Stream, Stream, Stream: 2x SP 6.30-7.6

First a look at the running totals through half of week 12:

21-13 record
3.95 ERA
7.4 K/9
2.7 K/BB
1.27 WHIP

Here’s a look at this week’s recs, with team wOBA in parentheses:

Danny Duffy – 11.4% ESPN/29% Y!/55% own, 36% start CBS – @MIN (.312), @CLE (.322)

Duffy has been very good since moving to the rotation. He’s 10 starts in, and has allowed an opponents’ line of .192/.278/.313 (.590 OPS) to go along with a 2.76 ERA. Perhaps a bit troubling is the less than stellar 41-24 K/BB rate over that time frame — spanning 58.2 innings — but he’s picked up the strikeout steam a bit over the past few starts with 19 in his last 20 innings. His fly ball tendencies shouldn’t hurt him too much in Target Field, with the only possible right-handed bats that could hurt him being Josh Willingham and the other half of Kendrys Morales. Duffy has nuked lefties to the tune of .095/.159/.098 this year.

Taijuan Walker – 8.5% ESPN/39% Y!/78% own, 6% start CBS – @HOU (.307), @CWS (.317)

Don’t walk, run to pick up Tai Walker if you still have the chance, as the 21-year-old right-hander will make his much anticipated 2014 debut — at least if the ESPN probables are to be believed. Check back in this space for an alternative recommendation if Walker doesn’t get the call. Walker has missed the entire season to date with a shoulder injury, but appears to be the one who’ll get the call to start Monday when the Mariners travel to Houston.

In just a brief three game cup of coffee last year, Walker flashed all the potential that has made him a popular prospect not only in media circles but sought-after in possible trades. Walker has a mid-to-upper 90s fastball, which he’ll mix heavily with a cutter. Those two pitches comprised, albeit in a small sampling, about 85 percent of the pitches that Walker threw in that 2013 cup of coffee. It’ll be interesting to see how his repertoire evolves, especially if it is forced to a bit with more exposure to the league.

Jesse Hahn – 9.8% ESPN/21% Y!/48% own, 30% start CBS – v. CIN (.305), v. SFG (.311)

Hahn has only made four starts, but has run roughshod through the competition so far: 3-1, 2.38 ERA, 10.7 K/9, 3.05 FIP, 146 ERA+, and 1.06 WHIP. To be fair, Hahn’s two best outings came against the Mets and the Mariners, both of which are below 25th in terms of team wOBA. But the Reds are right in that mix at 22nd, and it’ll surely be interesting to see how he fares in his second go-round versus the Giants. He faced them on June 24 and was quite good, tossing six innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts and just one walk.

Hahn isn’t a flamethrower but he’s not a creampuff either — 90-92 mph on his fastballs — and his predominant secondary (non-fastball division) is a curve that he’s thrown about a third of the time. Hahn has gotten a ton of grounders so far, which should play well with his currently elite, but also perhaps due for regression strikeout rate. ZiPS’ updated projection is 7.6 K/9, while Steamer is a much more hopeful 9.2. Either way, that’ll pair nicely with the grounders.