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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 Monday, July 3rd.
Let's get to it.
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Agenda
- The Best Way to Cool Off
- Today's Weather and Updates
- Tomorrow's Picks
1. The Best Way to Cool Off
A little later, we'll discuss a particularly hot shortstop. Here's his attempt to cool off on a hot day.
2. Today's Weather and Updates
The league appears to be free and clear of delay and postponement risks today and tomorrow.
3. Tomorrow's Picks - Monday, July 3rd
Pitchers to Use
It's a terrible day to stream a starter. Alex Meyer's combination of 96 mph fastballs and frequent curve balls is your best option. Personally, I think his future is in the bullpen. The Twins offense has slowed down recently, giving Meyer a chance at a risky quality start.
The Mariners will call upon rookie righty Andrew Moore. He's a fly ball pitcher who depends upon infield flies and soft contact for success. He has a kitchen sink approach, mixing a traditional fastball with a slider, curve, change, and splitter. In the minors, Moore posted over 8.00 K/9 combined with a sub-2.00 walk rate. When first exposed to the majors, pitchers of this profile tend to lose a bunch of strikeouts while walking more hitters. Some adjust, some don't. Moore has a soft matchup against the Royals.
There's a decent chance Moore will flop, putting Ian Kennedy in the driver's seat for a win. Kennedy has been extremely fortunate to post a 4.72 ERA. His walks and strikeouts have trended in the wrong direction, and he's the beneficiary of a .201 BABIP. The fly ball pitcher is also homer prone (1.94 HR/9).
Jharel Cotton is having a miserable sophomore season. If he's going to bounce back, it should happen against a terrible White Sox offense. I would not use this start unless you're desperate.
Other Targets: ---
Pitchers to Exploit
At any other venue, Luis Castillo's 98 mph heater would appear in the "to use" section as a high risk, moderate reward gamble. Tomorrow, he'll visit Coors Field. No, I do not want any part of a volatile youngster's first visit to Colorado. Especially one who skipped Triple-A.
The Brewers have a few interesting pitching prospects on the cusp of the majors. Instead, they'll call upon Paolo Espino. The soft-tossing righty is a prototypical replacement level spot starter. Expect a 5.50 ERA.
Other Targets: Wade Miley, Jeff Locke, Adam Wainwright, Martin Perez, Adalberto Mejia
Homers on the Wire
Orlando Arcia is en fuego. Since mid-June, he's slashing .405/.444/.667. That's excluding a 3-for-4 performance last night in which he hit his third home run in under 50 plate appearances. Don't get too excited about the positive blip on the stat sheet - Arcia's still a ground ball hitter. It remains to be seen if he can maintain the hard contact he's shown during the streak. I'd bet against it long term. As for tomorrow, he has a friendly matchup versus Miley.
Let's talk about the Cardinals lineup. The club is scraping for any winning combination. Yesterday, they used righties Tommy Pham, Randal Grichuk, Jose Martinez, Luke Voit, and Paul DeJong - all powerful hitters with home run potential. With Locke on the bump tomorrow, there's a good chance at least four of them will start again. The club is also toying with using Matt Carpenter at second base, opening more playing time for Voit.
Other Targets: Chris Young, Sam Travis, Seth Smith, Carlos Gomez, Shin-Soo Choo, Max Kepler, Robbie Grossman, Scooter Gennett, Jed Lowrie
Steals on the Wire
I don't yet have a feel for when Raimel Tapia will start. Seemingly, it's any time the Rockies face a high quality starter. Assuming he plays tomorrow, he'll have the platoon advantage against a hard thrower.
It's Rajai Davis day. He'll face southpaw Carlos Rodon in his second start back from the disabled list.
Other Targets: Delino DeShields, Eric Young Jr., Adam Engel, Jarrod Dyson, Whit Merrifield
Skill Positions
Manny Pina appears to be the starting catcher in Milwaukee, and he'll almost certainly start against every left-handed pitcher. Robinson Chirinos is starting to take more at bats from Jonathan Lucroy. There's a decent chance the power hitter will start tomorrow.
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