The calendar has finally flipped to June, which means the dog days are upon us…or at least upon Jeff Zimmerman. Even during these summer months, it’s important to stay active with your fantasy team. More opportunities open up as owners either hit the wall or become less interested in checking their team daily — especially if they’re not doing well. That’s a mistake. It’s still early enough in the season that you can make up some ground, and streaming pitchers is one of the easiest ways to catch up in the pitching stats, particularly the counting ones.
To determine the pitchers eligible for consideration, I looked at players who were owned in less than 30 percent of ESPN leagues.
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Monday, June 11
Jordan Lyles (SD) @ St. Louis Cardinals (7.5%)
It seems like forever ago that Lyles had his no-hit bid go into the eighth inning when really it was under a month ago. Since that game, he hasn’t exactly been great. He’s pitched 21 2/3 inning since then and has a 7.89 ERA with only marginally better peripherals. Still, you can’t just discount that game, or the one before it. All in all, Lyles has a 4.70 ERA with a 4.20 xFIP, so the numbers, while not great, aren’t awful either. They should be good enough to get him by when he faces the Cardinals, who haven’t had much success against righties this year. Their 91 wRC+ against righties going into Thursday ranked in the bottom 10 in baseball, while their strikeout rate of 22.8 percent was also in the bottom half.
Tuesday, June 12
Chris Stratton (SF) @ Miami Marlins (17.3%)
I was all set to recommend Clay Buchholz against the Pirates here, but, naturally, he throws another gem and bumps his ownership percentage to 32 percent. Not that Buchholz is all that much of a better option than Stratton. In his four starts this season, Buchholz has a 1.88 ERA but a 4.04 xFIP. Stratton, meanwhile, has a 4.63 ERA and 4.42 xFIP, and he has a better matchup anyway against the surprisingly-not-in-last-place (as of this writing) Marlins. Going into Thursday, Marlins hitters had just an 81 wRC+ and struck out in 23.9 percent of plate appearances against righties, both bottom 10 in baseball.
Wednesday, June 13
Andrew Suarez (SF) @ Miami Marlins (1.3%)
Admittedly, the Marlins aren’t as bad against lefties as they are against righties — they’re still below average offensively, but their wRC+ was 89 and they only struck out in 20.7 percent of plate appearances going into Thursday. Nevertheless, I’m actually more confident in Suarez here than I am in Stratton. In his first full season in the majors, Suarez has a 4.74 ERA, but he also has a 3.89 FIP and 3.22 xFIP. He also has a strikeout rate above 23 percent, and while that’s probably not sustainable given his low whiff rate, it’s unlikely to completely crash to unusable levels. He’s only struck out fewer than five batters once this season, so you can expect that as a baseline for this matchup.
Thursday, June 14
German Marquez (COL) @ Philadelphia Phillies (8.8%)
Marquez, like many other Rockies pitchers, exemplifies the effect of Coors Field. When pitching at home, Marquez’s ERA this season is 7.22 with a 5.31 FIP and 1.92 WHIP. On the road: 2.06 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 1.09 WHIP. He’s in Philadelphia for this matchup, which, as you may note, is not Denver. Not only that, but it’s also home to a team that struck out in over 26 percent of its plate appearances against righties going into Thursday, the worst in baseball. If there was ever a time to stream Marquez, this is it.
Friday, June 15
Jose Urena (MIA) @ Baltimore Orioles (6.7%)
Despite an ugly 4.60 ERA, Urena is another pitcher who’s gotten somewhat unlucky this year. A .304 BABIP and 68.3 percent strand rate have his FIP 72 points lower than his ERA at 3.88, indicating he’s actually pitched quite well this year. Not that that’s a requirement when facing the Orioles, who had baseball’s third-worst offense against righties before Thursday’s games. They also came in striking out in more than a quarter of their plate appearances against righties, fourth worst in MLB.
Saturday, June 16
Zach Eflin (PHI) @ Milwaukee Brewers (6.0%)
After three consecutive starts where he was unable to get out of the fifth inning, Eflin finally rediscovered his form his last time out against the Cubs, pitching 7 2/3 innings while allowing just one run. Of course, he only struck out two, but that still leaves his strikeout percentage for the season at a respectable 21.5 percent. He’ll actually face the Brewers at home Sunday before going back to face them in their home park on the 16th, so part of your decision to stream him may be based on that first performance. As of Thursday, though, the Brewers had a below-average offense against right-handed pitchers (97 wRC+) and were striking out in 24.6 percent of their plate appearances against them, seventh highest in MLB.
Sunday, June 17
Zack Wheeler (NYM) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (10.9%)
Wheeler’s been on a roll recently, going six or more innings in each of his past four starts while allowing seven earned runs and five total walks, compared to 24 strikeouts. It’s possible that he’s simply finally getting the results he deserves, as his FIP for the season is 3.78, nearly 80 points lower than his 4.57 ERA. He’s also striking out 22.4 percent of batters, right in line with his career mark, so there’s nothing out of the ordinary there. He gets perhaps one of his easiest matchups of the season, facing the Diamondbacks in now-pitcher-friendly Chase Field. The Diamondbacks had MLB’s worst offense against righties going into Thursday (72 wRC+) and were striking out the fifth most often at just over 25 percent of their plate appearances.
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Brian Reiff is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Brian, check out his archive and follow him @briansreiff.
