2017 Fantasy Baseball SP Streamers: Week 13

For the more shallow leagues, Jacob Faria is officially no longer streaming eligible based on the spike in ownership. The secret’s out on that young stud as he racked up 9 K’s in 7 innings against Detroit. If you picked him up, don’t drop him because you’ll want him the rest of the way. Brandon McCarthy, like Faria, won’t be a recommendation in Week 13 as he’s bounced back nicely and his ownership is too high because he’s been doing so well lately. Brad Peacock steamrolled the competition and was another great streaming option and he finishes Week 12 against the Mariners so keep him in and don’t drop him if you own him. Mike Fiers followed up his solid outing against the Red Sox with a strong outing against the Athletics. His ownership is still below 50% so he’ll be listed in the next section for the 2nd straight week. Seth Lugo was the only real bad call from last week as the desperation play. He got tagged pretty bad by the Giants. Don’t be worried. A blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while and the Giants had one good night. All in all it was a solid week for streamers outside of Buck Farmer getting sent down and Lugo getting lit.

Let’s go to Week 13!

(Disclaimer: The streaming options aren’t as appealing as they were in Week 12. There isn’t a lot of strikeout potential this week, but below are guys that can give you solid quality starts.)

10-12 Team Leagues

Sean Newcomb (ATL): The fact that Newcomb is only 20% on Yahoo! is outrageous. He’s only given fantasy owners 3 straight quality starts to begin his young career and next week he draws the Padres in Petco Park. Petco isn’t as favorable to pitchers as it once was, but it’s still a good matchup considering the Padres struggle at home. The Braves trust the rookie enough where they don’t pull him after 5 innings. Unfortunately in his last 12 innings of work he has 6 K’s to 5 walks. The velocity is still there on his fastball (roughly 93 mph), but his good “out” pitch is his curveball. Luckily for Newcomb the Padres have struck out the third-most in baseball and have walked the seventh-fewest. He’s one of the safest options for Week 13.

Mike Fiers (HOU): Fantasy owners may need to hang on to Fiers if you picked him up based on last week’s write-up. A lot of his section was dedicated to the use of his Cutter and Curveball. Naturally Fiers went against everything that was written and used his cutter at a 24% rate, but still utilized his curveball. Oddly enough it was his fastball that saw less work, but regardless this isn’t the same Fiers fantasy owners have gotten used to in prior years. His ownership spiked to 42% in Yahoo! leagues over the past 24 hours. He faces off against an Oakland team he shut down in Week 12 and he draws a home start against the Yankees so he’s in play again this week.

Kyle Freeland (COL): This is almost too easy picking Freeland. His lone start in Week 13 comes away from Coors Field, and if that wasn’t enough to raise your eyebrows it’s against the Giants. AT&T Park is the most pitcher-friendly ballpark in baseball this year and the Giants are one of the worst offenses in baseball, especially at home. Freeland’s only averaging 5.5 K/9 with 3.5 BB/9 so he’s really only good for chasing a win and keeping your ERA in check. His home/road splits suggest this isn’t a good spot to stream him, but given the overwhelming favorable matchup this is a good time to use him. If Jeff Hoffman and Antonio Senzatela are available in your league you can also pick them up for this series. They weren’t included because they’re both over 50% owned, but they also draw starts early next week on the road against San Francisco.

Mike Montgomery (CHC): Montgomery seems to be settling in to his role in the rotation. In his first start he only went 4 innings against Colorado, but he’s steadily increased his innings of work over the last two starts against the Mets and Padres. In his last start he pitched 6 shutout innings and threw only 75 pitches. So he was incredibly efficient, but it’s somewhat concerning that the Cubbies may have him on a short leash considering he could’ve thrown more. He won’t blow you away with his strikeout potential (just 7.8 K/9 as a starter) and he tends to walk guys at a slightly higher rate (3.0 BB/9), but he does keep the ball in the ballpark (just 2 HR’s given up all year as a starter and in relief) and can be streamed if necessary in a road matchup against the Reds in Week 13.

Desperation Play of the Week… Patrick Corbin (ARI): You might be able to swap out Corbin with Mike Montgomery for this section as both of them have win potential, but Corbin does have 1 start against the Cardinals at home in Chase Field next week. Corbin’s Home/Road splits have been highlighted in this piece before so there’s no need for a table breaking it down. In brief at home he owns a 3.19 ERA (3.77 FIP) while opponents are slashing .277/.326/.426. That slash line isn’t great by any means, but away from Chase Field he has a 7.84 ERA (6.10 FIP) and opponents are slashing .326/.367/.633 against him. So he’s clearly a horrendous pitcher on the road, and sort of average at home. However, he’s riding a pretty nice streak right now. Over his last 18.1 innings of work he’s got a 2.95 ERA (2.54 FIP) and given up just 1 home run with 18 K’s to just 4 walks. Take that all with a grain of salt because his last 3 starts have come against Philadelphia (twice) and San Diego. He’s worth consideration if you’re desperate next week and he could be available in deeper leagues.

Deeper League Options

Mike Foltynewicz (ATL): Yep. He’s back. When he’s good, he’s actually pretty damn good. When he’s bad, he’s just dreadful. Like Newcomb, the hard-throwing righty draws a start on the road against San Diego. The velocity is still there on his fastball (mid-90’s) so this is a nice opportunity for Foltynewicz to get back on track. Folty performed quite well in his last start against the vaunted offense of Milwaukee striking out 9 over 5 innings of 1-run ball. He’s a very streaky pitcher so hopefully Friday’s start against the Brewers gives him a lot of confidence heading in to his next start.

Jason Hammel (KC): Hammel makes his return to the streamers section for the second straight week. He’s rolled out three really good starts against Houston, San Francisco, and Boston and he’ll draw the Twins in Game 1 of a double-header next week. He does draw the Blue Jays on June 25th, so that start may be worth keeping an eye on, but there’s no doubt that he’s pitching really well lately. Over those last three starts he’s logged 20.2 innings of work with a 1.74 ERA, he’s given up just 1 home run on 19 hits and just 1 walk. He only has 12 K’s over that span, but he’s a career 7.11 K/9 pitcher so you can’t expect too much from him in that department. The Twins have played the fewest road games on the season and average about 4.76 runs per game on the road, so with Hammel’s hot hand he can be utilized in deeper leagues.

Desperation Play of the Week… Luis Perdomo (SD): Perdomo currently has a 4.97 ERA with a 2-4 record, but in his 13 appearances as a starter, 8 have been quality starts. He draws the Braves at home on Thursday June 29th. Atlanta’s offense has been good of late, but let’s be transparent here. The deep league streaming options are fairly weak as June comes to an end so Perdomo makes the list at just 3% owned. The strikeout potential is modest with Perdomo (7.52) and he gives up quite a few walks (3.45 BB/9). With so few options available, Perdomo is a candidate for a quality start.

Keep an Eye on… Andrew Moore (SEA): The young righty has quickly worked his way up the farm system this year and had a nice debut in Week 12 against the Tigers. He was sent back down to the minors because Seattle’s schedule in Week 13 allows them to skip their fifth starter’s matchup, but he could be called up for Week 14 or after the All-Star Break so he’s worth monitoring on waivers.