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This is a unique time of the year for fantasy players. The baseball season is winding down and football is coming in hot. For baseball players in the playoff race, now is a great time to take advantage of other owners that are seemingly slouching. Mondays and Tuesdays are notorious for waiver wire adds in football leagues, so baseball owners should really push to grab some needed help to stream and exploit weak matchups. We’ll be here to nudge those owners in the right direction to fly those championship banners in October.
Below are some of my starting pitcher streamer sleepers for the first half of Week 24 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 9/14 Starting Pitcher Streamers
Aaron Nola (PHI v. WAS) – Ownership: 31% Yahoo!, 18% Fleaflicker
This could go one of two ways. He either goes six or seven strong or he gets absolutely demolished within the first two innings and severely handcuffs his owners in the playoffs. Now is not the time to be playing it safe if you need to catch a team ahead of you in the standings. Go big or go home.
Matchup Rating: Desperate Stream
Logan Verrett (NYM v. MIA) – Ownership: 10% Yahoo!, 1% Fleaflicker
Of course, streaming Verrett is a much safer play and is more readily available in leagues. It is a small sample size, but Verrett has put up some solid numbers on the season. He has 26 strikeouts in 32.1 innings but has gotten a little lucky as he has held hitters to a .207 BABIP. On the plus side, cavernous Marlins Park plays nicely into his 11.8% HR/FB rate and he should get plenty of run support.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Tuesday 9/15 Starting Pitcher Streamers
J.A. Happ (PIT v. CHC) – Ownership: 45% Yahoo!, 19% Fleaflicker
Was there any more under the radar move at the trade deadline than the Pirates picking up Happ? The crafty lefty veteran is now 5-1 in a Pirates uniform. But that is only half the story of how good he has been. He has pitched in 40.1 innings with his new team and has given up only eight earned runs while striking out 33 batters. The first team he faced when he put on a Pittsburgh uniform? The Cubs. They tagged him for four earned in four innings on August 8th. Do not expect the same treatment on Tuesday.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Jhoulys Chacin (ARI v. SD) – Ownership: 1% Yahoo!, 3% Fleaflicker
He has pitched only 13.1 innings in the majors this season so it is kind of a crapshoot here. I am banking on the Padres numbers against lefties on the year. They own a 23.3% K rate, 8 wRC+, .305 OBP….in short, they are in the bottom five in nearly every offensive category.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Chris Heston (SF v. CIN) – Ownership: 36% Yahoo!, 33% Fleaflicker
Heston’s ownership numbers have steadily declined over the last couple months and I’m not quite sure of the reason. He has been fairly consistent in terms of ERA (3.55) and WHIP (1.27) but it seems owners are none too happy with his mere 11 wins. He has been very efficicent at home with a 3.33 FIP and a drastically reduced HR/9 rate. He should have a great outing against Cincinnati.
Mactchup Rating: Must Stream
Wednesday 9/16 Starting Pitcher Streamers
Danny Duffy (KC at CLE) – Ownership: 22% Yahoo!, 11% Fleaflicker
Surprisingly, the Royals have hit a bit of a funk over the last 10 days or so while the Indians are attempting to manufacture a late season push. Duffy will get the start on Wednesday in an attempt to really hold on to that overall number one seed in the AL. Despite having been roughed up a bit over the last couple season by some of the Indians’ bats, he does own great win potential as Cleveland has really struggled at times against southpaws.
Matchup Rating: Desperate Stream
Derek Holland (TEX v. HOU) – Ownership: 50% Yahoo!, 20% Fleaflicker
Another guy that owns high boom or bust potential in the early part of the week is Holland. The Astros are young enough to swing and miss at nearly everything Holland throws their way, but they are also good enough to hit five homeruns against him. Judging by Holland’s 20.7% K and 15.0% HR/FB rates, it’s a safe assumption that anything can happen.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Robbie Ray (ARI v. SD) – Ownership: 7% Yahoo!, 6% Fleaflicker
Big surprise here, right? Ray should strike out a ton of Fathers on Wednesday night but does run the risk of getting hit around. I like Ray’s stat line to go like this: 7 IP, 8 K, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 hits. I also expect to see him next week in this list yet again.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
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