Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire all season long. This article, now in its second year, runs seven days a week.
For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your neediest categories, and target players who may be available on your waiver wire.
Below are your pitcher and hitter streaming targets for Sunday, June 24. Let's get to it.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and weekly lineup resources:- Fantasy baseball injury reports
- Fantasy baseball trade analyzer
- Daily MLB starting lineups for fantasy baseball
- Fantasy baseball BvP matchups data (Batter vs. Pitcher)
- Fantasy baseball PvB matchups data (Pitcher vs. Batter)
- Who should I start? Fantasy baseball player comparisons
- Fantasy baseball closer depth charts, bullpens, saves
- Fantasy Baseball live scoreboard, daily leaderboards
Agenda
- Almost Halfway Home
- Today's Weather and Updates
- Tomorrow's Picks
1. Almost Halfway Home
Does it feel to anyone else like the season literally just started? Somehow we're closing in on the halfway mark already. I know time passes more quickly as you age, but c'mon with this.
2. Today's Weather and Updates - Saturday, June 23
Diamondbacks-Pirates and Dodgers-Mets are both long shots to avoid delays or outright postponements. The odds are a bit better for Phillies-Nationals and Tigers-Indians, but those games will also contend with the threat of inclement weather. All other contests should take place as scheduled and without interruption.
3. Streamer Picks - Sunday, June 24
Pitchers to Use
Domingo German has 28 strikeouts against just two walks across his last 19 innings, boosting his overall K-BB% above 20%. Trouble keeping the ball in the yard has kept his ERA on the high side (4.77) despite a cool 1.14 WHIP. Fortunately, he'll be facing the punchless Rays, who have fewer homers than all but four other teams, and the game will be at the Trop rather than Yankee Stadium.
Since the end of April, Jhoulys Chacin has quietly been quite effective. In those nine games, which have included several opponents ranking near the top of the league in runs scored, Chacin has pitched to a 2.33 ERA and 1.02 WHIP whilst running a 21.8 K%. The Cardinals aren't scuffling at the plate like they were earlier in the year, but Chacin has a good chance at a victory with the inconsistent Luke Weaver opposing him.
Other Targets: Clay Buchholz, Bartolo Colon
Pitchers to Exploit
Jason Vargas has an 8.60 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, and 2.63 HR/9. He has failed to pitch more than five innings in any of his nine starts thus far this season. Most recently, Vargas allowed seven runs and failed to escape the third inning. He's bad! The Dodgers are his opponent, and they are good, especially lately - only three teams have scored more runs this month.
Even after allowing just one run across 15 innings in his last two turns, Sal Romano's ratios (5.17 ERA, 1.45 WHIP) remain ugly. It's also worth noting that his opponents in those contests were the Tigers and Royals, neither of whom can be called an offensive juggernaut. The Cubs at GABP figure to present a much stiffer challenge.
Other Targets: David Hess, Jason Hammel, Felix Pena
Homers on the Wire
Joc Pederson would be an easy recommendation here against Vargas, were it not for the fact that Vargas is a lefty. Pederson has largely been shielded from southpaws and the results haven't been pretty when he's been allowed to hit against them. Kike Hernandez may be the better option; he's homered three times in his last nine games and has 10 bombs on the year.
Other Targets: Franmil Reyes, Michael Conforto, Scott Schebler, Jeimer Candelario, Teoscar Hernandez, Yonder Alonso, Adam Duvall, Nick Williams
Steals on the Wire
The Oakland-Chicago contest features two of the worst teams in baseball at controlling the running game. That makes Dustin Fowler, Marcus Semien, Adam Engel, Leury Garcia, and Yolmer Sanchez all viable speed plays.
Other Targets: Jose Iglesias, Travis Jankowski, Jarrod Dyson, Niko Goodrum, Jose Peraza, Jonathan Villar, Delino DeShields, Mallex Smith