Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Streamers for Week 17 (Part 2)

July 24, 2014

RotoBaller analyzes all of Week 17's fantasy baseball starting pitcher (SP) sleepers and streamers who may be available to pick up on your league's waiver wire.

Tampa Rays manager Joe Maddon has never been one to follow conventional thinking.  The Rays, winners of their last seven, just completed a two-game sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis, and Maddon’s starting lineups for the series had his starting pitchers hitting eighth followed by Kevin Kiermaier in the nine-hole.  What’s funny about Maddon’s lineup choices is that Kiermaier has actually been swinging a hot bat over the last 10-15 games.  Maddon was one of the first managers to embrace advanced statistical analysis and has never been afraid to innovate the game including defensive shifts, pitcher/batter substitutions and now lineups.  It should be interesting to see if any managers follow his starting-pitcher-hitting-eighth blueprint over the next few weeks.

Below are some of the starting pitcher streaming sleepers for the second half of Week 17 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.  Once again, our good friend TBD will be making a lot of starts for a lot of teams over the weekend, so be sure to check the probables at least a day in advance.

Thursday SP Streamers

Marcus Stroman (TOR vs. BOS)

Ownership: 30% Yahoo!, 9% ESPN, 12% Fleaflicker

Since he’s moved into the starting rotation, Stroman has been a stud at home.  The Red Sox have been rather mediocre offensively since around that same time.  If Stroman delivers anywhere near his home numbers of 21.5% K rate and 2.77 FIP, then you can consider yourself in the fantasy black on Thursday.

On a side note, I still have yet to hear Sam and Dave's "Soul Man" at a bar or a party since Stroman has been dealing, and I'm starting to get a little aggravated that I can't yet incorporate his name into that song.

MATCHUP RATING: Must Stream

Brandon McCarthy (NYY vs. TEX)

Ownership: 15% Yahoo!, 4% ESPN, 12% Fleaflicker

Maybe McCarthy needed to get out of Arizona to fully maximize his potential.  He probably won’t need his full potential for his next start, as it seems Texas's management has waived the white flag on the 2014 season.  It also seems that Rangers hitters have waived their white flags over the last three weeks.

MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream

Friday SP Streamers

Joe Kelly (STL at CHC)

Ownership: 20% Yahoo!, 4% ESPN, 11% Fleaflicker

Welcome back, Mr. Kelly.  You got rocked in your first start after returning from the DL, but you rebounded nicely five days ago against the Dodgers.  Your next assignment is against an offense that stinks against RHPs.

MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream

Drew Smyly (DET at LAA)

Ownership: 21% Yahoo!, 43% ESPN, 21% Fleaflicker

The greatest asset Smyly has is the nine other guys that will be in the lineup.  His fantasy owners should know that he will probably chalk up a few in the K column, but he’ll also probably give up his fair share of runs against a dangerous California Anaheim Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim offense.

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream

Saturday SP Streamers

Bud Norris (BAL at SEA)

Ownership: 6% Yahoo!, 2% ESPN, 10% Fleaflicker

I’m going to sound like a hater, but I’m still not convinced about Seattle’s offense.  That’s the main reason Norris gets the nod here.

Well, that and the guys playing defense behind him.

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream

Jon Niese (NYM at MIL)

Ownership: 28% Yahoo!, 17% ESPN, 19% Fleaflicker

I’m still shocked that Niese isn’t more widely owned.  The only reason I can think of is his rather pedestrian strikeout numbers.  Still, he has an overall 3.13 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, .255 BAA and a not-so-terrible 17.5% K rate.  Milwaukee is good enough to take advantage of an inconsistent pitcher, but Niese is no inconsistent pitcher.  I'm willing to bet he's not even a niece.

MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream

Ryan Vogelsong (SF vs. LAD)

Ownership: 15% Yahoo!, 9% ESPN, 17% Fleaflicker

The Left Coast’s best rivalry reignites this weekend, and Vogelsong will square off against Clayton Kershaw on Saturday.  There’s probably little-to-no chance that Vogelsong will be able to match Kershaw’s productivity, but he’s good enough at home to give some solid numbers for his fantasy owners.  The downside is if he lasts past the fifth inning, he just may get touched up by a Dodgers team that knows him well.

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream

Sunday SP Streamers

Roberto Hernandez (PHI vs ARI)

Ownership: 1% Yahoo!, 0% ESPN, 6% Fleaflicker

If you can get past the fact that there’s a strong possibility half the regular players and some of the starters for Philadelphia will be on different teams at this time next week, then you can feel confident in picking up Hernandez.  His numbers won’t wow you, but he’s actually pitched quite well at his hitter-friendly home.  In 61.1 IP, Hernandez has held hitters to a .207 BAA, .299 wOBA and a .230 BABIP while posting a 16.0% K rate.  Of course, it is Roberto Hernandez, and he has a ridiculous 12.3% BB rate.  I guess the moral of the story is that anything can happen in this game and you should start him only if you have a lot of manhood.

MATCHUP RATING: Desperate Stream

Scott Carroll (CHW at MIN)

Ownership: 1% Yahoo!, 2% ESPN, 3% Fleaflicker

There’s probably no more boring pitcher on the road than Scott Carroll.  Though he’s inducing a lot of outs and he’s putting up solid numbers, he doesn’t overpower hitters, as indicated by his 12.4% K rate.  If you factor in all his advanced numbers, it’s actually pretty mind-boggling that he’s not allowing a ton of runners despite his unusual 65.0% LOB rate.  He could actually be better and more boring!

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream

Miguel Gonzalez (BAL at SEA)

Ownership: 3% Yahoo!, 1% ESPN, 7% Fleaflicker

It would appear to the regular readers that Gonzalez has taken over my “fantasy crush of the month” award.  Except there is no such award.  Gonzalez has been pitching exceptionally well in July, and there’s no reason to think he won’t continue the trend in pitcher-friendly Seattle.

MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream