RADIO
There are plenty of strategies that fantasy managers explore in hopes of getting an advantage over their opponent. Heavy lineup, heavy starting pitchers, no catcher, all (or mostly) reliever staff, no reliever staff, etc. Even if you play a balanced lineup, injuries can cause holes. A few weeks without a key player won’t kill a season, but why accept losing when you can stream?
Streaming can be a risky business. If you do it right and check the necessary boxes, you can win the week. This column will do most of the work for you. It’ll cover weekly recommendations for when you need: steals, home runs, average, strikeouts, wins, and/or ratios (ERA/WHIP).
All position eligibility and ownership percentages are based on Yahoo! Fantasy leagues.
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Steals – Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Delino DeShields (OF, TEX) - 3% Owned
DeShields is as volatile as they come but fantasy owners should be willing to take the risk as he's back up and hit 10 for his last 18. He's back due to an injury to Joey Gallo, but has stolen 10 bases in 106 at-bats. If he gets on, he's a safe bet to be running and although Boston and Cincinnati are solid against runners, he has the speed to grab one or two this week.
Ramon Laureano (OF, OAK) - 16% Owned
Can we get a heat check on Laureano? This guy started off the season miserably at the plate but has hit .295 with five home runs and three stolen bases in the last month. Two of those stolen bases have come in the last week. This is the player that fantasy owners were hoping for when they drafted him as a sleeper pick in March. Seattle and Tampa Bay have let up the sixth and 12th most stolen bases to opposing players this year, which is a good shot for Laureano to grab a couple more. He's better against righties (.269/.321/.452) than lefties (.226/.263/.302) so far this year.
Home Runs – Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Renato Nunez (1B/3B, BAL) - 47% Owned
A six-game slate all in Baltimore, where Nunez has slashed .282/.342/.609 with 10 of his 15 homers. We'll take that and add that Toronto has allowed the 10th most homers this year. It gets a little harder with Boston allowing only the 19th most home runs, but Camden and the Sox shaky pen can always give a boost in the right situation. He's slightly less available than the others but that home slash is too good not to note here.
Christian Walker (1B, ARI) - 25% Owned
After a scorching hot start, Walker cooled off considerably and has hit only .208 and four home runs in the past month. However, three of those home runs have come in the past two weeks along with a decent .267 batting average. The Diamondbacks get the chance to tee up the Phillies pitching staff in Philadelphia at the beginning of the week, which bodes well for a power stream. They rank worst in home runs against and play in an extremely homer-friendly park. Washington at the end of the week is a mid-tier team in terms of allowing the long ball, but Walker has hit seven of his 11 home runs away where he'll play all his games this week.
Batting Average – Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Brian Dozier (2B, WAS) – 33% Owned
Seeing Dozier at this ownership is very odd, but he simply hasn't shown the ability to hit or hit for the typical power that we've seen out of him in past years. That is until the past month in which he's hitting .288 with four homers and 14 RBI. He's been even better over the past two weeks with a .375 average and two home runs. Arizona and Chicago (White Sox) pitching staffs allow the ninth and 10th worst batting average against to right-handed hitters, which puts Dozier in stream territory and could get him going for the hot second half that he's known for.
Eduardo Nunez (2B/3B, BOS) – 3% Owned
Nunez has been getting near-regular playing time and with Mitch Moreland being sent back to the injured list, that should continue. Second base will likely be manned by him or Brock Holt (also not a bad guy to stream) with Michael Chavis and Steve Pearce taking first base duties. Nunez has been hot at the plate hitting .298 over the past month and .429 over the past two weeks. When he gets hot, he gets scorching and is a great guy to stream in a top offense. It's a huge plus that it's against Baltimore and Texas' pitching staffs who allow the first and second highest batting average against to right-handed hitters in the league, respectively.
Strikeouts – Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Tyler Beede (SP, SF) – 1% Owned
This stream comes with more risk than the rest, but Beede has struck out 19 batters in 17 2/3 innings this year. He'll face the number one strikeout team against righties in the Padres at home Tuesday. He carries a brutal 8.15 ERA into this one but managed a quality start against the Marlins at the end of May and has a 5.28 ERA in the last month. Close your eyes for this one, but a strikeout per inning is a solid bet based on the track record.
Chris Bassitt (SP, OAK) – 38% Owned
Bassitt teased fantasy owners with a great start allowing only seven earned runs in his first 32 2/3 innings this season. He went a bit downhill after that, allowing 11 over his next 14 2/3. However, he's managed to strike out 48 batters over 47 1/3 innings and gets a juicy matchup against the Mariners later in the week. Yes, the Mariners can and have scored a ton of runs this season, but also own the third most strikeouts in the league. Toss in that this game will be played in the pitcher-friendly Coliseum and you've got a recipe for a nice stream.
Wins - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Dakota Hudson (SP/RP, STL) - 13% Owned
Playing the worst offense in the league against righties? Check. Good offense behind him? Check. That's pretty much all the analysis needed to start Hudson, but it's also worthwhile to note that he's rocking a 2.64 ERA and five quality starts in the past month. He allows too many baserunners as evidenced by his 1.34 WHIP over that period, but he's clearly shown the ability to overcome that. Plus it's the Marlins. He's got a two-start week and is also worth playing against the Mets, who own a bottom-10 run-scoring offense against righties.
Cal Quantrill (SP, SD) - 2% Owned
He'll get a matchup against the Giants who are dueling it out with the Marlins for the worst record in the National League. While Quantrill hasn't been phenomenal in his five starts, he's still getting warmed up as a Major League pitcher. That being said, he's let up quite a few hits which have led to early exits from games. He has only gone six innings once so far, but that isn't a concern here because we're banking on San Diego's offense to score some runs against the second-worst offense in the NL. He should do enough to get a win here.
ERA/WHIP - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Spencer Turnbull (SP, DET) – 36% Owned
Turnbull gets a favorable two-start week this week with matchups against Kansas City and Cleveland who both rank in the bottom five in runs scored against right-handed pitchers. It's actually mind-blowing to see a guy with a 3.01 ERA on the season at such low ownership, but this is a perfect time to jump on him and take advantage this two-start week. He'll pitch the first one against the Royals in Kansas City, which is the better match considering his home ERA (2.86) is a bit better than his road ERA (3.16). It's rare that you can find a pitcher with these stats on 64% of Yahoo free agent lists.
Trevor Richards (SP, MIA) – 29% Owned
Over the past month, Richards has a 2.79 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts in 29 innings. He's has a mixed bag of matchups but the majority has been favorable including the Padres, Giants, and Tigers. Good thing this week he gets another lower-tier lineup in the Pirates. The way he's rolling right now puts him solidly in streamer territory and the Pirates rank only 19th in runs against right-handed pitchers.
More Streamers and Head-to-Head League Columns
