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Not meant to be an epic, the Streamer Report will provide you with a few starting pitcher selections and then call it a proverbial day. The criteria is starting pitchers who are 50% owned or less in Yahoo leagues. We’ll consider matchup, track record versus opponent, recent performance, and more.
How did yesterday’s streamers fare?
Joe Ross: 6 2⁄3 innings, 5 hits, 1 ER, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 0 homers, 1 win
Brendan McKay: 4.0 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts, 0 homers
Griffin Canning: 4.0 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 0 homers
McKay had three walks entering yesterday’s game, a number he increased by 200% after allowing six free passes in only four innings against the Padres. Yikes. He did gives us the strikeouts, at least. Canning was a bit rusty, only throwing 48 of 80 pitches for strikes. He didn’t allow a home run, though, and I think he’s someone you can continue to hold in most formats. Joe Ross was the dude, coming through in the clutch with the win. It looks like he has solidified his spot in that Washington rotation.
Streamers vs. League Average
| WHO | ERA | WHIP | K/9 | BB/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHO | ERA | WHIP | K/9 | BB/9 |
| STREAMER STATS | 5.04 ERA | 1.48 WHIP | 7.27 K/9 | 3.87 BB/9 |
| LEAGUE AVERAGE | 4.52 ERA | 1.31 WHIP | 8.54 K/9 | 2.94 BB/9 |
Our K/9 went up a tick and the ERA came down a tick. All those McKay walks did a number on our other ratios, though. Let’s get back to it for today!
Wednesday’s Streamers
Another day, another noble act to not ignore my threshold and select Marco Gonzales, who was 49% owned on Tuesday night. I am too honorable. Gonzales was removed from his last start with some form of injury, but he appears on track for today...and is over our threshold at 51% owned.
Cal Quantrill vs. Tampa Bay Rays (44% owned)
There’s only a bit of risk with the Rays when they face right-handed pitching, as they are middling in ISO at .183 (17th). They are middling in strikeout rate in this split too, checking in at 22.8%, or 15th. Meanwhile, Quantrill has the second-lowest ERA among rookie starters this year, at 3.21. You didn’t think he could best Mike Soroka, now did you? Anyway, I like this spot no matter what, but it helps that Tommy Pham is probably going to miss this one with a hand injury. Quantrill himself has been on a role of late, sporting a 0.93 ERA and allowing a pitiful .183/.227/.240 slash to opposing hitters over his 29 second half innings thus far. And I’ll leave you with this nugget that relates to Quantrill’s leash for the rest of the year:
Manager Andy Green indicated to me that Cal Quantrill will be unleashed the rest of the year. He basically has no innings limitations or drastic pitch counts the rest of the season. It is full evaluation mode for the #Padres on their former first-round pick.
— James E. Clark 3 (@EVT_JClark) August 13, 2019
In the immortal words of Kirk Cousins...YOU LIKE THAT!
Dakota Hudson at Kansas City Royals (26% owned)
Hudson is a better version of Brad Keller, who also pitches today and was in consideration. Except, Hudson has a 10.0% swinging strike rate (compared to 8.5% for Keller) and a much healthier ground ball rate (57.1% for Hudson). Hudson also has a 65.2% ground ball rate to right-handed hitters, and the most feared bats for KC are all righties: Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier, and Jorge Soler. Lefties are roughing Hudson up to the tune of a .306/.402/.530 slash line, but the only lefty bat of note for KC is Alex Gordon—and he doesn’t hit many home runs. The game total is a bit high for my liking, but Hudson will be a sneaky road favorite with a shot at a win if he can pitch relatively deep. I like him well enough as a streamer and as an SP2 on DraftKings given his low price point of $6,000.
LHP Dillon Peters vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (7% owned)
The Pirates are a solid matchup for southpaws, with a terrible .144 ISO (29th). Only the Marlins are less powerful against lefty pitching, for reference. Pittsburgh’s 76 wRC+ in this split is also the worst in the majors. The 23.0% strikeout rate is middling at 14th in the MLB, but the Pirates only walk 4.8% of the time against lefties, which is the worst walk rate in the league in this split. Outside of Josh Bell and Starling Marte, there isn’t much to fear with this squad. And Peters gets the added bonus of having some guy named Mike Trout on his team—so it isn’t farfetched to think he might just be pitching with a lead in this one. Today looks like a solid enough day for SP2 types, off the cuff. Peters is only $6,300 on DraftKings.
Need a strong day today to get our ratios back into respectability. This is a fun game I’m playing, trying to approximate the league average with these streamer picks. If you guys/gals find some plays I’m missing, definitely shoot them my way so we can all get better!