5 Two-Start Starting Pitcher Sleeper Streamers for Week 21

August 17, 2014

Richie Smith analyzes the two start pitcher streamers for week 21 of fantasy baseball action. These sleeper pitchers should be owned and can provide a boost.

Welcome to the first ever edition of the RotoBaller two-start streamer article written from Italy! Despite the fact that I am on vacation, fantasy baseball never stops! It's getting to crunch time in many leagues, so the pasta and pizza can wait for a few minutes.

This piece focuses on the best two-start starting pitcher streamers and sleeper waiver wire pickups for Week 20 of fantasy baseball. These sleeper pitchers are near or below 50% ownership in Yahoo! leagues, and some are ideal for shallow leagues, but most are under-the-radar starters that can be considered in head-to-head leagues.

Mike Leake, CIN

Owned in 46% of Yahoo Leagues

Projected starts: Monday @STL, Saturday vs. ATL

Leake had his worst start in a few months on Wednesday against Boston, allowing five earned runs and eight hits in just five innings. But prior to that, he had been solid for much of the season. He has a respectable 3.59 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. You know he is going to give you innings as well, and he could surpass the 200 innings-pitched mark by end of the season. I’m rolling with Leake this week based on his matchups.

The Cardinals and the Braves are two of the worst hitting teams in all of baseball this season. They are 28th and 29th in the league in runs scored and 28th and 25th in total bases on he season, respectively. Both are in the bottom third of the league in total hits, home runs and OPS, as well, and in the case of the Braves, they rank 4th in total team strikeouts on the season. The Reds are also pretty much in playoff mode right now, given the races in both the NL Central and NL Wild Card, so you would think they'll play well to give Leake some run support.

Jason Vargas, KC

Owned in 26% of Yahoo Leagues

Projected starts: Monday @MIN, Saturday @TEX

Vargas pitched a gem his last time out versus the best offense in baseball in Oakland, tossing a complete-game, three-hit shutout with zero walks allowed. He’s been a little inconsistent this season, however, as he’s definitely thrown in some clunkers over the course of the past month or so.

Despite that inconsistency, though, Vargas sports a solid 3.27 ERA with nine wins on the season. I don't necessarily expect he'll repeat his last performance every time out, but it will probably give him confidence moving forward, and I’m willing to go with the hot hand.

This week, the lefty will face two bad teams and fairly average offenses in Minnesota and Texas, both of whom have not been great since the All Star break-- each is in the bottom third of the league in runs scored since early July. Vargas will be a decent bet for two wins too, especially considering how the Royals have been playing lately.

Kyle Hendricks, CHC

Owned in 26% of Yahoo Leagues

Projected starts: Monday @NYM, Saturday vs. BAL 

Okay, well the bad news is that our two starts for Hendricks didn’t end up happening last week, as the Cubs shifted around the rotation a bit, and he only got the ball in one game. But the good news is that he absolutely dealt in that one start, and because of the rotation shift, he’s now a two-start pitcher this week.

Last Tuesday against Milwaukee, Hendricks went seven scoreless, allowing six hits and walking just one while striking out five. Not only has he been pitching really well lately, but he has a plus matchup against a Mets offense that is at the bottom of the league in most offense categories, including a team batting average of just .219 and a rank of 30th in runs scored since the All Star break. He also has a start against the Orioles in the friendly confines, where Hendricks has allowed just three runs all season.

Chase Anderson, ARI

Owned in 17% of Yahoo Leagues

Projected starts: Tuesday @WAS, Sunday vs. SD

Anderson has flown quietly under the radar this year, mostly due to Arizona’s struggles. But he has pitched well, especially lately, as he has thrown six straight quality starts. During that span, he’s 2-0 and has dropped his season ERA from 3.64 to 3.16. Anderson’s season strikeout-to-walk ratio of 74/28 is also pretty good.

His numbers give me the confidence to run him out there as a two-start streamer this week, despite two dicey matchups. Both Washington and San Diego have been playing better baseball of late, and in turn have picked up the offense. However, Anderson is a better road than home pitcher on the season, which bodes well for his start at the Nats; and I still believe San Diego's recent offense surge is simply an anomaly-- San Diego’s offense will soon fall back to normal levels of incompetency.

Tsuyoshi Wada, CHC

Owned in 4% of Yahoo Leagues

Projected starts: Tuesday vs. SF, Sunday vs. BAL

Unless you are the biggest Cubs fan in the world, you’ve likely never heard of this guy.  But that’s okay, because it’s probable that no one else in your league has either. The past two starts for Wada have been quality outings, going six innings and allowing two earned in each start.

He also struck out 11 and walked just two across those performances. Overall since his first start on June 8th, Wada sports a strong 3.15 ERA and a good 1.17 WHIP. He is definitely more of a command guy than a velocity guy, so he needs to have good control to be successful. He’s been better at Wrigley than away from it, and this week he’ll get two home starts against the Giants and Orioles.  Take a look at Wada in deeper leagues.