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

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Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians

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.

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.

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.

NameDateGSIPERHBBKDecERAWHIP
Anthony DeSclafini CIN9/7 vs SDP14.004803 – 9.002.00
Vince Velasquez PHI9/9 @ NYM14.005714L11.252.00
Trevor Cahill OAK9/9 vs TEX12.673261 – 10.133.00
Total for Week 310.671217781-210.132.25
Running Total 67381.6715033012737031-163.541.20

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

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Anthony DeSclafani, Cincinnati Reds

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.

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.

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

NameDateGSIPERHBBKDecERAWHIP
Brad Keller KCR8/31 vs BAL18.002424W2.250.75
Brian Johnson BOS9/2 @ CHW11.334712L27.006.00
Lance Lynn NYY9/2 vs DET13.676916L14.732.73
Total for Week 313.0012204121-28.311.85
Running Total 64371.0013831312036231-153.351.17

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.

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

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

NameDateGSIPERHBBKDecERAWHIP
Brandon McCarthy4/18 vs. PHI1.051526W1.691.31
Jordan Zimmermann4/19 vs. BAL1.054727W6.751.69
Sean Newcomb4/20 vs. NYM1.062635-3.001.50
Andrew Heaney4/20 vs. SF1.047626L14.541.85
Jhoulys Chacin4/20 vs. MIA1.060435W0.001.17
Brent Suter4/21 vs. MIA1.055814-9.001.80
Jose Urena4/21 @ MIL1.054423-7.201.20
Week 3 Total 7.037234015363-15.601.49
Running Total 11.060296323615-14.351.43

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.

NameDateGSIPERHBBKDecERAWHIP
Bartolo Colon4/15 vs. TEX1.071117-1.230.27
Tyson Ross4/8 vs. SD1.064607L6.001.00
Bryan Mitchell4/7 vs. SD1.060361-0.001.59
Dylan Bundy4/4 vs. BAL1.061528-1.501.17
Mike Wright Jr.4/3 vs. BAL1.053416-5.401.00
Chris Tillman4/2 vs. BAL1.044740L9.002.75
Total 6.034132614290-23.441.18

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.