If you need strikeouts, Robbie Ray could be your guy this week
Each week this column will scour the waiver wire and look for pitchers who are less than 30% owned and could be useful streamers for your fantasy team. All ownership percentages come from Yahoo.
Please note the probable pitcher matchups could change throughout the week due to rainouts or other circumstances, so be sure to check back before picking up and starting one of these recommendations. All ownership percentages and statistics are current as of Friday, August 12.
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Sunday, August 14
Wade LeBlanc (SEA) @ Oakland Athletics
(Ownership: 1%)
LeBlanc isn’t usually a fantasy option, but he has a strong matchup against an Oakland team that has not been very good against left-handed pitching. On the year, Oakland is ranked 23rd in wOBA and 20th in ISO. LeBlanc wasn’t great in his last start, but he did recently hold a dangerous Red Sox lineup to three runs in six innings. This is a risky stream, but the options are somewhat limited for today’s slate.
Monday, August 15
Robbie Ray (ARI) vs. New York Mets
(Ownership: 15%)
Ray has an impressive 156 strikeouts in 128 innings of work. He does have a 4.57 ERA to go along with all those strikeouts, which is why he’s not higher owned. That being said, he gets a plus matchup with a Mets lineup that is in the bottom ten in the league in batting average and wOBA against left-handed pitching. They are also without Yoenis Cespedes, one of their best right-handed hitters, which won’t help matters much for the Metropolitans when Ray takes the mound on Monday.
Tuesday, August 16
Eduardo Rodriguez (BOS) @ Baltimore Orioles
(Ownership: 19%)
Rodriguez has struggled this season, but the Orioles have underperformed against southpaws which gives him some hope for a good outing. Against lefties on the year, Baltimore is ranked 29th in batting average, 26th in wOBA, and 19th in ISO. Add in a 21.4% strikeout rate and Rodriguez has a bit of upside on Tuesday.
Wednesday, August 17
Anibal Sanchez (DET) vs. Kansas City Royals
(Ownership: 24%)
Sanchez has shown some promising signs over his past two starts, racking up a 1,29 ERA and 12 strikeouts over 14.0 innings of work. That being said, this is less a vote of confidence in Sanchez and more an attempt to take advantage of a Royals offense that has been among the worst in the league over the past few weeks. Sanchez does carry some risk, but the Royals are one of the best teams to target with opposing pitching in fantasy right now.
Thursday, August 18
Mike Foltynewicz (ATL) @ Washington Nationals
(Ownership: 6%)
Foltynewicz has been quietly solid this season and recently held the Cardinals to one run over six innings, an impressive feat as St. Louis is among the top teams in the league against right-handed pitching. Up until now, Foltynewicz’s struggles in the big leagues have come against left-handed batters. Fortunately for him, the Nationals lineup leans almost entirely right-handed with the big exception being Bryce Harper. Harper, however, has been in a funk at the plate which gives a boost to Folty’s upside here.
Friday, August 19
Cody Reed (CIN) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
(Ownership: 3%)
Reed, a rookie, has gone through some growing pains in his first big league season, but he is still highly regarded and has been pitching better as of late. His matchup with the Dodgers is about as good as it can get for a left-handed pitcher as Los Angeles is 30th in the league in batting average, 28th in wOBA, and 27th in ISO. Reed is striking out just over eight batters per nine innings, showing he has a bit of strikeout upside whenever he takes the mound.
Saturday, August 20
Julio Urias (LAD) @ Cincinnati Reds
(Ownership: 15%)
Urias, the southpaw rookie phenom, will hopefully still be in the rotation by the time this start rolls around. The Dodgers have been understandably careful about the youngster’s workload as he just turned 20 on Friday. If he makes this start he has a good chance at turning in a dominant performance. He has big time strikeout upside as evidence by his 53 strikeouts in 48.1 innings of work. The Reds are a bottom-five offense against left-handed pitching and their 23.2% strikeout rate will surely help Urias add to his punchout total on the year.
Matt Terelle is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @supermt.
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