RADIO
Jason Katz identifies fantasy baseball category streamers for week 13 of 2018. Waiver wire pickups, adds, and streamers for weekly head-to-head (H2H) leagues.
I like to consider myself a pioneer of the streaming approach. I won a league about seven years ago completely ignoring saves and just stacking up the starts each week. While streaming is undoubtedly more directly associated with pitching, there's plenty of value in streaming for offense as well.
Maybe you have a stacked roster and you can't drop anyone. But for those of us with a couple of guys on the roster fringes, it's never too early to look into targeting a specific player or two to gain an edge in a particular category. This season, I will be making weekly recommendations for extreme short term category specialists every week in three offensive areas: speed, power, and average; and three pitching areas: strikeouts, wins, and ratios (ERA/WHIP).
Below are my Week 13 category streamers for fantasy baseball. All position eligibility and ownership percentages are based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
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Head-to-Head Category Streamers to Consider
Speed
Delino DeShields (OF, TEX) - 35% owned
With five stolen bases in the past two weeks, Delino DeShields has come on strong in the speed department. He currently has 15 on the season despite missing significant time due to injury. DeShields should probably be more heavily owned, but until then, make use of his low ownership percentage by utilizing his speed.
Michael A. Taylor (OF, WAS) - 40% Owned
I have to put Michael A. Taylor here yet again. The man had a four steal game last week. Four! In one game! He's already up to 21 steals on the season and has stolen six in the past two weeks. The Nationals seem to be finding ways to get Taylor, Adam Eaton, and Juan Soto consistent at-bats. As long as Taylor is hitting reasonably well and running successfully, there will be at-bats for him.
Power
Randal Grichuk (OF, TOR) - 8% Owned
Remember Randal Grichuk? He's already had multiple seasons where, had he played the entire season, he likely would have exceeded 30 home runs. Grichuk has seven home runs in 40 games this season, which is about a 30 home run pace. Most importantly, he's been really heating up at the dish. He raised his batting average over 50 points in just two weeks and hit four home runs in that span.
Matt Davidson (1B/3B, CWS) - 29% Owned
Matt Davidson has 13 home runs on the season and the White Sox open next week with a series in Cincinnati. Davidson hit 26 home runs in 2017 in just 118 games. He has big time power and next week shapes up nicely for him to hit a few long balls.
Average
Jon Jay (OF, ARI) - 27% Owned
The combination of Steve Souza being perennially injured and also mostly terrible at baseball has led to Jon Jay securing an everyday role in the Arizona outfield. The .290 career hitter is off to a .310 start to the 2018 season. The Diamondbacks play the Marlins and Giants next week, two teams in the bottom third of the league in batting average against (as in they allow high opponent batting averages).
Gerardo Parra (OF, COL) - 7% Owned
As of this writing, Gerardo Parra is hitting an even .300 on the season, 21 points higher than his career average. The Rockies do face the Dodgers next week, which could prove challenging, but they also face the Giants. Parra should continue his hot hitting for most of next week.
Strikeouts
Carlos Rodon (SP, CWS) - 30% Owned
Carlos Rodon is never healthy. But when he is, he strikes out more than a batter an inning. Next week, he projects to start against the Rangers. No team in baseball strikes out more than the Rangers. Rodon could easily reach double-digit strikeouts in this game.
Freddy Peralta (SP, MIL) - 24% Owned
The rookie has begun his career with a 14.36 K/9. He's also walking an unacceptable 4.6 batters per inning, but we're focused on the missed bats here. Next week, he is slated to pitch at Cincinnati. They are slightly above average in strikeouts per game, which is to say, they're nothing spectacular. Freddy Peralta should have no trouble continuing to send guys down swinging.
Wins
Mike Soroka (SP, ATL) - 44% Owned
The Braves are a much better team than Mike Soroka's Monday opponent, the Reds. With the game in Atlanta and Soroka looking to bounce back after a rough outing against the Blue Jays, this is a great spot for the Braves' offense to power Soroka to an easy victory.
Jonathan Loaisiga (SP, NYY) - 28% Owned
The Yankees have the third best offense in baseball, behind only Houston and Boston. They've scored over 60 more runs than Jonathan Loaisiga's opponent next week, the Phillies. He may not provide great ratios and his control is an issue, but the Yankees should score enough runs to get the rookie a win.
ERA/WHIP
Kyle Gibson (SP, MIN) - 28% Owned
I liked Kyle Gibson many years ago, but finally gave up last year after yet another season with an ERA over 5.00. Somehow, Gibson has put it all together this season and has an ERA in the low 3s. His peripherals suggest a slightly higher ERA, but still under 4.00. The White Sox are fourth worst in the league in runs scored. That is who Gibson projects to face next week. He's given up three runs or fewer in five consecutive starts. Next week, he should do it yet again.
Brent Suter (SP, MIL) - 19% Owned
The key to streaming ERA and WHIP is to find opponents that don't score many runs. Brent Suter is going to face the Royals next week. Suter has an era in the low 4s, which isn't great, but the Royals are third to last in the league in runs scored. Suter should be good for about six innings and two earned runs.
