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Straight Cheese Streaming Starting Pitchers – 2018 Post Mortem

October 4, 2018 By Chris Spencer Leave a Comment

Atlanta Braves Anibal Sanchez was one of Chris’ most used pitchers in his weekly streaming starting pitchers analysis – Straight Cheese. Texas Rangers were his most picked on opponent. Here is the 2018 season review.

Fantasy baseball owners, this is the place where you come to get the Straight Cheese on less than desirable, questionably talented, less than 50% owned starting pitchers you can use for a spot start. Streaming pitchers is necessary to get those all-important counting stats for your roto league without drop-kicking your ratio stats into submission.

But before we dive into the 2018 post mortem, let’s take a look back at my picks from Week 24.

Week 24 Review

Name	Date	GS	IP	ER	H	BB	K	Dec	ERA	WHIP
Eric Lauer SDP	9/14 vs TEX	1	5.00	2	3	1	4	ND	3.60	0.80
Vince Velasquez PHI	9/15 vs MIA	1	2.00	4	4	1	4	ND	18.00	2.50
Robbie Erlin SDP	9/16 vs TEX	1	5.33	1	6	0	6	L	1.69	1.13
Shane Bieber CLE	9/16 vs DET	1	6.00	5	9	0	4	L	7.50	1.50
Total for Week		4	18.33	12	22	2	18	1-2	5.89	1.31

Not a strong finish to the season. In fact, can we just ignore September? It was easily my worst month.

Monthly Totals

Month	GS	IP	K	W-L	ERA	WHIP
April	15	79.00	80	6-4	4.90	1.51
May	16	94.33	86	5-5	3.72	1.09
June	5	31.00	31	3-0	1.74	0.97
July	12	73.34	71	7-3	2.70	1.16
August	14	88.33	86	10-1	1.83	0.88
September	9	34.00	34	0-5	9.00	1.94
TOTAL	71	400.00	388	31-18	3.64	1.20

Still, 400 innings of 3.64 era and 1.20 whip are commendable considering all pitchers were less than 50% owned at the time. Some pitchers that ended 2018 with an era higher than 3.64 and a whip higher than 1.20: Jake Arrieta, German Marquez, Dallas Keuchel, Cole Hamels, Jose Berrios, Julio Teheran and Jose Quintana… to name a few.

Most Frequent Opponent

The team I found myself picking on the most was the Texas Rangers. In fact, I went against them 12 times this year (five more than the next most frequent: Baltimore and San Diego). My line when picking a starting pitcher versus the Rangers: 2.39 era, 1.25 whip, 57 strikeouts and a 6-2 record in 64 innings.

Interestingly enough, here is my line for starting pitchers versus Rangers, Orioles and Padres: 2.85 era, 1.19 whip, 149 strikeouts and a 15-3 record in 148 2/3 innings (26 games). That’s Mike Clevinger with a lower era.

Most Frequent Pitchers Recommended

There were four pitchers that I suggested three times this year:

Anibal Sanchez: 1.53 era, 0.85 whip, 17 strikeouts, 1 win in 17 2/3 innings
Kyle Gibson: 3.66 era, 1.17 whip, 21 strikeouts, 2 wins in 19 2/3 innings
Lance Lynn: 4.91 era, 1.77 whip, 17 strikeouts, 1 win in 14 2/3 innings
Trevor Cahill: 1.84 era, 1.16 whip, 23 strikeouts, 1 win in 14 2/3 innings

All four combined: 2.97 era, 1.21 whip, 78 strikeouts, 5 wins in 66 2/3 innings (12 games). That’s 66 2/3 innings of Noah Syndergaard with a slightly better era and more strikeouts.

My Best Calls

Ross Stripling (5/25 vs SD): 6 2/3 ip, 0 er, 6 h, 0 bb, 10 k, 1 win; 60 FanDuel points, 35.4 DraftKings points
Trevor Cahill (8/5 vs DET): 6 ip, 0 er, 3 h, 1 bb, 10 k, 1 win; 58 FanDuel points, 35.1 DraftKings points
Trevor Cahill (5/5 vs BAL): 6 ip, 0 er, 4 h, 1 bb, 12 k, 0 win; 58 FanDuel points, 34.5 DraftKings points
Daniel Mengden (5/26 vs ARI): 9 ip, 0 er, 2 h, 0 bb, 5 k, 1 win; 52 FanDuel points, 38.05 DraftKings points
Danny Duffy (7/14 @ CHW): 7 ip, 0 er, 4 h, 3 bb, 8 k, 1 win; 55 FanDuel points, 31.55 DraftKings points

My Worst Calls

Brian Johnson (9/2 @ CHW): 1 1/3 ip, 4 er, 7 h, 1 bb, 2 k, 0 win; -2 FanDuel points, -5.8 DraftKings points
Daniel Mengden (4/28 @ HOU): 2 1/3 ip, 4 er, 6 h, 1 bb, 1 k, 0 win; -2 FanDuel points, -4.95 DraftKings points
Zack Wheeler (5/4 vs COL): 6 ip, 8 er, 10 h, 3 bb, 3 k, 0 win; 3 FanDuel points, -4.3 DraftKings points
Trevor Cahill (9/9 vs TEX): 2 2/3 ip, 3 er, 2 h, 6 bb, 1 k, 0 win; 2 FanDuel points, -2.8 DraftKings points
Steven Matz (5/19 vs ARI): 4 ip, 4 er, 6 h, 1 bb, 2 k, 0 win; 6 FanDuel points, 0.8 DraftKings points

I still can’t figure out #4 on the Worst list. Cahill vs Texas should have been a slam dunk.

Well, that closes the book on Straight Cheese for 2018. I hope you enjoyed my work and I look forward to getting back to the grind in 2019!

And remember, my suggestions aren’t ludicrous. They’re @Roto_Chris.

Straight Cheese Week 24 Streaming Starting Pitchers – Lauer, Erlin, Bieber

September 13, 2018 By Chris Spencer Leave a Comment

Cleveland Indians Shane “Don’t Call Me Justin” Bieber baffled the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday in 6-2/3 of shutout ball. Chris picks him as a prime streaming option this weekend facing the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.

Before we dive into the dumpster looking for week 24 streaming starting pitchers, let’s take a look back at my picks from last week.

Week 23 Review

Warning: the summary below may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Name	Date	GS	IP	ER	H	BB	K	Dec	ERA	WHIP
Anthony DeSclafini CIN	9/7 vs SDP	1	4.00	4	8	0	3	–	9.00	2.00
Vince Velasquez PHI	9/9 @ NYM	1	4.00	5	7	1	4	L	11.25	2.00
Trevor Cahill OAK	9/9 vs TEX	1	2.67	3	2	6	1	–	10.13	3.00
Total for Week		3	10.67	12	17	7	8	1-2	10.13	2.25
Running Total		67	381.67	150	330	127	370	31-16	3.54	1.20

Wow and I thought the week before last was bad. Utter failure all the way around. I think what we are witnessing is some tragic regression with the Stream-O-Matic 2000. The July and August success was too much to sustain. Well, there is only one thing to do: PANIC! I’m giving you my last four pitchers to stream this week in a dire attempt to bring my September numbers back to something close to respectable.

Week 24 Streaming Starting Pitchers

The pitchers are listed in order of appearance as of ~~Wednesday~~ Friday (The Padres reshuffled their starting pitchers after this article posted on Thursday). Ownership info from Yahoo! (Y) and ESPN (E) and all 2018 stats are through Tuesday, September 11th.

LHP Eric Lauer, SDP
Owned Y2%/E2% · vs Texas Rangers – Friday Saturday, September 15th

Listen, there is a reason Lauer is sitting out on your waiver wire. He’s struggling a bit in his rookie season. Struggling to the tune of a 4.80 era (4.51 xFIP), 1.62 whip, 19.5 k% and 8.00 k/9 in 95 2/3 innings.

So why am I bringing him up here? Well, he’s facing the Rangers. I’ve been screaming from the mountaintops all season about the benefits of streaming against the Rangers when on the road. Against LHP on the road they have a 0.270 wOBA (29th), a 0.109 iso (29th) and strike out 26.1% of the time (last in mlb). I’m the least confident in Lauer of the four pitchers I’m suggesting this week but I’m tossing the dice a bit in hopes of avoiding snake eyes.

RHP Vince Velasquez, PHI
Owned Y39%/E30% · vs Miami Marlins – Saturday, September 15th

Vince was not kind to me last week when I targeted him on the road versus the Mets. I’m willing to forgive and forget this weekend as he faces the Marlins at home. He comes into the matchup with a 4.30 era (4.06 xFIP), 1.28 whip, 26.0 k% and 9.91 k/9 in 138 innings. The Marlins come in with a 0.298 wOBA (23rd), 0.144 iso (26th) and striking out 24.6% of the time (23rd). I’m looking (hoping) that Vince rebounds this weekend in this favorable matchup.

LHP Robbie Erlin, SDP
Owned Y3%/E1% · vs Texas Rangers – Sunday Friday, September 14th

Take everything I said about the Rangers on the road versus southpaws and apply to Erlin’s matchup on Friday. The difference is that Erlin has something Lauer didn’t: better home splits. Overall Lauer has a 4.42 era (3.47 xFIP), 1.14 whip, 20.0 k% and 7.21 k/9 in 93 2/3 innings. At home his numbers look like this: 2.92 era (3.54 xFIP), 0.95 whip, 19.8 k% and 6.75 k/9 in 49 1/3 innings. The strikeouts go down but the free swinging Rangers should give him a bump in that department.

RHP Shane Bieber, CLE
Owned Y37%/E41% · vs Detroit Tigers – Sunday, September 16th

Shane “Don’t Call Me Justin” Bieber currently has a 4.32 era (3.27 xFIP), 1.33 whip, 25.1 k% and 9.55 k/9 in 98 innings. Even with the high era and whip you can make the argument for rostering him for his strikeouts. His reasonable 3.27 xFIP (or what I like to call “true era”) indicates that he may have been unlucky and could be due for better days. Well, his last outing may be an indication that those better days are here. On Tuesday he baffled the Rays to the tune of 11 strikeouts, 3 hits and 3 walks in 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball.

This weekend he faces the Tigers and their 0.286 wOBA (last in mlb), 0.136 iso (28th) and 24.6 k% (22nd). Roll Bieber out there and thank me later.

Remember, these suggestions aren’t ludicrous. They’re @Roto_Chris.

Straight Cheese Week 23 Streaming Starting Pitchers – DeSclafani, Velasquez, Cahill

September 6, 2018 By Chris Spencer 1 Comment

Rough week last week for streaming pitchers but looking for a rebound this week, going back to the well with right hander Anthony DeSclafani of the Cincinnati Reds, facing the San Diego Padres Friday.

Before we dive into the dumpster looking for week 23 streaming starting pitchers, let’s take a look back at my picks from last week.

Week 22 Review

Name	Date	GS	IP	ER	H	BB	K	Dec	ERA	WHIP
Brad Keller KCR	8/31 vs BAL	1	8.00	2	4	2	4	W	2.25	0.75
Brian Johnson BOS	9/2 @ CHW	1	1.33	4	7	1	2	L	27.00	6.00
Lance Lynn NYY	9/2 vs DET	1	3.67	6	9	1	6	L	14.73	2.73
Total for Week		3	13.00	12	20	4	12	1-2	8.31	1.85
Running Total		64	371.00	138	313	120	362	31-15	3.35	1.17

To say Sunday blew up in my face is an understatement. Wow, who would have guessed that both starting pitchers from the Red Sox and Yankees would end up completely crapping the bed? I was on a very nice roll there and slammed into a brick wall when the calendar flipped to September. Don’t worry, Hoss. I really like this week’s trio of hurlers and believe we’ll be back on our feet.

Week 23 Streaming Starting Pitchers

The pitchers are listed in order of appearance as of Wednesday morning. Ownership info from Yahoo! (Y) and ESPN (E) and all 2018 stats are through Tuesday, September 4th.

RHP Anthony DeSclafani, CIN
Owned Y20%/E19% · vs San Diego Padres – Friday, September 7th

Maybe it is because they are too acclimated to the beautiful San Diego weather? How else can you explain the ineptitude away from Petco Park? Against RHP on the road they are currently posting a 0.285 wOBA (29th), 0.128 iso (last) and striking out 26.3% of the time (also last).

DeSclafani comes into the matchup with a 4.37 era (3.99 xFIP), 1.24 whip and striking out batters 21.0% of the time in 90 2/3 innings (7.84 k/9). He’s slightly better at home with a 4.34 era (3.33 xFIP), 1.24 whip and 24.3 k% (9.00 k/9).

RHP Vince Velasquez, PHI
Owned Y44%/E35% · @ New York Mets – Sunday, September 9th

Through Tuesday the Mets have a 0.283 wOBA (last in mlb), 0.139 iso (26th) and a striking out 22.6% of the time (22nd) when facing RHP at home. Enter Velasquez and his 4.10 era (3.99 xFIP), 1.25 whip and striking out batters 26.3% of the time (9.94 k/9). This is a situation where he should excel.

RHP Trevor Cahill, OAK
Owned Y33%/E30% · vs Texas Rangers – Sunday, September 9th

The Rangers struggle on the road. This is the 10th time I’ve written that this season. The previous 9 times I suggested streaming a pitcher against the Rangers resulted in a 1.94 era, 1.22 whip, 6 wins and 46 strikeouts in 51 innings. Currently versus RHP on the road they have a 0.305 wOBA (20th), 0.162 iso (16th) and strikeout 25.3% of the time (27th).

Cahill currently has a 3.60 era (3.59 xFIP), 1.16 whip and is striking out batters 22.7% of the time (8.28 k/9). Even better are his home numbers: 3.60 era (2.83 xFIP), 0.78 whip and 28.4 k% (9.36 k/9). This is the 3rd time I’m suggesting streaming Cahill. The other two times he pitched absolute gems: 22 strikeouts in 12 scoreless innings. Let’s make it three.