Off another strong week, Chris says fire up Minnesota Twins and Cincinnati Reds starters this weekend in his latest Straight Cheese, including Reds’ Anthony DeSclafani on Friday against the San Francisco Giants.
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 streaming pitchers week 20, let’s take a look back at my picks from last week.
Week 19 Review
| Name | Date | GS | IP | ER | H | BB | K | Dec | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lance Lynn NYY | 8/11 vs TEX | 1 | 5.00 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 8 | - | 1.80 | 1.60 |
| CC Sabathia NYY | 8/12 vs TEX | 1 | 6.00 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | W | 0.00 | 0.67 |
| Matt Boyd DET | 8/12 vs MIN | 1 | 6.00 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | W | 1.50 | 0.50 |
| Total for Week | 3 | 17.00 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 2-0 | 1.06 | 0.88 | |
| Running Total | 54 | 312.67 | 115 | 262 | 102 | 313 | 24-12 | 3.44 | 1.18 |
Another great week by yours truly. The Stream-O-Matic 2000™ is without a doubt, el fuego. Picking nits, I’d have to point out that Boyd’s strikeout total was disappointing. This week we’re picking on two teams in advantageous positions (well, for us anyways).
Streaming Pitchers Week 20
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, August 14th.
RHP Kyle Gibson, MIN
Owned Y45%/E42% · vs Detroit Tigers – Friday, August 17th
RHP Jake Odorizzi, MIN
Owned Y41%/E19% · vs Detroit Tigers – Sunday, August 19th
The Detroit Tigers come into Minnesota for the weekend series flat-out struggling against RHP on the road. They are currently last in MLB with a 0.268 wOBA and a 0.113 iso vs righties on the road. They are also striking out 24.0% of the time (21st) in same situation. Both Gibson and Odorizzi should be able to take advantage.
Gibson will get the first crack on Friday night. He comes into the matchup with a 3.49 era, 1.24 whip and 139 strikeouts in 147 innings. That’s an 8.51 k/9 and 22.7 k%. Why he’s owned in less than half of leagues is baffling. Odorizzi’s numbers aren’t nearly as good as Gibson’s (4.44 era, 1.39 whip and 129 strikeouts in 125 2/3 innings; 9/24 k/9 and 23.5 k%) but Detroit’s sub-optimal performance vs. RHP on the road should lead to serviceable numbers you can use.
RHP Anthony DeSclafani, CIN
Owned Y9%/E7% · vs San Francisco Giants – Friday, August 17th
RHP Luis Castillo, CIN
Owned Y58%/E40% · vs San Francisco Giants – Sunday, August 19th
San Francisco Giants enter this weekend’s series versus Cincinnati Reds with a 0.299 wOBA (23rd), 0.137 iso (27th) and 25.1 k% (25th) vs. RHP on the road. That bodes well for both DeSclafani and Castillo as they both pitch better at home.
DeSclafani currently has a 4.46 era, 1.22 whip and 59 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings (7.97 k/9 and 21.5 k%). In home games his ratios are slightly worse but he is striking out more batters: 4.74 era, 1.31 whip and 47 strikeouts in 43 2/2 innings (9.69 k/9 and 25.7 k%). His last two starts could arguably be his best of the season (only 1 earned run, 9 hits, 1 walk and 11 strikeouts in 14 innings). One start was at home and the other was on the road.
Meanwhile, Castillo has a 5.04 era, 1.32 whip and 120 strikeouts in 126 2/3 innings. Unlike DeSclafani, Castillo is clearly a better pitcher at home. In 64 innings pitched in Great American Ballpark this season he has a 3.94 era, 1.13 whip and 71 strikeouts (9.98 k/9 and 27.1 k%).
Remember, these suggestions aren’t ludicrous. They’re @Roto_Chris.