RADIO
Jason Katz identifies fantasy baseball category streamers for week 12 of 2018. Waiver wire pickups, adds, and streamers for weekly head-to-head (H2H) leagues.
I like to consider myself a pioneer of the streaming approach. I won a league about seven years ago completely ignoring saves and just stacking up the starts each week. While streaming is undoubtedly more directly associated with pitching, there's plenty of value in streaming for offense as well.
Maybe you have a stacked roster and you can't drop anyone. But for those of us with a couple of guys on the roster fringes, it's never too early to look into targeting a specific player or two to gain an edge in a particular category. This season, I will be making weekly recommendations for extreme short term category specialists every week in three offensive areas: speed, power, and average; and three pitching areas: strikeouts, wins, and ratios (ERA/WHIP).
Below are my Week 12 category streamers for fantasy baseball. All position eligibility and ownership percentages are based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
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Head-to-Head Category Streamers to Consider
Speed
Leonys Martin (OF, DET) - 23% Owned
Leonys Martin is walking more, striking out less, and finally stealing bases. He's showcased excellent speed in the past with multiple 30+ steal seasons. He has stolen four bases in the past two weeks. Speed is very hard to come by this season. Martin is a solid option.
Michael A. Taylor (OF, WAS) - 33% Owned
I definitely did not expect Michael A. Taylor to make another appearance on this list. With Adam Eaton back, Taylor is clearly the fourth best option in the Nationals outfield behind Eaton, Juan Soto, and obviously Bryce Harper. Yet, for some reason, Taylor continues to receive consistent playing time. It's annoying for Eaton and Soto owners, but fine for those looking for speed. Taylor has 17 steals on the season and four in the past two weeks. He won't play every day, but he's playing enough to be useful for steals.
Power
Joc Pederson (OF, LAD) - 33% Owned
Did you know that Joc Pederson is still only 26 years old? Back in 2014, Pederson hit 33 homers in just 121 games in AAA. It's what made him such a highly touted prospect when he was called up. He hasn't been anything near a fantasy stud, but he is on fire right now with seven homers in the past two weeks. You can utilize him against righty pitching, against whom he's hit all of his home runs.
Ryon Healy (1B, 3B, SEA) - 21% Owned
I'm surprised Ryon Healy isn't more heavily owned. Had he been healthy all season, he'd be on pace for over 35 home runs. He's got serious pop and with three home runs in two games earlier this week, he's heating up. Now might be the perfect time to jump on board.
Average
Yuli Gurriel (1B, HOU) - 26% Owned
The Astros' 1B is a career .290 hitter that is currently hitting .290. He's as reliable as they come for empty batting average. He's got no power with just one home run on the season and no speed, but he gets on base. He's here a second week in a row because he earned it. He's hit for average for those of you that used him this past week and he'll continue to do so.
Albert Almora (OF, CHC) - 10% Owned
Albert Almora just continues to hit. He's not much in the way of power or speed, but he gets on base. He's hitting .316 on the season and .304 the past week. It is certainly empty batting average, but it's quality batting average.
Strikeouts
Clayton Richard (SP, SD) - 27% Owned
Clayton Richard's strikeout numbers are a bit inconsistent and his 7.26 K/9 supports that. He does have a 10 strikeout game on his resume this season and if there were ever a time to do it again, it's next week against a Giants team that is in the top five in offensive strikeouts.
Fernando Romero (SP, MIN) - 40% Owned
Fernando Romero owns a very useful 8.49 K/9. Next week, he projects for have a home start against the Rangers. The Rangers lead all of baseball in offensive strikeouts. This is the perfect combination of a strikeout pitcher against a team that loves to strike out. We could be looking at double digits here.
Wins
Chris Stratton (SP, SF) - 18% Owned
He didn't work last week against Miami, but we're rolling with Chris Stratton again in a home start against San Diego. The Giants will be favored against the sixth lowest scoring team in the league. Stratton's 4.56 ERA is not good, but his offense should be able to carry him to victory.
Tyler Anderson (SP, COL) - 6% Owned
You can actually use Tyler Anderson twice next week. He has an early week start against the Mets and a second start against the Marlins, two teams in the bottom three in runs scored. Anderson will also enjoy both of those games at home. The Rockies, unsurprisingly, score a lot more runs than the Mets and Marlins.
ERA/WHIP
Matthew Boyd (SP, DET) - 24% Owned
Matthew Boyd has an early week start next week at Cincinnati, one of our popular teams to stream against. Boyd has a 3.20 ERA and 1.09 WHIP this season. The Reds are in the bottom half of the league in runs scored. Boyd should pitch well in this one.
Frankie Montas (SP, OAK) - 32% Owned
The A's have never been short on pitching prospects. Frankie Montas is no exception. In his first 21 innings this season, Montas posted a 1.25 ERA and 0.88 WHIP. Next week, he gets the Padres in the lofty confines of PETCO Park. Montas is not as good as his ERA suggests, but his FIP is 3.10, which is very respectable. The Padres are sixth worst in runs scored.
