RADIO
Quality over quantity. Every fantasy owner knows this. When looking at the starting pitcher free agent waiver wire, you would like to have a guy that is going to be on the mound more than once. Most teams are going to have a couple of starters pitching twice in a given week which in turn raises their value as a streaming option. In this new weekly column, I’ll be looking at my top five two-start pitchers that you should stream for your team next week.
Of note, these players are selected based off pitchers who are projected to pitch twice in the coming week and are owned in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
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Two-Start Pitchers to Consider Streaming
Tim Hudson, SP, SF
vs COL on 4/14, vs ARI on 4/19
Hudson is now entering his 17th season in the major leagues, and this will likely be his last. His ERA has hovered around the mid-3.00 level for the past four seasons, and he's been a very solid starter in that time. He had 120 strikeouts in 2014, the most since 2011. He has also lowered his walks each of the last five seasons, down to 34 last year.
In his first game of the year against the Padres, Hudson had a deceptively nice stat line. Hudson went 6 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and striking out one. However, he walked five, including one intentional pass, and was constantly bailed out by San Diego grounding into double plays.
Despite the confusing start, next week he is facing the cellar of the NL West, going against the Rockies and Dbacks at home. Colorado has not announced a starter yet. On Friday, Hudson will be going against Jeremy Hellickson. Hudson is far from a guarantee, but playing two projected low offense teams at home makes him a nice streaming option this week.
Daniel Norris, SP, TOR
vs TB on 4/14, vs ATL on 4/19
Next week, Norris goes against the Rays and Braves, two teams who will be offensively deficient in 2015. Starting his first full season of the majors, Norris has a 5.40 ERA in just 6.2 innings over just five appearances. Spending most of his 2014 in the minor leagues, he had a strong 12-2 record with a 2.53 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and a 163/43 K/BB rate. Norris’ first start of the season against the Yankees on Thursday went 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs, striking out five and walking just one along with earning his first career win.
The three runs might be a bit deceiving, as Norris had only given up one run prior to sixth inning home runs to Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. Nonetheless, Norris should have a much better outing against the Rays and Braves in the coming week.
Scott Feldman, SP, HOU
vs OAK on 4/13, vs LAA on 4/19
In his first start of the season, Feldman had a great showing about the Indians, going 6.2 innings, giving up just one earned run (a Carlos Santana homerun) while striking out five and walking none. However, thanks to the Astros’ offense, or lack thereof, Feldman received no run support and suffered a loss. This comes after Feldman finished 2014 with a 3.74 ERA, much lower than you would expect by looking at his 8-12 record.
Going into next week, I like Feldman’s chances against the new look A’s offense, who look much less threatening than they did a year ago, without Josh Donaldson, Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss. The Angels could pose as a problem, but Feldman is a much better option later in the week over the likes of Mike Leake, David Buchanan and Eddie Butler, all of whom will likely pitch twice next week as well.
Tom Koehler, SP, MIA
@ ATL on 4/14, @ NYM on 4/19
In his first start of the season, Koehler went six innings, giving up two runs on an A.J. Pierzynski homer. Since the Marlins didn’t give him any run support, Koehler took the loss. This followed Koehler’s 2014 where he went 10-10 with a 3.81 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 153 K’s in 191 1/3 innings. Koehler was a nice streaming option last season, and should be again this season. Going into Week 2, he faces the Mets and Braves at home. Much like with Feldman later in the week, I do not see the Braves being an issue for Koehler, even if he is facing them at home.
The Mets seem like they will be a hit-or-miss team offensively all year. The one issue with Koehler’s fantasy value this week is facing Matt Harvey next Friday. While that might affect his chances of picking up a win, I still like Koehler’s odds of being a productive piece of your fantasy lineup this week.
Aaron Harang, SP, PHI
@ NYM on 4/13, @ WAS on 4/18
Last but not least is a man I can never seem to write off as “fantasy irrelevant." My love-hate relationship with Harang, 37, continued last season when I saw him pitch in person against the Mets at Citi Field. He went seven innings without giving up a hit before being pulled after throwing 121 pitches. He posted a 0.70 ERA in his first four starts with Atlanta. Harang eventually evened out season, ending 2014 with a 12-12 record to go with a 3.57 ERA.
Starting this season, Harang was drafted in just 7% of leagues, once again leading me to believe he was not worth a look. However, in his first start he managed to shutout the high offense Red Sox, going 6 1/3 innings, striking out eight to pick up his first win of the season.
I am still weary of Harang as a solid starter for your rotation, but he seems to have become a bit of a stud in the early part of the year. Next week Harang is facing the Mets and the Nationals, both on the road. Facing Jacob deGrom and Jordan Zimmerman might seem like problem, but if Harang can pitch like he did against Boston, the opposing pitcher will not matter.
Parting Shots
Those are my top five streaming options for the upcoming week. I would add that if you have a chance to add a pitcher such as Brandon McCarthy or Danny Duffy, they are likely better options than the starters listed. They just didn't meet the ownership requirements for this column. As always, feel free to ping me on Twitter @JustBerglund with questions.
