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Congratulations to the women’s soccer team for grabbing the gold in the Women’s World Cup. For those of us that do not watch soccer too often…cough, cough, me….it was kind of fun to see an offensive explosion in the first 15 minutes of the game. Even more fun was seeing all the World War Two references on Twitter, Facebook and all of social media. Wonder what the over/under on how many of those references were made during that blitzkrieg to start the game? See, just got in another one.
As for our sport, the All Star starters were announced at just about the same time the World Cup Final was launched. There weren’t too many surprised, but definitely a few head scratchers. Everyone knew that Royals fans came out in force all season so seeing four starters from KC isn’t too much of a surprise. Certainly Lorenzo Cain has been having a solid season and Salvador Perez is probably the most rounded catcher in the AL, but Alex Gordon has been struggling at the plate and Alcides Escobar, though he’s had a nice season, isn’t the best option at his position. J.D. Martinez and Jose Reyes, respectively, offer better options as they have been better during 2015.
In the NL, how does Matt Holliday make the team, let alone earn a starting bid? With other options in the outfield such as Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Ryan Braun, A.J. Pollock, actually the list goes on. Holliday as a starter is a joke. In fact, let this little blurb serve as official notice of an investigation request into the Cardinals hacking into the voting system and putting in Holliday.
Below are some of my starting pitcher streamer sleepers for the first half of Week 14 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.
Monday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Anthony DeSclafani (CIN at WAS) – Ownership: 21% Yahoo!, 23% Fleaflicker
Despite giving up a lot of walks, DeSclafani has done a solid job this season of pitching to contact and limiting the big inning. That may all change on Monday night as he will face the Nationals and their top NL run producing offense. Plus, they have some guy named Bryce Harper. He tends to be okay against right handed pitching.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Matt Wisler (ATL at MIL) – Ownership: 2% Yahoo!, 6% Fleaflicker
Wisler’s FIP is a full 1.35 runs higher than his ERA, suggesting that he is due for regression. Most of that stems from his first start against the Nationals, who put up a lot of baserunners without scoring. He has looked good in his two starts since but will face a Brewers team that has been amongst the hottest in baseball. Over the last two weeks, Milwaukee is hitting .320 with a wRC+ of 132. Must be whatever they’re putting in the beer.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Chris Heston (SF v. NYM) – Ownership: 50% Yahoo!, 39% Fleaflicker
The only thing Heston did the last time he faced the Mets was throw a no-hitter. No big deal. Since that start on June 9th, Heston has been pretty average. In four starts, he has given up 10 earned runs and 24 hits in 23.2 IP but has somehow earned a 2-1 record. The good news is that he will face what is slowly looking like a historically terrible Mets offense. Again.
Matchup Rating: Must Stream
Tuesday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Robbie Ray (ARI at TEX) – Ownership: 7% Yahoo!, 5% Fleaflicker
After a hot late May, the Rangers have cooled considerably against left-handed pitchers as of late. With a 23.5% K rate and a wRC+ of 82, the Rangers are among the worst teams against southpaws in the majors. Meanwhile Ray is beginning to show flashes of the brilliance he displayed as a prospect in the minors. He’s topping out in the mid to high 90s with his fastball and has pushed his K rate above twenty percent.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Andrew Heaney (LAA at COL) – Ownership: 15% Yahoo!, 11% Fleaflicker
Rule number one when streaming pitchers goes as follows: Never stream a pitcher that is starting in Coors Field. Especially a guy like Heaney that is giving up 37.5% of batted balls for flies and just under 85% of medium to hard contact. Now for the good news. The Rockies are at their absolute worst against left-handed pitching, even at home. Still, Heaney’s HR/FB rate could take a big “hit” on Tuesday.
Matchup Rating: Desperate Stream
Matt Cain (SF v. NYM) – Ownership: 49% Yahoo!, 20% Fleaflicker
Cain is nowhere near the pitcher he was as the dominant ace in the late 2000s. His numers have steadily declined over the last three years after he logged numerous 200+ IP over several years. Despite his decreased production, he gets a Mets offensive squad that, as explained above, is quite bad. There simply aren’t enough jokes out in the world to describe how bad they are.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Wednesday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Charlie Morton (PIT v. SD) – Ownership: 19% Yahoo!, 12% Fleaflicker
You know the drill. No strikeouts. Plenty of groundballs. Not a whole lot of baserunners. There should be a place on your team for low WHIP and ERA.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Kyle Gibson (MIN v. BAL) – Ownership: 15% Yahoo!, 13% Fleaflicker
What to make of Kyle Gibson? In one game he’s going eight strong and mowing batters down while in other starts he is struggling to get to five while allowing four runs. In all fairness, Gibson has looked ok his last four starts as he has only given up seven earned runs while striking out 20 in 25.2 IP. That being said, he will eventually come back down to earth and unfortunately, all signs point to the Baltimore Birds in giving that to him.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Drew Hutchison (TOR at CWS) – Ownership: 46% Yahoo!, 21% Fleaflicker
Though the White Sox have been atrocious at the plate for most of the season, Hutchison has been streaky at times when away from the confines of Rogers Centre. He should put up some solid strikeout numbers, but his 1.47 WHIP and .288 BAA is awfully, awfully high. His FIP of 3.72 a full 1.51 less than his actual ERA, so he definitely has some room to grow and get better. Just don’t count on it being in Chicago.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
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