If you play in a 10-12 team league and you used the streamer recommendations last week you probably had a very good week. None of the recommendations got lit up, and they all did pretty well The deeper league suggestions were on the opposite end of the spectrum. The only player to log a quality start was Tyler Chatwood (on the road, go figure) and Carson Fulmer really let fantasy players down especially in DFS GPP’s because he only recorded one out before being removed with injury. Alas, we move on to the last SP Streamers piece of the season. Let’s try to finish the season off strong and help you all to some championships. Best of luck FA Nation!

10-12 Team Leagues

Marco Estrada (TOR): The cutoff for 10-12 team streamers is typically 50%. And Estrada is coming in at 62% owned on Yahoo! and 57% on ESPN so technically he shouldn’t be mentioned. But to be honest, it’s the last week and if he’s there he’s worth streaming. Coming in to Friday’s start it looked like he could be due to get lit up. Over his previous three starts he had a 1.80 ERA, with a 4.30 FIP so it looked like he was due for a bad outing. After an Aaron Judge home run in the first inning it looked to be the case, but he really settled in and didn’t allow another run.  Estrada draws the Red Sox next week on the road. If the Sox have the division clinched by then there’s a chance they could rest some players (don’t count it though). The other positive is that he’s pitching against Rick Porcello so Toronto should provide some run support.

Mike Leake (SEA): Leake has been quite the story down the backstretch this year. Since the calendar turned to September he’s 3-0 in his last four starts. He boasts a 2.13 ERA (1.77 FIP) with just two walks in his last 25.1 innings of work and he hasn’t surrendered a home run since August 26th. He faces the Indians this coming Sunday, but if your finals matchup extends into next week he faces the Angels on the road. Yes the Angels are still in the Wild Card hunt, but they’ve lost nine of their last 13 games and Leake could play the role of spoiler next weekend in Anaheim… Or Los Angeles… Wherever the hell the Angels reside nowadays.

Jake Odorizzi (TB): Odorizzi, like Estrada, is a little bit over the 50% threshold, but he’s mentioned in this piece because he gets a fantastic matchup against the Orioles who have been playing poorly throughout the month of September. Since the beginning of the month the Orioles are averaging less than three runs per game and they’re slashing just .213/.264/.358 so they’re the team to target right now. Odorizzi is always a risk for walks and home runs, but he’ll end the season with a great matchup at home in the Trop, which has proven to be a nice venue for pitchers this year.

Garrett Richards (LAA): Richards makes another appearance in the final SP streamers article of the year.  Since coming back from injury Richards has looked great. In four starts in September he has a 1.86 ERA (2.22 FIP) with a 9.31 K/9 and just 1.40 BB/9. This past Friday night he held the Astros to just one hit and one walk. Richards finishes the season with a start against the White Sox on the road. Chicago’s offense has been very solid this month, but over their past five games they’ve scored just 14 runs.

Desperation Play of the Week… German Marquez (COL):  I cannot believe I didn’t mention Marquez in last week’s write up. He had two great road matchup’s this past week (one of which is still on Sunday against the Padres) so go grab him for that last matchup if your finals end this Sunday and you’re behind in pitching categories. Fatigue may be setting in with Marquez as he’s been allowing some runs to score over his last few starts, but again he gets the Padres on the road and then he gets the Dodgers at home. Really the Coors aspect is the reason this is a despo call. Other than that it’s a recommendation I’m very confident with. He limits hitters to just a .256 batting average and a .308 OBP at home, while opponents hit .283 against him on the road with a .351 OBP. This shouldn’t deter you from the Padres start. San Diego is awful at home. But the Dodgers, in September, are slashing .212/.295/.376 and they’re averaging barely over three runs per game. If you need a last-minute punt to finish out the last week of the season throw Marquez in the mix.

Deeper League Options

Daniel Mengden (OAK): Since moving to the rotation a few weeks ago Mengden has been very solid and he’s coming in under 20% owned on most sites. In his last three starts (22 innings of work) he has a 0.82 ERA (2.65 FIP) and perhaps the best parts of his streak are that he has given up just one home run and just two walks. The only concern with Mengden next week is that he gets two starts: at home against the Mariners and on the road against the Rangers on the last day of the regular season. Both offenses are still respectable. The Rangers in particular are slashing only .243/.318/.433 in September. That batting average and OBP rank in the bottom half of the league. But they’re still scoring over five runs per game this month doing most of their damage with the power. Mengden’s ability to keep the ball in the park could limit the Rangers in the season finale on October 1st. The Mariners start is worth targeting as they are currently in a bit of slump.

Tyler Skaggs (LAA): There’s more confidence in this recommendation if the Angels are still in the Wild Card chase. They’ll be more competitive, they’ll likely have more run support, and they’ll be playing the Mariners who are slumping right now. Skaggs has been good over his last three outings, but he hasn’t been great. He’s been a value in deeper leagues though. Over his last 18.1 innings of work he has a 2.45 ERA (3.59 FIP) with 15 strikeouts to just three walks. He’s still giving up hits (17 over this span), but he has left 88% of runners on base over his last three outings. He gets the Indians this coming Sunday so there isn’t much confidence in that start, but he’s definitely in play against Seattle.

Chris Stratton (SF): It’s good enough that Stratton pitches in AT&T Park, but the Padres come to town to close out the season next week. As expected, AT&T Park has maintained its pitcher-friendly features in 2017. Since August 13th Stratton has a 2.17 ERA (3.67 FIP) with 30 K’s in 29 innings of work. There was concern heading into his last start against Arizona because prior to that game he left after recording one out against the Dodgers, but he bounced back to surrender just two earned runs in six innings against the Diamondbacks. In terms of matchup’s it doesn’t get much better for Stratton next week.

Desperation Play of the Week… Matt Boyd (DET): Let’s see if he can build off the success of his near no-hitter. In fact in two of his last five starts he’s given up four earned runs or more. In the other three starts he’s yielded just a total of two earned runs. Despite the two bad starts he still has a 3.19 ERA with a 3.41 FIP so he’s pitched well enough across his last five appearances. He’s not a great source of strikeouts, but he only gives up about two walks every nine innings and he’s decent at keeping in the ball inside the park. Monitor the start on Saturday against the Twins because that’s who he will be facing next week in his last start of the season.