September 16, 2017

Jeff Kahntroff analyzes hitter streamers and starts for Week 25. 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 in head-to-head leagues, which means players who are 50% owned or less in Yahoo! leagues and who have seven games in the week. These players could provide great value off the waiver wire, particularly in head-to-head leagues, for week 25 of the 2017 baseball season.

To catch my streamers column each and every week, add me on Twitter @rotonails and always check the RotoBaller MLB page.

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

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Bats to Stream and Start in Week 25

Nick Castellanos (3B/OF, DET) - 46% owned

Castellanos has been en fuego of late, batting .396 in the month with three homers. In 56 games since the break, he has a .291/12/26/41/1 line. Even though he will not get to face many lefties this week (who he crushes, with 11 homers in just 127 at bats against them on the year), he still has decent pitching matchups overall. With a hard-hit percentage of 43.6% on the year, Castellanos is likely to produce well for your team this week.

Neil Walker  (1B/2B, MIL) - 21% owned

Walker rarely puts together a full season, but his numbers are still relatively steady over the past few years. From 2013 to 2016 he hit 16, 23, 16, and 23 homers respectively, and he has 14 so far this year in 99 games; he may keep up that pattern. His average is usually around .270, and he often averages about one run production stat (run plus RBI) per game. Walker isn’t exciting, but he’s consistently good. Facing serviceable pitching matchups this week, he is a good streaming option.

Orlando Arcia (SS, MIL) - 15% owned

Walker’s teammate, Arcia, has provided a decent fantasy season this year, with a .269/14/52/48/13 line. September, however, has been his toughest month, batting just .219 with one homer and one steal to date. But that is no reason to avoid Arcia. He has the prospect pedigree and has shown the ability to produce at the major league level overall. With his speed, he can still steal you a base even if he does struggle in the other categories. If you need a shortstop, Arcia is a good option this week.

Mike Mahtook (OF, DET) – 4% owned

Mahtook was completely off the fantasy radar prior to this year, but he now should be firmly on it in deep leagues despite his low ownership percentage. Mahtook started the year slowly, batting under .200 in each of his first two months. In the months since then, however, he has hit .333, .346, .245, and .273 respectively. In those 72 games he has nine homers and five steals. This week, he faces decent pitching matchups. Mahtook would be higher on the list if he were not coming off of a recent groin injury, but he is still a good option nonetheless. Be sure to monitor his health to make sure the injury does not affect his status.

Jeimer Candelario (3B, DET) - 1% owned

Candelario was the main piece in the trade that sent Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to the Cubs. He must be good for the Tigers’ GM to trade away his own son, right? In the minors, Candelario showed the ability to draw a walk. While that will not help you in 5x5, fortunately he also hit for good average at times with some pop. In 186 AAA games in his career, he hit .292 with 24 homers. In his 13 games with the Tigers, he is batting .356 with a homer. He is a high-risk play, but he has the talent to produce this week against decent pitching matchups.

Eduardo Escobar  (2B/3B/SS, MIN) - 24% owned

Escobar is not the most exciting option, but he can provide some production with 18 homers in just 114 games this year. He also has exactly 114 runs plus RBIs during that span, and he has stolen four bases. The 28 year-old isn’t going to rip the cover off the ball or get anyone too giddy, but facing average pitching matchups this week he is a decent streaming option in a shallow pool.

Manuel Margot  (OF, SD) - 18% owned

Margot was a big piece in the trade that sent Craig Kimbrel to the Red Sox, and thus he has a nice prospect pedigree. The 22 year-old has had a serviceable rookie season. In 53 games since the break, Margot is batting .273 with eight homers and four steals. He has a nice mix of power and speed without killing you in the average department. His matchups this week are not good, but he is still worth a play if the other options are off the board.

Also Worth Monitoring

Aaron Altherr (OF, PHI) - The Phillies face very tough pitching matchups this week, but they have some talented fantasy assets. Factoring in the pitching they face, they fall outside of my top streamers, but they are worth using if the others are off the board. The first of the Phillies is Altherr. He has had an injury-marred season, but he is back now and has put up great numbers in his 91 games (.282/16/49/51/5).

Nick Williams (OF, PHI) – Williams is a 24 year-old free-swinging rookie with prospect pedigree who has a .300/10/9/48/1 line in just 67 games.

Maikel Franco (3B, PHI) - Franco has greatly disappointed fantasy owners this year, but he has heated up in September (.333 average), hase 45 homers over the last two years, and can provide run production.

J.P. Crawford (SS, PHI) – Crawford is a top prospect who was recently called up and has some speed and power, although the numbers have not yet shown themselves at the MLB level.

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