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Straight Cheese Streaming Starting Pitchers Week 7

May 2, 2019 By Chris Spencer Leave a Comment

Wade Miley, HOU

Houston Astros Wade Miley hasn’t pitched for the same team in consecutive seasons since 2013-14. While we know he is not good, for this week Chris says pick him up, stream him, and then throw him back.

This is my weekly column where I suggest low-owned starting pitchers that have a matchup in their favor in the coming week to help your fantasy baseball team. Most of these hurlers are to be used and tossed back to the waiver wire. Some of them will graduate from the wire and find a permanent space on a roster, hopefully yours. This week we are looking at streaming starting pitchers week 7.

My process is to look at wOBA, ISO and K% to identify weak-hitting lineups. Conversely, for pitchers I look at wOBA, ISO against and their K%.

Streaming Starting Pitchers Week 5 Review

Before we get into next week’s pitchers to stream let’s look back at my previous recommendations, streaming starting pitchers week 5. Note we have to look back two weeks since last week’s Straight Cheese is for the current week. Got it? Good.

Name Date G IP ER H BB K DEC ERA WHIP
Aaron Brooks, OAK 4/24 vs TEX 1 5.00 3 6 0 7 ND 5.40 1.20
Brandon Woodruff, MIL 4/27 @ NYM 1 5.00 1 6 1 6 W 1.80 1.40
Erik Swanson, SEA 4/28 vs TEX 1 4.00 6 11 0 2 L 13.50 2.75
Total 3 14.00 10 23 1 15 1 – 1 6.43 1.71

Damn you, Swanson. I had a pretty good thing going until you came in on Sunday and crushed my hopes; much like Arya crushing the Night King’s hopes of an endless night.

Instead, I had an endless night of restlessness second guessing my Swanson pick. Speaking of GOT, could I get the camera crew to go back and make it so I can’t see Swanson’s performance, much like they did with the Battle of Winterfell?

All statistics, ownership and projected starting dates are as of Thursday morning, May 2.

Streaming Starting Pitchers Week 7

Continuing on with the GoT thread… we still have more to get to, so here’s three pitchers I’m telling you to stream next week.

LHP Wade Miley, HOU
Owned Y15%/E10% · vs. Texas Rangers – Thursday, May 9th

Okay, there is a reason that Miley is sitting out on your waiver wire. Everyone knows that his current 3.52 ERA and 1.14 WHIP are not who he is. Dude doesn’t even strike anyone out (15.2 K% and 5.67 K/9). His 4.52 xFIP this year and a career 4.23 ERA tell me that things are going to eventually get ugly.

But not next week when Texas comes to town. The Rangers struggle mightily against southpaws on the road: 0.229 wOBA (29th), 0.70 ISO (30th) and 33.6 K% (30th). Let’s all do the right thing here and stream Miley for this start and toss him back to the free agent pool where he belongs.

RHP Jake Odorizzi, MIN
Owned Y22%/E10% · vs. Detroit Tigers – Friday, May 10th

Odorizzi is similar to Miley in that everyone knows that he is probably worse than his stats indicate (3.34 ERA, 4.68 xFIP and 1.11 WHIP). What he brings to the table that Miley doesn’t is strikeouts: 25.0 K% and 9.10 K/9.

Those K’s will come into play when Detroit comes to town. The Tigers are currently last in MLB with 30.7 K% vs. RHP on the road. They also rank towards the bottom in wOBA (0.275 / 27th) and ISO (0.127 / 27th) in the same split.

You know what to do, now go do it.

LHP Manny Banuelos, CHW
Owned Y3%/E2% · at Toronto Blue Jays – Friday, May 10th at Cleveland Indians – Thursday, May 9th

Banuelos was recently moved to the starting rotation filling in the vacated spot when Ervin Santana was released. In two starts he has a 1.86 ERA, 3.44 xFIP, 1.45 WHIP and 10 strikeouts in 9.2 innings (24.4 K%). The WHIP is a little high but everything else I like. Now, if you ask me if he is worth keeping long term, I’ll say no because he is 28 years old and only has 46.1 MLB innings. In those innings he has a 4.26 xFIP and 18.7 K%.

What I am telling you to do though is stream him against the Blue Jays next week. Toronto comes into the contest struggling against LHP at home: 0.247 wOBA (29th), 0.087 ISO (29th) and 26.1 K% (21st).

Now that we know his start has been moved up to Thursday in Cleveland I want to recommend him even more! The Indians are even worse than the Blue Jays against LHP at home: through Monday’s games they had a 0.250 wOBA (28th), 0.74 ISO (28th) and strikeout 36.7% of the time (worst in MLB)! Stream him confidently and thank me later.

Extra Cheese

Here is where I recommend a two-start pitcher for you to stream. Please bear in mind that things can change after this article is posted. Injuries, rain delays, managerial moves, etc. can happen.

Well, make it two weeks in a row where the dude I’m telling you to get in there for two starts only ends up with one. Unfortunately, the one start we got from Pineda, in a word, painful.

Name Date G IP ER H BB K DEC ERA WHIP
Michael Pineda, MIN 4/23 @ HOU 1 5.33 4 8 2 4 ND 6.75 1.88
Total 1 5.33 4 8 2 4 0 – 0 6.75 1.88
Disco Stu

Disco Stu is a big fan of Anthony “Disco Tony” DeSclafani

RHP Anthony DeSclafani, CIN
Owned Y11%/E7% – vs. San Francisco (Mon May 6) & at SF (Sat May 11)

I recently found out that DeSclafini’s nickname is ‘Tony Disco’ and that made me like him more. Desclafini comes into the two matchups with a 3.48 ERA, 4.36 xFIP, 1.16 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 3 innings (27.7 K%). More impressively is that his last three starts have been splendid: 0.51 ERA, 2.42 xFIP, 1.06 WHIP and 20 strikeouts in 17.2 innings (32.6 K%).

Let’s ride this hot streak as he takes on the Giants twice next week:

  • SF vs. RHP on the road: 0.311 wOBA (17th), 0.193 ISO (11th) and 20.2 K% (5th)
  • SF vs. RHP at home: 0.235 wOBA (30th), 0.100 ISO (30th) and 25.7 K% (24th)

Yeah, I know those numbers on the road are a little surprising but, beggars can’t be choosers. Let’s roll Disco Tony out there next week and “Knock on Wood” that “I Will Survive” and keep on “Stayin’ Alive”.

Filed Under: Fantasy Baseball

Straight Cheese Streaming Starting Pitchers Week 5

April 18, 2019 By Chris Spencer Leave a Comment

Aaron Brooks, Oakland A's

Not Aaron Brooks, former New Orleans Saints QB and up-and-down fantasy football star. Straight Cheese recommends streaming starting pitcher Aaron Brooks, Oakland Athletics.

This is my weekly column where I suggest low-owned starting pitchers that have a matchup in their favor in the coming week to help your fantasy baseball team. Most of these hurlers are to be used and tossed back to the waiver wire. Some of them will graduate from the wire and find a permanent space on a roster, hopefully yours. This week we are looking at streaming starting pitchers week 5.

My process is to look at wOBA, ISO and K% to identify weak-hitting lineups. Conversely, for pitchers I look at wOBA, ISO against and their K%. For more detail on this process check out last week’s Straight Cheese.

Starting next week you’ll see the results of my previous recommendations in this space. That’s right, I hold myself fully accountable. Here are my final totals from the 2018 season:

31 Wins, 388 Strikeouts, 3.64 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 400.0 innings (71 starts)

Not bad if I do say so myself… and I, um, just did.

All statistics, ownership and projected starting dates are as of Thursday morning, April 18.

Streaming Starting Pitchers Week 5

RHP Aaron Brooks, OAK
Owned Y2%/E2% · vs. Texas Rangers – Wednesday, April 24th

When the Rangers come to town there is an opportunity for RHP to take advantage. Last season they posted a 0.301 wOBA (20th), 0.160 ISO (17th) and 24.9 K% (23rd). Through 179 plate appearances this season they have a 0.335 wOBA (10th), 0.152 ISO (15th) and 28.5 K% (27th).

I think I had Brooks on my fantasy football team when he was the New Orleans Saints quarterback… What’s that? Different Aaron Brooks? Looks up Aaron Brooks on FanGraphs. Okay, I’m not going to try and convince you that Aaron Brooks is good: 4.24 ERA, 5.30 xFIP, 1.12 WHIP, 11 strikeouts in 17 innings (16.4 K%).

Call this a hunch but I don’t think the Rangers are that good and Brooks could surprise us here. I’m not saying he is going to no-hit them but, more like, be serviceable.

RHP Brandon Woodruff, MIL
Owned Y30%/E16% · at New York Mets – Saturday, April 27th

Through his first four starts this season Woodruff has a 5.23 ERA, 3.54 xFIP, 1.40 WHIP and 26 strikeouts in 20.2 innings (28.6 K%). The kid only has 106 total Major League innings but they have been promising.

Last season the Mets struggled against RHP at home to the tune of 0.290 wOBA (29th), 0.152 ISO (20th) and struck out 22.5% of the time (22nd). So far in 2019, they have turned things around with a 0.347 wOBA (6th) and 0.209 ISO (7th) in 137 plate appearances. They are still prone to the strikeouts though (20th with a 24.8 K%).

Starting Woodruff on the road against a resurgent Mets lineup will be risky, but I ultimately believe he will reward you for taking the chance.

RHP Erik Swanson, SEA
Owned Y1%/E1% · vs. Texas Rangers – Saturday, April 27th

Everything I said about the Rangers on the road against RHP applies here. The difference is Swanson > Brooks. He only has one Major league start as I write this, and it was a good one.

Last season in the minors he struck out 139 batters in 121.2 innings (29.2 K%). He has the ability to make batters miss and the Rangers have the ability to make their bats miss. This should be good for us.

Extra Cheese

Here is where I recommend a two-start pitcher for you to stream. Please bear in mind that things can change after this article is posted. Injuries, rain delays, managerial moves, etc. can happen. We are looking at this over a week in advance of the pitcher’s second projected start.

Michael Pineda, Minnesota Twins

High five for Twins’ Michael Pineda two-starts in Week 5.

RHP Michael Pineda, MIN
Owned Y50%/E33% · @ Houston Astros (Tue Apr 23) & vs. Baltimore Orioles (Sun Apr 28)

First let’s talk about Pineda. After missing the entire 2018 season recovering from Tommy John surgery he’s strung together three nice starts to begin his Twins career: 3.00 ERA, 3.48 xFIP, 1.00 WHIP and 15 strikeouts in 15 innings (26.3 K%).

Houston against RHP at home are currently sporting a 0.389 wOBA (2nd), 0.220 (5th) and 20.2 K% (9th) over 193 plate appearances. Those numbers are better than last season for sure: 0.314 wOBA (18th), 0.153 (19th) and 18.7 K% (4th).

So far in 2019 the Orioles have a 0.305 wOBA (18th), 0.135 ISO (21st) and 26.0 K% (22nd) against RHP on the road. That’s pretty much more of the same since 2018: 0.296 wOBA (24th), 0.154 (21st) and 26.0 K% (28th). They are exploitable. Pure and simple.

His first start at Houston could get messy but that home start against Baltimore should be worth it.

Filed Under: Fantasy Baseball

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

September 13, 2018 By Chris Spencer Leave a Comment

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.

Name Date GS IP ER H BB K Dec ERA WHIP
Anthony DeSclafini CIN 9/7 vs SDP 1 4.00 4 8 0 3 – 9.00 2.00
Vince Velasquez PHI 9/9 @ NYM 1 4.00 5 7 1 4 L 11.25 2.00
Trevor Cahill OAK 9/9 vs TEX 1 2.67 3 2 6 1 – 10.13 3.00
Total for Week   3 10.67 12 17 7 8 1-2 10.13 2.25
Running Total   67 381.67 150 330 127 370 31-16 3.54 1.20

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.

Filed Under: Fantasy Baseball

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