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Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your daily source of waiver wire and streaming advice. Whether you play in head-to-head leagues, or are looking to pad certain stat categories, this column is your daily resource. DFS lineups can be built using the information here as well.
Below are your pitcher and hitter streaming targets for Thursday, April 13th. We'll have 11 games with which to work.
Let's get to it.
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Agenda
- Duda's Double Donger
- Today's Weather and Updates
- Tomorrow's Picks
1. Duda's Double Donger
What's a euphemism? And should it be "an euphemism?" This all sounds so wrong.
Yesterday, Lucas Duda popped two home runs. He was overshadowed by teammate Yoenis Cespedes going deep three times. With respect to Cespedes, he's over 200 percent owned in Yahoo leagues. Duda, however, remains 90 percent available. He feasts upon bad fastballs, making him an easy-to-manage bench slugger. Just play him against the Clay Buchholz's of the world.
Here's proof of his prodigious power. Or you can navigate yourself to MLB.com to watch all four of his hits.
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2. Today's Weather and Updates
Keep an eye on the weather report in San Francisco. The current forecast calls for about three to four hours of rain right around game time. New York may be damp or even slightly delayed. They'll probably play.
Tomorrow, only San Francisco has the blue lines that signify rain according to this largely unhelpful weather map.
3. Tomorrow's Picks - Thursday, April 13th
Pitchers to Use
Jimmy Nelson is available in 97 percent of leagues despite a superb season debut. One start is not much to go on, but it's notable that he threw his changeup eight times in a 93 pitch outing. He'll usually throw one or two per game. The pitch performed well, and Nelson showed a willingness to use it when behind in the count - the best time to induce silly swings by changing speeds. If Nelson has truly added a useful changeup, he'll have a five pitch repertoire with which to unbalance opposing hitters. Unfortunately, Nelson may be homer prone. Visiting Great American Ballpark won't help.
Wei-Yin Chen was a frequent streaming option from 2012 through 2015. Upon joining the Marlins last season, he completely collapsed. Now fully healthy, Chen has a chance to recapture his previous form. We'll see if he can stymie an explosive Mets offense.
Oft-broken Brett Anderson is as widely available as Nelson. The left-handed ground ball pitcher will face the Dodgers, a team that struggled against a left-handed ground ball pitcher last week. Anderson's velocity was at a career low in his season debut, but he did show full command of a five pitch repertoire.
Another revived corpse, Hyun-Jin Ryu, has the task of handling the Cubs. Ryu survived Coors Field. He may survive the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The occasionally crumbling Chicago stadium is pitcher friendly at this time of year.
Other Targets: Jordan Zimmermann, Eduardo Rodriguez, Robert Gsellman
Pitchers to Exploit
Young, unestablished pitchers like Matt Andriese and Luis Severino make for volatile targets. They both possess plenty of talent. Andriese has a deceptively potent repertoire despite lacking visually impressive stuff. Severino oozes pitchability, but the results haven't translated to the major league rotation. They've both dominated out of the bullpen. With Yankee Stadium around to buff home run rates, this could be a high and/or low scoring game.
Since his debut in 2000, Bronson Arroyo has been the poster child for mediocre workhorse. In recent seasons, his poster is of a man who is unwilling to quit - contrary to all evidence. I fully empathize with his unwillingness to walk away from the game, but he makes for a mighty easy target. If there's a downside, it's that Michael Lorenzen should be ready for his next three inning outing tomorrow.
I want to believe in Jesse Hahn. I really do. His velocity is up a smidge on his sinker. Perhaps this is the year it sinks enough to be an effective pitch. His offspeed stuff remains firmly in the "meh" column. With every hitter lowering their hands, it's a bad time to rely on a mediocre sinker.
Other Targets: Phil Hughes, Chad Kuhl, Ricky Nolasco, Miguel Gonzalez, Josh Tomlin, Jason Vargas
Homers on the Wire
Brewers cleanup man Travis Shaw is exactly 50 percent owned. If he's still available in your league, he has a glorious matchup against Arroyo. Shaw is making a ton of hard contact in the early going.
There are only really one or two spots for Franklin Gutierrez, Enrique Hernandez, and Scott Van Slyke. Eventually, the club is going to have to decide which of these lefty mashing specialists doesn't fit on the roster. The trio all underperformed in 2016, leaving the club with a particularly difficult decision.
The Rays still have a nice stack sitting on the waiver wire. Corey Dickerson and Kevin Kiermaier are under 40 percent owned. That short right field porch coupled with Severino's home run issues make this a mighty tempting matchup. Logan Morrison is more widely available.
Aaron Judge and Joey Gallo hit moon balls. Judge is opposed by Andriese while Gallo will see Nolasco. Both have massive home run ability with platinum sombrero downside.
Other Targets: Jarrett Parker, Asdrubal Cabrera, Wilmer Flores, Scott Schebler, Justin Smoak, Chase Headley
Steals on the Wire
It's national Rajai Davis day tomorrow. The lefty "masher" is opposed by a middling southpaw. Salvador Perez does a good job controlling the running game, so this might not be the best play for a stolen base.
If you don't need to tap into the power potential of Yankee Stadium, why not take a shot on Mallex Smith. The premium defender is one of the fastest players in the majors. The challenge for him is reaching base. He's accomplished this seven times thus far, and he's stolen three bases. Yankees catcher Austin Romine is exploitable.
The year is 2017, and Craig Gentry is the Baltimore Orioles leadoff man against left-handed pitching. I'm growing increasing convinced this is an episode of Black Mirror.
Other Targets: Jose Reyes, Brett Gardner, Tyler Saladino, Delino DeShields
Skill Positions
If you haven't already, it's time to grab Matt Bush. Sam Dyson blew another save for the Rangers. I swear that Texas closer job is cursed.
The Giants are indeed playing it safe with Buster Posey. Nick Hundley is a go for the next six days.
