Week 11 Streamer Hitters

Streaming pitchers is a much cleaner exercise than streaming hitters. And oftentimes, the expected production is relatively more guaranteed. But in an offensive environment where hitting seems to be increasingly hard to find on the wire, then playing hot hands, and even better, trying to predict hot hands, becomes worthwhile. 

That’s what I’ll try and do in this article. At the team level, I’ll point you to the teams who are playing the most games this week, the teams playing in the friendliest hitter’s parks. Then, I’ll look more into platoon splits, playing time, and how hot they are heading into the week to try and identify a crop of hitters you should consider streaming. To limit the player pool to hitters who are likely to be available, I’ll only use hitters who are around 50% rostered or less in either Yahoo or CBS leagues.

This is my first attempt at this exercise. I’ll try and provide plenty of information to help you make decisions that apply to your league and team context, from position eligibility to rostership rates. 

Please let me know in the comments if there’s other information that’d be helpful, format changes, or any other potential changes!

Teams in the Spotlight

In Week 11, only the Orioles and Mariners play seven games. Every other team has six games, so there’s little advantage to be gained here. You can see the upcoming schedule for each via Jon Becker on Fangraphs.

For Park Factors, we’ll use the three year averages from 2022-2025. For the Athletics, who are playing their games in the Las Vegas Ballpark all week, we’ll use the most recent available data from Baseball America. For the Rays, we’ll use what we have from this year. 

Here are the ballparks that are above average for both hitting overall and home runs, and how many games these teams are playing in these top parks this week. 

So, focusing on the Rockies, A’s, Rays, and Angels offenses feels like a solid place to start, along with the surging Reds and league-leading Nationals. Let’s throw in the Orioles, who have an above average park factor at home this season and seven games at home in Week 11. 

Players to Consider

Now, for the individual hitters to stream. 

To find the probable opposing pitcher matchups for next week, we’ll again turn to RosterResource and the Probables Grid on Fangraphs. 

Starting in the AL, the Orioles are lined up to face seven right-handed starters in Week 11, including the top of the Mariners rotation and the bottom of the Padres rotation, which looks particularly juicy. 

The trio of Leody Taveras, Colton Cowser, and Jackson Holliday has occupied the 7-9 spots in the Baltimore order over the last few games. Cowser looked good during his last stint at home, hitting .375 with three home runs over 10 games between May 22 and May 31. During that stretch, he struck out just 18.5% of the time, a good signal for the 26-year-old outfielder. Over the same period, Holliday also excelled, slashing .276/.371/.483 with a pair of homers and three steals. Taveras did not homer during that stretch, and has only two longballs this season. But he did hit .343 with a trio of steals. 

For the Rays, Richie Palacios has been hitting in the fourth or fifth slots of late, but sat against every lefty since the calendar flipped to May. Tampa Bay faces a pair of Boston lefties on Monday and Tuesday, before facing four straight righties to wrap up the week. After struggling in April, he has hit .270 since May, but is without a home run and is just 3-5 stealing bases.

The Angels will face five righties during their six game slate at home, facing the injury-weakened Astros rotation before hosting the Rays. If Oswald Peraza is still available in your league, he could be an option, especially if you need to plug a hole from an infield injury. In NFBC, he can cover second and third, and in CBS and Yahoo leagues, Peraza can fill in at all four infield positions. Hitting in the five, six, or seven spot over the last week, the utilityman has cooled a bit since a hot April, with a meager .274/.317/.432 slash with three home runs and two steals since May 1. 

As far as Angels in the outfield, rookie Wade Meckler has been platooning with Jose Siri of late, as noted by Jeff Zimmerman this week. The left-handed hitting left fielder has a .359/.405/.590 line in 42 plate appearances since his call up, with two homers and two steals. He’s a 40 future value prospect according to Fangraphs, but he hit third for the Angels in each of their last three contests. In deeper leagues especially, give him a whirl if you need help in the outfield. 

Rounding out the American league, the Athletics face three lefties during their six games in Week 11, with all of their games in the potential hitter haven that is the Las Vegas Ballpark. But platoons have emerged over the last few games for this team. Manager Mark Kotsay has kept Carlos Cortes out of the lineup against each of the last five lefties the A’s have faced. Lawrence Butler and rookie Henry Bolte are in a slight platoon as well, with Butler taking over in center field in each of the four games Bolte has missed over the last two weeks. Over that stretch, Bolte has hit .314 with three steals, though he is without a home run. Maybe Vegas Ballpark can help with that. 

Zack Gelof is in a similar position. After a power binge over the first two weeks of May, where the third baseman cracked four homers, he’s hit just one in the two weeks since. He is, however, hitting .284 over that stretch, with three steals and a homer to his name. Vegas could help him lift off too. And unlike Bolte or Cortes, Gelof is platoon proof and hasn’t missed a game since May 2. 

Rounding things out with some NL options, the Nationals are still improbably leading the majors in runs scored. But they face a strong slate of starters next week, starting with Logan Webb on Monday in San Francisco (who’s been better of late) and ending with the trio of Emerson Hancock, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby over the weekend at home. 

Facing only one lefty, Robbie Ray, over their six games could make for a strong stretch for Luis García Jr., who has not started against a lefty in May or June for the Nats. Quietly, the first baseman hit .288 with four homers and 14 RBI in May and uncorked a double dong against the Diamondbacks on Friday. He’s hit second against righties of late, making him a good bet for counting stats this week. 

Teammate Dylan Crews popped a home run on Saturday after missing a pair of games earlier in the week after being hit by a pitch on the hand. In the four games since, he has hit second, fifth, sixth, and seventh in the order. He really isn’t hitting enough to be considered as a viable option right now. 

For the Rockies, hosting the Cubs for three before heading to Vegas to face the A’s, hitters may feast. Facing three lefties, including Shota Imanaga, who has struggled mightily of late, could be just the boon that young Ezequiel Tovar needs to get going. The shortstop is much better at home in his career and gets a slight OPS bump with the platoon advantage. Over his last four games at home heading into Saturday, Tovar has hit .333 with a pair of home runs and a steal. 

Right fielder Tyler Freeman has hit second for the Rockies in each game he’s started in June and is swinging a hot bat. Coming into Saturday, the 27-year-old has hits in nine straight games, slashing .364/.447/.545 with a homer and a steal. In Yahoo leagues, Freeman is eligible at second base and in the outfield. 

Center fielder Jake McCarthy has been platoon-proof this season, and has led off against righties over the last few weeks. A trending player in Yahoo and CBS, the former-Dback has been red hot lately, slashing .355/.400/.677 with a pair of homers and steals over his last seven games coming into Saturday. He’s been at his best at home, hitting to a .942 OPS at Coors to start this season, but Vegas Ballpark should be a worthy substitute. 

Unlike McCarthy, first baseman TJ Rumfield has not been able to overcome the platoon split so far this season, hitting all eight of his home runs against righties. The left-handed bat has just a .245 OPS against same-handed pitching this season. 

We’ll go to the Reds to close things out. Facing a trio of righties in San Diego to start the week, they’ll head back to Great American Ballpark for three games with the Diamondbacks over the weekend, facing just one southpaw, Eduardo Rodriguez. 

Over the last two weeks, Nathaniel Lowe has been benched against four left-handed starting pitchers. He’ll have a chance to get hot again. Playing in four games each during Week 9 and 10, the veteran first baseman slashed .300/.382/.700 with three home runs. Run him out there confidently as a bat in the middle of the order this week. 

Blake Dunn and Noelvi Marte are a pair of outfield options to consider. Dunn has alternated between leading off and hitting either sixth or seventh over the last week. With a three-hit game on Saturday, he has three consecutive multi-hit games and his steal on Saturday was his first since May 16. 

Marte, called up to replace the struggling TJ Friedl, started and hit seventh on Saturday, scoring a run and going 1-4. With how hot he was running at AAA (369/ .409/.575, 8 HR, 9 SB), you may as well give him a shot if he’s available. In his career in the majors, he’s hit much better against righties (.721 OPS) than lefties (.557 OPS).