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Players to target or add from the waiver wire in Week 6 for fantasy baseball H2H (head-to-head) leagues. Zach Alexander identifies the top pickups of the week based on rising fantasy value.
There are plenty of strategies that fantasy managers explore in hopes to get an advantage over their opponent. Heavy lineup, heavy starting pitchers, no catcher, all (or mostly) reliever staff, no reliever staff, etc. Even if you play a balanced lineup, injuries can cause holes. A few weeks without a key player won’t kill a season, but why accept losing when you can stream?
Streaming can be a risky business. If you do it right and check the necessary boxes, you can win the week. This column will do most of the work for you. It’ll cover weekly recommendations for when you need: steals, home runs, average, strikeouts, wins, and/or ratios (ERA/WHIP).
All position eligibility and ownership percentages are based on Yahoo! Fantasy leagues.
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Steals - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Jose Peraza (2B/SS, CIN) - 48% Owned
After a slow start to the season, Jose Peraza is trending up. A lot of owners ditched him as he’s still only hitting .200 and has an on-base percentage of .224. Now is a good time to scoop him back up. Over the past two weeks, he’s hit .262 with an OBP of .295. Those numbers don’t make you jump to your app to pick him up, but over the past week, he’s hitting .320 with a .346 OBP. He was targeted in drafts for his speed and three of his four steals on the season have come in the past two weeks. The Reds have a seven-game slate next week, which gives Peraza plenty of chances to run. The A’s and Giants are top-five and top-15 teams to run on, respectively.
Kevin Kiermaier (OF, TB) - 19% Owned
Kiermaier has been solid this season hitting .260 with a .324 OBP. He’s also swiped four bags so far compared to 10 in triple the at-bats last year. It’s pretty clear they’re asking him to get going on the base paths to create more scoring opportunities. He already has 17 runs, batting mainly in the bottom half of the order. He’s not a good play for the beginning of the week against the Diamondbacks, but the Rays play the Yankees at the end of the week who have allowed the most stolen bases this year. Fire him up for that series.
Home Runs - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Michael Chavis (2B/3B, BOS) - 47% Owned
He starts the week off at Camden Yards and ends it back at Fenway against the Mariners. Notably, the Orioles and Mariners have allowed the most and third most home runs so far this year. Chavis has been on fire since he’s been called up in the wake of injuries to both Dustin Pedroia and Eduardo Nunez. He’s hitting .289/.426/.553 with three home runs in 38 at-bats. Be aware that Nunez is just about ready to return off the injured list, however, he may be held to a utility role at least until (if) Chavis cools off. As mentioned above, the matchups are favorable for the week. Also, note that all three of his home runs have come against right-handed pitching which the Sox will see a lot of this week.
Mitch Moreland (1B, BOS) - 15% Owned
When can you find two Red Sox regulars more than 50% available on the wire? This week is also a great week to stream Mitch Moreland. As mentioned above, the matchups and parks are very favorable for home runs. The important thing for Moreland is that he typically sits against left-handed pitching. The Orioles only have one lefty starter on their staff and the Mariners are lining up so that their lefty starters will not pitch in the Red Sox series. Just double check that he’s in the lineup before locking him in and this one is a layup.
Batting Average - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Josh Reddick (OF, HOU) - 25% Owned
A guy who plays mostly every day for one of the best teams in the league is only 25% owned in Yahoo leagues. Josh Reddick is currently raking in the hits as he’s slashing .344/.394/.469 in the bottom half of the Astros order. What’s better is that his Statcast numbers show that it’s no fluke. His expected batting average (per Baseball Savant) is a whopping .321. Expected batting average (xBA) measures the likelihood that a batted ball will become a hit. If a player’s xBA is well below his actual BA then we can assume some luck and regression towards the xBA or vice versa. Also, the Royals and Rangers rotations aren’t much to fear. Note that Reddick has hit righties (.354/.411/.451) a bit better than lefties (.286/.286/.571) this season, however, both are in play.
Andrelton Simmons (SS, LAA) - 47% Owned
It’s a bit surprising seeing Simmons with an ownership this low. There have been a lot of shortstop options this year which is likely why. As usual, Simmons has been great from a batting average standpoint, hitting .292 so far. He’s also been hot in the past two weeks hitting .345 with a .368 OBP. Simmons has finished the last three seasons with an average of .278 or higher, so this is no outlier. Matchups against the Tigers and Orioles next week also help his case for an easy stream for a BA boost. He has hit lefties (.314/.314/.571) slightly better than righties (.284/.306/.389) so far this year.
Strikeouts - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Anthony DeSclafani (SP, CIN) - 18% Owned
It’s getting a little weird how similar these three profiles have been. Desclafani owns a 3.48 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 36 strikeouts in 31 innings to this point. He’s another guy who has posted very impressive numbers in his past few starts. He’s recently shut down the Padres, Cardinals, and Mets, striking out 20 over those 17 2/3 innings and allowing only one run. He’ll face the Giants who have the second-worst hitting team against righties this year (one better than his own team), evidenced by a slash of .211/.275/.357.
Jeff Samardzija (SP, SF) - 21% Owned
I didn’t make this segway on purpose but Samardzija lines up to face the Reds who I just mentioned are the worst hitting team against right-handed pitching this year. A slash of .205/.277/.357 against righties and I’m willing to stream just about any righty against them. It helps that Samardzija is coming off two solid starts against the Blue Jays and the Dodgers. The more impressive one being the scoreless five innings he threw against the dangerous Dodgers lineup. He only had one strikeout in that one, which isn’t surprising. However, he’s pitched to a 2.53 ERA and 1.06 WHIP with 25 strikeouts in 32 innings thus far. With Cincinnati being top 10 in the league in strikeouts against righties, I’d bet on at least a strikeout per inning.
Wins - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Jake Odorizzi (SP, MIN) - 27% Owned
Odorizzi is quietly putting up a nice campaign with a 3.34 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 30 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings. His most recent start was an absolute beauty against the Astros, striking out seven over seven scoreless innings leading the Twins to a 1-0 win. He’s had two rough starts against the Phillies and Mets that have ballooned his ERA since he only pitched a total of 5 1/3 innings in those starts combined. We can feel safe betting on him to perform against Detroit next week who is currently hitting .230/.304/.369 against right-handed pitching this year. The Twins offense has been great and should provide a win.
Martin Perez (SP, MIN) - 8% Owned
Another Twin in the win column shows how hot their lineup is, but also how they have some underrated starting pitching. Martin Perez has also quietly put up a similar line to Odorizzi, with a 3.41 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings. The issue here is that he also holds a rough 1.40 WHIP. However, he has turned the corner in his last two starts against the Astros and Orioles, in which he threw a combined 14 innings of one-run ball with 11 strikeouts and a 0.86 WHIP. He’ll match up for a likely win against the 14-17 Blue Jays.
ERA/WHIP - Head-to-Head Category Streamers
Tyler Skaggs (SP, LAA) - 41% Owned
When Skaggs is healthy he’s a great option to stream. Despite a short stint on the injured list, Skaggs has posted a 3.12 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and two quality starts. He’s excelled in matchups against some lesser teams so far (Toronto, Kansas City, and Texas) and been average to disappointing in those against tougher teams (Chicago Cubs and Oakland). He’ll face Detroit who is a middle of the pack team in terms of hitting lefties (.242/.321/.403) but has scored the least amount of runs (15) in the league against them. I’ll bet on a healthy Skaggs to keep them off the board, even if he lets a few on base.
Aaron Sanchez (SP, TOR) - 38% Owned
If you’re upset about Sanchez’s four-inning disappointment against the Angels, don’t be. The Angels actually have the sixth-best batting average against right-handed pitchers so far this year, so we’ll give him a break on that one. The encouraging thing with Sanchez is, as far as we know, he’s healthy. He’s also pitched pretty well as evidenced by a 3.09 ERA over 35 innings. His WHIP has not been good and sits at 1.49, but if we look at who he’s pitched against, we can see why. We’ve noted the Angels are well-above average against righties and he’s also faced Oakland twice, Boston, and Minnesota. He’ll get a more favorable matchup next week against the Pirates who are hitting .233/.309/.383 against righties so far.
