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Top daily fantasy baseball streamers and waiver wire adds for 5/12/21. Juan Carlos Blanco identifies MLB hitters and starting pitchers to stream based on matchups.
Baseball is back, and fantasy managers in daily leagues no doubt already have holes to fill. The easiest way to do that is with streamers. Fortunately, RotoBaller has you covered with daily streaming picks.
Each day, RotoBaller will provide you with some of the best streaming options to consider in fantasy baseball daily leagues. Additionally, these recommendations can be useful for fantasy managers setting DFS lineups.
We have our usual expansive Wednesday slate on tap, with a 12:10pm ET game between the Orioles and Mets kicking things off. Finding some viable streaming bats wasn’t particularly difficult, but they do tend to be concentrated in a certain subset of games where starting pitching is somewhat-to-very questionable.
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This article will use rostered percentages and position eligibility from Yahoo! leagues.
Hitter Streamers for 5/12 - Shallow Leagues
Tucker Barnhart (C, CIN) -32% rostered
Matchup: at PIT RHP Trevor Cahill
Barnhart’s season has one primary statistical anomaly attached, that being his career-high 38.1 percent strikeout rate. Otherwise, he sports an outstanding .307/.381/.533 slash line with a .395 wOBA and a career-best 41.9 percent hard-hit rate per Statcast. The veteran also sports a .392 wOBA against right-handed pitching specifically and faces a righty in Trevor Cahill who has given up a .370 average, .988 OPS and a .425 wOBA to the 58 left-handed hitters he’s faced thus far in 2021.
Asdrubal Cabrera (1B/2B/3B, ARI) - 15% rostered
Matchup: vs. MIA RHP Nick Neidert
The switch-hitting Cabrera has tagged right-handed pitching for a .286 average, .878 OPS, .383 wOBA and 142 wRC+, along with an elevated 24.6 percent line-drive rate. The veteran is slated to face a vulnerable right-hander in Neidert, whose 9.75 xERA dwarfs his already poor 6.75 figure and who’s yielded a 2.3 HR/9 in his first 12 innings. Neidert has particularly had trouble with left-handed hitters, who’ve touched him up for a .391 average, .505 wOBA and 9.35 xFIP thus far this season. Cabrera has also been particularly effective at home, where he owns a .333 average, .447 wOBA and .267 ISO across 39 plate appearances.
Tyler Naquin (1B/3B, CIN) - 55% rostered
Matchup: at PIT RHP Trevor Cahill
Naquin is another very viable left-handed bat to utilize against Cahill, whose significant vulnerabilities against lefty hitters were already discussed in Barnhart’s entry. Naquin seems to be finally putting it all together this season, as evidenced by his .399 wOBA, .300 ISO and .943 OPS, along with a career-high 15.2 percent barrel rate and 53.0 percent hard-hit rate per Statcast. He’s also been absolutely lethal versus right-handed pitching, clocking a .407 wOBA, .312 ISO and .968 OPS across 89 plate appearances.
Bryan Reynolds (OF, PIT) - 43% rostered (UPDATE: With Reynolds out of the lineup, consider teammate Philip Evans, hitting 3rd, as a Deep League streamer)
Matchup: vs. CIN RHP Sonny Gray
The viable streaming options in the Reds-Pirates game aren’t exclusively on the Cincy side, as Reynolds is also worthy of consideration despite the matchup against Gray. Gray has allowed a career-high 8.3 percent barrel rate and has a solid-but-not-elite 3.92 ERA while allowing a 1.3 HR/9. He’s also sporting a 6.75 ERA and has allowed a .383 wOBA over 9.1 innings on the road, while Reynolds has a .335 wOBA versus righties, as well as an impressive 25.8 percent line-drive rate against that handedness at home. Reynolds also owns .432 and .475 wOBAs against the sinker and four-seam fastball, respectively, two of Gray’s three most often-thrown pitches.
Hitter Streamers for 5/12 - Deep Leagues
Matt Duffy (2B/3B, CHC) - 4% rostered
Matchup: at CLE LHP Sam Hentges
Duffy is enjoying a solid season that includes a .288 average and .394 on-base percentage, along with a .353 xwOBA. The veteran remains as disciplined as ever at the plate as well, as evidenced by his 12.7 percent walk rate and minuscule 15.5 percent strikeout rate. He admittedly doesn’t offer much in the way of power, but he has tagged left-handed pitching for a .478 wOBA on the road over a very small sample, and he owns a .338 wOBA versus southpaws overall. Hentges sports a bloated 9.46 xERA, 4.0 HR/9 and .350 BAA, along with a 15.6 percent barrel rate. He’s also been rocked for a .387 average and .518 wOBA by righty bats, as well as a 52.0 percent hard-contact rate.
Harold Ramirez (OF, CLE) - 1% rostered
Matchup: vs. CHC RHP Zach Davies
Davies has a career-low, pedestrian 5.4 K/9, along with a 7.00 xERA, 6.03 xFIP, .290 BAA and 1.83 WHIP. He’s also giving up a career-high 10.4 percent barrel rate and 39.6 percent hard-hit rate per Statcast, and he’s had the most trouble in same-handed matchups. Davies is allowing a .329 average, .848 OPS and .376 wOBA to right-handed hitters, while Ramirez has a .333 average and .337 wOBA against right-handed pitching over a small sample. He holds up well to scrutiny when zooming out to a career view, as Ramirez boasts a .280 average and .748 OPS against righties over his first two-plus seasons.
Kevin Pillar (OF, NYM)- 3% rostered
Matchup: vs. RHP Matt Harvey
Pillar gets a crack at a right-hander in Matt Harvey who’s been flirting with danger against right-handed hitters all season, as he’s given up a .314/.372/.465 slash line and .366 wOBA in same-handed matchups. Meanwhile, Pillar has been putting better wood on the ball than his pedestrian .233/.270/.367 line would imply. The veteran owns an impressive 44.4 percent hard-hit rate and a .432 xSLG, and he also boasts a massive 36.4 percent line-drive rate against right-handed pitching that should increasingly lead to more hits falling in same-handed matchups.
Corey Dickerson (OF, MIA) - 12% rostered
Matchup: at ARI RHP Zac Gallen
Dickerson is surprisingly low-rostered for a player slashing .323/.404/.444 and carrying a .374 wOBA. The veteran has been punished righty arms for a .329 average overall, and he’s been even better against that handedness outside of his pitcher-friendly home park with a .375 average, 1.018 OPS and .444 wOBA over 47 plate appearances. Gallen has been impressive thus far this season but has significant control problems (4.7 BB/9) that the disciplined Dickerson can exploit. Gallen has also given up a .400 average, 1.033 OPS and .454 wOBA to the first 18 left-handed hitters he’s faced at home this season. Then, Dickerson also would draw a good matchup once Gallen exits, considering D-Backs relievers have pitched to a 6.87 ERA, .349 wOBA and 5.20 xFIP versus the 83 left-handed hitters they’ve faced at home thus far.
Pitcher Streamers for 5/12 - Shallow Leagues
John Gant (SP, STL) - 12% rostered
Matchup: at MIL RHP Brandon Woodruff
Gant has been one of the pleasant surprises of the Cardinals rotation, fashioning a 2.15 ERA and 0.3 HR/9 across his first six starts. Gant’s control issues are a concern, but he’s fortunate in that he’s facing a Brewers team that’s walked just 6.7 percent of the time against right-handed pitchers at home while also posting a 25.1 percent strikeout rate, MLB-high -13.8 wRAA and NL-low .269 wOBA versus that handedness. Gant has actually also been better on the road, posting a 1.93 ERA across 14 innings, and Milwaukee checks in averaging just 3.6 runs per home game.
Pitcher Streamers for 5/12 - Deep Leagues
Jon Lester (SP, WAS) - 6% rostered
Matchup: vs. PHI RHP Zach Wheeler
Lester has started his Nationals career off in solid fashion, working five innings in each of his first two starts and forging a 2.70 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over that span. The left-hander had a rocky 2020 but was otherwise one of the most reliable No. 2-type starters over the prior decade-plus, posting 179 wins, a 3.50 ERA and 1.25 WHIP over 385 starts between the 2008 and 2019 seasons. Wednesday, he faces a Phillies squad that’s struck out at a 27.0 percent clip against southpaws on the road while also generating just a .228 average, -4.5 wRAA and .274 wOBA versus that handedness when traveling and averaging just 3.8 runs per away game.
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