Stream, Stream, Stream: 2x SP 8.19-8.25

Here are this week’s recommendations:

Dillon Gee – 7.5% ESPN – @MIN (.303 team wOBA), v. DET (.343)

Gee gets a rare AL Central double-dip as the Mets return to Minneapolis for a one-game makeup before welcoming the Motor City Kitties to Citi Field. The Twins haven’t hit much all season long, and at last glance were striking out more than anyone this month — thanks in large part to Clete Thomas and Pedro Florimon.

Gee has certainly had a decent season; his 3.79 ERA is slightly better than his 4.12/4.14 FIP/xFIP. Pretty much across the board, Gee looks like a pretty ordinary pitcher. Just below league-average in strikeouts (6.5 per 9), with no heartburn inducing peripherals but also none that’ll drive a potential owner into a lustful frenzy, either. Gee has been rolling along pretty good since his last blowup, a 5-walk, 5-ER outing against the Giants in early July. Since then, Gee’s made six starts, with a 1.74 ERA and .554 OPS allowed.

The Twins matchup is just such a good one that I’m willing to overlook that he faces the Tigers — the premier offense by wOBA in MLB — in the week to come.

Randall Delgado – 1.7% ESPN – @CIN (.313), @PHI (.305)

Delgado isn’t fanning hitters (6.2 per 9) in such a way which might have been expected, especially based on his minor league track record and pretty good run with the Braves last year before being moved in the Justin Upton–Martin Prado deal.

Still, Delgado is having a good season — 3.52/4.44/3.81 pitching slash, +0.5 WAR in 12 appearances (11 starts) — and won’t be taxed too heavily with the Reds or Phillies lineups this week. Delgado’s first appearance of the season was as a reliever, and resulted in two earned runs in two frames. Since then, as a starter, Delgado has a 3.36 ERA and hasn’t allowed more than four earned runs in any start.

That’s pretty good from a 23-year-old starter still taking his first shots at a lot of teams.

Andrew Cashner – 6.3% ESPN – v. PIT (.309), v. CHC (.306)

Cashner always seems to be one pitch away from injury, but he gets a couple of nice matchups this week — though he’ll face off against Francisco Liriano in a tough matchup Monday — and both are at noted offense-suppressing Petco Park.

As an exclusive starter — 20 of 25 appearances this year — Cashner has still managed to keep his velocity well above-average, with his typical heater coming in at 94.4 mph. While certainly a far-cry from his 97.7 mph mark last year, it still shows that the 26-year-old right hander has the requisite stuff to compete at this level.

But that does make Cashner’s lack of strikeouts a bit odd. Right now he checks in at 6.2 per 9, down from a career mark of 7.5. It doesn’t seem to have hurt Cashner from a results standpoint, as his slash right now is 3.87/3.65/3.92. That’s sort of a remarkable situation, to see Cashner posting that sort of slash despite playing half of his games at Petco. But chalk it up to a solid 50.7% groundball, especially.

Three Padres pitchers have posted WARs worse than -1.0. Jason Marquis (despite a 4.81 xFIP), Clayton Richard (despite a 4.66 xFIP), and Huston Street (despite 3.26 ERA, 4.09 xFIP) have all been in that boat. Now none of this matters in fantasy play, I just found it fascinating as an aside. Pads hurlers will always have that added element of their home park, even if it can kill their actual value.

Also, here’s the link to the 2xSP spreadsheet.