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Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Week 25

Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Week 25

If you’re reading this, congrats on still being in the hunt going into the last week of the season. Whether you’re in a finals matchup or finishing up the last week of a rotisserie league, you’ve gotten yourself this far. Of course, so has your competitor. Both of you have assembled squads worthy of making it this far, meaning in order to come out on top when all is said and done, you need every advantage you can get. Streaming pitchers can provide that advantage, giving you those extra strikeouts or wins or quality starts or whatever category your league uses.

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, September 24

Felix Pena (LAA) vs. Texas Rangers (18.8%)
Before last week’s dud, Pena had gone six or more innings in six consecutive starts, allowing more than three runs in just one of them and striking out 36 batters compared to just nine walks. One of those was against Texas, where he pitched six scoreless and came away with the win. There’s no reason why he can’t repeat that performance, especially since the Rangers have struggled against righties to the tune of a 93 wRC+ before Thursday’s games. That represents a significant improvement over his last matchup against the Athletics where he struggled.

Tuesday, September 25

Matt Shoemaker (LAA) vs. Texas Rangers (14.1%)
I just mentioned the quality of the Rangers offense against righties, so I’m not going to repeat myself. But The Cobbler should inspire confidence regardless of matchup. In his last full season in the majors, he had a 3.88 ERA and 3.52 FIP, mostly thanks to an elite walk rate. It’s been just five games this season, and yesterday’s outing was a rough one, but his FIP for the season still stands at 2.76. Just under half of the runners who have reached base against Shoemaker have come around to score, a rate that is unbelievably unsustainable. I’ll admit I’m partial to Shoemaker, but his underlying skill along with the matchup represents a good streaming opportunity.

Wednesday, September 26

Jake Odorizzi (MIN) vs. Detroit Tigers
Odorizzi’s season line won’t blow anyone away, but he’s been consistently average, which, at this point in the season, is about the best you can expect to find available. Like Pena, he recently faced his upcoming opponent, and, like Pena, he shut them down. The Tigers have been the second-worst team against righties this season going into Thursday’s games, sporting a wRC+ of 80. Odorizzi has a nice, easy matchup to close out his season, where he should have no problem striking out half a dozen batters and likely picking up a win.

Thursday, September 27

Tyler Glasnow (TB) vs. New York Yankees (16.7%)
The last time I picked Glasnow, he allowed seven runs and didn’t make it out of the first inning. Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Why, then, am I going back to him against an opponent as dangerous as the Yankees? Glasnow’s seasonal numbers (4.22 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 3.52 xFIP) still compare favorably to nearly everyone else that’s available, particularly those that are slated to start Thursday. Other than that one game, Glasnow has been lights out on his new team. The Yankees will present a challenge, but it’s one he can handle.

Friday, September 28

Sean Reid-Foley (TOR) @ Tampa Bay Rays (1.6%)
While inexperienced, Reid-Foley has displayed incredible potential in his first five major league starts. Already with 10 strikeouts in two different games, the skill is obviously there. The walks are admittedly a problem, which is the reason he’s owned in less than two percent of leagues. Of course, the other options aren’t much better (seemingly a trend this late in the season), so you have to take what you can get. As a boom-or-bust option, you could do worse.

Saturday, September 29

Joey Lucchesi (SD) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (20.6%)
Lucchesi has made plenty of appearances on this list this season, so it’s no surprise to see him again to close out the year. With a 3.74 ERA and a strikeout rate above 25 percent, it’s a surprise that Lucchesi isn’t owned in more leagues. He doesn’t work deep into games, so those looking for quality starts might want to look elsewhere, but he’ll pile on the strikeouts (at least six in seven of his last eight games) and has a decent chance at a win against a Diamondbacks team that has lost seven of its last 10 games.

Sunday, September 30

Vince Velasquez (PHI) vs. Atlanta Braves (24.1%)
Velasquez, too, is will be facing off against the same opponent twice in a row. His last time out wasn’t great, but he still managed to strike out three Braves hitters over three innings of work, marking the sixth consecutive game he had a K/9 of 9.0 or higher. He’s been allowing more than his fair share of runs as of late, but that’s in large part unlucky, as he had a 3.15 FIP in September before yesterday’s game compared to a 9.82 ERA. His September BABIP of .469 is enough reason to believe that he can bounce back from this rough stretch.

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Brian Reiff is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Brian, check out his archive and follow him @briansreiff.

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