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Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire. This article, which began last season, runs seven days a week. Even with only a week and a half of the season in the books, we are always ready to stream.
For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your neediest categories, and target players who may be available on your waiver wire.
Below are your pitcher and hitter streaming targets for Saturday, April 14. Let's get to it.
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Agenda
- Zimmered
- Today's Weather and Updates
- Tomorrow's Picks
1. Zimmered
About a week ago, I was wondering when Bradley Zimmer would be demoted. I didn't view that as a bad thing. He's the type of player who can go down, crush minor leaguers for 10 days, and return to the major league lineup reinvigorated. This weekly, he's struggled his way up to .250/.289/.333 on the season which, when combined with this sort of defense, is totally playable.
His poor start to the season has knocked his ownership down to 42 percent. Take advantage of an impatient owner to acquire one of the best power/speed multi-threats available in the bargain bin.
2. Today's Weather and Updates
Today is cluttered with risk. Late rain threatens Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit. Minnesota is dealing with a perfectly seasonable snow storm. Great idea building an outdoor park... Kansas City has a chance of storms all day long. Take another look closer to game time.
3. Streamer Picks - Saturday, April 14
Pitchers to Use
There aren't many playable starters available tomorrow. Miles Mikolas is my lone choice under 50 percent owned. I'm impressed with his repertoire and command. I think he can post around a 3.50 ERA with a decent strikeout rate. That's outright rosterable in 12-team and deeper. He's roughly 35 percent owned at the moment.
I'm not a big Lance Lynn guy if I have to roster him full time. As a streamer, he's a nice option against certain matchups. A cold game at Target Field should help his fastball to play up.
Other Targets: newp
Pitchers to Exploit
No shortage of pitchers to exploit! Brandon Finnegan should be plopped on a watch list. The southpaw has shown promise at various times while battling myriad injuries. I fully anticipate poor command and a few home runs tomorrow opposite the Cardinals. All of which improves Mikolas' prospects.
Soft-tossing righty Trevor Richards jumped straight from Double-A to the majors. Predictably, he's been crushed for a 8.64 ERA (4.53 xFIP) through two starts. His 91 mph fastball is complemented by a middling curve and a potentially plus changeup. More pain awaits opposite the hot-handed Pirates.
Other Targets: Hector Velazquez, Francisco Liriano, Jaime Garcia, Matt Harvey, Clayton Richard, Derek Holland, Kendall Graveman, Marco Gonzales
Homers on the Wire
Aaron Hicks is very briefly back below 50 percent owned. His five category skill set and mid-lineup role with the Yankees deserves over 90 percent ownership. He's not especially likely to homer tomorrow at cold Comerica Park, but the matchup against Liriano is still desirable.
Speaking of five category skill sets, owners are wising up to Dexter Fowler's availability. Pounce now so you can benefit from a series at tiny Great American Ballpark. He'll face a potentially easy lefty tomorrow.
Other Targets: Trey Mancini, Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Dexter Fowler, Logan Morrison, Max Kepler, Nicky Delmonico, Jake Marisnick, Brandon Guyer, Brian Anderson, Colin Moran, Josh Harrison, C.J. Cron, Christian Villanueva, Jose Pirela, Hunter Renfroe, Mark Canha, Stephen Piscotty
Steals on the Wire
It's a Rajai Davis day opposite Garcia. Davis remains one of the premier stolen base threats when he's in the lineup. Russell Martin is prone to allowing steals. Grab Zimmer before Davis.
Teams are running wild on Wilson Ramos in the early part of this season. Take any Phillies with speed, ideally Scott Kingery, Cesar Hernandez, and Odubel Herrera. The Phillies are going to be aggressive as a team this year. Even the slow guys like Rhys Hoskins and Andrew Knapp already have stolen bases.
Other Targets: Kevin Kiermaier, Amed Rosario, Mallex Smith, Jonathan Villar, Franchy Cordero
Skill Positions
Chance Cisco is getting semi-regular action with Caleb Joseph banged up. Cisco possesses considerably more offensive potential than most backup catchers.
Nick Ahmed appears to have made some modest improvements at the plate. And he's always been a threat versus left-handed pitching. Feel free to try him against Rich Hill.
