A strategy that I have used with success in deeper leagues is streaming starting pitchers. That is, if you miss out on one or more of your high-end targets, you can piece together a fairly solid pitching staff by picking up guys each day and starting them in advantageous matchups to give you solid results.

Maybe you can’t replicate what Clayton Kershaw would do, but you can certainly put up some solid numbers if you pick your spots while using the picks you’d have spent on middling starters to beef up your offense. I personally find it to be a very fun strategy that requires some persistence and a bit of being the early bird who gets the worm, and the payoff can be particularly sweet.

We’re going to set a 30 percent threshold for ownership and we’ll use ESPN to get us there. Feel free to guide us in the comments section if you think there’s a better way.

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Sunday, April 9

Tyler Anderson (COL) – v. Los Angeles Dodgers (14.6 percent ESPN)

This day was difficult, but the only other real option was Zach Davies in Milwaukee against the Cubs. That’s an even tougher draw, in my estimation. Anderson was fairly good in his first start against the Brewers with eight strikeouts and just one walk. He picked up the win, though he did allow five earned runs in 5.2 innings. Still, he’s better at home — strangely enough — and we love the mix of grounders, strikeouts and no walks when he’s right.

Monday, April 10

Brandon Finnegan (CIN) – @ Pittsburgh Pirates (22.1 percent ESPN)

All aboard the Finnegan hype train! The sturdy lefty outdueled fellow sleeper candidate Jerad Eickhoff to get the season underway, and he should see his fantasy stock skyrocket in the days to come. Against the Phillies, Finnegan fanned nine batters in seven innings with just two baserunners allowed (23 batters faced). Again, remember how good he was in the second half last year — sub-3.00 ERA, more than a strikeout per inning — and don’t sleep on him just because the Reds aren’t going to be terribly good this year. I’m grabbing Finnegan in season-long stuff already.

Tuesday, April 11

Lance Lynn (STL) – @ Washington Nationals (23.3 percent ESPN)

We’re naturally skeptical of pitchers who miss entire seasons, but Lynn was solid in his first start against a Cubs offense that’s going to wreck folks this year. Lynn fanned four, walked just one and allowed two earned runs over 5.1 innings against the defending World Champions. The Nationals will provide a similar challenge with their stout offense, but Lynn has been terrific when healthy, and if people thought he was all the way back, he’d be owned at twice this rate. It was just one start, but Lynn’s velocity was good against the Cubs. He averaged 92.4 mph in that game — exactly his career rate.

Wednesday, April 12

Shelby Miller (ARI) – @ San Francisco Giants (5.9 percent ESPN)

There’s just so much we don’t know about Miller since he only has one start under his belt. But the talent is clearly there, and at that ownership level, you can be all over this in almost any league. Miller should benefit from working with better defensive catchers this season — hello Jeff Mathis! — and there were some positives to be gleaned from his Spring Training. While he posted a 6.46 ERA, he did fan 22 batters in 15.1 innings. Again, we’ll gamble on talent here. The strikeouts carried over in his first start. While the walks are concerning and the opener was just mediocre, he should benefit from starting this contest in one of the best pitcher’s parks.

Thursday, April 13

Robert Gsellman (NYM) – @ Miami Marlins (24.4 percent ESPN)

Gsellman throws absolute gas (94.7 mph average in his relief outing to start the season), gets grounders, has fairly good command, and had a double-digit whiff rate on his slider while working with Dan Warthen last season. All the elements are here to be America’s Next Top Mets Starter. If the Finnegan hype train is boarding, the Gsellman one is bordering on full and taking off shortly.

Friday, April 14

Mike Foltynewicz (ATL) – vs. San Diego Padres (19.7 percent ESPN)

While he struggled in his initial start of the season, Folty has tremendous stuff, and at age 25 looks like he’s primed for a breakout. He did some things well last year — strikeouts, walks — and some things could use some work, like putting the ball on the ground and, as a result, NOT in the seats. But he throws hard (95.2 mph average), gets good whiff rates on his fastball, slider, change and curve and gets the Padres, who is everyone’s pick to be the National League’s kid brother this year. They’ll constantly be picked on, and here’s to hoping Folty does his part this week.

Saturday, April 15

Clayton Richard (SDP) – @ Atlanta Braves (8.1 percent ESPN)

I also don’t love this one, especially since we have to submit this before we see what Richard does for an encore presentation. He did shut down the potent Dodgers offense to start his season and, who knows, maybe he’s got some tricks up his 33-year-old sleeve. We’ll take a shot here against a Braves offense that’s off to a really, really slow start.

Sunday, April 16

Hector Santiago (MIN) – vs. Chicago White Sox (2.1 percent ESPN)

Santiago was strong in his first start of the year, taking down the Royals at home with five innings of work. His pitch count was limited due to the World Baseball Classic, but he basically pitched four clean innings with a bit of a hiccup in the other that he pitched out of. He’s an unconventional lefty in that he is effectively wild, doesn’t throw terribly hard and works up in the zone, but it seems to work for him. Working with pitch-framer extraordinaire Jason Castro seems to agree with him so far, too. It also helps that he’s in his walk year. He’s a sneaky play against the White Sox, who won’t see him during the weekend series on the south side from April 7-9.

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Brandon Warne is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Brandon, check out his archive and follow him @brandon_warne.