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The World Cup fire has officially been extinguished, and summer once again belongs to the national pastime. Below are some of the starting pitcher streaming sleepers for the second half of Week 14 to consider adding off your league’s waiver wire. Some of these SP options can be considered sleepers for your team depending on the league format and depth, including NL-Only, AL-Only and head-to-head formats.
Thursday SP Streamers
Carlos Martinez (STL at SF)
Ownership: 30% Yahoo!, 3% ESPN
Martinez certainly isn’t a sexy pick, especially going head-to-head against Madison Bumgarner, but San Francisco’s offense has 1) struggled to create runs against right-handers, and 2) struggled against any hander over the last two weeks: .226 AVG, .278 OBP and .332 SLG. C-Mart should see a low ERA but a mid-to-high WHIP.
MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream
Nathan Eovaldi (MIA vs. PHI)
Ownership: 32% Yahoo!, 25% ESPN
It seems like the Marlins and the Phillies play each other every week in a 3-2 game. Hopefully it’s this game. Honestly, you could take Eovaldi or Kendrick in this one, but Eovaldi has a better K-rate and the Phillies’ bats are worse against right-handers.
Kendrick is also giving up too many hits, and the Marlins aren’t terrible at run creation when they play in south Florida. Philadelphia has a high fly ball rate which plays well into Eovaldi’s low 6.4% HR/FB rate, especially at Marlins Park.
MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream
Matt Shoemaker (LAA vs. HOU)
Ownership: 13% Yahoo!, 5% ESPN
I had high hopes for Shoemaker last week, so naturally he tossed a gem in his last start by giving up 8 ER in 4 IP. Shoemaker is good enough to make fantasy owners go Godfather Part III when picking him off the waiver wire-- just when I thought I was out, [t]he[y] pull[s] me back in. Read that previous sentence in an Al Pacino voice. As for Thursday night’s game against Houston, this isn’t rocket science. Shoemaker’s best pitch is the split-finger and the Astros are the worst hitting team in the league against splits. Add in that both Shoemaker and the Astros have high K-rates and you’ve got yourself a projected quality start.
MATCHUP RATING: Must Stream
Friday SP Streamers
Marcus Stroman (TOR at OAK)
Ownership: 19% Yahoo!, 6% ESPN
When you’re at your picnic, party or barbecue on Friday and the 1967 hit by Sam and Dave comes on the iPod or radio, feel free to sing along to the chorus “I’m a STRO-man.” Stroman’s fastball may get touched up a bit against Oakland’s lefties, but his slider should keep the big time mashers (see: Yoenis Cespedes) at bay.
Make no mistake-- there will be some scoring by the A’s. It’s tough to keep the league’s third-best run-scoring offense against right-handers from crossing the plate. However, Stroman is good enough to go 6 IP, 6 K and 3 ER, and with that Toronto offense, that’s all he’ll need for a W.
MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream
Josh Collmenter (ARI at ATL)
Ownership: 7% Yahoo!, 2% ESPN
About a week ago, this matchup would’ve played right into Collmenter’s hands. But after seven straight wins, it looks like Atlanta has figured out how to hit right-handers. Atlanta hasn’t had a lot of success against him-- .232/.259/.375 slash line by current Braves-- nor has Collmenter’s high fly ball rate translated to a lot of runs, but the weather is projected to be a humid evening in Atlanta and the Braves are hot.
MATCHUP RATING: Desperate Stream
Saturday SP Streamers
Edinson Volquez (PIT vs. PHI)
Ownership: 6% Yahoo!, 5% ESPN
The Buccos have been among the hottest teams since the start of June, which automatically improves any Pirate starting pitcher’s win chances, and Philadelphia has been awful all season against right-handed pitching. Easy, right? Not so much. For whatever reason, Volquez hasn’t put together two quality starts in a row, and his last start was solid. Philadelphia has also hit the changeup decently, a pitch that Volquez has struggled with.
MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream
Hector Santiago (LAA vs. HOU)
Ownership: 4% Yahoo!, 1% ESPN
When in doubt, look at the K-rates. Santiago’s 20.8% K-rate should mesh well with Houston’s 23.3% K-rate and make life a little easier for his fantasy owners. His walk numbers are still cause for concern, and that's been leading to extra runs scored on him all season.
MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream
Sunday SP Streamers
Jeff Locke (PIT vs. PHI)
Ownership: 10% Yahoo!, 7% ESPN
Locke has been too good to pass up, but his matchup on Sunday could pose some problems. The Phillies are actually in the top third in run creation against lefties, mainly due to their high HR/FB rate. The lineup Locke will most likely face has also hit him well. Locke should be a solid starter for the rest of the season, but he may have problems Sunday.
MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream
Drew Hutchison (TOR at OAK)
Ownership: 21% Yahoo!, 5% ESPN
![By Keith Allison on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://www.rotoballer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/RotoBaller-MLB-News-Fantasy-Baseball-Advice-Analysis-Drew-Hutchinson-150x150.png)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hutch is on the road in his next start which means Dr. Jekyll should make his appearance on Sunday. Or is it Mr. Hutch who puts up the better numbers? Either way you look at it, expect good Hutchison to come out against the A’s.
On the road, the dude has been silly good. The A’s may be silly good themselves at home, but as long as Hutch continues to strike out batters (14.8 K/BB rate) and give up shallow fly balls (42.2% FB rate, 3.8% HR/FB rate) the way he has been, he won’t have too many struggles in cavernous O.co Coliseum.
MATCHUP RATING: Solid Stream
Jesse Hahn (SD vs. SF)
Ownership: 44% Yahoo!, 39% ESPN
Hahn has been nothing short of sensational since getting a spot in the rotation. There’s really not a whole lot not to like about him. He makes this list because he’s been very good so far and too good to pass up. Two things to consider watching out for: he’s giving up a lot of liners (25.8% LD rate) and he’s stranding a lot of runners on base (85.1% LOB rate). Those are two BIG watch-outs, and San Francisco’s offense is good enough to take advantage.
MATCHUP RATING: Risky Stream
