RADIO
Jason Katz identifies fantasy baseball category streamers for week 19 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 19 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
Manuel Margot (OF, SD) - 28% Owned
The popular breakout candidate has been largely a disappointment this season. The good news is there's still time. Manuel Margot has been heating up at the plate recently and with an increased on-base percentage comes increased opportunities to take second base. Margot has just 10 swipes on the season, but three have come in the past two weeks. He could provide a late season surge and is definitely worth considering as your speed streaming option.
Adalberto Mondesi (2B/SS, KC) - 9% Owned
It makes me feel really old to talk about the son of a player I used to draft. Adalberto Mondesi has a two stolen base game on his resume and has displayed strong speed throughout his minor league career. Give him a shot.
Power
Randal Grichuk (OF, TOR) - 8% Owned
Once a trendy sleeper pick on the Cardinals, Randal Grichuk's career hit a bit of a snag. Since his return to the majors with Toronto, Grichuk has been hitting for power. He's on a 30 home run pace and he's got three in the past two weeks. Fire him up.
David Freese (1B/3B, PIT) - 2% Owned
It's always nice to have power hitters at Coors Field. That's where David Freese will be to start next week. Freese has never been a huge power hitter, but he can get hot, which he has. Ride the wave.
Average
Ben Zobrist (2B/OF, CHC) - 27% Owned
Ben Zobrist has never even hit over .280 in his career. Yet, here we are in August and he's over .300. There's no reason to doubt it. Zobrist just gets on base. He's hitting close to .500 over the past two weeks. While that is surely not going to continue, there's no reason he can't remain over .300.
Denard Span (OF, SEA) - 11% Owned
He may be old, but Denard Span is also a career .282 hitter that is currently hitting .271. Given the way offense has been in baseball this year, that's pretty good. Span is a solid, if unspectacular option.
Strikeouts
Joey Lucchesi (SP, SD) - 21% Owned
The Padres' rookie has been a bit up and done, but one thing he does consistently is miss bats. Joey Lucchesi strikes out a batter an inning and will face the Phillies next week, third in the league in strikeouts.
Nick Pivetta (SP, PHI) - 43% Owned
Nick Pivetta has not pitched well recently, but he's still making a ton of bats miss. Pivetta has a K/9 over 11.00 and his opponent next week, the Diamondbacks, strike out the sixth most in baseball.
Wins
Drew Pomeranz (SP, BOS) - 20% Owned
The Red Sox have the best offense in baseball. The Blue Jays have a below average offense. The Red Sox will be heavy favorites when Drew Pomeranz takes the mound against the Blue Jays next week.
Mike Montgomery (SP, CHC) - 15% Owned
The Cubs currently have 28 more wins than the Royals, Mike Montgomery's opponent next week. The game is in Kansas City, but the Cubs will still be significant favorites. Montgomery may not do much for your team, but he should get the win.
ERA/WHIP
John Gant (SP, STL) - 4% Owned
John Gant has a respectable mid 3's ERA, which he will take into a road start in Miami next week. It is well established that the Marlins are not a good baseball team. They are fifth worst in runs scored. Gant should pitch quite well in this one.
Anthony DeSclafani (SP, CIN) - 4% Owned
Joining the Marlins in the bottom five in runs scored is the Mets, Anthony Desclafani's opponent next week. Streaming against the Mets is always a prudent move, even when the opposing pitcher has an ERA pushing 6.00.
