Are you in a weekly-transaction fantasy baseball league and looking to sure up your roster in time for Sunday night? Are you a daily-league manager who has a big matchup next week that you don’t want to lose? Or, are you in any type of league and just looking to improve your pitching staff for the stretch run? In all of those cases, you’ve clicked the right link. In this weekly edition of pitching streamers, I’ve compiled a list full of highly available pitchers, two-start difference makers, and even a pretty impressive bulk reliever (spoiler: did you see what Nick Pivetta did to the poor A’s this week?). So good luck, stream responsibly and start scrolling. As always, this list is in roster-percentage order.
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10 Pitching Streamers to Target in Week 16
Pitching Streamers Available in Some Leagues (About 50% to 65% Rostered)
Aaron Civale SP Guardians
Last start: Wednesday, July 19 @ Pirates – 5.1IP 2ER 5H 1BB 3K
2 starts next week: Tuesday, July 25 vs. Royals + Sunday, July 30 @ White Sox
We know Aaron Civale isn’t going to blow hitters away with velocity (92 MPH average fastball). And consequently, we know he’s unlikely to rack up the strikeouts (career 7.81 K/9 rate). But he has managed to limit hard contact over his first 11 starts this season (hard hit rate ranks at 71st percentile) which has led to an excellent 2.71/1.08 ERA/WHIP. Though we can mostly agree it will get closer to his 3.69 xERA before long, I think we can also agree it’s not very likely to happen during next week’s two starts. The Royals, his probable opponent on Tuesday, are barely ahead of the A’s for the lowest WOBA. And the White Sox aren’t too far ahead, ranking 27th. Be skeptical in the long term, but bullish in the short.
Tanner Bibee SP Guardians
Last start: Sunday, July 16 @ Rangers – 6IP 2ER 5H 1BB 6K
Next start: Saturday, July 22 vs. Phillies
1 start next week: Thursday, July 27 @ White Sox
Have you ever looked at Tanner Bibee’s game logs? Pretty solid for a rookie. He’s really had just two bad starts in his first 14 big-league tries. His outing on Sunday was particularly impressive. He limited the mighty Rangers to just two runs in six innings and induced 17 swinging strikes. The 24-year-old’s Statcast page looks pretty good, too. It seems to think his solid 3.32 ERA and .292 WOBA are legitimate (xERA: 3.42/xWOBA: .289). With that in mind, it’s surprising he’s available in almost half of leagues. He’ll draw a difficult matchup tonight against the Phillies but then gets a juicy one next week against the White Sox. They rank in the bottom ten in most ratio stats and have the second-fewest amount of walks. Given Bibee’s recent struggles in that department (18 walks in his last 36.2 innings), it makes for an ideal stream.
Domingo German SP Yankees
Last start: Tuesday, July 18 @ Angels – 6IP L 5ER 4H 3BB 9K
1 start next week: Tuesday, July 25 vs. Mets
It’s sure been an interesting season for Domingo German. Normally when a pitcher induces 27 swinging strikes and fans nine over six innings, the results are pretty good. That wasn’t exactly the case on Tuesday when he yielded five runs and took a loss against the Angels. Though the run totals have been inconsistent (4.52 ERA), the whiffs, strikeouts, and upside (perfect game four starts ago) seem too hard to pass up for a streamer. He’ll draw the Mets next week, a reeling team who has recently had a five-game stretch during which they scored six runs. The reward seems to outweigh the risk here.
Pitching Streamers Available in Most Leagues (About 30% to 50% Rostered)
Edward Cabrera SP Marlins
Last start: Tuesday, July 18 @ Cardinals – 5IP 1ER 2H 3BB 6K
Next start: Sunday, July 23 vs. Rockies
1 start next week: Sunday, July 30 vs. Tigers
Before being placed on the Injured List, Edward Cabrera seemed to be trending in the right direction. He’d only surrendered more than three runs once over his previous six starts and compiled an impressive 41 strikeouts over 37.2 innings. The trend continued this Tuesday when he made his first start in over a month and held the Cardinals to just one run in five innings while striking out six. Though his control has held him back all season (a 5.5 BB/9 rate!), he’ll draw some impatient teams in the next two starts. The Rockies, in addition to ranking among the bottom in most ratio stats on the road, rank 27th in walks overall. The Tigers, next week’s opponent, are a little better with walks (20th), but in the bottom four in just about everything else. It’s a good stream and it will buy you some time to see if the 25-year-old can cash in on his upside going forward.
Kenta Maeda SP Twins
Last start: Wednesday, July 19 @ Mariners – 6.1IP 2ER 3H 0BB 9K
2 starts next week: Monday, July 24 vs. Mariners + Sunday, July 30 @ Royals
Aside from his hiccup against the A’s last week, Kenta Maeda has been impressive since his return from the IL. How does a 2.73 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over five starts sound? And it looks like he’s found a feel for his splitter. It generated 12 of the 14 swinging strikes he induced on Wednesday, en route to a solid two-run effort over 6.1 innings in Seattle. It’s also helped him strike out 36 batters over his last 26 innings. Even better news: he gets to pitch against the Mariners again in the first of two starts next week. They are second only to the Twins in striking out. Then he draws the Royals! They rank 29th in both WOBA and runs per game. This is your best two-start streaming option next week. Beat the rush now.
Patrick Sandoval SP Angels
Last start: Tuesday, July 18 vs. Yankees – 7.1IP W 1ER 2H 3BB 7K
1 start next week: Tuesday, July 25 @ Tigers
We all had high hopes that Patrick Sandoval would take a step forward this season, but so far it seems like he’s taken a step back. Though his 4.16 ERA isn’t catastrophic, his 1.41 WHIP (bloated by a 3.77 BB/9 rate) makes him difficult to roster. But it’s the lack of strikeouts (7.45 K/9) that’s most puzzling. During his last three seasons, he’s averaged just about a strikeout an inning. Last season, the rate was at 9.14 K/9. And even this season he’s put together a good whiff rate (74th percentile) and chase rate (66th). The good news is, he’s gotten more strikeouts lately (20 in his last 17.1 innings) and has been more effective (two earned runs in 12.1 innings). The other good news – and the reason why he’s on this list – he’ll pitch against the Tigers next week. They rank 28th in WOBA and their strikeout rate ranks in the top 10. It’s a risky one, but worth it if many of the other names are unavailable.
Pitching Streamers Widely Available (About 30% Rostered or Fewer)
Logan Allen SP Guardians
Last start: Tuesday, July 18 @ Pirates – 5IP W 0ER 1H 1BB 8K
2 starts next week: Monday, July 24 vs. Royals + Saturday, July 29 @ White Sox
After being demoted to the minors for about three weeks, Logan Allen returned strong on Tuesday. He limited the Pirates to just one hit over five scoreless innings while striking out eight (10 swinging strikes on 77 pitches). Though there were a couple of warning signs in the start – an average exit velocity of 94.1 miles per hour and his fastball being down over one mile per hour – his two highly-favorable matchups next week are too juicy to pass up. The Royals are next-to-last in runs per game and the White Sox, though they rank a little better (22nd), are in the bottom ten in almost all ratio stats. The word of Allen’s promotion doesn’t appear to be widespread yet, either, so this could be a great deep-league play.
Griffon Canning SP Angels
Last start: Monday, July 17 vs. Yankees – 5.2IP 2ER 6H 3BB 12K
1 start next week: Tuesday, July 25 @ Tigers
Much like his teammate Patrick Sandoval (listed above), Griffon Canning will benefit from the schedule next week. He’ll pitch against a Tigers team that ranks at just about the bottom of most offensive categories. Also like his teammate, Canning’s been inconsistent. His 4.25/1.23 ERA/WHIP reflects that he’s only had two scoreless appearances in 15 tries. Unlike Sandoval, though, the righty has managed to pile up a lot of strikeouts (supported by a similarly impressive whiff and chase rate). That was the case on Monday when he struck out 12 Yankees and induced 20 swinging strikes. For that reason, despite his lower roster percentage, I would prioritize him ahead of his lefty counterpart.
Cristopher Sanchez SP/RP Phillies
Last start: Wednesday, July 19 vs. Brewers – 5IP 1ER (3R) 6H 1BB 3K
2 starts next week: Monday, July 24 vs. Orioles + Sunday, July 30 @ Pirates
If you’re in a deep league and looking for volume (and all the other two-start pitchers on this list are gone) you might want to consider Cristopher Sanchez. Though he was a little less impressive in his latest start against the Brewers (only three strikeouts against a team that strikes out fifth most), he continues to limit damage with ground balls and some unexpected pinpoint control. It’s led to a more-than-solid 3.06 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Monday’s start against the Orioles will be a big challenge, but the Pirates (next weekend) are 3-13 in July and have fallen to 24th in WOBA and 27th in runs per game. So hopefully the starts will even out.
Nick Pivetta SP/RP Red Sox
Last appearance: Monday, July 17 @ A’s – 6IP W 0ER 0H 2BB 13K
Next appearance: Sunday, July 23 vs. Mets
1 appearance next week: Sunday, July 30 @ Giants
Nick Pivetta has taken bulk relieving to a new level lately. In his last three appearances, he’s thrown 15 innings, given up only three earned runs, and racked up 27 strikeouts. This was highlighted by his six-inning scoreless (and hitless!) appearance on Monday when he induced 18 swinging strikes and struck out 13. OK fine, it was against the A’s. And fine, because he’s coming out of the pen, you’ll never get a quality start. But while the 30-year-old righty is flashing some dominance, and pretty much getting starting-pitcher innings, he should be considered for streaming purposes. He’ll draw the struggling Mets tomorrow, before moving on to another middle-of-the-road offense, the Giants, next weekend. The latter are prone to strikeouts (4th most) so another big total is definitely possible.
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