This is a tough week for pitching streamers. The schedule does not align well for fantasy baseball managers looking for an added boost to their rosters. In many cases, the teams with the best streaming matchups have widely rostered pitchers in fantasy baseball. For example, Houston pitchers have great matchups against Oakland and Seattle, but those Astros pitchers are mostly unavailable. The same goes for Padres pitchers against Miami and Toronto pitchers against the White Sox.
In other cases where games feature pitchers who are more widely available in fantasy, the matchup leans in favor of the hitters.
With that, here are my favorite streamers for the week ahead.
Pitching Streamers Available in Some Leagues (30-50% Rostered)
Jack Flaherty (SP – DET)
Next Start: Wednesday 5/29 vs PIT
The Jack Flaherty redemption tour continues against Pittsburgh, in what should be a great situation for Flaherty.
Flaherty looks like a new pitcher, posting a career-best 11 k/9. He has a career-best 1.3 walks-per-nine innings rate as well. Plus, some of his other metrics have room for positive regression. His HR/FB rate and left-on-base rate are worse than normal and are signs of some bad luck. This all helps to explain why advanced ERA metrics suggest his 3.79 ERA should be closer to 2.09 (xFIP) or 2.29 (SIERA).
This is a great game for Flaherty to start inching closer to those projections. Pittsburgh has had trouble scoring, posting the ninth-worst run differential. They also strike out the fourth most as a team in all of baseball.
Pittsburgh also possesses the second-highest groundball rate in the league, while Flaherty has a 45% GB rate – the second-best rate of his career.
The Pirates also struggle against right-handed pitchers in particular. They have the fourth-worst batting average and the 10th most strikeouts when facing RHP. This plays directly into Flaherty’s strengths. He has a filthy slider and curveball combination that batters have been struggling to hit – both pitches have whiff rates over 40%. Here’s a look at it:
Jack Flaherty, Filthy 87mph Slider. 😷 pic.twitter.com/9SG68MLmh5
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 19, 2024
This is a great matchup for Flaherty, and if he is somehow available, he should be one of your top pitching streamers for the week ahead.
Dean Kremer (SP – BAL)
Next Start: Friday 5/31 vs TB
Dean Kremer’s 4.32 ERA does not do him justice, and he should be far more rostered than he is.
Kremer has an 8.8 K/9, which is trending up for the third year in a row. He also touts a modest 3.2 BB/9 and a career-best 40% GB rate. He also has an extremely low 62% LOB rate and a very high 16% HR/FB rate that suggest some positive regression is on the way.
Kremer has done well at getting batters out with four pitches that have a 20% whiff rate or better. His sinker has just a 7% whiff rate, but a 35% putaway rate.
Most seasons, you would want to stay away from pitchers facing the Rays. This season, however, Tampa is among the teams with the 10 worst run differentials and 10 most strikeouts as batters. The only other teams that fit that criteria are the Rockies, Athletics, Angels, and Pirates.
The Rays have the fourth most strikeouts against RHP and possess the seventh worst K% and fourth highest GB% overall.
This lines up to be an excellent situation for Kremer, and you should make him one of the pitching streamers you target for the upcoming week.
Widely Available Pitching Streamers (0%-30% Rostered)
Bryan Woo (SP – SEA)
Next Start: Sunday 5/26 at WAS
Bryan Woo picked up a quality start and a win pitching at Yankee Stadium in his last outing (as of writing).
Bryan Woo was lights out against the Yankees pic.twitter.com/a68LUybYV1
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 22, 2024
He is scheduled to face the struggling Nationals in his next start.
Woo has looked great so far, striking out 15 batters across 15.2 IP, while walking only two batters, and allowing one earned run. He has tossed his slider and sweeper a combined 36 times, and batters have only connected twice – once on each pitch. Woo’s slider has a 45% whiff rate and his sweeper has a 50% whiff rate. Both pitches have 33% putaway rates.
His swing-and-miss stuff should work well against a Nats team that has the eighth-worst AVG against RHP. They also have the fifth-highest groundball rate overall.
Woo could be a player you choose as one of your pitching streamers for the upcoming week that could stay on your roster for a while.
Zack Littell (SP – TB)
Next Start: Tuesday 5/28 vs OAK
If, somehow, Zack Littell is available in your league, now is the time to add him ahead of his start against Oakland.
Littell has come into his own in Tampa. In 10 starts, he has allowed more than two earned runs in a game in just three of those starts. His 8.9 K/9 rate is his best since acting as a reliever for the Giants in 2021. He has a BB/9 rate under 2.0, and a 76% LOB rate. His high BABIP should drop, even as his HR/FB rate climbs closer towards the league average. What all that means is that he should see some positive regression to his 3.42 ERA.
Littell limits walks and strands runners at a high rate but has been unlucky with batted balls. If his luck turns, even slightly, we could be looking at a much better pitcher than his ERA suggests. A game against Oakland could help with that.
The Athletics have the second-highest strikeout rate in all of baseball. Against RHP, they possess the fifth-worst AVG and the second-most strikeouts. That works great for Littell, whose slider has induced 25% whiff and putaway rates. Expect a lot of these in this matchup:
Zack Littell, Nasty 87mph Slider. 😨
6th K. pic.twitter.com/5TmBaBJwLL
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 5, 2024
Oakland makes for a great target for most pitching streamers that you can find. Definitely look to Littell wherever he is available.
Backup Plan Streamers for Week 10
- NYM Sean Manaea vs SF – Sunday 5/26
- NYY Nestor Cortes at LAA – Tuesday 5/28
- PHI Cristopher Sanchez at SF – Wednesday 5/29
- LAA Jose Soriano at SEA – Friday 5/31
Desperation Streamers for Week 10
- WAS Mitchell Parker vs SEA – Sunday 5/26
- CLE Ben Lively at LAA – Sunday 5/26
- KC Michael Wacha at TB – Sunday 5/26
- HOU Jose Urquidy at SEA – Wednesday 5/29
- LAD James Paxton at NYM – Wednesday 5/29
- MIL Robert Gasser vs CWS – Friday 5/31