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It’s Week 2 for your fantasy baseball leagues in 2018 and the starting pitcher streamer list is still hard to judge, at first glance.
That’s why we’re here, at RotoBaller, to breakdown the pitching matchups and determine who could put your team over-the-top and earn the win.
Last week, we used the ownership percentages from Fantrax. This week, I’ll broaden out the player pool to Fantrax and Yahoo fantasy baseball leagues.
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Week 2 Streamers Under 50% Owned in Yahoo
Miles Mikolas, STL (44%)
Probable opponents: vs. MIL, @ CIN
In his first start of 2018, Mikolas notched five strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work against the Brew Crew. Though he allowed three home runs, in Milwaukee, Mikolas refused to walk a batter. This week, he gets the Brewers in his home ballpark. This season, the Brewers have whiffed the seventh most times in baseball (73 strikeouts). As for the his second projected opponent, the Reds have scored the 27th fewest runs in baseball this season (18 total runs in six games).
Jakob Junis, KC (32%)
Probable opponents: vs. SEA, vs. LAA
Junis traveled to Detroit in his first outing of the season. He recorded a win and punched out six Tigers without allowing an earned run in seven innings. Junis has two home starts on his upcoming schedule. Last season, Junis was a much better pitcher at Kauffman Stadium. He finished the 2017 season with a 3.43 ERA (5.03 ERA on the road). For Junis’s first matchup, against the Mariners, their current active roster posted a team wOBA of .316 against right-handed pitchers, which was 25th in baseball. Granted, the second opponent of the week will be a bit more challenging. The Angels currently have scored the second most runs in baseball (51 runs in eight games). They’ve also only struck out 53 times in that span (21st in baseball).
Tyler Skaggs, LAA (30%)
Probable opponents: @ TEX, @ KC
You couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season when it comes to Skaggs’ first two performances. In 11 innings, he’s allowed two earned runs and struck out ten batters. The southpaw will have two road starts this week. Kansas City was horrendous against left-handed pitchers in 2017. Going by the current active roster, the Royals produced a .300 wOBA, which was 29th in MLB. In 2018, Kansas City has scored the fewest amount of runs (14 runs in five games), but also have the lowest team strikeout total (23 K). Observing the small sample size that is 2018, both the Rangers (.086) and Royals (.088) are 26th and 25th, respectively in team ISO against left-handed pitchers.
Under 50% Owned in Fantrax
Jhoulys Chacin, MIL (47%)
Probable opponents: @ STL, @ NYM
The beginning of 2018 has not been particularly kind to Chacin. He’s allowed seven earned runs in nine innings, but has also tallied six strikeouts. Though the first two outings were not ideal for the Brewers right-hander, he gets two somewhat pitcher-friendly ballparks in Week 2. In the past three years, both Busch Stadium and Citi Field rank in the top eight of park factors for pitchers. Chacin will get the Cardinals for the second straight start. In his last performance, Chacin allowed three earned runs (six total runs) in 5.2 innings, while recording five strikeouts.
Carson Fulmer, CWS (39%)
Probable opponents: vs. TB, @ MIN
I wanted to put Fuller in the first two-start streamer guide, but he was only projected to pitch early in the week and not in the weekend slate. Thankfully, he’s projected for two starts this time. In his first outing, Fulmer went to Toronto and didn’t allow a home run. He struck out five Blue Jays, but Toronto tagged him for three earned runs. This week, the Rays are first on the docket. Tampa Bay has scored only 17 runs in seven games (28th in baseball). The Rays were also 24th in MLB last season with a .316 wOBA against righties.
Ben Lively, PHI (19%)
Probable opponents: vs. CIN, @ TB
I was a fan of Lively in the Week 1 version of the two-start streamers list, but weather hindered him from competing in two starts. So, he gets the two-start streamer nod this week. Lively struck out five batters in 5.2 innings for his first start of 2018 (at NYM). We’ve already discussed the Reds and Rays in previous pitcher breakdowns. Basically, both are solid matchups for the Phillies right-hander.
