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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’d 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. This in turn raises their value as streaming options and 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 10.
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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Taijuan Walker, SP, SEA
6/9 @CLE, 6/14 @HOU
Despite a rocky start to this 2015 season, Taijuan Walker is my number one streaming option for this week. Yes, his 2-6 record and 5.80 ERA are quite ugly. However, the is coming off back-to-back great starts. In his last outing against the Yankees, he went eight innings, giving up three runs and walking one with seven strikeouts. Before that, Walker had possibly his best career start against the Indians, going eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while walking none and striking out eight.
Walker’s first start of the week comes against the Indians, against whom he pitched the eight inning gem just two starts ago. Despite Cleveland being ninth in the majors with 235 runs scored this year, their 134 facing righties is good for second worst in the league. After Cleveland, Walker has a tough assignment against the surprise first place Houston Astros. Despite their hot start, their .236 average this year is only better than Milwaukee. While he is a risky due to his inconsistency, I will be streaming Walker this week hoping his high upside shines through again. He is only owned in 35% of Yahoo leagues, and should be available for streaming this week.
Lance McCullers Jr., SP, HOU
6/8 @ CHW, 6/14 vs SEA
Rookie Lance McCullers has been a great surprise the past few weeks, and without a doubt a big factor in Houston’s early success. In four starts with the Astros, he is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a 29/6 K/BB ratio in 24 innings. In his last start against Baltimore, McCullers hurled a one run complete game, with just four hits, no walks and 11 Ks. While his 10.88 K/9 could be considered beginners luck, he has maintained a rate above 10 K/9 throughout his minor league career, including 13.34 in Double-A this season before being called up.
Starting the week in the Windy City against the Sox, it is safe to say McCullers is not facing the most potent offense. The ChiSox have a .239 average and .652 OPS at home, good for 27th and 29th in the league, respectively. Next is a bit of a tricky situation. McCullers ends the week opposing Taijuan Walker, who I previously mentioned. Is it bad to stream two pitchers if they will be facing each other this week? Not when both are facing sub-bar offenses. Seattle has a .227 average against righties on the road, and is amongst the league’s worst in many categories in this split. Fantasy owners should be on board with this matchup to bolster their week 10 stats.
Chris Heston, SP, SF
6/9 @NYM, 6/14 vs ARI
Chris Heston is a pretty decent streaming option for the week. On the year, he is 5-4 with a 4.29 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, with six quality starts along with a 55/18 K/BB rate. The Giants rookie had a cup of coffee in the majors last year, with 5 1/3 innings throughout three appearances in 2014. His five pitch arsenal includes a two-seam fastball that tops out at 92 MPH, as well as a four-seamer, curveball, slider and changeup. While he has had moderate success this year, his 12.5 HR/FB rate is alarming.
I like Heston this week due to his matchups. He starts the week against the Mets at home, followed by a trip to Arizona. It might be due my proximity to Citi Field, and seeing the Mets struggle at home, but I have had success streaming pitchers on the road in Queens. The Mets are below league average in batting average and OPS. Also, Daniel Murphy has joined David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud on the DL, leaving an even bigger gap in their offense. Heston has faced the Dbacks twice this year, racking up two wins while giving up just one earned run on eight hits over 13 1/3 inning. Heston will be opposed by Rubby de la Rosa, who has given up 10 runs in 12 innings in two starts against the Giants.
Eduardo Rodriguez, SP, BOS
6/9 @BAL, 6/14 vs TOR
Yes, the Red Sox starting pitching has been bad this year. However, rookie Eduardo Rodriguez has given a boost to the rotation since being recalled in May. He has won both his starts, giving up only one run on five hits, striking out 14 and walking four. The 22-year-old, who was the centerpiece of the Andrew Miller trade last year, is now in line for two starts with Boston moving back to a five man rotation this week. Rodriguez’s fastball can top as high as 97 MPH, along with an above average changeup and a slider that has improved.
Rodriguez starts the week against the Orioles in Baltimore. The O’s have had a fairly average offense this year. However, their stats do drop below average against lefties, specifically their OBP and OPS. Rodriguez is opposed by Miguel Gonzalez, who has given up seven runs in 11 innings over two starts against Boston this year. Ending the week on Sunday at Fenway against the Jays, Rodriguez has a tough matchup. While Toronto has the highest OPS in the league at home at .824, their road .717 is much more manageable. Similarly, their .278/.252 home/road batting average split makes the Blue Jays seem much less scary away from Rogers Centre.
Mike Bolsinger, SP, LAD
6/9 vs ARI, 6/14 @SD
Mike Bolsinger has gone from being one of my top deep league streamers, to now being owned in 46% of Yahoo leagues and just meeting the requirements for this column. In his six starts this year, he has a 1.98 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and a 28/12 K/BB rate. With the losses of Hyun-Jin Ryu and Bradon McCarthy for the year, Bolsinger has eased the gap between aces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Grienke to the rest of the rotation.
Starting the week at home against the Diamondbacks, Bolsinger has a nice matchup vs. Rubby De La Rosa. The D-Backs have actually had a sustainable offense this year, but have a .236 batting average against the Dodgers this year. While this will be Bolsinger’s first time facing Arizona, I have confidence he will follow his peers' routine of quality pitching against the D-Backs. Bolsinger has faced the Padres already in his best start of the year, in which he went eight shutout innings, giving up only one hit and no walks while striking out eight. On top of that, San Diego is below the league average in AVG, OBP, SLG and OPS.
As always, feel free to follow me on Twitter @JustBerglund.
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