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Welcome to RotoBaller's weekly article of two-start pitcher streamers for 2020! Successfully streaming pitchers can literally be a game-changer when it comes to fantasy baseball. When it comes to daily leagues, two-start streams aren't that important, since you can stream every day. But when it comes to weekly leagues, two-start streams become exponentially more important.
With that said, what do we look for when it comes to streaming pitchers? Well, there are a lot of aspects. When looking at the actual pitcher, how have they performed lately? Have they made a pitch-mix change? Have they had a recent velocity bump? Reviewing pitchers every day on your own time will be very useful.
You also want to play matchups by looking at recent trends of the pitcher's opponent. How does their lineup perform when at home versus away? What has their wRC+ been in the last week or two? Have they been striking out a lot? Matchups are key when it comes to streaming. With all of that said, let's take a look at our picks, which we are going to rank in order with corresponding tiers. Also, note that all options below are under 30% rostered.
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Stream With Confidence
Tyler Chatwood, CHC (24% rostered)
@PIT, vs STL
Analysis: I know his last two starts have been scary. Against the Royals, he clearly had an injury and now his last start against the Tigers was his first start back from injury. Usually, pitchers don't pitch well when coming off an injury. You should still believe his skills as his cutter and curveball both hold over a 16.0% SwStr%. His sinker isn't a strikeout pitch but it induces a lot of weak contact with a GB% north of 50%. Chatwood has the potential and his 6.06 ERA comes with a 3.34 FIP and .439 BABIP. Be patient with him. As far as matchups the Pirates have been the worst offense in the league besides the Rangers. They are bottom two in wRC+, OBP, and OPS. As for his second matchup, the Cardinals have been average at best. Figure he pitches well against the Pirates, gains his confidence back, and then is able to handle the Cardinals just fine.
Chad Kuhl, PIT (8% rostered)
vs CHC, vs CIN
Analysis: I am always cool with Kuhl. Dad joke, I know. It is hard to not love Kuhl as he sports two solid breaking balls in his slider and curveball. Both of them have a sub 40 wRC+ against and sub .100 ISO against. In other words, hitters have trouble making quality contact. What I love most about Kuhl is his pitch location. He very rarely leaves the ball over the middle of the plate thus keeping the ball in the park. All in all a lot to like here and it will be interesting to see how Kuhl finishes the season. As far as opponents the Cubs are a good offense but in the last seven days, they have gone cold and have a .228 batting average. Then you look over at the Reds and they are dead last in wRC+ in the last seven days. Both offenses are running cold and it is time to take advantage.
Stream With Some Risk
Mike Fiers, OAK (28% rostered)
@SEA, vs SDP
Analysis: Mike Fiers has been weirdly good the past two years beating out all of his peripherals. This year it seems to finally be catching up to him as he has a 4.86 ERA in seven starts. I tend to stay away from Fiers since he has basically no strikeout potential. But he does handle business when he should against weak offenses. The Mariners are a weak offense and he faced them on August first putting up six innings of work while allowing only two runs. This is definitely a good matchup for him, but when it comes to the Padres you might want to pray to the baseball gods.
Spencer Howard, PHI (13% rostered)
vs WSN, @NYM
Analysis: Isn't it funny how one month can change everything about a player? Coming into the season everyone was all over Howard and after three starts and a 6.17 ERA, Howard is only 13% rostered. Howard just hasn't looked good and his control has been a recurring issue. All in all, he is still a highly touted prospect and was exceptional in the minors last year. His first matchup is against the Nationals, a team that really kills left-handed pitching. The Nationals wRC+ against right-handed pitchers is 92 while against left-handed pitchers it is 132. Throwing a right-handed pitcher against this offense is a pretty decent bet this season. As for the Mets that is a scary matchup. The Mets have been hitting everyone and everything. But maybe he skates by?
Do Not Stream
Asher Wojciechowski, BAL (3% rostered)
@TOR, vs NYY
Analysis: Asher is a frustrating pitcher because he has a fabulous cutter that not only looks pretty but hitters can't seem to touch it. The main issue is his four-seam fastball as he leaves it over the plate too often and gets hit hard often. Asher really needs to work on bettering his command otherwise he will never reach his potential. Besides his poor performance this season his matchups don't look so hot. The Blue Jays have been hot as of late and it looks like Rowdy Tellez might be breaking out. Then if he magically survives that he still has to face the Yankees and red hot Luke Voit. Don't expect him to produce any quality starts this week.
Patrick Sandoval, LAA (2% rostered)
vs SEA, @HOU
Analysis: What are we going to do with Patrick Sandoval? His changeup hasn't been as good as last year and that is because he isn't hitting the zone enough and the command is becoming an issue. Without his best pitch, Sandoval seems to be in trouble for the rest of the season and we are certainly seeing his floor with a 6.75 ERA. The Mariners aren't the best offense but they can certainly hit home runs and with Sandoval's high 2.38 HR/9 the stars aren't aligning in his favor. Then moving on to play in Houston just creates one nightmare after another.
Kyle Hart, BOS (0% rostered)
vs ATL, @HOU
Analysis: You want no part of this. Kyle Hart has started three games and has let up 13 runs! He actually has a decent slider and changeup but the problem with a lot of young pitchers is that they try to throw strikes too often. Both of his breaking balls have a zone rate of over 50%. That is too high. Take a struggling pitcher and put him against the Braves and Astros and this becomes a recipe for disaster.
Trevor Williams, PIT (6% rostered)
@MIL, @NYM
Analysis: In Trevor Williams' first five starts he produced an impressive 3.70 ERA. We all knew that wouldn't last right? Well in his last start against the White Sox he let up EIGHT runs in six innings of work. This is the real Trevor Williams, every year he seems to have several blow-ups. Quite frankly he isn't even streamer material because a blow up like this could ruin your season. The Brewers offense has been middling but the Mets have been fantastic. This is a firm stay away, in fact, run away.
Matt Harvey, KCR (1% rostered)
vs CLE, vs CHW
Analysis: The Dark Knight! As a Mets fan, I knew this wouldn't work out well. In two starts he has an 11.12 ERA and 7.75 FIP. Having that high of a FIP is an impressive feat. No matter who is opponents are this is a roller coaster you don't want to ride.
Kolby Allard, TEX (2% rostered)
@HOU, @SEA
Analysis: After five starts Kolby Allard's 6.50 ERA comes with a 3.44 FIP and 56.4 LOB%. In other words, he seems to be unlucky. So now we have to dive in and his four-seam actually looks pretty good this year. Above-average SwStr% and only a .222 batting average against. The issue with the fastball is it gets hit hard and it looks like the pitch is getting lucky. The cutter and changeup don't look great and he throws in the zone way too much. I fully expect that FIP to come up and Allard will be nothing more than a streamer. He might be able to get by against Seattle but his mediocre repertoire really worries me.
