The Daily Stream: 4/13/2013

Saturday is the day where streaming truly begins.  You have a good idea where you stand and what you need which makes risk taking a bit less risky and a bit more about pure desperation so lets get right into it.

As I mentioned in yesterdays column, this week is unique because there have been a lot of inclement weather  and rain outs so be sure you check your Sunday games for that and look to stream a bit more aggressively on Saturday in order to cover your self for that possibility even if it means claiming someone and then choosing to sit them later. It protects you and blocks another owner at the same time.  Fantasy baseball is cutthroat so get dirty and take no prisoners   You can follow me and ask all of your fantasy baseball questions on twitter @cjmitch73 #WhoYaGot

SATURDAY VERSION

Jhoulys Chacin Col @ SD Edinson Volquez

Chacin has been very good against both the Brewers and these SD Padres in 2013 pitching to a 1.35 Era and .90 Whip with 8k’s and only 3 BB’s  in 13 innings.  Those stats alone warrant a Stream Him grade but to pile on a bit, the Padres are 26th in HR’s and OPS, the game is in the pitcher friendly Petco Park in San Diego and if that is not enough he faces Edinson Volquez who has been nothing short of miserable so far in 2013. I like Garret Richards start against the Houston Astros a lot but out of today’s streaming options I think Chacin is the best of the best. He hits all the categories well and has all of the incidental effects going in his favor as well.

Stream Him with a YIPPEE as you click the Submit button

#WhoYaGot rating :

Era/Whip/Obpa :  8 of 10

K’s :  8 of 10

Wins :  7 of 10

Jin-Hyun Ryu LAD @ Ari (Ian Kennedy)

Ryu came into draft season with a lot of unknown and mystery and for good reason.  He pitched in Korea and didn’t  receive the kind of hype that many international signees receive and there was not a lot of video or game action to get a good look at him until spring training began . He didn’t have the kind of fan fare that an Aroldis Chapman with his Olympic appearances and 100 Mph fastball had or Daisuke Matsuzaka or Yu Darvish who were the talk of the off season before they signed with Boston and Texas respectively so Ryu would certainly qualify as a “sleeper” but he has pitched very well so far. 12.2 innings 11k’s 3 ER 2.13 Era 1.18 Whip. In two start weeks he is a must start and as a Saturday or Sunday stream I think he is as well. He hits all the categories well so he does a lot of helping with minimal chance of doing significant damage while pitching for a winning team in the Dodgers.  If you want a reason to be at all concerned Ian Kennedy is the D-Backs ace and the park is good for hitters but it does not concern me and it shouldn’t concern you either.

Stream Him with a YIPPEE as you hit the submit button

#WhoYaGot rating

Era/Whip/Obpa :  7.4 of 10

K’s :  7 of 10 

Wins :  6.5 of 10

Garret Richards LAA vs Hou (Lucas Harrell)

The Astros have struck out 108 times in 10 games which is 14 more strikeouts than the next most futile team in baseball (Cin)  which means they strikeout slightly less than 11 times PER GAME.  That alone is reason to stream any pitcher. Add that odds are in their favor that Richards could get a win and that doesn’t even get into the fact that Richards has pretty good stuff. His youth and inexperience limits your confidence in starting him but facing Houston more than makes up for those concerns here.  A negative impact on Era/Whip/Obpa is even limited because of the strong match-up.

Stream Him

#WhoYaGot rating :

Era/Whip/Obpa : 6.5 of 10

K’s : 8 of 10

Wins : 7 of 10

Lucas Harrell Hou @ LAA (Garrett Richards

Harrell had a nice if not awe inspiring 2012 with a respectable but a bit deceiving 3.76 Era and a 1.36 Whip. A Whip like that normally correlates to a higher Era so it looks like he got a bit lucky in 2012 and so far in 2013 he has not been very good through 10 innings.  Harrell is not really a strikeout pitcher though in 2013 through 10.1 innings he has been (6K’s) but the seven walks are disturbing.  Today he faces a very strong Angels lineup. The Angels are floundering but don’t let that fool you, this lineup can hit  and it will hit. Harrell will struggle to get through 5 innings which means he won’t be in line for a win, he will blow up your Era & Whip and though he may get a few strikeouts he is a net loss across the board.

SIT HIM

#WhoYaGot rating :

Era/Whip/Obpa : 3 of 10

K’s : 5 of 10

Wins : 3 of 10

Jose Fernandez Mia vs Phi (Hamels)

He looked filthy through five innings against the mediocre Mets. 3 Hits 1 ER 1 BB 8K’s.  The Phillies lineup is much stronger, as a 20 year old rookie he is probably on a pitch count and he is also facing Cole Hamels which means he seems more likely to either not qualify or just plain not win which is what happened in his first outing. All good reasons to sit him this week but there are more good reasons to start him.  Philly is playing better now  at 5-5 but has their fair share of strikeouts in that lineup but the best reason, he was filthy in his first start which means he should help you in both Era/Whip and strikeouts.  He was good enough in his debut to earn a start purely because he is too good to sit.  One final note.  I have a gut feeling that this outing is a bad one for the young up and comer. He exploded on the scene in a wild and whacky Sunday last week and I can’t help but think he regresses to the mean a bit in this one.  I would still start him, “my gut” is not reason or at least it isn’t a good enough reason YET to sit a player that you should start but for the record and for my memoirs, I think this one is going to end up a rough one for the youngster.

Stream  Him

#WhoYaGot rating :

Era/Whip/Obpa : 6.5 of 10

K’s : 8 of 10

Wins : 3 of 10

Phil Hughes NYY vs Bal (Jason Hammel)

Hughes struggled in his first start against Detroit after being rushed back from the DL but if you look inside the numbers he had 0 walks and 4 K’s in 4 innings. The bad sign is he gave up 8 hits that led to four earned but you can chalk that up to Detroit having one of the best lineups in the AL if not all of baseball. Today he faces a strong lineup as well in the hot Orioles and Hughes gets the O’s ace, Jason Hammel to boot.  These two teams are equals  or close to it and anyone could win and I like the chances of Hughes having a strong outing with the strikeouts.  Weather has been bad on the east coast this week but at the time of this article it looks like it won’t a concern but check on your own before you hit the submit button.

Stream Him

#WhoYaGot rating :

Era/Whip/Obpa : 6 of 10

K’s : 7 of 10

Wins :  5.5 of 10

Joe Saunders Sea vs Tex  (Alexi Ogando)

This is one of the tougher calls for Saturdays Stream candidates.  Saunders has had good strikeout totals so far which is not normally a strength of his (112K’s in 174 innings in 2012) , he has a 3.48 Era but a 1.74 Whip which doesn’t jive. Normally a Whip that high would result in a much higher Era. He plays for an up and coming Seattle team in a nice park in Safeco field but he is facing a dominant but inexperienced starter, Alexi Ogando, and a strong offensive lineup, the Texas Rangers.  Saunders seems unlikely to help significantly in any categories and my feeling is there is a good chance that he could have a poor outing which could do some harm.  If Era and Whip are already a foregone conclusion for you then I would start Saunders but if they are within reach and on Saturday they normally still are, then I would sit him.

50/50 call. Wait until the last possible moment to decide. Catch and Release option. 

#WhoYaGot rating :

Era/Whip/Obpa : 5 of 10

K’s : 5 of 10

Wins : 4.5 of 10 

Happy Fishing on this beautiful Saturday of Baseball Fantasy fans.

Look for my Daily Streaming article appearing on Saturday night or Sunday about which pitchers to consider for the final match-ups of week two, for my weekly article discussing the Start “Em Sit ‘Em options for week #3 and follow me on twitter @cjmitch73 for the weekly Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em chat on twitter live Sunday nights during the ESPN National Game of the Week beginning at 7pm Est.

Chris Mitchell
Twitter : @cjmitch73
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