The last weekend of action prior to the All-Star Game, and we have a number of good options to choose from if you want to stream pitchers in your H2H leagues to go into the short week coming off a victory. Remember, only pitchers owned in less than 50% of leagues are featured here, so you should have a chance to snag some if not all of these guys for a late week start.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Odrisamer Despaigne SD @ LAD Clayton Kershaw

T.J. House CLE vs NYY David Phelps

Colby Lewis TEX vs LAA Matt Shoemaker

Edinson Volquez PIT @ StL Shelby Miller

Despaigne couldn't have asked for a tougher match up than going against Kershaw, but you have to like the Cuban imports' stats in his three starts so far this season: 0.92 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 19.2 innings. The walk rate is way too high, as he has a 5:8 K/BB ratio on the season, so while he has been effective, there is trouble looming if he continues to allow free passes without restraint.

House is coming off two consecutive QS, and it would have been three if he could have lasted two more outs against the Red Sox on June 14th. The strikeouts are just mediocre, but he has control and that helps with his propensity to give up hits.

I am coming around to Lewis, as he seems to be rounding into shape finally. He went six innings against both the Twins and Yankees, holding both opponents to two earned runs and coming away with a victory in his last start. He hasn't allowed a free pass in his past three outings, and has also racked up an impressive 21 Ks over those 18.1 innings.

Volquez continues to defy expectations that he will regress, and is coming off a three game win streak. The strikeouts are acceptable, and he is able to use his wildness effectively, at least lately, to limit the hits allowed if not to keep the base paths clear of runners (i.e., sometimes he walks too many batters for my taste).

Friday, July 11, 2014

Scott Feldman HOU vs BOS John Lackey

Kevin Gausman BAL vs NYY Hiroki Kuroda

Jeff Locke PIT @ CIN Mat Latos

Feldman is on a five game streak where he has not allowed more than three earned runs, and that was only once. Those five games have resulted in four QS, and a 25:5 K/BB ratio over 29.1 innings. It would actually be better if he was pitching on the road, but the Red Sox are certainly a beatable opponent this season.

Gausman has sandwiched three excellent starts between two stinkers where he allowed five earned runs to both the Tigers and the Rays. With the Rays, it could have been a case of the opponent being familiar with Gausman's repertoire, as he had just faced them in his previous start, albeit 9 days previous. In a small sample size, he has dealt effectively with the Yankees, and thus, he gets a recommendation for this start.

Locke has been effective, coming off five consecutive QS where his K/BB ratio sits at 21:5. Any pitcher that strikes batters out while limiting free passes can be useful, especially where he allows less than a hit per inning as well. Pitching in Cincy is troublesome for most pitchers, but Locke is actually a better road pitcher so far this season, so I am giving him the thumbs up this start.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Kevin Correia MIN @ COL Yohan Flande

Vidal Nuno NYY @ BAL Chris Tillman

Slim pickings on Saturday, leaving only pitchers that are not entirely terrible. I am not inclined to recommend either Correia or Nuno, but at least Nuno can strikeout some hitters. In Correia's favor, he has been better on the road than at Target Field, so that is a point in his favor. Nuno has struggled mightily, albeit in a small sample size, against the Orioles, so tread carefully if you decide to stream either of these pitchers.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Jarred Cosart HOU vs BOS Clay Buchholz

Carlos E. Martinez StL @ MIL Wily Peralta

Vance Worley PIT @ CIN Johnny Cueto

Chris Young SEA vs OAK Sonny Gray

Jacob deGrom NYM vs MIA Tom Koehler

Cosart is coming off an ugly appearance at home against Seattle, but before that he had been spinning out QS after QS for five games. Like his teammate Scott Feldman, he is a better road pitcher, but is still decent if not spectacular at home. Maybe he can even rediscover his strikeout pitch against the Red Sox.

Martinez is now locked into the Cards' rotation, with Jaime Garcia going under the knife to deal with his thoracic outlet syndrome and being lost for the remainder of the season. His ownership percentage sits at 49%, so this is prolly the last time he will grace the streaming options. He is still on a pitch count, so you have to hope he has good results early on in the game to get your stats out of him, but if he can limit the walks, he is a decent option.

Pittsburgh has gotten four QS out of Worley since he joined the rotation in June, and he has also been a decent source of Ks, racking up 18 in 27.2 innings over those four starts. He has good control and great peripherals (2.28 ERA and 0.94 WHIP), and if he can maximize his usual ground ball inducing tendencies, he should fare well in Cincy.

I continue to be surprised by how effective Young has been for Seattle. He has been showing excellent control of late, and is also picking up the pace on his strikeouts. Limiting hits is also a nice trend over the past four games. Facing Oakland isn't a choice match up, but getting them at home is a strong factor in favor of using him on Sunday.

deGrom continues to be a good source of strikeouts, and he's been pitching deeper into games, making him much more useful for fantasy purposes. He still needs to work on his control, but he has been a bright spot for the lackluster Mets, and he likes to pitch at the comfy confines of Citi Field.

Should you have questions regarding fantasy baseball, especially starting pitching, you can reach me at ia@fantasyalarm.com to continue the discussion.