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Players to target or add from the waiver wire in Week 4 for fantasy baseball H2H (head-to-head) leagues. Zach Alexander identifies the top pickups of the week based on rising fantasy value.
There are plenty of strategies that fantasy managers explore in hopes to get an advantage over their opponent. Heavy lineup, heavy starting pitchers, no catcher, all (or mostly) reliever staff, no reliever staff, etc. Even if you play a balanced lineup, injuries can cause holes. A few weeks without a key player won’t kill a season, but why accept losing when you can stream?
Streaming can be a risky business. If you do it right and check the necessary boxes, you can win the week. This column will do most of the work for you. It’ll cover weekly recommendations for when you need: steals, home runs, average, strikeouts, wins, and/or ratios (ERA/WHIP).
All position eligibility and ownership percentages are based on Yahoo! Fantasy leagues.
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Steals - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Delino DeShields (OF, TEX) - 7% Owned
DeShields is always a threat to steal, and he has a .357 on-base percentage so far this year. Getting on base is half the battle. If he can do that against the A's and Mariners this week he should put up at least one stolen base. He's grabbed four in his last five games. He hasn't shown a difference in splits between righty and lefty this year, however, in 2018, he hit lefties (.248/.336/.327) better than righties (.199/.296/.258).
Kevin Pillar (OF, SF) - 12% Owned
Pillar has notched at least one hit in ten of his last 13 games. As I said before, getting on base is half the battle. He also has three stolen bases in just about the same amount of games. He'll get to face his former team, the Toronto Blue Jays at the beginning of the week and a familiar foe, the New York Yankees at the end. Believe he will be in the zone for those two series. There wasn't much of a split when he faced left or right-handed pitchers in 2018.
Home Runs - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Christian Walker (1B, Ari) - 22% Owned
The Arizona Diamondbacks posted some interesting stats on their Instagram account on Thursday. Per the post, Walker is hitting .619 with six homers, 11 RBI, and a 2.224 OPS in the seventh inning or later this season. Talk about eating up relief pitching. He's also homered in three of his last four games. He'll see the Pirates and Cubs this week, which the latter are a significantly weaker group thus far. The splits say to start him against righties (.351/.400/.838 with five homers), although he's clearly a candidate to smack one once the starter gets chased.
Clint Frazier (OF, NYY) - 30% Owned
Frazier has been waiting to get his shot with the Yankees for a while and has a chance to stick when Giancarlo Stanton returns. Mainly because he's making the best of his opportunity, hitting .347/.358/.612 with four home runs in 49 at-bats. The Yankees will see the Giants and Angels this week. San Francisco has been pitching very well (3.10 team ERA), but the Angels have holes and are more middle-of-the-pack (4.47 team ERA). Like Walker, Frazier also enjoys right-handed matchups, slashing .385/.381/.641 with three homers against them and only .200/.273/.500 against lefties this season.
Batting Average - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Jorge Polanco (SS, MIN) - 39% Owned
Still criminally under-owned Polanco is slashing .400/.464/.717 with three homers this year. He's currently second in batting average for qualified shortstops, and top ten in both home runs and runs scored. Despite the shortstop position being deeper than it has been in prior years, how can one pass up that production?
His .276 career batting average shows that this is no fluke. No, he won't continue to hit .400 but let's stream him while he's hot. The Twins have a six-game slate this upcoming week against the Astros and Orioles. The O's are clearly the better matchup, but those in need should feel comfortable slotting him in against Houston considering how well he's seeing the ball right now.
Scott Kingery (3B/SS/OF, PHI) - 28% Owned
Keep an eye on Jean Segura's hamstring injury before adding Kingery. He has been getting starts at shortstop and batting in the two-hole while Segura is nursing his injury. Kingery is known mainly for being a highly touted prospect, but failing to do much at the plate in 2018. Although the sample is small (29 at-bats), he's showing why he was once a top prospect, slashing .414/.469/.759. He may not get a full week of starts, but he's playable when he's in the lineup. Expect the Phillies to be careful with their newly acquired shortstop (Segura). Kingery is in play especially against righties, with a .476/.542/.762 slash against them this season.
Strikeouts - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Pablo Lopez (SP, MIA) - 5% Owned
The appeal here is that if you're streaming pitchers, your mouth should water when you see the Indians coming up. Cleveland has hit a miserable .196/.277/.325 against right-handed pitchers this year. Through four starts, Lopez has a 26.4 percent strikeout rate. He's gotten hit hard in a few starts but managed to throw five innings of two-run ball against the Cubs his last time out. The Indians are just the team he needs to face to keep the momentum going.
Spencer Turnbull (SP, DET) - 4% Owned
Turnbull will face the Red Sox early in the week, and while they're hitting a pretty dismal .223/.300/.363 against righties, they can explode at any time. We're aiming for the start over the weekend against the White Sox who have actually hit righties better than the Red Sox, but don't quite have that explosive aspect. They also strike out a bit more which is what we're looking for. Turnbull has posted a strikeout rate of 26.7 percent so far and has had better results than Lopez with a 3.43 ERA.
ERA/WHIP - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Jake Odorizzi (SP, MIN) - 12% Owned
No, not against the Astros on Monday. Let's tee Odorizzi up against the Orioles later in the week at Target Field. Owners that have tested the Odorizzi waters in recent years probably will roll their eyes when they see his name here. But wait! He has actually been useful in favorable matchups. He got rocked against the Phillies and Mets this year (unfavorable matchups) and had two nice starts against the Indians and Blue Jays (favorable matchups). This time out he'll get the O's (favorable matchup) who hit .220/.299/.367 against righties. It's a solid bet for 12 percent ownership.
Mike Soroka (SP, ATL) - 24% Owned
Soroka is coming off his first start of the season in which he threw five innings of one-run ball against the Diamondbacks on Thursday. He managed to get out of a few jams that boosted his pitch count, otherwise, he was cruising to a quality start. He should see a Cincinnati lineup that is second to last in batting average against righties this season. They do have some threats, but until they show they're more than just threats we'll stream against them. The big righty should take another step forward in his next start.
Wins - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Frankie Montas (SP, OAK) - 33% Owned
I certainly did not see it coming, but Montas threw an absolute gem against the Astros on Wednesday night. He went 6 1/3 innings, letting up three hits, one earned run, and striking out six improving his 2019 ERA to 2.70. Though the Rangers have hit righties well this season (.262/.348/.460), their pitching staff holds a combined ERA of 5.12. Montas should be able to carry over enough momentum from his brilliance against Houston to limit the Rangers and allow his bats to pick him up a win.
Yonny Chirinos (SP/RP, TB) - 36% Owned
Chirinos has bounced from starter to reliever, following the opener for the Rays. It's not such a bad deal if we're looking for a win. He's 3-0 on the season and has pitched well other than a blip against the Blue Jays (3.26 ERA). The upside is that at the least, he won't face the top three hitters until a few innings into the game. With the Rays on an absolute tear and boasting a league-best record, a matchup with Royals seems like an almost automatic win.
More Streamers and Head-to-Head League Columns
