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 find it to be an enjoyable 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.
View your league’s top available players with My Playbook 
Monday, Aug. 7 – Brent Suter (MIL) – @ Minnesota Twins (23.9 percent ESPN)
Suter has pitched well as a swingman for the Brewers this year, splitting 14 appearances exactly halfway between the rotation and the bullpen. In 50.1 innings, he’s posted a stellar 3.04 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and 44:12 K/BB ratio. Suter is very much a finesse lefty — average fastball is 86 mph — but he’s managed to keep the ball in the strike zone (7.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9), in the park (0.72 HR/9) and on the ground (45.3 percent groundball rate).
He’s handled lefties well (.247 wOBA) but has also managed to keep righties in check (.307), too. The Twins have struggled against lefties all season long as well.
Tuesday, Aug. 8 – Matt Boyd (DET) – @ Pittsburgh Pirates (4 percent ESPN)
First of all, it helps that the Pirates’ offense (90 wRC+, 24th in MLB) has not been very good this year. But don’t sleep on Boyd either, as three of his first four starts since rejoining the Tigers’ rotation have been quality starts. He’s usually a decent source of strikeouts — 19 over his last three starts spanning 17.2 innings — and he has a great changeup (17.1 percent whiff rate).
Wednesday, Aug. 9 – Jerad Eickhoff (PHI) – @ Atlanta Braves (13.3 percent ESPN)
I’ve said it every time, but I trust Eickhoff’s talent too much to expect him to struggle all season, especially with how good he was last year. Eickhoff was excellent in July — 3.27 ERA, 25-10 K/BB ratio in 22 innings — and carried that into August last time out with a minimalist quality start (six innings, three earned runs) against the Angels last time out. Eickhoff held down the Braves for one earned run over five innings in his penultimate start, and frankly, this Braves’ offense just is not very good (90 wRC+).
Thursday, Aug. 10 – Luis Castillo (CIN) – v. San Diego Padres (27.2 percent ESPN)
Castillo’s first eight MLB starts have been remarkably solid, as he’s allowed more than three earned runs just twice as he’s posted a 3.56 ERA. His secondary numbers look great too, as he’s fanned 51 batters and walked 18 in 48 innings, and has held opposing batters to just a .225/.294/.410 line.
The Padres’ offense is a nice matchup for him, too (84 wRC+, tied for second-worst in baseball). Don’t sleep on his mound opponent in this one either, as Dinelson Lamet’s numbers are all over the map, but he’s struck out batters by the bucketful this season.
Friday, Aug. 11 – Jose Urena (MIA) – v. Colorado Rockies (21.7 percent ESPN)
The Rockies are the team tied with the Padres for the second-worst offense in baseball, though that does come with the caveat that they’re hitting .276/.335/.446 as a team — so it’s depressed by the fact that Coors Field is a launchpad. That doesn’t matter here, as Urena gets the road Rockies, where they have just an 80 wRC+ thanks to a .251/.313/.385 overall line.
Urena is interesting outside his decent ERA (3.82) in that he pumps gas (career-best 95.6 mph average) and has double-digit whiff rates on all of his non-four-seam fastball offerings. It’s possible his best is yet to come.
Saturday, Aug. 12 – J.C. Ramirez (LAA) – @ Seattle Mariners (18.4 percent ESPN)
The Mariners aren’t necessarily a great matchup for anyone (102 wRC+, eighth in MLB), but Ramirez has done an excellent job reversing a rough patch with a strong handful of recent starts. Since closing June with a start against the Dodgers — a tough matchup for anyone — Ramirez has pitched very, very well and is on the cusp of lowering his ERA under 4.00 for the first time since late May.
Since the beginning of July, Ramirez has a 2.63 ERA and has held opposing batters to just a .688 OPS. What’s a bit concerning is that he’s walked 19 batters over that stretch, but he’s still managed to pitch well against some good offenses over that time frame, like Cleveland, Boston, and Tampa Bay.
Sunday, Aug. 13 – Matt Boyd (DET) – v. Minnesota Twins (4 percent ESPN)
I’m starting Boyd again here because before the Twins slaughtered Martin Perez at Target Field on Friday night, they came into that game with a collective 84 wRC+ against southpaws. This isn’t an offense catered to face lefties, and I think Boyd can prey on that in this one.
Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | Google Play | TuneIn | RSS
Brandon Warne is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Brandon, check out his archive and follow him @brandon_warne.
