Starting Pitcher Streamers for Fri 9/30
Friday brings a full slate of games, including a ton in which lesser owned pitchers are scheduled to start. Rather than discuss each one, I’ll instead just discuss those worthy of streaming.
Matt Boyd @ ATL
Boyd was knocked out of his last start after allowing four runs without even recording an out. But he brings a fantastic swing and miss changeup and a respectable slider to the party and has displayed good control. The Braves have been the third worst offense in baseball against left-handers as measured by wOBA, primarily driven by their hilarious lack of power. Their .108 ISO has been easily the worst in baseball. Of course, most of that came before Matt Kemp arrived and he has posted a .385 wOBA against southpaws this year. So the Braves probably aren’t that bad against lefties, but it shouldn’t change the fact that this is a pretty good matchup for streaming purposes.
Tyler Glasnow @ STL
Top prospect Glasnow missed time earlier in the season with shoulder issues and his fastball velocity is down a bit from his season high. He’s been a two-pitch pitcher with a fastball/curve ball combination and while neither have been standout pitches from a SwStk%, they have both been above average. Obviously, control has been a problem, as it has been throughout his minor league career. But in one start, I’m less concerned about that and am more interested in his strikeout potential. The Cardinals do have an excellent offense that ranks fifth in wOBA against righties in baseball and an ISO that ranks third. That makes the matchup itself poor, but given Glasnow’s strikeout ability, he still fits the mold of a reasonable streamer option.
Robert Gsellman @ PHI
Gsellman has come out of nowhere to make six starts for the Mets and post a 2.56 ERA. He has been an extreme ground ball pitcher and has surprisingly posted the highest strikeout rate of his professional career since his stint at Low-A ball back in 2013. His slider has been rather elite, both generating an average rate of whiffs, plus gobs of ground balls. The Phillies offense stinks. This is an easy call to stream.
A.J. Cole vs MIA
Cole has enjoyed a rather mediocre minor league career, but his strikeout rate has surged over seven starts this season. It may be due to his high slider usage, which has been excellent at inducing swings and misses. His walk rate is a bit high, but he has always displayed good control. The one real concern is an inflated fly ball rate which leads to home run risk. The good news is the Marlins rank 22nd in baseball in wOBA versus righties and have displayed limited punch with the second to worst ISO. It makes for a good matchup in a home start for Cole.
Tyler Duffey @ CHW
Yup, I’m recommending a guy with a 6.18 ERA over 25 starts. Obviously, I don’t think he’s a legit 19.4% HR/FB rate guy or should be posting a LOB% near 61%. He’s been a slight ground ball pitcher with a strikeout rate a bit below average and excellent control. All together, his SIERA is a much more reasonable 4.03. The White Sox are 24th in baseball in wOBA against righties as they walk on an infrequent basis and have shown little power.
Mike Podhorzer is the 2015 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Baseball Writer of the Year and three-time Tout Wars champion. He is the author of the eBook Projecting X 2.0: How to Forecast Baseball Player Performance, which teaches you how to project players yourself. Follow Mike on X@MikePodhorzer and contact him via email.
What do you think of Peacock @LAA on Friday? He did well against them last time out (5IP, 1R, 7K). I have 5 more streams left this week, and Saturday and Sunday look pretty bleak. Thinking about picking up both Glasnow and Peacock.
Meh, he’s a risk. Fly ball pitcher, has posted a 4.47 SIERA in his 4 starts. Mediocre strikeout rate, high walk rate. He has better upside than a lot of other streamer options though so if you’re desperate, there are worse choices.