Down the stretch, we’ll be covering the probable starters and highlighting our favorites to stream as you chase down your fantasy titles. Let’s get started with Wednesday’s slate. The pitcher in question must be available in 50% or more of leagues according to FantasyPros.com which combines ESPN and Yahoo! roster rates (sometimes exceptions just over 50% will be mentioned if they are really good and should have a much higher roster rate).

Edwin Jackson (3-8, 9.35 ERA) at KC | 0%: No, of course not.

Jakob Junis (8-12, 4.93) v. DET | 17% roster rate: Just about anyone facing the Tigers is going to be a “yes”. While Junis has a near-5.00 ERA on the season, he’s down at a passable 3.96 over the last 10 games with 59 strikeouts, 17% K-BB, and 1.26 WHIP in 61.3 innings. He hasn’t allowed more than 4 ER in any of those starts, including a 6 IP/2 ER/6 K gem against these Tigers back on August 11th.

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Looking at team batting performance by handedness to identify some potential pitching pickups to exploit the matchups. This is using a probable starter schedule from June 24th – July 7th. It is subject to change (obviously!) so stay tuned, especially with the later ones.

Worst offenses against righties all season through June 19th by wRC+:

• Tigers – 74 wRC+
• Marlins – 75
• Giants – 77
• Blue Jays – 78
• Orioles – 81

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I’m experimenting with a new article format this year. Instead of concentrating on the most added players, I’m going to concentrate on those poor souls owners are throwing in the towel on. Most of the discarded players will have been demoted to the minor or dinged up. It’s the few who don’t fit into either of these two categories who I will focus on. Sadly, there aren’t many this first week.

To find which players are being dropped, I’m going to use the NFBC Main Event leagues. They are 15-team roto leagues which have some depth and most of the owners will be trying since each posted a $1K+ entry fee. The league will contain active owners making overall trends easier to spot. This week, I have the adds and drops from only 18 leagues since some leagues haven’t drafted yet and included my top-three choices at the end.

Injured List

Jason Kipnis: 7

Kipnis and the scrubs the Indians are using in the infield should be monitored closely. Kipnis should get his job back once healthy and he could be a reasonable buy a week early for a team needing infield help.

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I love the idea, almost to a fault, of taking one or two of the top 5 SPs in the first and/or second round. The reason I like getting these top arms is that they provide a ton of strikeouts with great ratios. This base in ratios allows me to ignore pitching for almost 10 rounds and then bottom feed. One problem I’ve run into with this strategy is that I won’t have this option available if I’m picking in a draft’s first few spots. I’m not passing on the five-category hitters and according to the current NFBC ADP (average draft position), the top Aces will be gone by the time my second pick comes around. If I’m forced into this situation, I’m considering going with the what I’ll call the “Streaming WHIP” plan.

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Note: If there ever was an article in flux it’ll be this one. Even though I’m the official author, Paul Sporer will be adding to it. At the time of publishing, the Rockies and Dodgers lineups were not available. Also, I’m off to read as much as I can until the game starts. Check back for updates or re-ranks.

Many fantasy owners expected the 2018 season to be over yesterday but it’s not. Two games are being played to decide the NL West & Central. Non AL-only owners need to quickly decide if today’s games count in their standings, can they change their lineups, and add players.

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Tuesday is full of lowly owned options with a few worth streaming.

Joshua James (22%) at Blue Jays

I pushed my normal 20% ownership rate up 2% points to included James. He’s by far the day’s best option. His only issue is the above league average walk rate.

Chad Bettis (20%) vs Phillies

Owners can’t take a chance on this home start unless they completely desperate for a Win and only a Win.

Brett Anderson (19%) at Mariners

I’m not against this start for an owner looking for a Win while keeping his ratios (1.23 WHIP, 3.96 ERA) in check. The owner isn’t getting many strikeouts (4.7 K/9).
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Many decent arms, even for bad teams, throw on Saturday. While there are usually quite a few pitchers under 20% owned to examine, I pushed the threshold up to 43% and still only have eight pitchers. It’s not pretty out there.

Jose Urena (43%) vs Reds

There is a reason Urena is the most owned of this group, he’s better than the rest. He’s been a steaming option all season with a 7.0 K/9 and 4.21 ERA with estimators to match. The Reds lineup is not intimidating especially since the game is in Miami with the spacious ballpark. Stream away.

Jaime Barria (37%) at Astros

The Astros are starting Verlander, so the Win is already in doubt. Like Urena, Barria has been a streamable option all season with similar stats (6.8 K/9, 3.61 ERA). The difference here is the opponent.

Astros > Reds

Even with the bad matchup, Barria is not a horrible streaming option compared to some of the other arms.

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With the smaller Thursday game slate, I expanded my normal Fantrax ownership out to 25%. In all, there are a couple decent options.

Jason Vargas (25%) at Nationals

Look at those home runs (1.9 HR/9) and the .325 BABIP. That’s what happens with a lefty is sitting at 86.5 mph, he gets hit around. His 6.47 ERA would even be worse without his 7.9 K/9.

As for his value in this game, he’s very borderline and it may come down to league depth. The Nationals are middle of the pack against lefties and are going with unproven Joe Ross. The chose to use him is a coin flip.

Jorge Lopez (19%) at Tigers

Like with Vargas, the outlook isn’t great but some of the other options are horrible. Lopez has been able to be a productive low strikeout, high walk pitcher by limiting the damage done by batted balls (.289 BABIP, 0.5 HR/9). His 47% GB% doesn’t point to him being either a groundball or flyball pitcher but he’s both.

His four-seamer (29% GB%) and slider (36% GB%) are high flyball pitches. His curve (61% GB%) and change (65% GB%) are the groundball pitches. His major issue is that his sinker, which he throws more than any pitch, has a middle of the road 44% GB%. Also, it has the lowest swinging-strike rate (5%) of any of this pitches. There are signs he could be more. I’m just not sure it’ll happen this season.

He’s a reasonable streamer except for those owners needing to protect their WHIP. He’s always been prone to giving up walks and this season it’s no different (3.8 BB/9).

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It’s a slate of studs with several aces going, but there are still a host of useful starters to run out there in your playoff or roto chase to the top.

(I’ll be citing the FantasyPros roster rates)

Joey Lucchesi – SD v. SF (26%)

Lucchesi is a slam dunk spot start thanks to the easiest matchup a lefty can get in the second half. The Giants are 30th in wOBA against lefties since the break at .262. Meanwhile, it’s not just the matchup that is appealing here as Lucchesi’s had a useful 4.13 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 48 innings.

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For today’s limited game slate, I pushed my normal Fantrax’s ownership rate to 23% to snag a few more arms.

Ryan Borucki at Baltimore (23%)

The 24-year-old lefty is not a bad option considering he’s facing the Orioles with Andrew Cashner on the mound. Borucki isn’t going to provide a ton of strikeouts (5.9 K/9) but his low HR/9 (0.6) has kept his ERA reasonable (4.26).

Trevor Richards vs Nationals (22%)

Richards is the day’s best strikeout option (8.9 K/9) but he’s ratio killer (1.46 WHIP and 4.85 ERA). He gets a small boost since he’s a flyball pitcher (35% GB%) throwing at home where he HR/9 is 0.9 while 1.3 on the road. There are worse options like ….

Andrew Cashner vs Blue Jays (21%)

No way. The only possible desired outcome will be a Win since he is going against Ryan Borucki. Of the pitchers with at least 150 IP, his K%-BB% is the league’s lowest at 5%. Just stay away.
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