Week 11 is on tap and we again see some good options if you want to take a streaming approach in your efforts to win the period or rack up the pitching stats. All the pitchers discussed below, as always, are owned in less than 50% of leagues, making them possible options on your waiver wire for short term, or possibly in the proper case long term, pitching production.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Roenis Elias SEA vs NYY David Phelps
Josh Tomlin CLE @ BOS Jon Lester
Blake Treinen WAS @ SF Tim Hudson
Edinson Volquez PIT vs CHC Jeff Samardzija
Elias will soon be above the 50% ownership limit I place on qualification for this article. Pitching at home against the Yankees is a decent match up for a pitcher that has been limiting walks and racking up strikeouts, although he does tend to give up runs, so the peripherals aren't all that tasty.
Tomlin gets no love, being owned in only a quarter of leagues, despite holding opponents to three or less earned runs since he joined the Indian rotation (and giving up three earned runs in only two of his 6 starts on the season). His control has been superb and he is a nice source of Ks as well. I have been picking him up as my pitchers go DL on me, and you might want to follow suit.
Treinen appears to have won a spot in the Washington rotation, although his owners have to deal with a pitch limit until his arm gets stretched out. Even so, he limits the walks and hits, and his peripherals are very good early on, although you need to look elsewhere for strikeouts.
Volquez lost a lot of support when he struggled earlier, but he has been first-rate in his last four outings, although he did allow four earned runs against the Brewers in his last appearance, where he was tagged with the loss. As the Pirates heat up, he is again a usable streaming option and has been missing bats at nearly a K/IP recently.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Chase Anderson ARI @ LAD Clayton Kershaw
Not the greatest match up for the youngster Anderson, but he has been perfect in seeking wins in his first four starts. He demonstrates good control, although the racking up Ks is not his typical game, and he has been providing wins (which as we should realize are an elusive prize when evaluating SPs in fantasy). I am not in love with his team, but I will ride a hot hand, and thus you might want to reconsider this pickup depending on what he does Sunday against the Braves at home.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Jarred Cosart HOU vs TB Chris Archer
Charlie Morton PIT @ MIA Randy Wolf
Hector Noesi CWS vs KC James Shields
Joe Saunders TEX @ SEA Erasmo Ramirez
Cosart, if he could pitch deeper into every game, would have eight consecutive QS. That being said, he managed to rack up wins in both his sub-six inning appearances. You aren't going to like his peripherals, as he walks too many on occasion and generally allows too many base runners, but on a streaming short-term pickup, he generally won't hurt your pitching line. The occasional high strikeout total is an added bonus, not a guarantee.
Morton is still receiving no love, despite his recent success on the hill. He has given up more than three earned runs only once in his last seven starts, although a recent increase in free passes concerns me. He has been on a strikeout per IP in his last four appearances, aided by racking up nine Ks against the Padres on last Monday. A change to the Pirates' rotation due to Gerrit Cole being placed on the DL pushes his starts back to Monday and Friday this week, and a better match up against Wolf at Miami results.
When the White Sox face off against the Royals at home this coming weekend, I would be tempted to use any of the scheduled Chicago starters. Noesi is prolly my second choice behind Sunday's starter (look down a bit for that analysis), with his ability to pitch deep enough into games to qualify for QS in most of his starts. He does have control issues, so his peripherals are elevated, and the strikeouts are certainly not a given from start to start. In a division match up, though, I like his prospects.
I am not sure I want to trust Saunders, but he has handled the Mariners well in the past, and is coming off a couple of good starts. The lefty doesn't rack up strikeouts consistently, and pitches to contact as evidenced by the number of hits he allows, but past success against an opponent (8-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 15 appearances) is an indicator when selecting a streaming option, especially where the sample size is large enough to demonstrate a trend.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
John Danks CWS vs KC Jason Vargas
Gavin Floyd ATL vs LAA Tyler Skaggs
Brad Peacock HOU vs TB David Price
Danks has a good record against the Royals, posting a 6-0 win/loss total with a sparkling 2.52 ERA in 14 games. He has also been very good in his last three starts, allowing just three earned runs over 22.1 IP. I would not pay much attention to his next start against the Tigers, given their inconsistency at the plate in the last three weeks or so, and would instead rely on recent performance and his track record vs KC.
A former White Sox, Floyd is still only owned in just over 30% of leagues, despite allowing three or fewer earned runs in his six starts on the season. The walks allowed are not out of control, but the strikeouts game by game are inconsistent. He also allows too many base runners, but has been lucky with an 84% strand rate, although his .368 BABIP would argue that he has been unlucky to an extent regarding the hits he has allowed. Assuming his strand and BABIP rates normalize, he is a pitcher I would target for full time status on my roster.
Peacock is coming off three good starts, two of which are of the QS variety. He also has been cranking up the K rate, until he faced the Angels in his last start, that is where he only whiffed one batter. He averages only about a hit per inning, and is striking out opponents at a respectable 8.5/9 rate to boot. He has also gone 2-0 in his last three starts, getting some offensive help from his team finally. His recent work is helping to reduce his peripherals from danger levels, but if you are just spot starting him, that would not be your concern.
Not the most bountiful slate of streaming options, especially on Friday. Still, there are some adequate pitchers here for you to consider in your H2H match ups or just for general stat accumulation in your roto leagues.
Should you have questions regarding fantasy baseball, especially starting pitching, you can reach me at ia@fantasyalarm.com to continue the discussion.