Clayton Richard of the San Diego Padres – when pitching at home against a non-threatening offense like this Friday versus the New York Mets – makes Chris’ fantasy baseball streaming pitchers picks this week.
Straight Cheese, the fantasy baseball pitcher streaming resource providing the scoop on less than desirable, questionably talented, hardly owned starting pitchers that you can use for a spot start to get those all-important counting stats without drop-kicking your ratio stats into submission.
Before we dive into the dumpster looking for junk pitchers we can use this weekend, lets take a look back at my picks from last week.
Week 3 Review
| Name | Date | GS | IP | ER | H | BB | K | Dec | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon McCarthy | 4/18 vs. PHI | 1.0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 | W | 1.69 | 1.31 |
| Jordan Zimmermann | 4/19 vs. BAL | 1.0 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 7 | W | 6.75 | 1.69 |
| Sean Newcomb | 4/20 vs. NYM | 1.0 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 | - | 3.00 | 1.50 |
| Andrew Heaney | 4/20 vs. SF | 1.0 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 6 | L | 14.54 | 1.85 |
| Jhoulys Chacin | 4/20 vs. MIA | 1.0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | W | 0.00 | 1.17 |
| Brent Suter | 4/21 vs. MIA | 1.0 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 4 | - | 9.00 | 1.80 |
| Jose Urena | 4/21 @ MIL | 1.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | - | 7.20 | 1.20 |
| Week 3 Total | 7.0 | 37 | 23 | 40 | 15 | 36 | 3-1 | 5.60 | 1.49 | |
| Running Total | 11.0 | 60 | 29 | 63 | 23 | 61 | 5-1 | 4.35 | 1.43 |
Lessons Learned
Well, that is going to leave a mark. Here are lessons learned from last week:
- Don’t force the issue – I wasn’t 100% sold on Suter or Urena but I felt that I needed to suggest some pitchers for Saturday. I should have trusted my gut and backed away.
- Don’t trust my hunches this early in the season – looking at you Andrew Heaney. I had a hunch he would prevail after just one mediocre start. Boy, was I wrong.
With that out of the way, let’s open up some Wonka bars looking for a Golden Ticket!
Streaming Starting Pitchers – Week 4 Picks
Ownership info from Yahoo! (Y) and ESPN (E) and all 2018 stats are through Monday, April 23. We’ve officially left the, “too early in the season because sample sizes are too small” portion of the season because Mike Trout has reclaimed his rightful position atop the WAR leaderboard.
LHP Clayton Richard, SD
Owned Y3%/E5% · vs. New York Mets – Friday, April 27
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Richard and said, “He’s someone to keep on your radar as a streaming option when pitching at home and against a non-threatening offense.” This Friday he is pitching at home and the New York Metropolitans are no threat to southpaws away from Citi Field. Currently on the road vs. LHP their .263 wOBA is 26th and their 27.4 K% is 25th in Major League Baseball.
In his first five starts, Richard has a 5.67 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 27 innings. You don’t need me to tell you that those numbers are not good. However, I would like to tell you about his 50.6 GB%, 7.33 K/9 and having a 4.24 xFIP that’s a full run lower than his ERA. His HR/FB sits at an unsightly 22.7% with most of the damage coming in his two road starts (13.3% at home in 17 innings). He’s a groundball pitcher in a pitcher’s park in a good matchup – take advantage.
LHP Jaime Garcia, TOR
Owned Y9%/E10% · vs. Texas Rangers – Saturday, April 28
First, the Rangers and their .195 wOBA and 26.8 K% vs. LHP on the road is 30th and 23rd in MLB respectively. This is in only 71 plate appearances but when looking at their overall numbers vs. LHP you’ll see a .296 wOBA (22nd) and 23.4 K% (15th). Cross-reference that with their overall road numbers – .293 wOBA (22nd) and 24.7 K% (22nd) and you still see that they are in a good spot to pick on.
Second, Garcia. He has a 4.57 ERA, 3.92 xFIP, 1.43 WHIP and 23 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings pitched. That is good but not great. What makes me eyebrow go up like The Rock is that at home he has a 3.27 ERA, 3.61 xFIP, 1.36 WHIP and 12 strikeouts in 11 innings. We’ve got a good situation to take advantage of here. Act accordingly.
RHP Zack Wheeler, NYM
Owned Y24%/E21% · @ San Diego Padres – Saturday, April 28
Mark my words, Wheeler is going to come crashing back down to Earth at some point this season. His 4.36 xFIP and .216 BABIP are waiting around the corner to ambush his 2.77 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. I just don’t think it is going to happen this Saturday in beautiful San Diego.
Padres currently have a .290 wOBA (24th) and 26.3 K% (26th) at home vs. RHP. Compound that with Wheeler’s propensity to pitch better on the road (3.75 xFIP road vs. 4.10 xFIP at home over his career) and you have the makings of an opportunity you can exploit.
RHP Daniel Mengden, OAK
Owned Y5%/E5% · @ Houston Astros – Saturday, April 28
I know, picking a relatively inexperienced hurler in the defending champ’s ballpark can’t be smart. Hear me out. The Astros aren’t so great at home vs. RHP. Their .280 wOBA is 28th and their 26.1 K% is 25th. Take a look at the lines from the last six visiting RHP to start a game in Houston.
| Name | Date | GS | IP | ER | H | BB | K | Dec | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartolo Colon | 4/15 vs. TEX | 1.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | - | 1.23 | 0.27 |
| Tyson Ross | 4/8 vs. SD | 1.0 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 7 | L | 6.00 | 1.00 |
| Bryan Mitchell | 4/7 vs. SD | 1.0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | - | 0.00 | 1.59 |
| Dylan Bundy | 4/4 vs. BAL | 1.0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 | - | 1.50 | 1.17 |
| Mike Wright Jr. | 4/3 vs. BAL | 1.0 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | - | 5.40 | 1.00 |
| Chris Tillman | 4/2 vs. BAL | 1.0 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 | L | 9.00 | 2.75 |
| Total | 6.0 | 34 | 13 | 26 | 14 | 29 | 0-2 | 3.44 | 1.18 |
There are some clunkers in there but there are also some gems. Enter Mengden and his 3.86 ERA, 3.57 xFIP, 1.12 WHIP and 23 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings. The 25 year-old doesn’t strike a lot of guys out but he also doesn’t walk many (0.89 BB/9) or give up the long ball (6.3% HR/FB).
This is a ballsy call but I’m going to stick by it.
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