Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Streamers for Week 25 (Part 1)

Clayton Kershaw.  It’s pretty clear he will win the NL Cy Young award and he may even take home MVP hardware as well.  The dude has fun with Jimmy Kimmel on late night and he’s an undeniable giver to charity.  He can now cap on an improbable, up and down fantasy playoff win to his stacked resume.  After going down big in the first four days, I hung around and slowly made an incredible comeback based on my relief pitchers and outfielders.  By 8pm, I was in the lead and feeling good.  Unfortunately I forgot about West Coast games- specifically the best left handed pitcher in the game.  It was a roller coaster type ride fit only for Roller Coaster Tycoon- fun to watch but ultimately a fantasy.  Congratulations Clayton Kershaw, you’ve just made “the list.”

Below are some of my Week 25 picks for starting pitchers to consider streaming off the waiver wire. Some of these pitchers may be two-start pitchers, and all of these SP options can be considered sleepers for your team depending on the league format and depth including NL-Only, AL-Only and head-to-head formats. As always, I categorize each of the streaming options as either Desperate, Risky, Solid or Must-Stream.

Monday SP Streamers

Wei-Yin Chen (BAL vs. TOR)

Ownership: 44% Yahoo!, 26% Fleaflicker.  For all their offensive prowess, the Blue Jays have been rather pedestrian when facing LHPs.  There are only a few Blue Jays that have had success against Chen and one of them has a name that rhymes with No Say Barista.  Look for the O’s to come out strong as they have an opportunity to close out the NL East in the series

MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream

Travis Wood (CHC vs. CIN)

Ownership: 24% Yahoo!, 46% Fleaflicker.  For much of the season Wood has been atrocious.  But this is the Cincinnati Reds we’re talking about.  A team that has plummeted harder and faster than Justin Bieber.  What’s most shocking is Wood’s ownership numbers in most leagues considering his overall lack of continuity.

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream

Tuesday SP Streamers

Nathan Eovaldi (MIA at NYM)

Ownership: 16% Yahoo!, 14% Fleaflicker.  He’s seen some better days since early August when he last got a win, but with little on the line in New York, I anticipate Eovaldi to deliver a solid start.  He’s probably hit the wall as a young starting pitcher so I expect Marlins Manager Mike Redmond to have a short leash on the young right hander.  Think a strong five innings.

MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream

Josh Collmenter (ARI vs. SFG)

Ownership: 10% Yahoo!, 9% Fleaflicker.  With only 2 ER in his last 4 starts over 27.2 IP, Collmenter has hit some kind of stride especially in his home confines.  He actually reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield as Larry Burns in Season 8 of The Simpsons- he’s reinvigorated a stagnant [pitching] unit.

MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream

Wednesday SP Streamers

Kyle Hendricks (CHC vs. CIN)

Ownership: 33% Yahoo!, 17% Fleaflicker.  With the exception of their recent series win over St. Louis there’s been little to celebrate in Cincinnati post-ASB.  Honestly if you’ve read any of my articles in the last month, you’d see that I respect Cincinnati’s offense as much as Drago respected Rocky.  Except the Drago represented teams have almost always come through.

MATCHUP RATING: Must Stream

Eric Stults (SDP vs. PHI)

Ownership: 2% Yahoo!, 4% Fleaflicker.  Surprisingly Stults has delivered some solid numbers over his last 10 starts and there’s enough evidence to support he’ll deliver on Wednesday.  Philadelphia has struggled on the road against LHPs and Stults will continue to interview for a starting job next year.  Watch out for his high walk rate.  It just may be a doozy.

MATCHUP RATING: Desperate Stream