Need some extra pitching this weekend? Look no further than the weekend pitching streamers! Each weekend there are lower-rostered pitchers who could help your squad finish the week strong. I will give you players that are rostered in less than 50% of CBS leagues that have advantageous matchups. Not all of these guys are desirable options though, so I will also include a streamer confidence rating between 1-10. Good luck and happy weekend streaming!
Top Weekend Pitching Streamers
Friday
German Marquez vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (36% Rostered)
Confidence Rating: 3
It’s always risky streaming someone at Coors Field, but Marquez gets an easier matchup this weekend against the Pirates. Marquez’s numbers aren’t the greatest at first glance, but he has been better since the start of June. Plus, even though he has a lower strikeout rate this season (19%) compared to the rest of his career (23.2%), the Pirates strike out the second most in MLB against RHP with a 25.4% K-rate. The Pirates also rank as a bottom five team in OPS and wRC+. Marquez should have success against a team that struggles offensively and strikes out a lot, but the risk of Coors Field is still there. I’d be cautious streaming Marquez, but there aren’t many better options if you are looking for a streamer on Friday.
Saturday
Dean Kremer @ Tampa Bay Rays (32% Rostered)
Confidence Rating: 2
Looking at Kremer’s underlying numbers, I’m not sure how much longer he is going to keep up the nice run he has been on. But the Rays have been surprisingly bad on offense given their record. Kremer had a nice outing last time out against the Angels, racking up a season-high 7 strikeouts in 5 innings. I’m predicting that he keeps the strikeouts coming this weekend, as the Rays have a 24.8% strikeout rate against RHP. His ERA looks very good at 2.15, but the xERA concerns me a bit, which sits at 4.86. Kremer is due to regress at some point, but I’m hoping it won’t be against the Rays this weekend.
Dylan Bundy vs. Chicago White Sox (29% Rostered)
Confidence Rating: 4
The White Sox should be a scary matchup to stream against, but they actually rank close to the Tigers and A’s offensively. In fact, the A’s have a better team ISO and the Sox are only better than the A’s and Tigers in team OPS. Bundy has been serviceable as of late, only allowing more than 2 earned runs in one of his previous five starts. Bundy isn’t incredible nor is he terrible, which makes him a generally uninspiring pitcher to stream. He is a “safer” option though, at least more so than almost every other pitcher in the article this week. It’s not a sexy pick, but Bundy should give you a pretty average outing if you need it.
Sunday:
Jake Odorizzi vs. Oakland Athletics (30% Rostered)
Confidence Rating: 6
Since coming off the IL, Odorizzi has had one really bad start and one really good start. Both were against bottom tier offenses, Kansas City and Oakland, and he gets the A’s again on Sunday. Hopefully, he can replicate what he did to the A’s on July 10th when he allowed only 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 over 7 innings pitched. Odorizzi was starting to settle in after three bad starts to begin the season, as he only allowed 2 earned runs in 22.2 innings pitched before being placed on the IL. I’m hoping he has settled in again, and two starts in a row against the A’s can go a long way to helping him do that. I would feel confident starting Odorizzi this weekend with my only hesitation being that it is the same team he just faced in his previous start.
Graham Ashcraft @ St. Louis Cardinals (37% Rostered)
Confidence Rating: 2
Ashcraft won’t get you a ton of strikeouts, but what he will do is limit hard contact against him. He might be in a sneaky good matchup against the Cardinals because of his ability to limit barrels and hard hits. The Cardinals have a hard hit rate of 27.4% against RHP, which ranks 26th in baseball this season. Ashcraft ranks in the 74th percentile in hard hit rate and the 82nd percentile in barrel rate. He also has low walk and strikeout rates, so Ashcraft serves as a ratio play if you need them. He has gone over 100 pitches in 3 of his last 4 starts, so if you need someone to eat innings and help your WHIP and ERA, Ashcraft is someone to consider.
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