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Welcome to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire. Use this column to improve upon your neediest categories.
Below are your pitcher and hitter streaming targets for Tuesday, July 25
Let's get to it.
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- Fantasy baseball waiver wire rankings (top 80 players)
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- Hitter streamers - fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- Two-start pitcher streamers - fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups
- Cut List - Players To Consider Dropping for Week 5
Agenda
- The Agony and the Ecstasy
- Today's Weather and Updates
- Tomorrow's Picks
1. The Agony and the Ecstasy
It was a tale of extremes on Sunday, as news broke that the Red Sox would be calling up phenom Rafael Devers right around the time that both Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg were exiting their starts early with injuries. The Dodgers have already confirmed that Kershaw will hit the disabled list after feeling tightness in his back. Fortunately, it's not believed that this issue is as severe as the problems that cost him two months of last season. As for Strasburg, he reportedly was having trouble getting loose. There may not be a DL stint in his future. Doesn't help anyone who was counting on solid outings from both players to salvage their H2H matchup, though. I'm not bitter or anything. Except about Devers already being owned in all of my leagues.
2. Today's Weather and Updates
Other than roughly a coin flip's chance of thunderstorms in Philly, we're looking pretty good.
Tomorrow should be another unaffected slate, though there's a non-trivial risk of rain for Marlins-Rangers.
3. Tomorrow's Picks - Tuesday, July 25
Pitchers to Use
Charlie Morton hasn't looked all that sharp since returning from an oblique strain, but he'll draw a highly exploitable Phillies offense on Tuesday night. The veteran has three 10+ strikeout games on the ledger already this year despite missing almost two months of action. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him notch a fourth against his former team.
Luis Castillo and Jordan Montgomery will each toe the rubber in the Bronx. While Yankee Stadium isn't the ideal place to stream pitchers with moderate home run issues, both teams have been struggling at the plate in recent weeks. Mostly, getting involved with this game just gives you an excuse to watch Castillo square off against Aaron Judge. Not that anyone should need a reason to do that.
Other Targets: Seth Lugo, Jhoulys Chacin
Pitchers to Exploit
Nick Pivetta has been piling up strikeouts, but that hasn't helped him avoid ghastly ratios. Mostly, that's because he walks too many guys and allows far too much in the way of hard contact and home runs. That's a recipe for disaster against the Astros juggernaut.
Wade Miley is bad. We really shouldn't need to talk about this beyond a reminder that he's, you know, Wade Miley...but here are some fun stats. Since June 7, Miley has a 10.04 ERA and 2.44 ERA. In those nine starts, he has: failed to make it through the third inning three times, never finished the sixth inning, and walked 27 batters in 37 2/3 innings. The Trop may be pitcher-friendly, but ain't no park that pitcher-friendly, ya dig?
Other Targets: Zach Davies, Jesse Chavez, Carlos Rodon, Cesar Valdez
Homers on the Wire
Based on his early season numbers, Nicholas Castellanos' ability to hit his way out of a wet paper bag was in question. That was despite his typically excellent batted ball metrics. The results have started to match the process, as Castellanos is hitting .304/.356/.590 with 10 homers since the end of May. Lately, he's bounced between second and fifth in the Tigers lineup.
Maikel Franco hasn't enjoyed such a drastic turnaround, but he has been better of late. Half of Franco's 14 homers this season have come in the last five weeks, and he's collected multiple hits in three of his nine games so far in the second half. Coaches have cited a leveling of his swing as a reason for this uptick in results. Should this hot streak persist, Franco's position in the middle of the lineup should make him a solid run producer moving forward.
Other Targets: Matt Adams, Tommy Joseph, Paul DeJong, Mike Napoli, Josh Bell
Steals on the Wire
Manuel Margot has stolen five bases in the last four weeks. More importantly, he's only been caught once during that stretch after opening the season just 5-for-1o on steal attempts. The Padres rookie has too much speed to be a subpar thief.
Other Targets: Jarrod Dyson, Mallex Smith, Whit Merrifield, Rajai Davis
Skill Positions
Hector Sanchez really hates the Giants. (As a Phillies fan still bitter about 2010, I sympathize.) The backstop has teed off against his former team in two series against them since the All-Star break, going 8-for-20 with three homers and eight RBI.
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