Fantasy Baseball Week 6 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters: Shane McClanahan With A Pair Of Tough Starts

It has been a long time, if ever, where the middle tier consists of so few pitchers worthy of being profiled. Fortunately, there are plenty of top-tier options to rely upon for their two-start production this week. With the limited middle group of arms, though, the bottom set of SPs is expanded this scoring period. Please do not be led down a dark alley due to the limited middle tier hurlers and turn to the scary alternatives in the lower group that will likely damage your ratios and not provide much in the way of counting numbers. Note also that this is a week decidedly bereft of good streaming options to pick up for the odd start. Without further ado, here are this week’s two start pitchers.

These are the starting pitchers that you can trust the most to provide superior fantasy results if you plug them into your rotations and take advantage of both their appearances atop the hill in Week 6. Certainly, a couple of these aces are not pitching up to snuff currently (Scherzer, Stroman) but over the course of the season, these pitchers are those who are worthy of your trust. Plus, at least with Scherzer, the matchups are extra favorable this week.

Cortes joins the dual start ranks due to his start being pushed back as he recovers from strep throat. The 28-year-old southpaw was uncharacteristically roughed up in his last start, and it will be interesting to see if he can return to previous stingy run allowing ways now that he is over his illness. Two home games on tap, with the first against the A’s, looks mighty tempting.

Mikolas has been working diligently to bring his ratio stats into useful territory, following his disastrous opening trio of appearances this season. His ratios are still ugly, to be honest, with an ERA sitting at 5.79 and a 1.66 WHIP. Looking at his recent game action, though, he is providing decent K production (8.2 K/9 through 37.1 IP) and the control is steady, too, with a 2.2 BB/9 rate to his credit. He is a solid SP option, just not extraordinarily exciting on the bump for fantasy purposes. Two starts on the road push down his attractiveness this two-start week, as well.

As noted above, these pitchers are dangerous to rely upon, especially for two starts in a scoring period. If you are desperate for innings, though, targeting those arms that are facing the bottom dwelling teams, especially in favorable pitchers’ venues, could have good results. No guarantees, naturally, but Schmidt at home against the A’s, for example, could have some value.

Potential Streaming Options for Week 

There is no promise that each game day will provide a streaming option. First of all, the pitcher must be available in at least 50% of leagues to be a viable candidate to snag off the wire. Then, the pitchers discussed above are not included as they have a different sort of value, even though some might be available as free agents in your league. Plus, some days the matchups and/or venues just do not figure as positive enough factors to favor plugging the arm into your rotation, even for one start. That all being said, here are this week’s best streaming candidates:

Rich Hill (Pittsburgh Pirates) vs Colorado Rockies

The 43-year-old veteran has been on a strong streak lately, yielding just four earned tallies over the past five starts (3-1 record over those 23.1 IP). His ERA is still north of 4.00, but he has been determinedly steering it down toward truly useful levels, and he has posted a 19:7 K/BB ratio over those four appearances, as well. Here, he gets the Rockies away from Coors Field, another positive aspect to consider.

Brayan Bello (Boston Red Sox) @ Atlanta Braves

The 23-year-old righty picked up his first win, overmatching the visiting Blue Jays over 5.0 IP where he allowed just two earned runs, although four Blue Jays crossed the plate during his time on the hill. His 19:6 K/BB ratio accumulated over his 17.1 IP in 2023 hint that although heading to Atlanta is not the most preferred matchup, he has some value in terms of strikeout numbers at a minimum.

Bailey Ober (Minnesota Twins) vs San Diego Padres

The righthander has stepped into the Twin rotation to cover for injured starters Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle, and has acquitted himself quite well so far in 2023, posting a superb 1.59 ERA and equally attractive WHIP of 1.06 through a small sample size 11.1 IP. He gets to take on the Padres at home, although the San Diego team has played well away from home this season. His peripheral metrics also indicate that he has been riding a lucky wave thus far, so do not bank too heavily of the injury-replacement arm.

Trevor Williams (Washington Nationals) vs New York Mets

The veteran right-hander has pitched effectively in his new home with the Nationals, and has in fact been much more effective at home over his six starts to open the season, so this matchup feeds into his current strengths. His useful ratio stats (3.41 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) are his selling points, as he is a below average K producer: 6.0 K/9.

Ryan Feltner (Colorado Rockies) vs Philadelphia Phillies

The rookie right-hander is another SP working diligently to reduce his ratio stats from their once inflated values, and has yielded just three earned runs over his last trips to toe the rubber. He is pitching at home here, not his best venue, but then again, the Phillies have not been tremendously effective away from their home ballpark. He strikes out nearly a batter per inning this season, although his control needs some attention.

Feel free also to send any starting pitching or other fantasy baseball questions to ia@fantasyalarm.com for a private response to your specific issue. The more detail you can provide about your team and league, including settings (H2H vs roto, points or categories, weekly or daily moves, roster size, league size, etc.) the better the response will be suited to your individual situation. As ever, good luck and Godspeed in all your fantasy endeavors.

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