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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Monday, May 22

Mike Foltynewicz (ATL) – v. Pittsburgh Pirates (12.1 percent ESPN)
It’s a tough matchup against Gerrit Cole, but we’ll see if Folty can rise to the occasion. We’ve liked him all season long, as the 25-year-old righty has flashed significant potential this season while allowing three or fewer earned runs in five of his seven starts. The strikeouts have come and gone — 32 in 41.2 innings — but in the meantime, he’s induced double-digit grounders in three of his last four starts and four of his last six. The Pirates make for interesting bedfellows as well; they rank 26th in MLB in team wRC+ (81) heading into Saturday’s action.

Tuesday, May 23

Jordan Montgomery (NYY) – v. Kansas City Royals (13.5 percent ESPN)
This’ll be Monty’s second straight look at the Royals, and we’ll hope for better results than last time, as he allowed five earned runs in five innings to take the loss. Still, we’ll gamble on the stuff here, as Montgomery is averaging nearly a strikeout per inning (37 in 39.1 frames). Don’t forget this is still a really, really bad Royals offense, too. They’re dead last in team wRC+ (73) and Monty’s left-handedness should help neutralize some of the big guys like Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer.

Wednesday, May 24

Erasmo Ramirez (TB) – v. Los Angeles Angels (2.8 percent ESPN)
Nate Karns snuck over the 30 percent threshold due to a recent run of success, so we’re sort of left stuck here holding our shorts in our hands as we scramble to find a good matchup for this day. The Angels are only a so-so offense (91 wRC+, .240/.311/.373 line) and Erasmo is coming off neutralizing the best offense in the game, as he held the Yankees to just two earned runs in 5.1 innings on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Keep an eye on his pitch count; he only threw 65 pitches last time out but still managed to get 16 outs.

Thursday, May 25

Tyler Anderson (COL) – @ Philadelphia Phillies (5.7 percent ESPN)
I drove the hype machine for Anderson heading into the season, and he’s returned the favor with a 6.00 ERA through nine starts. Fear not, however, as he’s been pretty good of late — three straight starts with three or fewer earned runs — and his struggles appear to be drifting further and further away. After posting a 7.71 ERA in April, he’s down to a 3.06 mark in May with a 25-5 K/BB ratio through 17.2 innings. He’s also induced double-digit grounders in two of his three May starts. Is he back? It’s too soon to tell, but he’s on the right track.

Friday, May 26

Luis Perdomo (SDP) – @ Washington Nationals (10.3 percent ESPN)
Even in a tough matchup, I like him more than Zack Godley (too small of a sample) and Matthew Boyd (by a nose). The Nationals have the third-best team wRC+ this season (115), but Perdomo may be able to neutralize them with his nearly a strikeout per inning (8.9 K/9) and absurd groundball rates (70.5 percent). Among the 133 starters with at least 30 innings pitched this season, nobody is inducing worm burners at a higher rate. Nobody else is even over 68 percent, and just seven pitchers are over 60 percent.

Saturday, May 27

Mike Foltynewicz (ATL) – @ San Francisco Giants (12.1 percent ESPN)
Sorry, but we’re doubling up on our Folty logic this week. That Giants offense is icky bad (74 wRC+, 29th in MLB).

Sunday, May 28

German Marquez (COL) – v. St. Louis Cardinals (6.4 percent ESPN)
There are quite a few choices today, too, with Jesse Hahn, Jerad Eickhoff and even a second start from Montgomery worth considering. I like Marquez because he’s got absurdly good stuff, like a 94.6 mph average fastball, a curve he’ll spin about a quarter of the time and a change and slider he’ll show a bit as well. He’s got fairly good groundball rates (45.6 percent), decent whiff rates (7.5 K/9) and is coming off recently pitching brilliantly over the Chicago Cubs, a decent offense that is currently scuffling. I’ll take my chances here.

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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.