The baseball season enters Week 6, and some fantasy owners are struggling to put up respectable starting pitcher stat lines. This could be due to injury (anyone else out there that was relying on Garrett Richards or A.J. Griffin to bolster their rotations?), poor performance or just not sticking in the rotation when another SP came off the DL. If that is bringing your team back into the pack of your league, then perhaps it is time to start streaming pitchers. Assuming your league allows those sorts of roster moves, of course.

Streaming is not always viewed kindly in fantasy circles, and some leagues take steps to prohibit or at least discourage the practice of picking up a starting pitcher for one or two starts, then tossing him back onto the waiver wire. If you have a weaker starting rotation in place, or suffer from injuries, lack of performance or the dreaded minor league demotion, you may not have any choice if you want to remain competitive.

If you are willing to take the chance with lesser owned starters, and the possibility that your wire pickups will further damage your fantasy stats in the current scoring period, however, these weekly articles that we are publishing on Sundays should help you sort through the chaff and perhaps hopefully find a gem or two to toss out in your daily lineup to help propel you towards the championship.

Realize that these pitchers are all owned in 50 percent or less of leagues. and thus may be available in your league on the waiver wire. I am only going to highlight those pitchers that I believe can provide a boost to your rotation, so no bottom-of-the-barrel SPs will be brought to your attention. Also, please understand that this set of pitchers is being assembled early before the next scoring period (in most leagues, at least) commences, and weather, injury, demotions or crazy managerial decisions can interfere with our well-laid plans, so be ready to adjust if you can make daily lineup adjustments.

Here are the recommended streaming options for this week:

Monday, May 9, 2016

Colby Lewis TEX vs CHW Miguel Gonzalez

Lewis has been pitching good but not great for Texas this season. He has lasted at least six full innings in his six starts in 2016, but is not much of a strikeout pitcher anymore, posting a 6.39 K/9 over his 38 innings pitched for the Rangers. He is giving up better than a hit per inning and already has eight homers allowed this year. He also has been a better option on the road than at home so far in 2016. Yet, he is the best low-owned SP on the slate for Monday, so if you are feeling lucky, go ahead and slot him into your rotation.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Matt Wisler ATL vs PHI Adam Morgan

Colin Rea SD @ CHC Kyle Hendricks

Chris Devenski HOU vs CLE Trevor Bauer

I am amazed at how well Wisler has been performing this season, given the abject hopelessness of the Atlanta offense. He gets hitters out by keeping them off balance with his off-speed stuff, and does not strike out anything approaching league average. Before you get all misty eyed over his nice 3.24 ERA and 0.90 WHIP, though, realize that a .193 BABIP and 4.34 FIP/4.82 xFIP indicate an adjustment is coming at some point, although his strand rate of 69.2 percent does hint that some of his productivity is not just luck based. At home against Philadelphia, even backed by his offense, makes him the top option on Tuesday for me.

Rea, the 25-year-old second year right hander, has been settling into the Padre rotation comfortably. He has given up three or less earned runs over his last five starts, although he has been hittable and struggles with his control, resulting in a 1.33 WHIP which is a bit higher than I like in my SPs. He is also going on the road against the hot Cubs offense. Some team is going to figure him out, as the Rockies did in his first start of the year, so if you wanted to pass on him here in Chicago, I would not fault your instincts.

Devenski has been a bright and shining star for the Astros in his first two starts, allowing just three earned runs over 11 innings with a 10:4 K/BB ratio in those two appearances. The 88,5 percent strand rate is due for an adjustment, but the rest of his peripherals do not shout that an adjustment is due (.306 BABIP, 2.55 FIP vs 1.46 ERA) although the 3.53 xFIP is a tad worrisome. I have been chided for this advice before, but ride the hot hand while it lasts.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Doug Fister HOU vs CLE Danny Salazar

Tim Adleman CIN vs PIT Francisco Liriano

I am frequently surprised when I research the streaming pitching options for any given week, and finding Doug Fister as an option this week definitely falls into the shocking discovery category. Fister is working on a four-game QS streak, having given up nine earned runs over his last 25 innings (four starts), and pushing his ERA down from a season high 7.59 to a more useful but still needing work 4.54. He certainly will not provide much in the way of Ks, and his walk rate is the highest it has been in major league career, currently sitting at 3.53 BB/9. I would like this matchup better on the road given his splits between home and away, but your options for Wednesday are limited and Fister has been winning.

Adleman is not backed by a superior offense, but the Reds do hit well at home, Of course, the Pirates are not a shabby road offense by any means, so this is more of a situation where there are limited streaming options on a particular day than me recommending that you put all your chips on the Cincinnati youngster. He has been throwing particularly effective in his starts, tossing 14 first-pitch strikes to the 23 batters he faced in his last start. His control has been a bit shabby, but he does have an acceptable 8.18 K/9 over his 11 innings pitched this season. It will be interesting to see how he fares against the Pirates in Wednesday's rematch from his first start in the Red rotation.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Sorry, dear readers, but there is nothing to look at for Thursday, at least within the ownership parameters set forth above.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Nate Karns SEA vs LAA Nick Tropeano

Josh Tomlin CLE vs MIN Ervin Santana

Karns started the season on shaky ground, but is now working on a three games quality start streak, allowing just four earned runs over those 19.1 innings. He has lowered his ERA to a comfortable 3.38, although he has problem with his control, resulting an elevated 1.33 WHIP. His tendency to give up dingers will be depressed at home, and the Angels are not exactly a powerhouse offense this season. He has been racking up Ks at better than one per innings (9,87 K/9 over 34.2 innings this season), so that is a nice aspect to consider when looking for a SP owned in less than 50 percent of leagues at the end of the scoring period.

Tomlin is not the most exciting starting pitcher for my money, but a 4-0 record over four starts is difficult to argue with at this point in the season and the scoring period. He has been showing great control with a 0.79 K/BB ratio, although the K numbers are below league average at 6.26 K/9. He has been better at home this season, but the sample size is small, so that is not a major influence in recommending him this start. Facing the struggling Twins' offense, however, is a good indicator of potential success.

Also worthy of watching going forward is Junior Guerra MIL, but I do not want to jump in too quickly with a Brewer rookie pitcher. If you are desperate for a starting pitcher this weekend, however, feel free to take a chance on him.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Justin Nicolino MIA @ WAS Tanner Roark

Tyler Duffey MIN @ CLE Corey Kluber

Cesar Vargas SD @ MIL Wily Peralta

Nicolino is about as terrible at collecting strikeouts as an effective SP can be, with just two in 13.1 innings. What is impressive about him is that he is efficient on the mound, and induces more than his share of groundballs with a 1.57 GB/FB rate this season, similar to what he did in 2015 (1.53). If he can continue to put up a sub-3 ERA and a WHIP below 1.20 (his non-counting numbers currently sit at 2.70 and 1.05), then he is a fine NL-only option going forward, and with his recent success, a decent option for Saturday.

Duffey has broken into the Minnesota rotation, and has looked impressive in his first two starts. He has yielded just two earned runs over 10.1 innings over his first two games as a starter, and has a nice 8:2 K/BB ratio, with a 1.74 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. He has shown efficient control and a strong groundball inducing tendency (1.40 GB/FB ratio). A 5.00 BABIP and a 4.91 FIP/4.20 xFIP are signs that things may not stay so rosy for the 25-year-old righty, but the Indians are not an offense to avoid in pitching matchup analysis.

I am not sure how far I want to trust the rookie Vargas, since that lovely 1.10 ERA is sure to move upward as his appearances mount. He does have a 1.35 WHIP over his three starts, and a 92.5 percent strand rate with a .261 BABIP are certain indicators that his stat line is going to suffer some adjustment, if not immediately, then in a relatively short time. Pitching against Wily Peralta and Brewers, even on the road, though, is a nice matchup. Do you want to roll the dice that he can post another QS, as he did in his last start against Colorado in San Diego? If so, join the club.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Dan Straily CIN @ PHI Adam Morgan

Straily has settled into the Cincy rotation as the third SP option, and despite giving up home runs, he has managed to limit the damage the long ball has done in his starts. He offers league average strikeouts, but has once again shown control problems in his starts with an unappealing 4.15 BB/9 rate. He does throw strikes, however, despite the control problems, and it is not as though the Reds have a whole lot of options to plug into the starting rotation.

Second start options for Sunday:

Colby Lewis TEX vs TOR Aaron Sanchez

Matt Wisler ATL @ KC Kris Medlen

Colin Rea SD @ MIL Zach Davies

Chris Devenski HOU @ BOS TBA

I discussed all four of these starting pitchers above. They all have a second start scheduled for Week 6, so if you liked them early in the week, take a second helping.

I enjoy responding to reader questions, so feel free to post. If you do not want your comments to appear in this public forum (if say your league members also read these articles), then feel free to contact me at ia@fantasyalarm.com for a more private response. I play in a ton of fantasy leagues, and am willing to discuss any baseball issues you may want to raise, not just starting pitching issues. As ever, good luck and Godspeed in your fantasy endeavors.