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Quality over quantity. Every fantasy owner knows this. But when looking at the starting pitcher free agent waiver wire for the coming week, ideally you would like to have a guy that is going to be on the mound more than once. Most teams are going to have a couple of starters pitching twice in a week, which in turn raises their value as a streaming option and as weekly sleepers. In this weekly column, I’ll be looking at my top five two-start pitchers that you should consider streaming for your fantasy teams for the approaching week 5, starting May 4th 2015.
These pitchers are projected to pitch twice in the coming week and are owned in less than 50% of Fleaflicker and Yahoo leagues.
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Jesse Hahn, SP, OAK
vs MIN on 5/4, @SEA on 5/9
Jesse Hahn is a bit of a question mark this week, but I like what I have seen from him this season. He missed a start last week due to a blister on his right hand that has since healed. In four starts in Oakland, he has gone 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and an 11/4 K/BB rate over 22 innings. This is after his 2014 rookie season with the Padres where he went 7-4 with a 3.07 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 70/32 K/BB rate. His K/9 has been down to just 4.50 from 2014’s 8.59. This likely has to do with his Swinging Strike% being down from 10.1% to 7.2% this year. However, with his fastball being thrown faster this year (91.1mph to 92.5mph), I don’t see this downward trend continuing.
This week, he faces the Twins at home, followed by the Mariners in Seattle. They are ranked 26th and 24th in runs scored this season, and shouldn’t score many against Hahn. The Mariners are 8th in the league with 25 home runs, but Hahn’s career 0.47 HR/9 should take care of that. He is owned in 41% of Yahoo leagues and is worth adding this week.
Shane Greene, SP, DET
@CHW on 5/5, vs KC on 5/10
If you are choosing your streamers based on the “What have you done for me lately?” approach, you might not want to take a chance on Shane Greene. In his last two starts, Greene hasn’t made it past the fifth inning, giving up 15 total runs on 17 hits. What I like that you can take away from this was in his most recent start against the Twins, he did strike out eight without giving up a walk. In his three prior starts, Greene had gone 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA, striking out 11 and walking five.
What this means is the 25-year-old who was traded from the Yankees over the offseason is hit-or-miss. He had a shaky April, and has a pretty good matchup to start the month of May. The Sox are behind only the Phillies in scoring runs, and are at the bottom of the league in every major offensive category. In his third start of the season, Greene pitched seven innings against the White Sox, giving up just one run. The Royals might be a harder start, but since he's going up against whoever Kansas City brings up to replace Yordano Ventura, he will have a much better chance at a win.
Aaron Harang, SP, PHI
@ATL on 5/4, vs NYM on 5/10
In his last start against the Cardinals, Harang gave up five runs in six innings, breaking his streak of eight consecutive quality starts. Despite that, Harang has been great this year, as he seems to be at the beginning of every season. In five starts with the Phillies, Harang is 2-2 with a 2.51 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and 27/7 K/BB rate over 32.1 innings.
The hardest part about Harang’s first start next week against the Braves might be that he is facing Alex Wood, and could miss out on getting a win. In his previous start this year against Atlanta, Harang went eight scoreless innings, giving up only two hits before getting a no decision with the Phillies winning 1-0. He has also faced the Mets this year, giving up only one earned run over six innings, yet he took the loss as he was given zero run support. He might not be guaranteed two wins, but Harang has shown he will be a quality pitcher early in the year.
Travis Wood, SP, CHC
@STL on 5/4, @MIL on 5/09
The 28-year-old Travis Wood is off to a great start this season. In his last start against the Pirates, Wood went seven innings, striking out nine, while giving up just two runs on five hits and not walking a batter. On the year, he has a 2-1 record with a 3.04 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 26/6 K/BB rate. His 9.89 K/9 is much better than his career average of 7.05, likely due to a slight increase in his velocity this year. His SwStr% is also up to 8.5% from 6.5 in 2014.
His first start of the week against the Cardinals in St. Louis could be problematic, however they have only scored 83 runs this year, the 22nd best in league. Ending the week in Milwaukee should be a much safer play for Wood.
Josh Collmenter, SP, ARI
@COL on 5/5, vs SD on 5/10
Josh Collmenter is one of my stronger suggestions for the week. He is facing the Rockies in Colorado, followed by the Padres at home. In his last start he faced the Rockies, pitching eight innings while only giving up one unearned run, striking out six and not giving up a walk. He has won two of his last three starts, sporting a 1.17 ERA and 0.70 WHIP in that time frame, making him the fourth most productive starting pitcher in that time.
Further cementing Collmenter’s value against the Rockies, he will be facing off against Jordan Lyles. Lyles gave up six earned runs on eight hits and walked five against the Dbacks. Going against Andrew Cashner over the weekend, the last time he faced Arizona he took the loss, giving up four runs and could struggle again.
Those are my top five streaming options for the upcoming week. I would add that if you have a chance to add a pitcher such as Michael Pineda or Jake Odorizzi, they are also quality streaming options just as the starters listed. They just didn’t meet the ownership requirements for this column. As always, feel free to follow me on Twitter @JustBerglund.
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