN
Volquez has pitched extremely well over his past eight starts. The Pirates dropped the first three against the Cardinals, and if you’re a firm believer in the law of averages, then you have faith in them at least salvaging the final game in the series. Just be aware that the current Red Birds on the roster have tagged Volquez pretty well with a .278/.361/.456 slash line.
MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream
Jose Quintana (CHW at BOS)
Ownership: 48% Yahoo!, 36% ESPN
You’ll notice a theme developing in today’s article. It’s called “take advantage of the Boston mess,” and Quintana will play a prominent role. Boston has been absolutely reeling for quite some time now, especially against right-handers.
They’ve struggled to create runs and have a higher than average K-rate over the last two weeks. Though Quintana’s numbers have been somewhat erratic at times, he should have no problem going 6-7 IP while flirting with double-digit strikeouts.
MATCHUP RATING: Must Stream
Friday SP Streamers
Danny Duffy (KC vs. DET)
Ownership: 33% Yahoo!, 21% ESPN
Duff-Man has been pretty good taking over in the rotation, but he’ll have an extremely tough matchup against the team that hits lefties the hardest. His 2.10 K/BB rate is rather pedestrian, and I haven’t been able to figure out how he’s been able to maintain his low .235 BABIP. That seems rather lucky.
MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream
Scott Feldman (HOU vs. BOS)
Ownership: 10% Yahoo!, ESPN 3%
I’m going against my own law-of-averages advice in selecting two straight streamers against a team, but Boston really has been that bad recently. Feldman has low BB and K rates while allowing his share of hits. He more than likely won’t pile up the sexy fantasy numbers, and he could well give up an extra run or two.
MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream
Saturday SP Streamers
Wade Miley (ARI at SF)
Ownership: 16% Yahoo!, 10% ESPN
With the exception of HR allowed, Miley has actually pitched pretty well. Miley owns a solid 3.26 K/BB rate and is holding hitters to a .248 BAA. Meanwhile, San Francisco has been utterly terrible offensively over the last two weeks, even more so than the Red Sox.
Over the last 14 days, the Giants own last place in a ton of offensive categories: .200 BA, .258 OBP, .302 SLG, .561 OPS and every run-creation stat. Miley is averaging 1.28 HR/9, but AT&T Park isn’t exactly Chase Field.
MATCHUP RATING: Must Stream
Daisuke Matsuzaka (NYM vs. MIA)
Ownership: 5% Yahoo!, 1% ESPN
He’s holding opponents to a .197 BAA but his WHIP is 1.32. That means that Dice-K is allowing a high number of runners reach base via the free pass (14.3% BB rate). Although Miami is reeling, they’ve hit Dice-K well, and if he is already allowing walks, the Marlins very well could take advantage of a lot of runners on base.
MATCHUP RATING: Desperate Stream
Drew Hutchison (TOR at TB)
Ownership: 22% Yahoo!, 6% ESPN
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hutch is beginning to come apart somewhat on the road after a couple of shaky outings. I expect him to bounce back in favorable Tropicana Field against a Rays squad that struggles to score runs against righties. Expect mid-to-high strikeouts and a lot of fly ball outs.
MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream
Sunday SP Streamers
Jake Odorizzi (TB vs. TOR)
Ownership: 22% Yahoo!, 11% ESPN
If you need nothing but strikeouts on Sunday, then Odorizzi is your guy. He owns a 37.5% K rate against current Jays, and that includes Edwin Encarnacion. Since he’s on the DL, you can remove Encarnacion from the math, and the K rate becomes 46.2%. That’s pretty not bad. Even without Encarnacion, the Blue Jays offense is potent, but it seems much less lethal.
MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream
Chase Anderson (ARI at SF)
Ownership: 7% Yahoo!, 3% ESPN
Miley and Anderson have been almost carbon copies of each other. It’s pretty unreal. I could just copy and paste what I wrote for Miley, but that would just be lazy. Anderson has been a little better, despite allowing more homers. Considering that the Giants have struggled to cross the plate and even getting a runner on base has been difficult, Anderson should put up one of his best starts of the season.
MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream
