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Field Of Streams: Fantasy Baseball Pitching Options

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Welcome back to another edition of Field of Streams, your in depth look at some viable, and some not so viable, fantasy streaming options for the upcoming fantasy week. At this point your fantasy baseball playoffs are probably either under way or just about to get under way, so now, more than at any other time during the season, it is extremely important to stream wisely and get whatever edge you can to help you inch closer to that fantasy baseball championship. So without further ado, on with the show! Here comes your look at your fantasy streaming options, owned in less than 50% in ESPN and Yahoo! leagues, for the week of 9/3-9/9 (all stats and information are prior to Saturday’s games):

Ross Detwiler (WAS)- It looks to be a two start week for Mr. Detwiler, with both starts being at home. At home this season Detwiler is 4-1 with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP, which I don’t have to tell you, although I guess I am anyways, is pretty darned good. Of course his 3.92 xFIP and .284 BABIP at home does point to some regression, but a regression you can live with for a streaming spot starter. Now his strikeout numbers are extremely low, home and away, so if it’s Ks or K/9 you are looking for then, well, Detwiler is not your man. But with home starts against the Cubs and Marlins this week you have to like the chances for a W and help in your other peripherals, so stream away!  (27.1% owned in ESPN and 33% in Yahoo!)

Collin McHugh (NYM)- McHugh is getting called back up and getting the nod for the Metropolitans on Monday. McHugh’s lone major league start was masterful and brilliant to say the least. Against the Rockies, he twirled seven shutout innings, while fanning nine and walking only one. Oh yeah, and he allowed only two hits to boot! Now the Rockies are not the best hitting team in the league, but are decent enough that this is still impressive. Now should we start annointing young Colin as the second comng of Ron Darling? Probably not. Let him get his feet wet and see what happens. His fastballs did not have a great deal of movement, but he was able to mix in a slow curveball ranging from 68-73 MPH that really kept the left handed batters he faced, off-balance. His 8.55 K/9 and 3.42FIP down at AAA, is very promising. Obviously I don’t think he’ll keep a K/9 over eleven, but I do like what I see so far. Now his start Monday does come against the Cardinals in St. Louis and the Cards can certainly hit, so it could be a growing experience for McHugh. Having not seen him before though, the Cards could just as easily struggle a bit. So clearly I have a firm grasp on what to expect from McHugh this week. I say live on the edge and throw him out there! Hey, if it’s a clunker, at least you have the rest of the week to make up for it, right? (.4% owned in ESPN and 1% in Yahoo!)

Patrick Corbin (ARI)-  Corbs has become quite the mainstay here on Field Of Streams and really I am not confident enough in him yet to make him a regular must start fantasy pitcher. I was iffy on him this past week against the Reds, and he turned in a solid quality start. This week he looks to have two starts and they are on the road against the Giants and Padres. So that’s two starts against teams that tend to not knock the ball around the park too much, in pitcher friendly parks. If he keeps up his 4.26 K/BB and 3.30 xFIP that he is rocking for August, he should continue to improve the rest of his numbers along the way as well. The good recent numbers should stay in place, especially against the Giants and Padres this week. (6.6% owned in ESPN and 10% in Yahoo!)

Andrew Werner (SD)- It is that time of year folks! Time for call-ups! Some call-ups have been highly touted and others have been barely touted at all, but the bottom line is fantasy owners are looking to catch lighting in a bottle with one of these said call-ups. Enter Andrew Werner. Since his call-up Werner has had two starts, both of the quality persuasion, going six innings and giving up two earned runs in each start. He is 1-1, with an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.00. So is Werner a good bet for fantasy owners down the stretch? Well his xFIP thus far is 3.95, his BABIP is .194 and his SIERA is 3.53, so there should be a slight regression forth coming. He could be a solid 4th or 5th fantasy starter down the road, but I am not all the way sold on him just yet. He does, however, have the Dodgers and Diamondbacks this week, and neither team has been racking up the runs lately, so Werner could be a decent spot starter. I would say stream Werner, but with caution for now. (.3% owned in ESPN and 0% in Yahoo!)

Alex Cobb (TB)- Although my Cobb recommendation last week did not pan out so well last week (4.2 IP, 4R, 3 ER) I still like his moxie! That was, after all, only his second start since July 1st where he allowed more than three runs. In fact in eight of his last ten outings he has allowed 3 runs or less! But he does have the Yankees this week and that could spell trouble for A.C. He did have one start against the Bombers already this season, back at the beginning of June and he allowed four earned runs over seven innings in that outing. He only gave up five hits and one walk in that outing though, but was hurt by the long ball twice. That start was in New York, whereas this week he gets them at home and like most pitchers he is much better at home. While at the Trop he is striking out batters at almost double his road rate, for crying out loud! I still like Cobb, but I am hesitant to stream him this week against the Yankees. (11.1% owned in ESPN and 19% in Yahoo!)

Jeff Karstens (PIT)- Do not adjust your monitors, you read correctly, Jeff Karstens.  In case you haven’t noticed, and judging by his ownership you haven’t,  he has been quite solid at home. At PNC Park, Karstens has a 1.76 ERA, with a 1.00 WHIP , baffling visiting batters game in and game out. Now while his 3.68 xFIP, 5.49 K/9, .272 BABIP and 39% ground ball rate at home does point to a hefty regression, he is pitching against Houston this week and well, need I say more? (4.8% owned in ESPN and 11% in Yahoo!)

Marco Estrada (MIL)- Ponch’s ownership has skyrocketed in both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues, which can obviously only be attributed to the high praise he has received here week after week. Or, I guess, there’s a chance it could be due to his August numbers. In August he has a 3.12 ERA, a 1.46 WHIP, a 7.96 K/9, a 2.77 BB/9 and a 2.26 FIP. Sure there is that whole pesky 3.95 xFIP, but that is by no means atrocious, per se. But that 3.12 ERA is with a ridiculously high .361 BABIP as well, which I feel, really says something. Additionally, in his last two starts albeit they were against the Cubs, he allowed no earned runs and also struck out 17 batters over 11 innings. This week Ponch has the floundering Marlins in Miami, a perfect spot for Estrada to shine! (11.5% owned in ESPN and 12% in Yahoo!)

Francisco Liriano (CWS)- Francisco, that’s fun to say! Liriano had another solid start in Baltimore, which was his third start in a row where he allowed only two earned runs. In fact, in his six starts with the White Sox he has allowed more than two earned just once.  Over the last three starts he has an ERA of 3.11, a WHIP of  1.32 and a 8.31 K/9 and for the most part has been almost like the Francisco Liriano of old. This week he draws the Royals, and that should be a good matchup for Liriano and the White Sox, so go ahead and do it to it ! (23.6% owned in ESPN and 43% in Yahoo!)

Tyler Skaggs (ARI)- There’s been a fair amount of hype surrounding Skaggs and thus far, on paper, he has looked solid. Skaggs is 1-1, with a 2.52 ERA and a WHIP of  1.22 thus far in his major league career. See? Solid on paper. You know what else looked solid on paper? The Titanic. Okay, that may be a bit of a harsh metaphor. What Iam getting at is the traditional numbers are, at the moment, a bit misleading. His xFIP is 5.98, his BABIP is .182, and he has a BB/9 of 5.22. So although this is all in a tiny sample size it would seem that a big time regression is forthcoming for Skaggs. He does draw the Padres at Petco this week, so he could continue to be lucky, but right now, to me, he is only a borderline stream option. (3.6% owned in ESPN and 10% in Yahoo!)

Casey Kelly (SD)- As a big chip in the Adrian Gonzalez deal, Kelly has had some hype attached to him and now here he is, up in the majors. In his debut against the Braves he pitched six shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and two free passes, while striking out four. Seems like a decent enough debut, but his BABIP was .200 with a SIERA of 4.33 and a ground ball rate of 40%. It does not appear that Kelly will be striking out a ton of hitters, so that ground ball rate is something of a concern. Granted, it is only one start, so still tough to get a great read on Kelly, but he tore through the Padres farm system this season and could be a decent enough starter for the Padres down the stretch. As far as his current fantasy value, I am not quite sold on him just yet, but he has a chance at a good start this week, at home against the Diamondbacks who struggled to put runs on the board in August. I am still cautious to recommend Kelly even if he does post a good start against Arizona, but I would go ahead keep an eye on his progress. (1.7% owned in ESPN and 5% in Yahoo!)

So there you have it, another edition of Field Of Streams in the books! So what did we learn this week, children? 1) Casey Kelly and Tyler Skaggs are to be streamed with caution)   B) Ks/9 as always, are your BFFs, but if you don’t need ‘em in your fantasy league, Ross Detwiler is worth a stream 4)  There’s still plenty of room on Marco “Ponch” Estrada bandwagon and F) Francisco Liriano is darned good with the White Sox. Good day and godspeed!


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