So last week was prettaaaaaaaaay rough. I try to always be transparent. And it was NOT a good week for streamers. This is being written on Friday (9/1) morning and will feature updates for some of the players listed below that are pitching tonight so I won’t dive too much into last week (I only checked on Bridwell and Rodriguez and they both did horrible) so we’ll just jump write into this week. These picks I’m feeling really good about.

10-12 Team League

Luke Weaver (STL): This is somewhat of a risky call, not because Weaver sucks, he doesn’t. Weaver’s ownership is currently around 50%, maybe a little more depending on the site you play on. But he draws the Giants on the road on Sunday September 3rd so that start doesn’t qualify. If he pitches well his ownership will spike. Even if people pick him up to stream they may hang on to him for the playoff run. So to put it simply GRAB WEAVER NOW! Over the last 30 days Weaver is second in all of MLB in K% by striking out hitters at a 38.5%. He has back-to-back starts with ten strikeouts and he’s only walked two hitters in that span. If he’s available in your league he needs to be owned. And this goes beyond just streaming. You need to hang on to him. The downside is that in the first week of the playoffs he won’t pitch until next Friday against Pittsburgh, but he’s still worth starting.

Jack Flaherty (STL): Was going to put Flaherty in the deeper league section, but his ownership has spiked since he got called up. Flaherty’s put up decent numbers in the minors this year and he gets a very appealing matchup next week. Flaherty draws the Padres on the road for Week 23 and he’s a young arm with some strikeout upside. He has 147 strikeouts to just 35 walks and a 1.04 WHIP in the minors. He had a pretty rough debut against the offensively deficient San Francisco Giants, but it’s just one start. It only becomes a problem if there’s a pattern. Are growing pains possible with the 21-year-old prospect? Sure. But the risk is worth the gain.

German Marquez (COL): This is a risky play. Not entirely confident in this one either, but Marquez is coming off a ten-strikeout performance against the Tigers at home. He gets the Padres at home and then the Dodgers on the road. Ideally you’d want to stream him away from Coors, but since July 2nd he has a 9.18 K/9, 2.39 BB/9 which is pretty nice. However, because he pitches in Coors he’s surrendered eight home runs in his last six home starts. The Rockies aren’t afraid to let this young righty pitch into the sixth or seventh inning so he’s an okay player to target for the start against the Padres. If all goes well drop him and if you absolutely need to you can stream him against the Dodgers (although it’s not a great idea).

Desperation Play of the Week… Mike Clevinger (CLE): Clevinger was an absolute stud Friday night against the Tigers who are fresh off of having a fire sale. Clevinger pitched six innings with three hits and one walk while striking out six. However, he’s a despo play late next week against Baltimore. The Orioles have scored 60 runs in their last eight games and they’ve scored at least seven runs in six of those games. The offense is rolling as they make for one last playoff push, but Clevinger can be used in desperate situations. It’s always a mystery how deep he’ll pitch into a game, but he does average almost ten strikeouts per nine innings of work this season.

Weekly Jhoulys Chacin Watch: He gets the Cardinals at home… So you know what that means! Be mindful the Cardinals are still in the Wild Card hunt and the offense has been fairly productive.

Keep an eye on Mike Montgomery: It’s really tough to tell what the Cubs are going to do with Montgomery now that Lester is returning. Montgomery was great earlier in Week 22 against Pittsburgh and draws the Braves on Sunday. If he does well there’s a chance he gets another start next week possibly against the Brewers or Mets.

Didn’t want to include a third Cardinal up above…. Michael Wacha: Wacha is more of a matchup call. He gets the Padres on the road next Tuesday and then the Pirates on Tuesday. It’s a decent two-start week for Wacha whose velocity over the last month is right around 95.3mph. You can feel confident in at least throwing him out there for the start against the Padres.

Deeper League Options

Lucas Giolito (CHW): Giolito is slated for a start against Tampa on Sunday so you can grab him for that one if need be. But he’s definitely worth streaming next week against the Giants at home. The Giants have the second worst OBP (.308) and the worst SLG (.376) in all of baseball. Giolito looked pretty solid against the Tigers in his second career start and his progress will be worth watching in Tampa. If he gets lit up it could open him up to more availability in deeper leagues, which would make it easier to stream him next week.

Edwin Jackson (WSH): Jackson is always a risky play. He has a wide range of variance. Take his no hitter from 2010 for example. Nobody can take away his no-no. But he walked EIGHT batters on 149 pitches. So while he didn’t give up a hit, it was far from efficient since eight hitters reached base. This brings us to his ERA over his last four starts. Sure it’s 2.16 but his 4.69 FIP is pretty worrisome. The nice part of Jackson is that he bends, but doesn’t break. He’ll allow runners on base, but he doesn’t let them score. He doesn’t garner many strikeouts, and he gives up too many walks but he’ll get run support with the Nationals and he faces off against the Phillies next week who are bottom ten in baseball in batting average (.248), OBP (.311), and SLG (.410).

Doug Fister (BOS): Not incredibly confident in this call. On Friday night, Fister went seven innings giving up just one earned run on four hits and a walk. He also struck out five hitters. It was a very efficient start and he deserved the win. In Fister’s two prior starts to Friday he gave up just six hits in 16 innings of work with 13 K’s. He’s been better as of late and still gives up about four walks per nine innings of work. He does get the Blue Jays next week who have lost ten of their last 13 games as of this writing (they’re currently tied with Baltimore in the 12th inning). It’s somewhat risky, but the matchup isn’t terrible.

Mark Leiter Jr. (PHI): Leiter will likely stay in the Phillies rotation. In his last start against Atlanta he logged a quality start in 6.2 innings of work. He collected an astounding 16 swinging strikes largely due to his deadly slider. He is prone to giving up the long ball and he does walk hitters at a slightly uncomfortable rate (3.46 BB/9), but he's available in enough leagues to be considered a streamer. He draws the Mets next week.

Desperation Play of the Week… Chris Stratton (SF): Stratton’s last start was rough despite compiling ten strikeouts. He was all over the place and struggled with control. He’s walked at least four batters in three of his last five starts. But in two of his last three starts he’s reached ten strikeouts. He gets a road start next week against the White Sox and will be a high-risk high reward kind of play.

Keep in mind that rosters are expanding for the last month of the regular season so you could see a lot of rookies get called up. Check in with @FantasyAlarm throughout the weekend on Twitter to see which top pitching prospects or top hitting prospects are being brought up to help you with your playoff run.