A Week and a Half Streaming Power

Over the last week and a half, it could pay to stream power, picking up available hitters based on the ballpark they will be hitting in. One homer could be the difference between a yoo-hoo shower and requiring another box of tissues. Yankee Stadium (Yankees), Coors Field (Rockies), and Globe Life Park (Rangers) are three of the friendliest parks for hitting and all inflate home runs. So let’s discuss some lightly owned hitters that should be available to stream when they play in those parks.

Blue Jays hitters @ Yankee Stadium, Sep 20-22

Randal Grichuk | CBS 50% Owned – Grichuk has enjoyed another Grichukian season, rarely walking (amazingly, he has posted a walk rate of either 5.8% or 5.9% each season since 2016!), striking out and swinging and missing a lot, and hitting fly balls more than 40% of the time. His HR/FB rate is in the high teens as usual, but a career high in at-bats has led to a career high in homers. You know what you’ll get here — nothing but homers. So homer-inflating Yankee Stadium is the perfect spot to pick him up hoping for a dinger or two.

Justin Smoak | 38% Owned & Rowdy Tellez | 8% Owned – Smoak and Tellez have mostly rotated between first base and designated hitter, so streaming either will require checking the lineup to see who gets the start. Smoak actually owns some very solid underlying skills, but a .223 BABIP has torpedoed his batting average and taken a bite out of his overall production. No biggie, as over just a couple of game sample size, anything could happen on the hit front. Pick him up for the power and the short right field porch in Yankee Stadium. Tellez more than doubled his HR/FB rate versus Triple-A over a small sample during his MLB debut last year and has carried that over this season. His skills aren’t as strong as Smoak’s, but he clearly has power and the Blue Jays will want to see how big a part of their future he might be.

Rockies hitters @ Coors Field, Sep 27-29

Sam Hilliard | 7% Owned – Hilliard wasn’t a top prospect for the Rockies heading into the season, but his power blossomed at Triple-A this year, as he posted a 25.5% HR/FB rate, en route to 35 homers. With two homers yesterday, he now has 39 for the year, and four with the Rockies in just 45 at-bats. He strikes out a lot, but Coors suppresses strikeouts, while inflating BABIP. To add to the excitement, he has speed too, as he swiped 22 bags at Triple-A this season and as many as 37 back in 2017 in High-A.

Garrett Hampson | 14% Owned (not a power stream, but will contribute elsewhere that I felt he should be included) – Hampson was a popular sleeper heading into the season, but ultimately lost a potential starting role to Ryan McMahon. He’s up now and starting most days, rotating between center field and second base. He has struck out far more than you would expect given his weak power, but he has been stealing bases and is now up to 11 on the season. Don’t forget he stole as many as 51 back in 2017.

Rangers hitters @ Globe Life Park, Sep 24-29

Nick Solak | 29% Owned – It’s hard to believe that the Rangers marks Solak’s third organization in three years, but here he is making his MLB debut and posting a .395 wOBA over 107 plate appearances. His power surged this year at Triple-A and has carried over to the Majors, as he sports an impressive 23.5% HR/FB rate. He’s also got some power upside in the form of a potentially higher fly ball rate, as it currently stands below 30%.

Ronald Guzman | 4% Owned – Guzman lost his starting role earlier in the season, but is back now as the Rangers try to determine whether he is part of their future. While he has only posted mid-teen HR/FB rates at best, we rated his raw power as a 60, which suggests the potential is there for a breakout at any moment.