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Straight Cheese Streaming Starting Pitchers – 2018 Post Mortem

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Anibal Sanchez, Atlanta Braves

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

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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.

Week 8 Streaming Starting Pitchers – Stripling, Cahill, Mengden

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Los Angeles Dodgers Ross Stripling

This week in your streaming starting pitcher rotation Chris has Lopez from the White Sox, a couple A’s, and Los Angeles Dodgers Ross Stripling scheduled to face the San Diego Padres on Saturday.

Here is your week 8 streaming starting pitchers resource, Straight Cheese, identifying less than desirable, questionably talented, low-owned starting pitchers that you can use for a spot start for your fantasy baseball team.

First, lets take a look back at my picks from last week.

Week 7 Review

Name Date GS IP ER H BB K Dec ERA WHIP
Steven Matz 5/19 vs. ARI 1 4.00 4 6 1 2 - 9.00 1.75
Nick Kingham 5/19 vs. SDP 1 6.00 3 5 1 5 L 4.50 1.00
Trevor Williams 5/20 vs. SDP 1 6.00 4 4 0 5 - 6.00 0.67
Week 7 Total 3 16.00 11 15 2 12 0-1 6.19 1.06
Running Total 26 139.00 79 143 50 136 6-9 5.12 1.39

Tough week, again. I lost Foltynewciz’s start on Sunday against the Marlins. He’s strung together three solid starts and I could’ve used one of them this week. Oh, well. When you mess with the bull, you’re gonna feel the horns. This was also the first week where I had less strikeouts than innings pitched.

With that out of the way, let’s flip over the cushions and hope we find some loose change! [Editor’s note: pretty sure you used this one already]

Week 8 Streaming Starting Pitchers

The pitchers are listed in order of appearance as of Tuesday. Ownership info from Yahoo! (Y) and ESPN (E) and all 2018 stats are through Tuesday, May 22nd.

RHP Reynaldo Lopez, CHW
Owned Y27%/E24% · @ Texas Rangers – Friday, May 25th

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that Reynaldo isn’t particularly skilled at this pitching thing. Through his first 9 starts his ERA sits at 2.92, which seems solid. What isn’t solid is the crumbling mound of potential regression underneath. A 0.213 babip, 78.3% lob% and 8.9 hr/fb all point towards Lopez crashing back to Earth at some point this season.

I don’t think it will be this Friday when he travels to Arlington. The Rangers have been gracious hosts to right-handed pitchers. They are currently struggling with a .289 wOBA (28th), 26.0 k% (26th) and 0.139 iso (23rd) vs RHP at home in 2018. This isn’t a stone-cold-lock of a recommendation, but the foundation is there for Lopez to come out of the matchup with favorable stats.

Note from Chris: Database error! Lopez isn’t facing the Rangers tonight… he’s at Detroit and the match up isn’t nearly as favorable. Don’t stream him! Look down below for a “bonus” streamer for Monday!

RHP Ross Stripling, LAD
Owned Y18%/E8% · vs. San Diego Padres – Friday, May 25th

Stripling has been very effective in his 4 starts this season. In those starts he has a 3.26 era, 1.29 whip with 23 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings. His other stats are 10.71 k/9, 1.40 bb/9, 0.93 hr/9 and is holding batters to 0.302 wOBA and 0.108 iso. He’s been rock solid.

Even though I picked on them last week and they proved me wrong, I’m going to put my faith in the statistics and pick on the Padres again. Even with their limited success against the Pirates last weekend they are still only putting up a 0.284 wOBA (26th) and 0.122 iso (29th) while striking out 26.6% (27th) of the time against RHP on the road. They are still weak in this situation and Stripling is capable of exploiting it.

RHP Daniel Mengden, OAK
Owned Y16%/E14% · vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Saturday, May 26th

The Diamondbacks return once again to this column. Overall they are 28th in the MLB in wOBA (0.295) and tied for last with a 26.2 k%. They are just flat out struggling right now. Don’t feel sorry for them, take advantage.

Mengden is not a pitcher I like normally. He doesn’t strike enough batters out (7.21 k/9 in 172 1/3 career MLB innings pitched). Through 10 starts this season he has a 3.30 era, 1.08 whip and only 38 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings. He’s in a good matchup with the punchless D-backs.

RHP Trevor Cahill, OAK
Owned Y24%/E18% · vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Sunday, May 27th

Everything I just said about Arizona under Mengden still applies here. The big difference is that Cahill is a better pitcher than Mengden.

Cahill is someone with the potential to take advantage of the situation. Through 6 starts this season he has a 2.75 era, 0.97 whip and 35 strikeouts in 36 innings. He’s also holding batters to a 0.265 wOBA and striking them out 25.2% of the time. He is a pitcher to consider picking up and using this weekend and perhaps longer.

RHP Marco Gonzalez, SEA
Owned Y9%/E6% · vs. Texas Rangers – Monday, May 28th

Okay, the jury is still out on whether or not Marco is good at this baseball thing. Through 10 starts he’s putting up a 4.05 era, 1.25 whip and 49 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings. There’s stuff i like: 3.21 xFIP, 1.86 bb/9, 0.84 hr/9. But there’s some stuff I don’t like: 0.352 babip and 46.0 gb%. There’s a reason he’s available in roughly 90% of all leagues.

On Memorial Day he’s facing the Rangers in Seattle. Texas is currently struggling with a .244 wOBA (30th), 30.3 k% (30th) and 0.136 iso (21st) vs LHP on the road in 2018. Like my erroneous Lopez recommendation above, this also isn’t a stone-cold-lock, but the foundation is there for Gonzalez to come out of the match-up with favorable stats.

Straight Cheese – Week 4 Streaming Starting Pitchers Richard, Garcia, Wheeler

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Clayton Richard

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!

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.