April 25, 2017

Brad Johnson's fantasy baseball daily streaming picks for April 26th. Pitcher and hitter streamers for MLB DFS games, and head-to-head (H2H) waiver wire targets.

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your daily resource for streaming and waiver wire advice. This is a one stop guide for all of your categories of need.

Below are your pitcher and hitter streaming targets for Wednesday, April 26th.

Let's get to it.

Agenda

1. A Reminder About Rainouts
2. Today's Weather and Updates
3. Tomorrow's Picks

1. A Reminder About Rainouts

When multiple games are rained out, it really messes with streaming for the next day. Pitchers get pushed back or skipped entirely. Hitter matchups change dramatically. Sometimes doubleheaders are whipped together. Targeting doubleheaders is a great way to make up ground if you've fallen behind on your games played quotas for offensive players.

I issue this reminder because...

2. Today's Weather and Updates

Prepare to drown in cancellations. The games in New York and Boston are doomed, DOOMED I say. Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Colorado are also at risk. Tomorrow, prepare for more rain in New York, Boston, and maybe Chicago too.

3. Tomorrow's Picks - Wednesday, April 26th

Pitchers to Use

After a rough outing against the Rays, Daniel Norris' ownership dropped from 17 to 15 percent. He has a difficult matchup against James Paxton and the Mariners. Norris continues to battle free passes, although he also hasn't allowed a home run. That tells me he's missing his spots off the plate rather than making more damaging mistakes. Once his command returns to 2016 levels, he'll be a safer pick.

R.A. Dickey tosses occasional gems interspersed with a heaping helping of BLAH. He's opposed by Noah Syndergaard. The best use case for Dickey is to chase a win. That's looking unlikely tomorrow.

Alex Wood has now stretched out enough to throw five innings. His velocity is up two mph, and his stuff looks as funky as ever. He has a solid outing against the Giants at AT&T Park. While San Fran has a couple notable lefty mashers, most of the offense borders on anemic.

Nick Pivetta is scheduled to make his major league debut against Edinson Volquez and the Marlins. Volquez is a volume veteran with a decent shot at a win. He's not somebody who will help your ratios. Pivetta finished strong in 2016 and is off to a hot start this season. In 19 innings, he's recorded 24 strikeouts against just three runs (two earned), 12 hits, and three walks. The scouting report describes him as somebody who can shut down right-handed hitters. He doesn't have an obvious weapons for lefty hitters.

Other Targets: Pass

Pitchers to Exploit

Sinker ball pitchers are among the most imperiled by Coors Field. Tanner Roark could be in a lot of trouble when his trade mark sinker moves less than normal. If the Nationals offense wasn't such a juggernaut, I would like Tyler Chatwood's chances to outlast Roark. Alas, this should be a two-sided stomping.

Matt Shoemaker has looked ok in his last two starts, totaling 14 strikeouts in 12.1 innings. Perhaps the splitter is back after all. He would also be listed in the "to use" section if he wasn't already 58 percent owned. Shoemaker is a good target for fly ball hitting power bats. He's already coughed up six home runs on the season, include two of three hits allowed last outing.

Trevor Bauer, Nate Karns, and Rookie Davis should all be considered massively homer prone. Bauer draws the Astros, Karns has the White Sox at the GSpot, and Davis is facing the volatile Brewers in Milwaukee.

Other Targets: Wily Peralta, Tyler Glasnow, Mat Latos, Trevor Cahill

Homers on the Wire

Progressive Field is weirdly homer friendly to left-handed hitters. Josh Reddick, aka the forgotten Astro, is in a good position versus Bauer. Reddick is batting a perfectly acceptable .283/.298/.434 despite being available in 89 percent of leagues. Don't worry about the OBP, the walks will come.

Remember when I was all excited about Athletics yesterday. Try Yonder Alonso, Matt Joyce, and Jaff Decker versus Shoemaker. I bet Yondy goes yaya.

Even though Jayson Werth isn't facing a lefty tomorrow, hold onto him for the Coor Field bonus.

Carlos Gomez, noted lefty masher, is 41 percent owned. Mike Napoli is 52 percent owned. They'll both face southpaw Hector Santiago at The Glob.

You're running out of time to react to Taylor Motter. He's already 32 percent owned. Motter is showing surprising power with five home runs in 51 plate appearances. While he obviously won't maintain a 60 home run pace, he'll make up for it by stealing some bases. He's shortstop and outfield eligible. I'm furious that I twiddled my thumbs too long to grab him.

Other Targets: Yangervis Solarte, Ryan Schimpf, David Peralta, Kolten Wong, Greg Garcia, Neil Walker, Michael Conforto, Danny Valencia, Aaron Altherr, Logan Morrison, Corey Dickerson, Hyun-soo Kim, Scott Schebler, Zack Cozart

Steals on the Wire

I need to scrounge through the league looking for more stolen base threats on the wire. I'm not at all impressed with any of tomorrow's options. The best is Kevin Kiermaier against Dylan Bundy. That matchup goes away if the Orioles push back Wade Miley.

Leadoff man Manuel Margot is opposed by the ever-enigmatic Taijuan Walker. When he's not concussing super stars, Walker can be found doing... well... anything. He's the pitching version of a roulette wheel - the results are completely random and the house always wins.

Perhaps we could re-categorize Wong as a speed threat. He's a 12 homer, 12 steal guy over a full season. The Cardinals are facing terrible Latos, but Wong may find himself on the bench to make room for Jedd Gyorko and Garcia.

Other Targets: Tyler Saladino

Skill Positions

I was wrong about Jett Bandy starting yesterday. Instead, it was Manny Pina. That means we get Bandy today and probably Pina tomorrow. Or maybe they give Bandy two in a row too. This remains a tricky platoon to track since it seemingly isn't based on anything matchup related.

Austin Hedges bats fifth for the Padres now that he's shown some life.

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