Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers Week 14

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.

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.

View your league’s top available players with My Playbook

Monday, July 3

Carlos Rodon (CWS) – @ Oakland A’s (24.1 percent ESPN)
Mondays can be a little tough because oftentimes it’s a short slate on a travel day for some clubs, but we’ll gamble on high-end talent here. Rodon was roughed up a bit in his first start of the season, but that’s to be expected against an offense like the Yankees. They’re second in MLB in wRC+ (114), and a tough matchup for anyone, let alone a guy who can lose command at any time of his electric repertoire. The A’s are an easier lot (100 wRC+) and should give him a chance to get back on the right foot. He’s just too talented not to give him some run. You could also give Alex Meyer a look as he faces his former friends the Twins at Target Field.

Tuesday, July 4

Daniel Norris (DET) – v. San Francisco Giants (9.9 percent ESPN)
Norris certainly hasn’t been great this year (5.00 ERA) and is coming off back-to-back five-run outings at the hands of the Mariners and Royals, but prior to that was coming off a stretch of five straight starts of three or fewer earned runs allowed. He’s clearly talented as a lefty and gets the Giants offense — which ranks 29th in MLB with a collective 81 wRC+ — as a bounce-back challenge. We like his chances.

Wednesday, July 5

Scott Feldman (CIN) – @ Colorado Rockies (16.3 percent ESPN)
Feldman’s numbers are pretty good — 3.78 ERA, .253 BAA, 80 strikeouts in 97.2 innings — and it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s facing a Rockies offense that has recently bottomed out as the worst in the game (79 wRC+). If that’s not enough for you, how about this: among the 125 pitchers who have thrown at least 1,000 pitches this season, just two — Kenta Maeda and Dallas Keuchel — are allowing a lower average exit velocity than Feldman’s 83.8 mph.

Thursday, July 6

Mike Foltynewicz (ATL) – @ Washington Nationals (21.9 percent ESPN)
This one might not hold up as the dude nearly threw a no-hitter on Friday night, but go get him while you can. This isn’t exactly a great matchup — the Nationals are third in team wRC+ — but Foltynewicz is the kind of guy teams can hold all season long. He’s not going to stay at sub-30 percent much longer. We may be lucky to see him again in these ranks.

Friday, July 7

Eddie Butler (CHC) – v. Pittsburgh Pirates (4 percent ESPN)
It’s the anti-sexy pick — seriously, he struck out one batter in five innings last time out with 10 grounders — but he held down the Nationals and got his ERA down to 3.71 in the process. His K/BB ratio is a hideous 26-21, but he’s still got a so-so WHIP (1.35) and has held opposing batters to just a .233 batting average. It’s also the Pirates, who have the sixth-worst offense in the game (89 wRC+).

Saturday, July 8

Mike Clevinger (CLE) – v. Detroit Tigers (12.4 percent ESPN)
It’s not the easiest of lineups to tangle with (101 wRC+) as Clevinger will take on the Motor City Kitties, but the righty has been pretty dang good so far this season through 10 appearances (nine starts): 3.56 ERA, .198 BAA, 55-24 K/BB ratio. The walks could sure come down a bit, but he’s allowed three or fewer earned runs in four of his last five starts, and the talk now is that he could bump Trevor Bauer or Josh Tomlin out of the rotation when Danny Salazar returns. He’s another one who won’t be this low on the ownership rungs for long.

Sunday, July 9

Jerad Eickhoff (PHI) – v. San Diego Padres (6.4 percent ESPN)
He’s too talented to keep pitching like he has (4.93 ERA) and he’s taking on a brutal Padres offense (82 wRC+). What else is there to say? He had a good mix of strikeouts, grounders and limited walks last season, and just hasn’t lived up to it this year. I’m buying.

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

MLB Carlos Rodon Alex Meyer Daniel Norris Scott Feldman Kenta Maeda Dallas Keuchel Mike Foltynewicz Eddie Butler Mike Clevinger Trevor Bauer Josh Tomlin Danny Salazar Jerad Eickhoff

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About Author

Brandon Warne

@brandon_warne

Warne covers the Minnesota Twins for ZoneCoverage.com and has had work published all across the national landscape. Locally, Warne has been published at both major metro dailies in the Twin Cities -- the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press -- and nationally he's done work for SB Nation, Fangraphs, Baseball Prospectus and even been quoted in the Los Angeles Times. He has a weekly podcast called "Midwest Swing" on the Cold Omaha podcast network and has done radio work with the Twins' flagship station, Go96.3 under the mentorship of the late Rod Simons. Warne lives in the Twin Cities with his wife Amanda. They are expecting their first child, a daughter, this spring.