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Harris Yudin analyzes fantasy baseball hitter streamers on the waiver wire, to consider adding and streaming in week 21 of the 2016 MLB season.
Whether it’s because of an injury or poor performance, there are always opportunities to stream players off the waiver wire. The best players to stream are those who are under-owned and face appealing match-ups for the upcoming week.
Here are five players who are readily available in Fleaflicker leagues and have attractive match-ups during the last full week of August.
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Top Hitter Streamers for Week 21
Nomar Mazara (TEX, OF) — 44% Fleaflicker
Mazara burst onto the scene earlier this year, hitting .333 with a pair of homers in his first month. He has since cooled off — his ownership has dropped below 50% — but he is still batting a more-than-respectable .281/.335/.417 on the season with 13 HR, 44 R and 45 RBI as a rookie. Mazara has struggled against southpaws — understandable for a 21-year-old lefty — but has crushed righties since day one, hitting .297/.355/.466 with 12 HR and 39 RBI against them.
In Week 21, Mazara is scheduled to see Dan Straily (nine homers allowed to LHH), Tim Adelman (.962 OPS vs. LHH) and Josh Tomlin (14 HR allowed to LHH), as well as Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar— all six of whom are right-handed. The latter three are unmistakably formidable pitchers, but Mazara has already had success against some tough righties— most notably Masahiro Tanaka, Marco Estrada, Aaron Sanchez and Hisashi Iwakuma.
Devon Travis (TOR, 2B) - 42% Fleaflicker
After missing almost two whole months due to injury, Travis was ice cold to begin his season. However, over his last 215 AB, he is hitting .330 with nine homers and 31 RBI. A right-handed hitter, the 25-year-old has actually fared better against righties (.303 with nine homers in 195 AB) than lefties (.267 with one homer in 75 AB), but he did bat .328/.371/.603 with four homers in 58 AB against southpaws a year ago.
Travis and the Jays will face lefty Tyler Skaggs (.779 OPS vs. RHH), righty Matt Shoemaker (.807), righty Jered Weaver (.906), lefty Hector Santiago (.790), righty Ervin Santana (.753) and righty Kyle Gibson (.689).
If Travis is not going to be owned long-term, fantasy owners should at least use him as a streamer this week.
Jose Reyes (NYM, 3B/SS) - 32% Fleaflicker
Reyes has been a spark plug at the top of the Mets’ offense, hitting .278 with three homers, 13 R, 11 RBI and four steals in 97 AB. He has been especially hot since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 13, going 11-for-30 (.367) over that span. A switch-hitter, Reyes has always had success from both sides of the plate.
In the upcoming series, the Mets will face lefty Jaime Garcia (.731 OPS vs. RHH), righty Carlos Martinez (.735 OPS vs. LHH), righty Adam Wainwright (.802 OPS vs. LHH), lefty Adam Morgan (.959 OPS vs. RHH), righty Jeremy Hellickson (.771 OPS vs. LHH) and righty Vince Velasquez (.823 OPS vs. LHH).
Reyes should continue to get on base and put himself in scoring position for Jay Bruce and a healthy Yoenis Cespedes.
Angel Pagan (SF, OF) - 23% Fleaflicker
As of Saturday afternoon, Pagan is working on a 17-game hitting streak. He is 24-for-71 (.338) with two homers, 14 runs, five RBI and four steals over that span. The Giants’ switch-hitting leadoff man is batting .306 against lefties and .293 against righties this year, with a little bit of pop from both sides of the plate.
This week, the Giants are scheduled to face Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill and Brett Anderson of the Dodgers, and Joel De La Cruz, Mike Foltynewicz and Rob Whalen of the Braves. Hill, who hasn’t pitched since July 7, is the only lefty of the bunch, but Pagan’s platoon splits are so similar that it really doesn’t matter which pitchers he faces. Maeda is the only formidable arm of the five righties, so Pagan should have no trouble continuing to rack up hits.
Matt Joyce (PIT, OF) - 1% Fleaflicker
Despite sharing an outfield with Andrew McCutchen, Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte, Matt Joyce has logged 172 AB so far this year. He mostly plays when the Pirates are facing righties, against whom he is slashing .267/.399/.548 with 11 HR in 146 AB.
This upcoming week, the Pirates draw Doug Fister (.868 OPS vs. LHH), Joe Musgrove (.740), Collin McHugh (.833), Wily Peralta (.932), Matt Garza (.895), Jimmy Nelson (.798) and Zach Davies (.795)— all right-handers who are far from dominant. Even against a string of righties, Joyce likely won’t play every day, but he should be able to do enough over the next few days to help an NL-Only fantasy team.
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