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Before the season, it seemed as if the AL Central was going to be a three horse race, with an outside shot of a fourth horse playing spoiler. Most baseball pundits picked the Tigers, some went with the Royals, another fraction went with the Indians and most thought the White Sox would make some noise. Kansas City was going to compete with their pitching, specifically that stellar bullpen, while the Tigers were going to ride their stars toward the playoffs.
If there was a team that nearly everyone was unsure about in 2015, but thought highly of for 2016, it would be the Minnesota Twins. A team that had a potent offense and a somewhat average rotation with a not-so-spectacular bullpen, the Twins showed flashes of excellence during an up-and-down 2014 campaign. So it was only natural that most experts were unsure of where the team would finish.
After a quarter of the season, Minnesota has officially entered their ticket into the AL Central sweepstakes. Utilizing a prolific offense that crushes lefties and banks on timely hitting, the Twins have done just enough on the mound to catapult themselves to a 30-19 record and a half game lead in the division. It will be tough to sustain that success over the rest of the season, but those 30 wins cannot be stricken from the books. By all accounts, it appears the AL Central race is going to be a dogfight to the end.
Below are some of my starting pitcher streamer sleepers for the first half of Week 9 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
Clay Buchholz (BOS v. MIN) - Ownership: 40% Yahoo!, 31% Fleaflicker
There’s nothing quite like hyping up a team and then picking the pitcher that faces that team next to do well. For all the faults that Buchholz brings to the mound, such as his .261 BAA, he does possess a solid 24.1% K rate and a respectable 3.06 FIP. For as good as the offense has been this season, Minnesota is 25th in runs scored and second-to-last in team batting average on the road.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Jaime Garcia (STL v. MIL) - Ownership: 14% Yahoo!, 9% Fleaflicker
The ground ball has been Garcia’s friend so far this season as he has induced it on a stellar 63.2% of batted balls. Though a strong portion of his batted ground balls have been considered “hard contact,” having the Cardinals’ defense behind him has been quite beneficial for Garcia. Milwaukee will enter the game with a putrid 66 wRC+ against southpaws with 48% of all those batted balls going for grounders.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Alex Colome (TB at LAA) - Ownership: 4% Yahoo!, 5% Fleaflicker
Raise your hand if you know which team is last in wOBA and second-to-last in weighted run creation? Give up? If you said the Angels then congratulations. Surprising, isn’t it? Those low numbers for the Angels will improve over the season but you can’t help but utilize that info in for a cheap streaming option in Colome in the deepest of leagues.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Tuesday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Mike Leake (CIN at PHI) - Ownership: 34% Yahoo!, 20% Fleaflicker
In terms of pitchers that have looked really bad and have greatly regressed, Leake is probably the frontrunner in the National League. Leake owns worse numbers nearly across the board from last season and is a major headache for yours truly. Still, fantasy owners have to like his next matchup in Philadelphia. Leake is historically a solid groundball pitcher and the young Philly bats have made a ton of soft contact on this season. That plays right into Leake’s hands.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Kyle Hendricks (CHC at MIA) - Ownership: 15% Yahoo!, 13% Fleaflicker
As a general rule of thumb, it’s perfectly reasonable to target any pitcher with a fast centerfielder and is pitching in cavernous Marlins Park. The Marlins have really struggled offensively this season and Hendricks has done a terrific job of frustrating opposing batters. Miami is ranked in the bottom five in nearly every major offensive category. Plus, the Dan Jennings factor.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Chris Heston (SFG v. PIT) - Ownership: 25% Yahoo!, 26% Fleaflicker
The 27-year-old Heston started the season well on his way to being a fantasy baseball darling. His strong start in April has cooled in the month of May, and it seems he may be unable to avoid the downward spiral. Though he pitches well at home, he will be facing a dangerous Pirates squad that has found its collective offensive stroke over the last two weeks.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Wednesday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Rubby De La Rosa (ARI v. ATL) - Ownership: 25% Yahoo!, 22% Fleaflicker
In terms of progress, de la Rosa is leaps and bounds better than he was last season. It helps that the 2014 version was really bad, but at least he has improved. Atlanta has not been awful this season against righties, but boy have their bats cooled over the last two weeks. Expect high single digit strikeouts and a few earned runs allowed from de la Rosa.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Eduardo Rodriguez (BOS v. MIN) - Ownership: 36% Yahoo!, 9% Fleaflicker
With a throwback and weird delivery, E-Rod looked awfully, awfully good against a then-hot Rangers team last week in Arlington. It will be hard for him to repeat his strong performance, but you can bet that the Red Sox faithfully will be very excited to see him in person on Wednesday. As a side note, E-Rod had strong numbers in Triple-A Pawtucket. In 48.1 IP, he finished with 44 K and a 2.98 ERA.
Matchup Rating: Must Stream
Dillon Gee (NYM at SDP) - Ownership: 3% Yahoo!, 7% Fleaflicker
Much like Leake, Gee has shown some regression this season as batters have hit him better than last year. The good news is it seems his command and pitch selectivity has improved and we’re willing to chalk up his getting hit on the nagging groin injury that had plagued him. He’ll be back on the mound on Wednesday, but you have to wonder if it will take him a few starts to get back on track.
Matchup Rating: Desperate Stream
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