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Baseball is back, and fantasy managers in daily leagues no doubt already have holes to fill with streamers. Fortunately, RotoBaller has you covered with daily streaming picks.
Each day, RotoBaller will provide you with some of the best streaming options to consider in fantasy baseball daily leagues. Additionally, these recommendations can be useful for fantasy managers setting DFS lineups.
We have a 15-game slate Thursday, starting earlier than usual. Fortunately, there are quite a few streamable players with 30 teams taking the field. This article will use rostered percentages and position eligibility from Yahoo! leagues.
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Hitter Streamers for 5/9 - Shallow Leagues
Mitch Garver C, MIN) - 44% rostered
Matchup: @ LHP Matt Boyd
Streaming a catcher is always a fickle business, and on Sunday can be very difficult. However, this matchup is just too juicy to stay away from. Garver can mash the baseball, as shown by his 95th percentile barrel rate and 89th percentile in hard-hit rate. The downside is there is a ton of swing-and-miss in the profile. The odd part to his nemesis on the mound, Matt Boyd, is he is sacrificing strikeouts for soft contact. So let's bank on Garver getting a hold of a Boyd offering and toss him in the lineup.
Adam Frazier (2B/OF, PIT) - 33% rostered
Matchup: @ RHP Kyle Hendricks
Adam Frazier is a palatable hitter for batting average and a touch of speed. However, the Pirates veteran is a nightmare at the plate for opposing pitchers because he never strikes out(99th percentile in K%) and rarely swings-and-misses(99th percentile in whiff rate). But, if you're in search of power, Frazier is not your man. I'd suggest him for 5x5 leagues looking for batting average or OBP, and definitely in points leagues.
Miguel Sano (1B/3B, MIN) - 43% rostered
Matchup: @ LHP Matt Boyd
Ah yes, finally a power bat to stream. His batting approach is literally that mentality, all-or-nothing. Unfortunately, we need to dive past the 2021 stats for today's recommendation due to a slow start. However, his career barrel rate tips the scales at 16.9%, one of the highest in the MLB. I would be plugging him into any lineup chasing HRs because his career ISO vs. LHP is just north of .250 in 600 at-bats.
Nick Senzel (OF, CIN) - 26% rostered
Matchup: @ LHP Sam Hentges
Time to shift a focus over to a speed+power player. Perfect, Senzel can swipe a bag using his 96th percentile sprint speed or park one into the stands(41% hard-hit rate). However, he has only gone yard once in the year. For starters, he is drawing a favorable matchup against Hentges because Senzel shows success against southpaws. He touts a .375/.389/.438 slash line with a .826 OPS through 18 plate appearances. Let's hope to catch lightning in a bottle here.
Hitter Streamers for 5/9 - Deep Leagues
Brandon Belt (1B/OF, SFG) - 17% rostered
Matchup: vs. TBD
Obviously, this play is a little dependant on the matchup. However, Brandon Belt becomes a much more enticing streamer with a right-handed pitcher on the bump. The results of his mastery against RHP as shown by the 7 HRs and .899 OPS, as opposed to the 0 HRs and .659 OPS vs. LHP. The other big caveat to Belt, he is much more valuable in any OBP leagues. He is sporting a much higher than league-average .358 OBP, which looks excellent next to his 99th percentile in barrel rate.
Mike Tauchman (OF, SFG) - 4% rostered
Matchup: vs. TBD
Tauschman has enjoyed the additional playing time since being traded from the New York Yankees. In 34 at-bats, the Giants OF is hitting .265/.306./.441 slash line and .747 OPS. On top of that, the Giants like to bat him at the top of the lineup. No doubt, it's partly because of his ability to swipe a bag-he has two already. But, much like his battering mate Brandon Belt, this could be a little matchup dependant since he excels vs. RHP.
Adam Duvall (OF, MIA) - 16% rostered
Matchup: @ LHP Brett Anderson
Sometimes picking a deep sleeper can be challenging, and sometimes it's spotting a subpar SP. Today's deep league OF streamer matchup up against Brett Anderson, who relies on balls in play for outs. Although, specifically ground balls in play to make outs. Duvall is the polar opposite; the man love to mash fly balls(42% fly-ball rate). Something is going to break here, and I am planting my flag on the guy hitting .368/.400/.737 with a 1.137 OPS over the last week for that.
Pitcher Streamers for 5/9 - Shallow Leagues
Nick Pivetta (SP, BOS) - 40% rostered
Matchup: @ BAL RHP Dean Kremer
Very few teams are worse than Baltimore vs. RHP; only two have a lower wRC+. The Orioles collectively are batting .209 as a unit and strike out nearly 25% of the time. If you're wondering how a team that doesn't strike out that much can have a weak BA, it's because they 43% ground ball rate and a 13.5% infield fly ball rate. Basically, a ton of easy outs due to poor batted ball events. It's safe to say I love the matchup.
On the flip side, Pivetta sees a resurgence in his pitch velocities. That uptick in velocity has aided an increase in strikeout rate to nearly 27%. First, however, let's talk about the elephant in the room-the walks. At times, Pivetta loses command, and the walks spike, as seen by the 15% walk rate. We hope that Pivetta needs to keep the basepaths clean and allow the Orioles to wear out the infield to have a successful day.
Pitcher Streamers for 5/9 - Deep Leagues
Tyler Anderson (SP, PIT) - 16% rostered
Matchup: @ CHC Kyle Hendricks
Tyler Anderson has been a pleasant surprise in 2021. He is enjoying a 3.24 ERA with 31 strikeouts in six games started. There are a few reasons to see success for Anderson's outing. To start, his 23% strikeout rate is not too shabby, and he is only walking 8%. However, when the balls do get put in play, he has done a great job keeping the quality of contact low(7.5 barrel%) and maintaining a 40% ground ball rate.
The Cubs like to help opposing pitchers out by striking out 28% of the time. However, they tend to walk a fair amount, so it will be on Anderson to limit the walks and do his best to keep the contact quiet. In addition, Javier Baez will likely be out for today's festivities, and that'll make one less loud bat worry about.
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