April 22, 2017

Jeff Kahntroff analyzes hitter streamers and starts for Week 4. These bats are potential fantasy baseball waiver wire adds to stream for head-to-head leagues.

Welcome back, RotoBallers! As a reminder, in this piece we're looking for weekly streamers, which means players who are less than 50% owned in Yahoo! leagues and who have a good chance to play a full complement of games in the week.

I usually stick to players who have seven games, but because I do not see a lot of great options among the seven-game choices this week, our streamers mostly have six games.

With that said, let’s dive into the stream(ers). 

Bats to Stream and Start in Week 4

Carlos Gomez (OF, TEX) - 45% owned

If you’ve read my rankings pieces over the years, you know I love focusing on the dual threat (power/speed) players. Gomez is one of those players; over the past five years he has homers totals of 19, 24, 23, 12, 13 and steals totals of 37, 40, 34, 17, and 18. Add to that the fact that he has been hitting atop a strong offense, and that the Rangers face favorable pitching matchups this week. Thus, he should get a lot of chances to hit homers or swipe a bag, and additionally, the chance to produce runs for you. Even though he is only sporting a .159 average on the year, that is largely due to his unexpectedly low BABIP of .175, so there is no need for concern. Moreover, he gets to play all six games at home, and has even career splits that dispel any concerns about him facing five righties. For these reasons, he is my top streamer despite only having six games.

Josh Reddick (OF, HOU) - 11% owned

Reddick can do a little bit of everything for you. Last year, he hit .281 with 10 homers and eight steals in 115 games. The year before, he hit .272 with 20 homers and 10 steals. After 16 games this year, he already has a homer and a steal with a .341 average. He is a career .271 hitter with a .791 OPS versus righties, and a .218 hitter with a .638 OPS versus lefties. This week, he faces righties in all six games. Reddick, in a good lineup, has the potential to give you a little of everything this week and produce in all five categories. Stream him with confidence.

Kevin Pillar (OF, TOR) - 14% owned

Pillar is another dual threat, with 19 homers and 39 steals from 2015-2016. He has seven games this week, although his pitching matchups are only average or slightly below. Nonetheless, with Devon Travis’s recent struggles, Pillar has seen time atop the lineup. While he has hit lefties slightly better in his career, the splits are not enough to scare me away due to him facing six righties. Stream him and hope that on top of his power/speed potential and serviceable batting average, the Toronto offense wakes up a bit to give him some run production as an added bonus.

Justin Bour (1B, MIA) - 7% owned

Bour was a trendy sleeper heading into the year when it was announced that he would face lefties this year, but fantasy owners have started to find him less appealing after a slow start (largely attributable to a .189 BABIP). That represents an opportunity for us, as he now is available in more than half of Yahoo leagues and will face six righties this week. In 702 career at bats against righties, he has hit .265 with 41 homers. He may be the best bet this week for a homer or more, and he likely won’t hurt you in average.

Austin Hedges (C, SD) - 7% owned

Hedges has seven games this week. After a slow start, he had three homers and two doubles in his last five games entering Friday night. Add to that another three-run shot that proved to be the game-winner against the Marlins. He hit .326 with 21 homers in 82 games in AAA last year, and is a former top prospect, so the potential is definitely there. Hedges may be a streamer who is also a worth holding if he continues to produce. He is my top catcher this week.

Jayson Werth (OF, WAS) - 23% owned

Werth would probably sit atop my list if he hadn’t suffered a groin injury this week. At the moment, he is reportedly feeling better and likely to return this weekend. However, because he is soon to be 38 and has battled injuries in recent years, I consider the injury risk real and have lowered him significantly. Nonetheless, the Nationals face favorable pitching matchups, play four games in Coors Field, and have arguably the most potent offense in baseball. Werth has 24 homers in 156 games the last two years while hitting .248 with five steals, 91 runs and 76 RBIs. Those numbers plus favorable matchups and Coors are a recipe for success, but the injury makes playing time a risk and diminishes the chance of a stolen base.

Brandon Moss (1B/OF, KC) - 14/% owned

Moss is another power hitter who feasts on righties and will face a lot of them (five) this week. Throughout his career, he has homered every 18.2 at bats versus righties. He is also another player whose stock is unjustifiably low right now due to a poor BABIP (.136) to start the year. The Royals face favorable pitching matchups this week, which should help get the Kansas City offense going and give Moss a chance at better run production. However, he may hurt you in batting average and is unlikely to provide steals, so consider him a pure power play.

Yangervis Solarte (2B/3B, SD) - 46% owned

Solarte came out of the gates hot in week one, but has been cool since then. He is striking out a mere 7.5% of the time. However, he is making a lot more soft contact than his career averages (29.8% versus 19.3%) and less hard contact than his career averages (21.1% versus 29.4%) to start the year. He also has shown a career low line drive rate. Nonetheless, the season is young, and there is no reason to think that the 29 year-old Solarte, who has increased his hard-hit rate every year of his career, would suddenly fall off a cliff. With seven games, a miniscule strikeout rate, some pop, and a spot in the middle of a batting order (even if it is the Padres), he is a streaming option for decent batting average with a possible homer and run production if the other options are off the board.

Also worth monitoring

Gerardo Parra (OF, COL) – Parra has seven games this week, which include four at home and five versus righties. Because he hits much better at Coors and versus righties, he’s worth a look.

Andrew Toles (OF, LAD) – The Dodgers face five righties this week. Toles has hit .302 with five homers in 129 career at bats versus righties. He could sneak in some useful production.

Andrelton Simmons (SS, LAA) – Simmons has seven games this week and already has two homers and two steals on the year while batting .289. He could sneak in a steal for you this week while posting a respectable average.

Devon Travis (2B, TOR) – Travis has started the year very slowly, but he does have seven games this week. In 172 career games, he has hit .287 with 19 homers and seven steals.

Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana (OF, MIL) – Broxton is off to a slow start. He also has not hit righties well in his career, and the Brewers face only one lefty this week. Nevertheless, he steals too many bases and has too much power not to be an honorable mention (with six home games this week). The same could also be said for his teammate, Domingo Santana, who is more of a power threat.

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