Sean's Streamer of the Week

Sean's Streamer of the Day

For those who do not know "streaming" a pitcher is defined as picking up a pitcher from free agency or waivers for a week or day based on favorable matchups. The pitchers that you would stream are available in most leagues and would generally not be a player you would hold onto for multiple starts. Streaming pitchers can be risky, but can pay serious dividends. It is generally not great for ERA and WHIP unless you are REALLY good, but can be great for k's and w's.

Beginning the first week of July I will be picking one or two "streamers of the week"

Beginning today, I will pick a streaming pitcher for each day that I can remember to post... you may not trust me now, but I used this strategy all of last season and was very successful. When I pick pitchers to stream I look for several things, all being equally important: 1. Who are they pitching against? 2. What are that offense's current trends? and 3. What are that pitchers' recent trends? There are some teams that I would never ever EVER stream a pitcher against... such as the Rangers, Yankees, Diamondbacks, and Cardinals. Other teams I try to avoid, such as the Tigers, Angels, Rockies, Red Sox, Reds, and Brewers. Some teams I am indifferent towards (anyone not listed here), and then there are the teams I target, such as the A's, Padres, Cubs, Pirates, Giants, Astros, Mariners, and Twins. While each of these teams are capable of having big offensive games, they have been consistently bad throughout the year and lose more often than they win (with the exception of the Giants who just have a bad offense). Sometimes even the worst offenses get hot and if the offense is hot... avoid those matchups (simple enough.) Same deal with a pitcher... watch his WHIP and K's. If he has a high WHIP or low k's he is not worth the matchup.


6/21- I like Jarrod Parker vs. LA. I know that is crazy... picking against LA, and doing so with a kid from Oakland? But here's the thought... they've never seen him, and he has done very well this year. Granted, his 2 bad starts in his last 10 were against teals in the NL west... but in home starts this year, Parker has posted a sparkling 1.59 ERA with a 1.09 WHIP. The A's don't win a whole lot of games, so if you want a W, maybe go with someone else (perhaps Doug Fister or Vance Worley if available... though both are owned in more than 50% of ESPN leagues). 


6/20- While I am on here, I may as well make my picks for later this week (so today is Tuesday, but I'll try my hand for a few other days here...) I like Phil Hughes versus Atlanta for Wednesday. I always like pitchers on the Yankees because they are so usually good for wins (even if their ERA and WHIPs are not usually great). Hughes has been quite good this season. He has 7 starts with 2 or less runs in his past 8 starts (the one start was REALLY bad... 7 runs vs LAA), but has been racking up a lot of k's too. I'd start him tomorrow (and almost picked him up to do so).


6/19- Sorry for the hiccup here. Some weeks get busy and before you know it, you miss all of the streamers! Liriano vs. the Cubs last week was pretty ugly... 4 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks in 5.2 innings. The Cubs are prone to a breakout game every now and then (just look at last night's 12 run performance vs. the White Sox!) Last night, I streamed Matt Harrison (again) and again he was a great pick. But I didn't tell you to do so, which means it doesn't count. Today's streamer is Aaron Harang. He has been very good in 8 of his last 9 starts (one 5 run game in Arizona was pretty ugly), and I expect another good one tonight vs. Oakland. As I mentioned in my other post (buy low), the A's have had the occasional blow out game, but I'd start Harang tonight either way.


6/10- Another quality start and win from my streamer yesterday... hopefully a sign of things to come. Diamond threw 6 innings giving up 7 hits with no walks and 5 strikeouts, also getting a W. Today, we will go with Francisco Liriano. Another lefty versus a weak Cubs lineup. I worry about Liriano because he is prone to bad starts and A. Soriano is simply on fire, but given the way the Cubs are playing (on pace for over 100 losses) I think Liriano could have a really big day. Especially considering that he is a strikeout pitcher. Not a lot of other matchups I am liking too much... Humber vs Houston is OK, but not great; Hammel at Philly is again okay but not great (he has struggled lately); and the one to watch today is Ogando at San Francisco. This is his first start this year and he will be matching up against a weak Giants lineup, while trying to win a spot in the rotation. 


6/9- Alright, finally! Harrison threw a gem last night... 5 hit complete game shut out, no walks, 4 strikeouts and a big win. That is about as good as it gets in streaming. Excellent WHIP, 9 innings of 0 ERA, only thing we could have hoped for was a few more k's but let's not get too greedy.


Today there are several options that I like, but we will go with Scott Diamond as the streamer of the day. He is unlikely to rack up big strikeout totals, but against the Cubs anything is possible. This is another lefty matchup against the Cubs, who for whatever reason have forgotten how to hit against lefties. Last I saw, they were something like 2-11 against lefties and while I usually expect those numbers to correct themselves... I've watched enough of the Cubs to know that this doesn't always happen with them. Other good options include: Trevor Cahill (pitching against his former A's squad... which could be good or bad) and Jason Vargas vs. LA.


6/8- Good news! My streamer from yesterday didn't get shelled... Mike Leake threw 7 innings, gave up 4 runs on 7 hits (no walks), struck out five. Unfortunately, this is still not a good pick for a streamer. Don't lose faith in me yet... I am still warming up, remember... I am trying to give you a decent option each day, which can be challenging because some days there are no good options for streaming. I play in a weekly league and generally look for 1, maybe 2 starters per week... so I am adjusting to the whole "daily" concepts. Enough excuses (I'll also point out that my spiteful pick of Randy Wolf was, in fact a smart pick up... 6.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 walks, no runs, 6k's... the cubs are AWFUL vs LHP this year.)


For tonight, I am going with Matt Harrison. The Rangers are very good against lefties. Really, the Rangers are just very good. But seriously, the Rangers .282 batting average this year is impressive, and against lefties they hit an even more impressive .289. Harrison has been very solid if not good for 4 consecutive starts and realistically has been quite good except for 2 starts this year. Go with him... He has a 7-3 record. He won't strikeout a lot of guys, but he'll get a win with a decent to good ERA and close to 1.2 WHIP

6/7- Okay my streaming picks are turning into the kiss of death. Paulino went down after 2/3 of an inning after being struck by a line drive. Today, the options are kind of weak, but I could theoretically see myself going with one of two picks... the first is Mike Leake vs. Pittsburgh. Again, I see the Pirates as a weak offensive team (with the exception of McCutchen, who has been an absolute stud, especially in the last 5 weeks). Reds Pirates is a smart pick, though it makes me a little queasy after seeing what happened to Homer Bailey after I picked him. The other pick would be out of spite. The Cubs have been absolutely TERRIBLE against left handed pitching this year... so even though Randy Wolf is well past his prime (and believe me, he wasn't great in his prime), he could be a good matchup today. Against Garza, it isn't a smart call, but the Cubs are just not a good team. I will save any more hostility towards my Cubs for a post. Go with Mike Leake today, and if you're desperate (or mad at the Cubs) go with Randy Wolf...


6/6- Well that is a great way for me to gain credibility... Bailey got shelled last night. Bailey allowed 6 earned runs on 8 hits in just 3 innings of work. I chalk this up to just one horrible day for Bailey, but this is another example of some risks involved in streaming. Tonight, we will go back to Felipe Paulino versus Minnesota to hopefully get back on track.

6/5- Sorry for the delay here... crazy weekend. Friday's streamers provide a great example of the risks/ rewards of streamers. Paulino went 6 innings, had a WHIP of 1 and 5k's while snagging a nice W. Meanwhile, Miley threw 7 strong innings and was left in for one inning too long, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits with 4 k's in 7.1 innings. He took the loss though. Last week, I streamed both Trevor Cahill (vs. San Francisco and San Diego) and Matt Harrison (vs. Seattle and the Angels). Cahill gave up 4 runs over 15 innings, 14 hits and 5 walks (WHIP of 1.2667), 10 k's and 1 win. Harrison picked up 2 wins and gave up 11 hits and 3 walks in 14.2 innings with 8 k's.

Anyways, all of these are examples... you want a streamer for today, so here you go: Homer Bailey. Bailey is only owned in 43.9% of ESPN leagues as of right now. Despite his 3.76 ERA for the season, look at Bailey's last 4 starts: 28 innings pitched, 21 hits allowed with 5 walks (WHIP=0.929) while allowing just 7 earned runs (ERA of 2.25), racking up 21 strikeouts and 3 consecutive wins! Bailey's season ERA is deceiving because of one poor start versus Milwaukee (6 runs in 3.2 innings) and his 4 run in 5.2 inning performance on opening day didn't help either, but Bailey is a great start for today against a very light hitting Pirates team that he just beat with a complete game 4 hitter last start.

6/1-  Today I will give you 2 examples of good streaming options (please note that neither of these are EXCELLENT, but both are good):

Felipe Paulino- Paulino has started 5 games this year, racking up 34K's in that stretch with a WHIP of 1.26 and and ERA of 2.03. His last start was weak versus a strong hitting Baltimore team, however it is hard to ignore that he has shut down the Yankees twice this year, as well as the Orioles just a week before this last bad start. He pitches for the Royals, which is not an ideal pick for a streamer, but they are facing the A's who have lost 8 in a row.                         

Wade Miley- The Diamondbacks have hardly lived up to their high expectations this year, but Wade Miley is facing my favorite streaming opponent tonight in the cavernous Petco Park. Miley carries in an impressive 2.41 ERA with a 6-1 record. His WHIP in recent starts has been a bit higher than I would like to see, but his ERA has been strong. He wil probably not rack up a great deal of strikeouts, but is a good choice for ERA and the potential for a win.