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Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire all season long. This article, now in its second year, runs seven days a week.
For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your neediest categories, and target players who may be available on your waiver wire.
Below are your pitcher and hitter streaming targets for Sunday, May 20. Let's get to it.
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Agenda
- There All Is Aching
- Today's Weather and Updates
- Tomorrow's Picks
1. There All Is Aching
The recent run of injuries continues, as Starling Marte, Paul DeJong, and Ryan Braun have all been placed on the disabled list in the last couple of days. Justin Upton was hit on the hand by a pitch on Thursday night, but luckily x-rays showed no fractures. Really, this section is just an excuse to link to a not particularly relevant clip from the criminally underappreciated show Review.
2. Today's Weather and Updates - Saturday, May 19
A handful of games today could be adversely impacted by inclement weather. Padres-Pirates is the likeliest rainout on the docket - having spent over a decade of my life in Pittsburgh, I can tell you that a 70% chance of rain there is functionally equivalent to a mortal lock. There could also be precipitation for Orioles-Red Sox, Diamondbacks-Mets, Yankees-Royals, and Cubs-Reds.
3. Streamer Picks - Sunday, May 20
Pitchers to Use
Mike Minor has struggled of late, allowing four or more runs in three of his last four starts. Those starts were, however, all against teams who rank in the top half of MLB in scoring. He's facing the White Sox this time out, who have scored fewer runs than any team outside of Miami. As opportunities to get back on track go, they don't get much better than this.
Eduardo Rodriguez is in a similar boat, though his recent results belie an excellent strikeout rate. The Orioles are one of the worst teams in baseball, ranking in the bottom third in runs scored and striking out more than all but seven other teams.
Other Targets: Junior Guerra, Tyler Anderson
Pitchers to Exploit
Jaime Garcia and Daniel Mengden will face off in Toronto. While Mengden has been solid thus far this year, both the Jays and Athletics boast top-10 offenses.
Being honest, I had almost forgotten entirely about Wei-Yin Chen. In fairness, his start on Sunday will be just the 10th time in the last two seasons that he'll take the mound. His four turns this year have resulted in a 7.56 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, and more walks (11) than strikeouts (9) over just 16 2/3 innings. He'd be a good stack target against any team right now, to say nothing of a Braves squad that leads the National League in runs.
Other Targets: Eric Skoglund, Tyler Mahle
Homers on the Wire
Matt Chapman started the season hot before an extended slump led some fantasy owners to jump ship. His recent performance suggests that exodus may have been premature. Chapman fell a triple short of the cycle on Thursday, hitting his eighth homer and notching multiple hits for the third time in four contests.
Other Targets: Franchy Cordero, Mitch Moreland, Teoscar Hernandez, Steven Souza, Yonder Alonso, Dexter Fowler, Max Kepler, Mark Canha, Adam Duvall
Steals on the Wire
Remember Travis Jankowski? He got some sleeper buzz heading into last season after swiping 30 bases as a part-timer in 2016. Injuries derailed him, but he's found his way back into the Padres lineup in recent weeks and is back to drawing walks and thieving bags at the top of the lineup. The roster will get crowded if and when everyone is actually healthy, but for now Jankowski is a worthwhile speed play and available in six of every seven leagues.
Other Targets: Niko Goodrum, Mallex Smith, Leury Garcia, Aaron Hicks, JaCoby Jones, Franchy Cordero
