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Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop guide for streaming and waiver wire advice.
Below are your pitcher and hitter streaming targets for Thursday, April 27th.
Let's get to it.
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Agenda
- Doing Flips and Shit
- Today's Weather and Updates
- Tomorrow's Picks
1. Doing Flips and Shit
He's not on a dolphin, but Chris Coghlan is happy to provide all the flips.
Eric Thames homered again yesterday. Those who own him may want to consider selling high. Don't force the issue, just consider it. Thames continues to feast on terrible middle-middle mistakes. At least nine of his home runs have come against awful pitches. Presumably, pitchers will start nibbling rather than feeding him tasty morsels.
2. Today's Weather and Updates
St. Louis is destined for postponement. Rescheduling with Toronto could prove awkward. Expect a doubleheader tomorrow. The White Sox game has a 35 percent chance for rain all afternoon. Detroit and Cleveland could be stormy tomorrow.
3. Tomorrow's Picks - Thursday, April 27th
Thin Thursday includes 10 games. Possibly an 11th if I'm right about this potential doubleheader.
Pitchers to Use
Yesterday, I said the following about Edinson Volquez - "[He] is a volume veteran with a decent shot at a win. He's not somebody who will help your ratios." The same words apply opposite Jeremy Hellickson. The same words also apply for Hellickson. He's had a weird start the year. He's allowed a billion fly balls and almost no true outcomes (walks, strikeouts, or home runs).
And here's what I said about R.A. Dickey - "[He] tosses occasional gems interspersed with a heaping helping of BLAH. He's opposed by Noah Syndergaard. The best use case for Dickey is to chase a win. That's looking unlikely tomorrow." Now that Dickey is opposed by Matt Harvey, it's a much more viable matchup.
I'll just mention Julio Urias' 2017 debut at pitcher friendly AT&T Park. He's 70 percent owned. He's opposed by southpaw Matt Moore who is all the way down to 52 percent owned. Moore is off to a rocky start, but the Dodgers are known to scuffle versus southpaws. Their top offseason fix, Logan Forsythe, is sidelined with a toe injury.
If Jesse Chavez and J.C. Ramirez can thrive against the Athletics lineup, so too can Ricky Nolasco. Honestly, I prefer using him as an exploit. The chance for a meltdown outweighs his volume upside. He'll face Kendall Graveman in his return from the disabled list.
Other Targets: nada
Pitchers to Exploit
I keep flinching on my "bold" Adam Wainwright recommendations. I want to suggest using him. As he proved last time out, there are still strikeouts aplenty in the tank - if he can get ahead of the count. His fastball isn't good enough anymore.
Antonio Senzatela and Gio Gonzalez are pitching at Coors Field. Need I say more? I will. Senzatela remains a future reliever in my eyes despite good early results. He's all fastball and slider. Neither offering is a plus as a starter.
Jered Weaver and Taijuan Walker are poised to battle in the desert. Weaver could allow multiple home runs. However, if he can keep the ball in the park, he might have a sneaky-solid outing. His fly ball tendencies mutes the effects of the super speedy infield. Walker is almost perfectly volatile. He's a poor man's Vince Velasquez.
Other Targets: Uh-uh
Homers on the Wire
David Peralta is up to 49 percent owned. If he's still floating around your waiver wire, he's a must-play versus Weaver. The soft-tossing fly ball pitcher is the perfect matchup for Peralta ground ball and hard hit tendencies. When ground ball hitters face fly ball pitchers (and vice versa), it can help hitters to produce ideal launch angles for home runs. Teammate Brandon Drury is an even more extreme ground ball hitter.
Enrique Hernandez is doing his typical "I mash lefties" routine. He's already popped a pair of home run in 30 plate appearances to go with three doubles and a triple. No singles. Kiké doesn't do singles. He'll face Moore. If your head was under a rock yesterday, go roster Cody Bellinger. I probably wouldn't use him versus Moore.
Jayson Werth is still at Coors Field.
Wither Mitch Haniger. He'll head to the 10-day disabled list with a strained oblique. That means more playing time for Taylor Motter. He and Dan Vogelbach will face the weirdly homer prone Justin Verlander. Big J scuffled last April before dominating the rest of the season.
Other Targets: Yonder Alonso, Matt Joyce, Jaff Decker, Yangervis Solarte, Lonnie Chisenhall, Neil Walker, Michael Conforto, Aaron Altherr
Steals on the Wire
Steals remain scarce on the wire. Blue Jays leadoff man Kevin Pillar is just 19 percent owned despite a .296 average with three home runs and two steals. He's a potential 15-15 threat, and he may even hold onto the leadoff job all season.
Manuel Margot's ownership is slowly declining. He's down to 46 percent owned. One good game will shoot him back over 60 percent. The Padres leadoff hitter has been solid if unspectacular - kinda like Pillar. His .276 average, three home runs, and one steal certainly look similar to Pillar's production. We're all waiting for Margot's wheels to turn on.
Jarrod Dyson is struggling, bats first or ninth, and has a bad matchup. He's 24 percent owned. If you need the steals, he's worth a try.
Other Targets: n/a
Skill Positions
Manny Pina might have won the starting catcher job for the Brewers. Jett Bandy has now sat three good matchups in a row. My guess is Bandy starts today and Pina returns tomorrow.
Austin Hedges bats fifth and has six home runs in the last 10 days. He goes on these binges. Through 247 major league plate appearances, he has a .179 BABIP. I still assume he'll regress, but the sample is starting to inch towards relevance.
Chris Herrmann will maybe start versus Weaver. The DBacks tri-catcher is a mess for streaming.
