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Top daily fantasy baseball streamers and waiver wire adds for 5/16/21. Mike Marteny identifies MLB hitters and starting pitchers to stream based on matchups.
Welcome to another edition of our daily fantasy baseball streamers! Are you playing in leagues with daily moves and looking to beef up those rosters? We here at RotoBaller are there for you and all of your streaming needs. Whether you are just trying to get that elusive category win or you are trying to give your pitching staff a lift because you streamed Royals against the Tigers, we can help. Each day RotoBaller will provide you with some of the best streaming options to consider in both shallow and deep fantasy baseball daily leagues. Streaming hitters and pitchers to exploit matchups are important to help you win your league.
It is important to know your league if you're going to stream. I'm not just talking about which teams your leaguemates root for. I'm talking about whether strikeouts count against you for hitters or if fielding stats are included. Most importantly, you need to know how many transactions you have per week. You don't want to blow your allotment within a couple of days. You can also use these recommendations to help build your DFS lineups. This article will use rostered percentages and position eligibility from ESPN leagues.
We have a little less than half the day's pitchers available in more than half of leagues. There are some good, some bad, and some ugly. There are even a couple that look ugly on the surface that may not be as bad as you think. Let's get to it!
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Hitter Streamers for 5/16 - Shallow Leagues
Andrew Vaughn (1B/OF, RHB, CWS) - 47% Rostered
Matchup: vs. KC RHP Brady Singer
There was reason to believe that Vaughn may struggle against veteran lefty Mike Minor yesterday, and he did. However, those of you that watched video of Friday's homer realize why Vaughn is nearly ineligible for this article now. Yeah, he may ding your average, but he has immense power. And that Royals bullpen.....woof. The starter today isn't much better. Singer has given up seven runs over nine innings in his last two starts. Singer doesn't give up a lot of homers, but Vaughn should add a couple of RBI to your total today.
Gavin Lux (2B, LHB, LAD) - 42.9% Rostered
Matchup: vs. MIA RHP Pablo Lopez
Those of you that have followed Lux's career path have been waiting patiently for him to come around. That may be happening. He has a clear path to playing time right now, and even though he doesn't have a favorable spot in the order, any spot in a lineup like the Dodgers' lineup brings potential for runs and RBI at the very least. Lux is hitting .263 with a homer, five RBI, and four runs this week, so he should be able to help your counting stats a little. Lopez is a solid pitcher, but the bullpen behind him is less so.
Robbie Grossman (OF, SHB, DET) - 38% Rostered
Matchup: vs. CHC RHP Kyle Hendricks
Well. I see many of you took my advice from yesterday, and that's a good thing. You're two hits and two runs up in your stats from those that waited until today. Just when you think the Hendricks early season swoon has subsided, he gets blown up by the Pirates. The fact is, Hendricks has never pitched well on the road and the whole Tigers lineup is punishing righties right now. I definitely want to grab the guy leading off in that lineup. The .381 average with a homer and seven RBI this week is just a bonus.
Pavin Smith (1B/OF, LHB, ARI) - 36.8% Rostered
Matchup: vs. WAS RHP Erick Fedde
Fedde has been a big groundball pitcher through most of his career, but over his last two starts, a lot more balls are getting hit in the air. That's a bad thing for pitchers in Chase Field. This has been a high-scoring series so far and it promises to end the same way. Smith is leading off for Arizona against righties and has responded with seven runs scored this week. He won't help or hurt your other ratios much, but if you are in need of runs, Smith could be a sneaky pickup.
Hitter Streamers for 5/16 - Deep Leagues
Harrison Bader (OF, RHB, STL) - 18.6% Rostered
Matchup: at SD LHP David Weathers
Bader is hitting 42 points higher against lefties in his career with 15 of his 35 homers coming against southpaws despite 435 less at-bats than against righties. Bader is just 2-5 against lefties this year, but both hits are homers. He has started this series 3-7 with a homer, and facing a southpaw in the finale should spell more good things for Bader. This could be the boost you need in the last games of the week.
Hunter Renfroe (OF, RHB, BOS) - 14.1% Rostered
Matchup: vs. LAA LHP Jose Quintana
Renfroe is a streaky guy. You want to get him while he's hot. After a homerless April, Renfroe has smacked four in May and driven in 11 of his 14 runs on the season. He drew the collar against Dylan Bundy yesterday, but this is too good of a matchup to pass up. Righties are hitting a bloated .344 against Quintana, but what do you expect from a guy giving up a run per inning on the season? Renfroe hits 46 points higher against lefties while hitting a homer every 12.5 at-bats against lefties. His splits are even more pronounced this season. Renfroe crushes lefties and is facing a bad one. Lock and load!
Jonathan India (2B/3B, RHB, CIN) - 11.9% Rostered
Matchup: vs. COL RHP Antonio Senzatela
You get a bonus pick today! Why? Because it's my article and I say so. Another more practical reason is that India likes Coors Field. In his first trip to the hitter's retreat, India is 5-11 with two homers, five RBI, three runs, and a steal. One of those homers went 451 feet! He's definitely worth an add for today's finale before he gets back to sea level, or at least Ohio River level.
Bobby Dalbec (1B, RHB, BOS) - 11.6% Rostered
Matchup: vs. LAA LHP Jose Quintana
Those of you that jumped on Dalbec's heater yesterday got a pair of RBI for your work on waivers. I mentioned under Renfroe just how bad Quintana has been this year, especially against righties. This is another dream matchup for a guy that may as well be swinging at a ball the size of a grapefruit right now.
Josh Fuentes (1B/3B, RHB, COL) - 4.1% Rostered
Matchup: vs. CIN RHP Jeff Hoffman
Fuentes gave those of you that picked him up yesterday a pair of RBI for your troubles, but if your league also counts strikeouts, you likely don't want to risk it if those numbers are close this week. Fuentes whiffed twice against Mahle yesterday. However, Fuentes is 8-for-18 with two homers, four runs, and 11 RBI in his last four games after sitting the first two games against the Padres. Ride this heater against Hoffman, who has allowed seven runs over 6.1 innings in his last two starts.
Pitcher Streamer for 5/16 - Shallow Leagues
Robbie Ray (LHP, TOR) - 43,1% rostered
Matchup: vs. Philadelphia at Dunedin
I feel dirty just mentioning Ray in this column, but put name biases aside and hear me out. Ray has pitched twice in Dunedin this year and only given up four runs in 11.2 innings. Yes, he still gives up homers, but eight in six starts (two in two home starts) is not out of the ordinary for him. It comes with a territory. What stands out about Ray is the superb (and career-best) walk rate of 6.5%. He is locating his fastball very well early in the season with teams struggling to get it in play. Yes, this Philly offense scares me some, but the metrics suggest that Ray isn't totally pitching out of his ass either. His walk rate is about 40% of last year's abomination and the launch angle is way down. There's just enough to like about Ray to throw him out there.
Pitcher Streamer for 5/16 - Deep Leagues
Ryan Weathers (LHP, SD) - 20.3% Rostered
Matchup: vs. St. Louis
The main question here is whether Weathers can hang around for five innings. Rather, whether the team will let him hang around for five innings. The Padres have flopped Weathers and Dinelson Lamet. Lamet has been starting, but pitching limited innings. Today, Weathers gets the start. If you need a win, you may need to look elsewhere, but Weathers has a superb 0.81 ERA and 0.72 WHIP this year. The youngster should help those of you in need of ratio boosts and will get you some strikeouts. Don't expect miracles though. The Cardinals hit every once in a while.
Kwang Hyun Kim (LHP, STL) - 19.9% Rostered
Matchup: at SD
San Diego is a huge pitcher's park, so both starters in that game are a little easier to stomach. Like Weathers, Kim is a superb ratios guy, but he wont go very deep into the game. He almost never goes a third time through the order. However, if you're looking for five solid innings with a chance at the win and decent strikeout potential, Kim is worth taking a flier on. He doesn't give up a lot of walks, so those of you in leagues that count BB, K/BB, or BB/9 should view him a little more favorably.
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