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Top daily fantasy baseball streamers and waiver wire adds for 5/5/21. Juan Carlos Blanco identifies MLB hitters and starting pitchers to stream based on matchups.
Baseball is back, and fantasy managers in daily leagues no doubt already have holes to fill. The easiest way to do that is with streamers. Fortunately, RotoBaller has you covered with daily streaming picks.
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We have a big all-day slate Wednesday that kicks off with a White Sox-Reds “brunch” at 12:35pm ET and features five afternoon/evening games overall. We have Coors Field and Fenway Park on the schedule, and both venues influence multiple selections in today’s article. There are some quality arms in action that we’ll steer clear of with hitters, and there’s also a pair of pitchers that aren’t in the upper echelon but that could prove rewarding spot starts in your Wednesday fantasy lineups. This article will use rostered percentages and position eligibility from Yahoo! leagues.
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Hitter Streamers for 5/5 - Shallow Leagues
Raimel Tapia (OF, COL) - 47% rostered
Matchup: vs. SFG RHP Logan Webb
Giants starter Logan Webb has gotten his season off to a relatively solid start, but he’s continued to have significant trouble with left-handed hitters. Webb is allowing an absurd .420/.482/.640 slash and .480 wOBA to the first 56 lefty bats he’s faced this season, while Tapia’s handiwork versus righties this season has included a .325 average, three homers, an .837 OPS and .363 wOBA, with the latter figure climbing to .392 at Coors heading into Tuesday’s doubleheader, when he slugged a grand slam in Game 1 off righty Aaron Sanchez. After Webb exits, Tapia will get a crack at a Giants bullpen that entered Tuesday allowing a .376 wOBA to left-handed hitters on the road.
Justin Upton (OF, LAA) - 17% rostered
Matchup: vs. TB LHP Ryan Yarbrough
Upton has experienced a bit of a resurgence this season despite his .225/.293/.416 line entering Tuesday's action not completely reflecting that. The veteran is squaring up on the ball more consistently, as evidenced by an 11.3 percent barrel rate, co-career-high 91.7 mph average exit velocity and 46.8 percent hard-hit rate. Additionally, Upton’s .497 xSLG and .333 xwOBA both imply that he should eventually enjoy more success at the plate than he has seen so far. Yarbrough could be a pitcher to facilitate some of that, as he’s struggled to open the season and has allowed a massive 33.7 percent line-drive rate to right-handed hitters, along with 10 extra-base hits and a .267 average. Meanwhile, Upton owns a .333 average, 1.128 OPS and .476 wOBA against southpaws, with those respective figures climbing to .400, 1.671 and .646 when facing them at home.
Jeimer Candelario (1B/3B, DET) - 15% rostered
Matchup: at BOS LHP Martin Perez
I’ll actually suggest Martin Perez as a good streaming pitcher option for deep leagues at the end of this article due to the Tigers’ collective ineptitude versus lefties. However, the switch-hitting Candelario is an exception to the rule. For starters, Candelario has been at his best when hitting from the right side, posting a .375 average, .817 OPS and .360 wOBA against left-handed pitching, along with a 26.3 percent line-drive rate. He owns a career. 349 wOBA and .807 OPS versus southpaws overall, proving this year’s early success is no fluke. Then, Perez has allowed a .318 average, .855 OPS and .377 wOBA to right-handed hitters at Fenway, and while many of Candelario’s teammates may be unable to take advantage of that weakness, his track record supports the notion he’ll have a good chance to.
Josh Harrison (2B, WAS) - 11% rostered
Matchup: vs. ATL LHP Max Fried
Harrison entered Tuesday’s action with a stellar .361/.451/.508 slash and .421 wOBA. The veteran has also decimated left-handed pitching over a very small sample, posting a .444 average and .559 wOBA. Zooming out to a much larger career sample, Harrison still sports a solid .328 wOBA and 8.3 wRAA against southpaws, while Braves left-hander Max Fried, who’ll be coming off the injured list with a hamstring injury for Wednesday’s start, has opened the season in poor form and has allowed a .477/.529/.818 slash and .560 wOBA to the first 51 right-handed hitters he’s faced. Fried has also given up a massive 35.3 percent line-drive rate to righty bats, as well as a .502 wOBA on his trademark four-seam fastball, a pitch Harrison owns a .416 wOBA against this season.
Hitter Streamers for 5/5 - Deep Leagues
Freddy Galvis (2B/SS, BAL) - 6% rostered
Matchup: at SEA LHP Yusei Kikuchi
Like Candelario, Galvis is another switch hitter who’s performed best against lefties, both during his career and this season specifically. The veteran slugger owns a .296 average, .367 OBP and .329 wOBA against lefties this season, and he’s boasting a 36.4 percent line-drive rate and a .398 wOBA when facing them on the road. Kikuchi has been a bit inconsistent to open the season and is allowing career highs in average exit velocity (90.2 mph), barrel rate (8.2 percent) and hard-hit rate (44.7 percent). Moreover, he’s allowed a .308/.372/.487 slash and .375 wOBA to the first 43 right-handed hitters he’s faced at home.
Ryan Zimmerman (1B/3B, WAS) - 3% rostered
Matchup: vs. ATL LHP Max Fried
Zimmerman is the second National I would consider streaming against Fried, whose significant problems early against right-handed hitters were just detailed in Harrison’s entry. Zimmerman makes for another dangerous target against him, considering he carried a .319/.347/.596 line and .402 wOBA into Tuesday night’s action. A bulk of that success has come versus lefties as well, with Zimmerman touching them up for a .391 average, .957 OPS and .413 wOBA, along with a 37.5 percent line-drive rate when facing them at home. Those aren’t just small-sample outlier figures, either, considering Zimmerman’s career .312 average, .917 OPS and .391 wOBA versus that handedness.
Tyrone Taylor (OF, MIL)- 1% rostered
Matchup: at PHI RHP Chase Anderson
Taylor jumped right back to the majors Tuesday with Christian Yelich (back) returning to the injured list. The 27-year-old has enjoyed his time against big-league arms this season, posting a .323/.400/.581 slash with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBI over 35 plate appearances. Taylor’s .158/.273/.263 slash against righties this season is somewhat a product of misfortune too, as evidenced by an atypically low .231 BABIP despite an above-average 23.1 percent line-drive rate and 38.5 percent hard-contact rate against that handedness. Then, Phillies right-handed starter Chase Anderson has scuffled in same-handed matchups all season, allowing a .286 average, .350 OBP and .328 wOBA to that handedness of hitter, including a .350 average, .959 OPS and .413 wOBA to righty bats at home. Anderson has also allowed a jaw-dropping 66.7 percent hard-contact rate to right-handed hitters at Citizens Bank Park, supporting the notion that Taylor’s third homer of the season or at least an extra-base hit or two that stays in the park could be in play Wednesday.
Mike Tauchman (OF, SFG) - 5% rostered
Matchup: at COL RHP Jon Gray
Rockies starter Jon Gray knows how to navigate the dangers of his Coors Field home park pretty well and certainly brings a high-quality power arsenal, but he’s allowed an .883 OPS and .382 wOBA to the 47 left-handed hitters he’s faced at home this season. He also has allowed a 6.05 xFIP and 18.2 percent HR/FB rate to lefty bats at Coors, while Tauchman is operating out of the leadoff spot and entered Tuesday’s doubleheader with a solid .267 average and .433 slugging percentage before lacing a pair of doubles in the twin bill. Tauchman also sported a .350 wOBA versus righties, and it’s also worth noting Rockies relievers entered Tuesday having allowed a .322/.369/.562 slash, 19 extra-base hits (12 doubles, four triples, three home runs) and .394 wOBA to 130 left-handed batters faced at Coors.
Pitcher Streamers for 5/5 - Shallow Leagues
Robbie Ray (SP, TOR) - 37% rostered
Matchup: at OAK RHP Chris Bassitt
Ray has opened his first full Blue Jays season in strong form, posting a 2.78 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 13.2 percent swinging strike rate. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any start has gone at least five innings in all four outings. He’ll enter Wednesday's turn with back-to-back quality starts. Ray has also held current Athletics bats to a collective .138/.304/.188 slash over a 29-plate-appearance sample, and Oakland went into Tuesday hitting just .227 against southpaws at home. It’s also worth noting Ray is throwing his trademark four-seam fastball in career-best fashion thus far, allowing just a .183/.246/.333 slash and .256 wOBA when throwing it while also recording a 26.2 percent strikeout rate.
Pitcher Streamers for 5/5 - Deep Leagues
Martin Perez (SP, BOS) - 3% rostered
Matchup: vs. DET RHP Casey Mize
As alluded to in Candelario’s entry, the majority of Detroit’s bats have been completely flummoxed by left-handed pitching this season. The Tigers came into Tuesday with a .170/.229/.238 line, -17.0 wRAA and .212 wOBA versus southpaws, along with a double-take-worthy 37.7 percent strikeout rate. Most of Detroit’s numbers when facing lefties on the road are somehow even uglier (.143/.207/.196, .188 wOBA) and Perez, despite his uneven start to the season, is allowing just an 88.2 mph average exit velocity and 4.3 percent barrel rate. He’s also had some misfortune at home that will likely normalize over time, as he’s posted 9.5 K/9 and a minuscule 0.7 HR/9 at Fenway yet has been done in by an unsustainably high .405 BABIP.
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