Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Streamers: Post All Star Break

We’ve officially entered the unofficial second half of the 2014 season.  Not only is MLB primed for some fantastic races, but it appears most fantasy leagues are still there for the taking.  This puts some added pressure to make sure your streamers are the correct choices from here on out.  Below are some of the starting pitcher streaming sleepers for the second half of Week 16 to consider adding off your league’s waiver wire. Some of these SP options can be considered sleepers for your team depending on the league format and depth, including NL-Only, AL-Only and head-to-head formats.

Friday SP Streamers

Nathan Eovaldi (MIA vs. SF)

Ownership: 29% Yahoo!, 20% ESPN

Eovaldi's rollercoaster season  will resume on Friday, and hopefully for his owners it’s a downhill coast as opposed to an uphill trek.

The Giants have struggled against right-handers, particularly on the road, to the tune of a 21.2% K rate and .297 wOBA.  The Eovaldi Rollercoaster has a few more twists and turns however, as current Giants own a .405/.435/.684 slash line against the right-handed Texas native.

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream

Bartolo Colon (NYM at SD)

Ownership: 40% Yahoo!, 36% ESPN

Colon’s struggles away from Citi Field are well documented.  Fortunately, he gets a Padres lineup which has been historically bad against-right-handers in pitcher-friendly San Diego.  The Padres are last against RHPs in BA, OBP, BABIP, SLG, OPS, wOBA and wRC, and they have the fourth-highest K-rate at 22.3%.  Take your chances with Colon against this lineup.

MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream

Saturday SP Streamers

Danny Duffy / Rubby De La Rosa (KC at BOS)

Duffy Ownership: 35% Yahoo!, 18% ESPN
De la Rosa Ownership: 8% Yahoo!, 1% ESPN

It was so hard for me to pick either of these starts that I took the easy way out.  The home/road splits for de la Rosa and Duffy, respectively, make this game a perfect match for Vegas odds makers to open this game’s over/under at around 7.  On the road, Duffy has stymied opponents to a .209 BAA, .245 BABIP and a 13.0% IFFB (infield fly ball) rate.

The main cause for concern is his high FB (48.9%) and LOB (84.4%) rates, but the Red Sox have been inconsistent against LHPs.  Meanwhile, de la Rosa at home has been hotter than George Costanza picking against his gut instincts.  He’s straight bullying hitters this season at Fenway, but his Achilles heel is the same as Duffy’s-- his 98.2% LOB rate is extremely high and will eventually catch up to him.  Kansas City’s offense is good enough to take advantage of that.

MATCHUP RATINGS: Solid (Duffy), Risky (De la Rosa)

Dillon Gee (NYM at SD)

Ownership: 35% Yahoo!, 31% ESPN

See Bartolo Colon’s synopsis?  Gee’s chances are that much better due to him being much better on the road.  His higher-than-it-should-be BB rate (6.7%) on the road will keep better hitting teams than San Diego in games against Gee, but I’m willing to bet the Padres didn’t find any magic beans at the market over the All Star Break, so Gee is the go-to streamer over the weekend.

MATCHUP RATING: Must Stream

Sunday SP Streamers

Jeff Locke (PIT vs. COL)

Ownership: 24% Yahoo!, 17% ESPN

It was after the All Star Break last season that Locke’s high BB rate caught up with him, and this was the main reason he was shellacked in July and August.

You can rest assured that Pirates fans and fantasy owners will be scrutinizing his every move on Sunday to make sure the first half of his season, including his 2.8% BB rate, was not an anomaly. Though Colorado can hit, they’re actually at their worst against LHPs away from Coors Field.

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream

Kyle Kendrick (PHI at ATL)

Ownership: 2% Yahoo!, 1% ESPN

Kendrick has two starts against Atlanta this season.  His first start was in Atlanta, and he pitched brilliantly for a win.  His second start was in Philadelphia, and he was pegged with the loss, but he didn’t pitch too poorly (8 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K).  Even with the thunderstorms predicted in Atlanta on Sunday, it’s set to be a humid day.  Kendrick may just give up a home run or two.

MATCHUP RATING: Desperate Stream

Odrisamer Despaigne (SD vs. NYM)

Ownership: 14% Yahoo!, 10% ESPN

I’m pretty much banking on a very low-scoring series in beautiful San Diego this weekend.  Somehow, Despaigne has miraculously managed a 1.42 ERA at home, despite an absurdly high 16.3% BB rate and 95.6% LOB rate.  Of course, those numbers are inflated due to a small sample size of 12.2 IP.  Maybe the magic continues?

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream