Fantasy baseball daily notes: Pitcher and hitter rankings for Thursday’s games
Here’s a look at the day’s top streaming options, focusing on players rostered in fewer than 50% of ESPN leagues.
Kevin Gausman (R), rostered in 24% of ESPN leagues, San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Angels: Gausman failed to register a quality start his last time out, going 5 2/3 innings against Oakland while allowing three runs on five hits and three walks. Then again, he also fanned 11 batters, so fantasy managers weren’t too disappointed. The right-hander continues to flash increased velocity, which has helped propel him to a dominant 31.8% K rate this season. All told, Gausman sports a 6.8 K/BB ratio, the seventh-best mark in baseball. In short, this is a skillset worth buying. On Thursday, Gausman will tackle an Angels squad that’s been largely middle-of-the-road in 2020, ranking 15th in baseball with a .318 wOBA.
Spencer Turnbull (R), 51%, Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox: Turnbull failed to make it through five frames his last time out, as his control wavered. Prior to that, however, he delivered three straight starts of two or fewer runs allowed, leading to a 2.78 ERA across his four starts. It’d be nice to see a little more consistency from Turnbull, who has multiple swing-and-miss offerings, but the pieces are still here. The White Sox lineup is young and carries some thump, but it also whiffs at a 25.9% clip and boasts one of the worst walk rates in baseball (7.2%), so Turnbull has a good chance to put up a strong effort here.
Adam Wainwright (R), 40%, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds: While he may be well past his prime, Wainwright is still finding a way to get it done, surrendering only one run in back-to-back starts to open the season. Wainwright has never been a big strikeout pitcher, as he’s never whiffed a batter per inning in his entire career, but he’s adept at getting grounders and keeping the ball in the park, which should serve him well against a Reds lineup that features plenty of power. He’s also getting the ball at Busch Stadium, a pitcher-friendly venue where the veteran owns a career 2.84 ERA.
Asher Wojciechowski (R), 2%, Baltimore Orioles vs. Boston Red Sox: Wojciechowski is the type of hurler you only want to consider in favorable matchups. As strange as it may sound, a matchup against Boston qualifies. The Red Sox sport an 87 wRC+ against right-handed pitching this season with a 26.5 K% that’s second-worst in the American League. This presents a nice opportunity for Wojciechowski to rack up some strikeouts and potentially come away with a win. Despite its poor reputation, the Orioles offense boasts a top-six wOBA (.333) and top-seven wRC+ 110), so they should provide the righty with some run support against Nate Eovaldi and his 5.93 ERA.
Fantasy managers are often hesitant to invest in Baltimore closers. However, Cole Sulser has notched five saves this season and hasn’t allowed a hit in five of his last six appearances. As noted above, the Orioles have a good chance of picking up a win here against the Red Sox, who have lost nine in a row and own the worst record in the American League. Sulser is available in 71% of ESPN leagues.
For the latest team-by-team closer situations, please consult our Closer Chart.
Note: W-L, ERA and WHIP are 2020 statistics
Catcher — Roberto Perez (R), 5%, Cleveland Indians at Pittsburgh Pirates (RHP Trevor Williams): Perez is back in action after missing two weeks with a right shoulder injury. The Cleveland backstop popped 24 homers in 2019 and carries some power upside against the soft-tossing Williams, who allows tons of fly balls.
First Base — Yandy Diaz (R), 37%, Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees (LHP James Paxton): Diaz is a great streaming target anytime there’s a lefty on the mound. He possesses a .291/.394/.452 career slash line against southpaws, and Paxton has been highly susceptible to right-handed batters this season, allowing a .423 wOBA.
Second Base — Garrett Hampson (R), 46%, Colorado Rockies vs. Houston Astros (RHP Cristian Javier): Hampson’s rostered percentage is on the rise, but I’ll keep banging the drum here until he’s rostered in more than 50% of leagues. Not only has the 25-year-old cemented himself as the Rockies’ leadoff hitter, but he’s batting .309/.381/.491 with three steals and 13 runs in 17 games. Of course, he gets the Coors Field boost here, too.
Third Base — Travis Shaw (L), 4%, Toronto Blue Jays vs. Philadelphia Phillies (RHP Spencer Howard): While Howard has a bright future ahead of him, there have been some early speed bumps. Shaw, who owns a 50% hard-hit rate and appears to be on the verge of getting hot, will look to take advantage of the rookie’s struggles.
Shortstop — Jon Berti (R), 16%, Miami Marlins vs. New York Mets (LHP Steven Matz): With eligibility at second base, third base, shortstop and outfield, Berti is easy to slide into one of your empty lineup slots. He’s a great speed option if you’re low on steals, and his matchup against Matz, who has been blasted by righty batters (.388 wOBA), is a juicy one.
Corner Infield — Jake Cronenworth (L), 14%, San Diego Padres vs. Texas Rangers (RHP Kyle Gibson): Like Berti, Cronenworth’s multi-position eligibility makes him a great streaming option. The 26-year-old has been playing nearly every day for the Padres and is batting .302/.362/.585 through 18 games. With a Sprint Speed score in the 93rd percentile, there’s some nice stolen base potential here, too.
Middle Infield — Nick Ahmed (R), 16%, Arizona Diamondbacks at Oakland Athletics (LHP Sean Manaea): We know what Ahmed is at this point, but we might as well take advantage of his hot stick. He’s hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games with three bombs, 16 RBI and a pair of steals. Meanwhile, Manaea has served up a .333/.368/.508 slash line to righty hitters this season.
Outfield — Jay Bruce (L), 3%, Philadelphia Phillies at Toronto Blue Jays (RHP Chase Anderson): Bruce is solely a platoon bat at this point, but that’s fine for our purposes. He sports a 1.124 OPS and .500 ISO against right-handed pitching this season, with eight extra-base hits in 32 at-bats. For his part, Anderson has been allowing lots of hard contact (47.4%), putting Bruce in an appealing spot.
Outfield — Josh Reddick (L), 8%, Houston Astros at Colorado Rockies (RHP German Marquez): Reddick doesn’t draw much attention in fantasy circles, but he’s still the No. 2 in one of baseball’s best lineups and does plenty of damage against right-handed pitching (.333/.391/.500). While Marquez may be Colorado’s ace, we’ll still take our chances with the bat in Coors Field.
Outfield — Stephen Piscotty (R), 17%, Oakland Athletics vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (LHP Alex Young): Piscotty has been on quite a tear. Over the last week, he’s clubbed three homers and driven in 11 runs. He could power up again against Young, who has been tagged for four home runs in just 14 innings this season.
Hitter ratings account for the opposing starting pitcher’s past history (three years’ worth as well as past 21 days) as well as ballpark factors. “LH” and “RH” ratings account only for left- and right-handed batters, respectively. Weighted on-base average (wOBA) is the primary statistic used in the calculation. Ratings range from 1-10, with 10 representing the best possible matchup, statistically speaking, and 1 representing the worst. So, for example, a 10 is a must-start rating, while a 1 should be avoided (if possible); a 1-2 is poor, 3-4 is fair, 5-6 is average, 7-8 is very good and 9-10 is excellent. A “*” means that the pitcher lacks requisite career major league data to produce an accurate hitter rating; these are the author’s ratings.