How did that ‘70’s hit go?

“Ooooohhhh, stream weaver, I believe you can get me through the night.”

That is the theme song to my dynasty fantasy baseball team this season as I’ve seen Carlos Martinez, Alex Perez, Masahiro Tanaka, Danny Salazar and Luiz Gohara all spend time (or are currently) on the DL.

When I drafted these five in the first fifteen rounds of my 20-team dynasty league last fall, I thought I might need a month for Reyes and Salazar to heal and then be back and then I’d have a very good rotation. Two months into the season, I am scrambling every week to find a few decent arms with favorable matchups that I can plug and play.

Like my team’s pitching, this week’s streaming starting pitchers are pretty thin on good bets. You can always count on a chance for a win against the weak offenses of Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles, but since they play each other this weekend, both teams may go scoreless in what can only result in a real snoozefest. Pitching against the Texas Rangers or San Diego Padres usually results in a ton of strikeouts, as these two lead MLB in the Go Sit Down category.

Streaming Starting Pitchers Week 11

Here are a few possible gems to get you through each night:

Dereck Rodriguez, SF

Let’s start this show with some Dereck Rodriguez. He is better than the 5.25 ERA he sports because he has been unlucky on batted balls in play and has issued a few too many walks, but he strikes out a batter per inning and is stingy giving up long balls. Add in the fact that he draws the anemic Marlins on Thursday and you have a formal invitation to buy yourself a Rodriguez for the week.

Brandon McCarthy, ATL

Like Rodriguez, Atlanta Braves’ Brandon McCarthy has pitched better than his ERA suggests. A high BABIP and a few too many dingers has hurt him this season. The Braves are a hot-hitting club and are facing the light-hitting Padres on Thursday. That should get you a handful of K’s, solid ratios, and maybe a win. Go getcha some McCarthy.

Brent Suter, MIL

Milwaukee Brewers’ Brent Suter has pitched well this season but doesn’t get much fantasy love. He has six wins and a 7.77 K/9, so what’s not to like about that? Well, his BB/9 is almost two and his HR/9 is over one and a half, so he certainly isn’t dominant. Friday’s home matchup against the weak-hitting Philadelphia Phillies should do him well so start your weekend with a heaping helping of Suter.

Ivan Nova, PIT

Looking at it from year to year, Ivan Nova’s career reminds me of Forest Gump’s box of chocolates. His numbers are very solid across the board with 7.35K/9, 1.60 BB/9, 52.3 GB% and he pitches for a team with an above average offense, which should turn you on. Cincinnati struggles against right handed pitching and the Reds are coming into Pittsburgh for a Saturday tilt. All this is setting Nova up to be the shrimp boat captain on Saturday.

Clay Buchholz, ARI

Arizona Diamondbacks’ Clay Buchholz has had a pretty good start to the season. That 1.88 ERA he’s serving up isn’t going to last, but he is getting hitters out. He’s striking out 7.88/9 and walking a paltry 1.13/9. Those are some pretty tasty numbers and even better when you can throw the humidor ball, which is good for the ratios. The New York Mets come for Sunday supper and Buchholz is going to be carving that turkey.

As a streamer, I picked up Jordan Zimmermann in late April. Sometimes you stumble on a player who is putting it together and you grab them at the right time and hold. He wasn’t vintage Zimmermann from the first half of this decade, but he was striking batters out and pitching respectably when he could keep the ball in the park.

Don’t be afraid to hold on to that streamer when the peripherals say he’s pitching well and is likely to continue that trend. Zimmermann was looking like that good-find guy until the injury and then the rehab start where he got torched by a bunch of triple-A hitters. Which leads to the last bit of wisdom found in another ‘70’s hit,

“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and know when to run.”