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Jeff Kahntroff analyzes hitter streamers and starts for Week 20. These bats are potential fantasy baseball waiver wire adds to stream for head-to-head leagues.
Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 20, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games.
To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week. If someone jumps off the page at me as a less than seven game player, I may make an exception, but otherwise the advantage in number of games dictates my choices.
Streaming can be a valuable tool, by allowing you to feast on favorable pitching matchups and simply have your hitters play more games than your opponents' hitters. If you have the roster space, streaming a hitter can be useful not only to fill a vacant lineup spot, but also to fill in for someone who has five games that week or faces tough matchups. In 5x5 leagues, four of the five hitting categories are counting stats, making the value of extra games significant. Streaming also can allow you to target a specific category of need. This week offers a decent streaming pool. Let's dive in.
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Bats to Stream and Start in Week 20
Kevin Pillar (OF, TOR) - 19% owned
Over the last three years, Pillar averaged 12 homers and 18 steals while hovering around .255-.275 in batting average. In 100 games this year, he is posting similar numbers, with a line of .246/9/46/41/13. Given the dearth of stolen bases in today’s game, Pillar’s ability to provide decent run production and some pop along with good stolen base numbers is extremely valuable. Facing decent pitching matchups, he is worth a stream this week.
Aledmys Diaz (SS, TOR) - 20% owned
Diaz was one of the biggest fantasy disappointments of the 2017 season. After being shipped to Toronto this offseason, he started slowly and many likely wrote him off (if they had not previously done so). However, in 61 games since May 1, Diaz has a line of .293/10/31/25/2. In 111 games in 2016, Diaz posted a line of .300/17/71/65/4. He has shown he can hit for extended periods of time, and he appears to be back on track. Diaz is a buy and hold candidate. While he faces three lefties this week, against whom he does not fare as well, he is still a good option.
Adalberto Mondesi (2B/SS, KC) - 10% owned
Mondesi is a great source of stolen bases. In just 35 games he has 12 steals. He has also swatted four homers to go along with decent run production. In the minors, he likewise has shown great stolen base ability with a mix of power. His strikeouts will likely keep his average down, but the 23 year-old is an excellent source of stolen bases with the chance for some power and run production. Facing decent matchups, he is a good option this week.
Jeff McNeil (2B/3B, NYM) - 13% owned
McNeil has been a late bloomer. Had he posted the same numbers at 22 instead of 26, there would be loud waves around him. In 88 minor league games this year, he had a 36:42 BB:K ratio while still showing good power (19 homers and 50 total extra base hits). Those numbers would typically predict MLB success, but given his age many may question his ability to succeed in MLB. Nevertheless, in his first 15 MLB games he has shown nearly identical walk and strikeout percentages to go with a .289 average and two homers. He is worth streaming and being a speculative add, seeing if he is worth keeping.
Albert Pujols (1B, LAA) - 40% owned
Pujols will face four lefties this week, and he has sported a much lower average against them this year (.198 vs LHP and .270 vs. RHP). However, that appears to be luck-driven, as he is making a higher percentage of hard contact against lefties (45.6% vs. LHP and 41.3% vs. RHP) and his k-rate versus them is only slightly higher. While he likely will be without his MVP teammate for half the week, he still has the ability to produce against favorable matchups. He has a .254/18/45/56/1 line on the year, and he should do better than those numbers indicate this week given his matchups.
Manuel Margot (OF, SDP) - 31% owned
Through the end of May, Margot was batting .204 with just one homer. In the 54 games since, however, he has a line of .291/4/27/24/4. The numbers do not jump off the page at you, but they are good enough that they merit streaming in the right week. This week, he faces decent pitching matchups which include five righties, against whom he has stolen all 10 of his bases on the year while hitting them equally well as lefties. If you are looking for the possibility of a steal with across the board production, Margot is a good bet.
Teoscar Hernandez (OF, TOR) - 21% owned
Hernandez is showing great power, with 18 homers in fewer than 100 games. He also has 95 runs plus RBIs in his 95 games, showing decent run production. And, he has stolen three bases, which is not nothing. His strikeout rates will likely keep his average down, but if you need power and run production with the off chance for a stolen base, he is a good option this week.
Franmil Reyes (OF, SDP) - 8% owned
In just 122 MLB at bats this year, Reyes has a line of .264/9/20/13/0. In his 58 minor league games, he had a line of .324/16/50/52/0. The 6'5, 240 pound 23-year-old slugger has a lot of power. He strikes out at a significant clip, which will depress his batting average. While in a perfect world he would face more than two lefties this week, his pitching matchups are still decent enough to recommend him as an option.
Michael Conforto (OF, NYM) - 41% owned
Since the break, Conforto has a line of .304/3/14/10/0 in 19 games. Even though he has fared somewhat similarly against lefties and righties this year, his career numbers show that he has been better against righties, and he should face seven or eight of them this week. The matchups are not great, but Conforto has heaps of talent and plays eight games. He is worth starting, and possibly keeping rather than streaming.
Johan Camargo (2B/3B/SS, ATL) - 24% owned
Camargo gets eight games this week against decent matchups. In 91 games this year, he has managed to show power (13 homers) with relatively limited strikeouts (66). He would be higher on the list if the Braves did not face seven righties this week, as he has fared better against southpaws. Nonetheless, he is a worth start for well-rounded production (other than stolen bases).
