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Jeff Kahntroff analyzes hitter streamers and starts for Week 26. These bats are potential fantasy baseball waiver wire adds to stream for head-to-head leagues.
Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 26, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games.
To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week. If someone jumps off the page at me as a less than seven game player, I may make an exception, but otherwise, the advantage in a number of games dictates my choices.
Streaming can be a valuable tool, by allowing you to feast on favorable pitching matchups and simply have your hitters play more games than your opponents' hitters. If you have the roster space, streaming a hitter can be useful not only to fill a vacant lineup spot but also to fill in for someone who has five games that week or faces tough matchups. In 5x5 leagues, four of the five hitting categories are counting stats, making the value of extra games significant. Streaming also can allow you to target a specific category of need. This week there is a mediocre pool of seven-game streamers. Let's dive in for the last time this season.
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Bats to Stream and Start in Week 26
Jorge Polanco (SS, MIN) - 13% owned
Polanco is just 25, and he has a career line of .271/23/120/138/23 in 278 games. This year in 67 games he has a line of .287/6/33/33/5. While questions obviously remain after his suspension to start the year, it appears that his performance is again an asset in 2018. He looks to be a steady producer across the board. Facing favorable pitching matchups this week, he could provide five-category production.
Jason Kipnis (2B/OF, CLE) - 35% owned
The Indians now have Josh Donaldson at third base and Jose Ramirez at second base, but Kipnis has continued to play. For his career, he has hit significantly better against righties. He has continued to hit better against them this year, and he faces seven this week. Even though his average has been disappointing on the year, he has a line of .229/17/62/72/7. With a history of stolen bases and occasional pop, he should be able to provide in all five categories against the favorable matchups this week.
Willy Adames (2B/SS, TB) - 23% owned
The 23 year-old Adames continues to appear on the list. In under half a season of games (76), he has a line of .268/10/40/30/6. In the minors, he has shown double-digit power and stolen base production combined with favorable ratings from scouts. The righty has hit both lefties and righties in his young career, and he should face decent pitching matchups this week. Start him for well-rounded production.
Yonder Alonso (1B, CLE) - 35% owned
Alonso should face seven righties this week, and he has a line of .248/19/44/60/0 in 367 at bats against them this year. As the season winds down he could certainly see a day off here and there, but his power combined with the favorable matchups make him a worthy power source on the week. You should not expect a good average from him, but if you need power and run production he is a good bet.
Kevin Kiermaier (OF, TB) - 27% owned
Kiermaier is a fantasy asset. In the age of the declining stolen base, he has stolen 47 over the last three years (in just 287 games). He also has 37 homers in that span. This year, in approximately half a season of games, he has 10 steals and seven homers. Even though he faces three lefties this week and does not hit them as well, he is a good option for speed and power to go along with some run-scoring ability.
Avisail Garcia (OF, CHW) - 24% owned
The White Sox do not face the best pitching matchups this week, but Garcia has posted too impressive of a line the past two seasons to be off the list. Last year, in 136 games, he batted .330/18/75/80/5. This year, he is only batting .234, but he has 18 homers, 45 RBIs, 45 runs and three steals in just 85 games. The power and run production is too good not to play, and the batting average should bounce back. Even in a tough week, he is worth a start.
Luke Voit (1B, NYY) - 32% owned
In 30 games with the Yankees, Voit is batting .320 with 10 homers. While the 27 year-old will obviously not keep up that pace, he had a career .930 OPS (.314 with 23 homers) in 150 AAA games, and he batted .297 with 20 homers in 136 AA games. He can hit. He should face some tough pitching on the week against Tampa Bay’s innovative pitching staff and the Red Sox. Nevertheless, he is worth a flier due to his pure hitting ability.
