The next few weeks are make-it-or-break-it time for fantasy managers looking to make playoff pushes. One way to ensure your place in the playoffs is to find quality pitching streamers. Each week, that gets more difficult, so I have done the leg work for you.
Here are my favorite streamers for week 13.
Pitching Streamers Available in Some Leagues (Over 30% Rostered)
Hunter Brown (SP – HOU)
Next Start: Thursday 6/20 at CWS
The Hunter Brown redemption tour has officially begun. He has four straight quality starts after struggling through April and part of May. Do not be scared by the 5.58 ERA – he has a 2.25 ERA in June and a sub-4.00 xFIP and SIERA.
His start against the White Sox on Thursday should help him continue to improve his stats across the board. Chicago has the worst average, the 1oth-most strikeouts, and the third-fewest walks against righty pitchers. Brown has a 9.8 strikeout-per-nine rate this year and a 4.26 walks-per-nine rate, though his career numbers are better. This matchup could inch his season stats closer to his career numbers.
Brown’s most significant struggles have had to do with home runs allowed. He has a 21% HR/FB rate, twice as much as the league average. Thankfully for him, the White Sox have the fifth fewest homers against RHP, and the sixth-fewest overall; plus, Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago leans pitcher-friendly.
Chicago does not hit many grounders, but that should not matter for Brown. He does not qualify, but if he did, his GB% would be among the 10 best in baseball. And he has a great arsenal including three pitches with a negative degree launch angle, including his cutter. That pitch also has a .186 batting average against, a 23% whiff rate, and a 27% putaway rate.
Ignore April, and make Brown one of your priority pitching streamers for the week ahead.
Erick Fedde (SP – CWS)
Next Start: Friday 6/21 at DET
Erick Fedde posted another great outing against Seattle, and hopefully, you read last week and picked him up for that start. He has another great start against Detroit, so hopefully you have held onto him for this matchup.
Fedde notched four strikeouts and allowed just one walk across seven innings in that start against Seattle, improving both his K/9 and BB/9 rates in the process. He also improved his GB rate to 48% – the 16th best in baseball among qualified starters.
Similar to Seattle, the Tigers are among the teams with the 10 most strikeouts as batters. They have the ninth-highest strikeout rate overall. They are also particularly terrible against RHP. The Tigers possess the eighth-worst AVG and the fourth-most strikeouts against them while hitting the eighth-fewest homers vs RHP and the seventh-fewest overall.
Take a shot on Fedde and his improved arsenal, which includes some nasty pitches like this changeup:
Erick Fedde, Nasty 88mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/FNYsUlu7IW
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 11, 2024
If he is available in your league, Fedde should definitely be one of your pitching streamers for the week ahead.
Widely Available Pitching Streamers (0%-30% Rostered)
Chris Paddack (SP – MIN)
Next Start: Sunday 6/16 vs OAK
Chris Paddack had a huge bounceback against Colorado, after giving up 11 runs in 9.2 IP against the Yankees and Royals. Paddack has had a few clunkers, but across 13 starts, he has allowed two or fewer runs in eight of them. This could be another solid matchup against Oakland.
The Athletics have the fourth-worst run differential in baseball and the third-most strikeouts. No other team is worse in both categories.
For Paddack’s struggles this year, he does have some things to hang his hat on, including a BB/9 rate of 1.7 and a 73% LOB rate. Paddack has also suffered some apparent bad luck – his BABIP is 40 points higher than normal despite limiting line drives to his career average and posting a pull rate lower than his career norm.
He faces an Oakland team that possesses the second-worst AVG and the most strikeouts against RHP. Paddack should avoid another rough outing by leaning on his fastball and slider combo which have 26% and 28% whiff rates respectively. Here he is making a batter miss with some heat:
Chris Paddack, 98mph ⛽️
His fastest pitch this season. pic.twitter.com/RPRAlGllnN
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 10, 2024
Paddack carries some risk, but it should be worth it in this game. Make him one of your top pitching streamers where available.
Cristopher Sanchez (SP – PHI)
Next Start: Monday 6/17 vs SD
Cristopher Sanchez should be much more widely rostered in fantasy than he is, and this may be your last chance to grab him off waivers.
Sanchez does not strike out many batters – he has just a 7.8 K/9 rate this season, but he limits walks, keeps runners from scoring, and induces a ton of ground balls. His groundball rate is third best among qualified starters, which will matter against a team that ranks in the middle of the pack in GB rate.
Sanchez is in line for some regression to his 3.07 ERA thanks to an extremely low HR/FB rate, but his xFIP and SIERA are 3.14 and 3.49 respectively. And this is likely not the game where we should see that regression happen.
The Padres have the seventh-worst AVG and rank among the bottom half of the league in strikeouts against LHP. Sanchez also has some ridiculous stuff that should play well against San Diego’s weaknesses.
Sanchez’s changeup is his best pitch, featuring a .184 BAA, a 42% whiff rate, and a 26% putaway rate. He also has a nasty slider. Here he is striking batters out with both pitches (changeup, slider, slider):
Cristopher Sanchez's Stuff is Dirty.
K'ing the Side pic.twitter.com/dcu5hq1BZ9
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 1, 2024
This is a great matchup for Sanchez, and if he is available, you should make him one of your pitching streamers for the upcoming week.
Michael Lorenzen (SP – TEX)
Next Start: Tuesday 6/17 vs NYM
Michael Lorenzen has four quality starts in his last five matchups, and this should be a chance for another, and possibly a win, considering the Mets have a bottom 10 run differential.
Lorenzen features an arsenal of seven pitches, five of which have a 20% whiff rate or higher. He has not thrown his curveball much, but it might be his best pitch. It has yet to be hit and has a 66% whiff rate and a 42% putaway rate, but he has only thrown it 5% of the time.
Up to this point, Lorenzen has avoided baserunners scoring, posting an 84% LOB rate. That has a chance to regress, as does his .244 BABIP, but the Mets have the 10th fewest hits against righties and have trouble scoring in general. They also have the ninth fewest walks against RHP, which should help Lorenzen improve his 4 BB/9 rate.
Additionally, this game will be played in Texas, which is the third friendliest pitcher’s park in baseball.
This matchup should end up in Lorenzen’s favor, and he should be on your radar as one of the top pitching streamers for the coming week.
Kyle Gibson (SP – STL)
Next Start: Wednesday 6/19 at MIA
In Kyle Gibson’s 13 starts, he has given up more than three earned runs in just three of them, including his worst start against the Marlins earlier in the season. Gibson has been rolling lately, with his latest outing against the Rockies, and two of his last three, resulting in quality starts.
This has been a typical Gibson season – he has nearly matched his career norms in K/9, BB/9, LOB%, GB%, and HR/FB%. His BABIP is a bit lower than normal, but he has lowered his line drive and pull rates, so a low BABIP does not necessarily mean he will regress.
Gibson has really leaned on a wicked sweeper that has a .208 BAA, 44% whiff rate, and a 28% putaway rate. Here is a look at it in action:
Kyle Gibson, Vicious 81mph Sweeper. 😤 pic.twitter.com/5uwCuvpyb4
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 8, 2024
Among qualified starters, Gibson has the 15th-best groundball rate, which should play well against the Marlins, who have the highest GB% in the league. They also have one of the worst run differentials in baseball, so this game could result in a win for Gibson if he continues to pitch well.
The Marlins also struggle in particular against LHP. They have the fourth worst AVG, the eighth most strikeouts, and the sixth-fewest walks against them.
This is an excellent matchup for Gibson, and he should be one of the top pitching streamers for the week ahead.
Backup Plan Streamers for Week 13
- HOU Spencer Arrighetti vs DET – Sunday 6/16
- ChC Javier Assad vs SF – Monday 6/17
- CLE Triston McKenzie vs SEA – Tuesday 6/18
- MIN Simeon Woods Richardson vs TB – Thursday 6/20
Desperation Streamers for Week 13
- ARI Jordan Montgomery vs CWS – Sunday 6/16
- MIA Braxton Garrett vs STL – Monday 6/17
- KC Alec Marsh at OAK – Wednesday 6/19
- CLE Logan Allen vs SEA – Thursday 6/20