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Welcome to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire. Use this column to improve upon your neediest categories.
Below are your pitcher and hitter streaming targets for Monday, June 5th.
Let's get to it.
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Agenda
- A Bevy of Bombers
- Today's Weather and Updates
- Tomorrow's Picks
1. A Bevy of Bombers
Saturday featured quite a few big flies including a record seven grand slams. Among the slammers were waiver wire streamers Matt Adams, Mike Zunino, and Chris Taylor. It was a two homer day for Adams. Ryon Healy also homered twice. A grand total of 44 different players went deep.
On the other end of the spectrum, Edinson Volquez held the Diamondbacks hitless. It was the first no hitter of the season.
2. Today's Weather and Updates
Detroit, Texas, and Kansas City have around a 50 percent chance for storms today. There aren't many games tomorrow and two are threatened by storms - Cincinnati and Atlanta.
3. Tomorrow's Picks - Monday, June 5th
Meager Monday has only seven games on the docket.
Pitchers to Use
Despite the thin slate, we have a trio of solid pitchers to try. None of them should be considered a sure thing.
Junior Guerra is inducing a big 13.8 percent swinging strike rate - mostly via his splitter. His fastball is down two mph from last year which doesn't bode well for his success out of the rotation. A move to the bullpen could boost his numbers. Don't be fooled by his 1.84 ERA. It's built upon a .158 BABIP. Guerra is purely a volume play. He hopefully won't hurt your ratios while giving you a chance at a victory. The Brewers host the Giants.
At just nine percent owned, Hyun-Jin Ryu is the most widely available streaming option. He's also the most talented pitcher of the bunch. The lefty has posted a healthy 8.22 K/9 to go with a usable 3.91 ERA. Home runs have been an issue this season, although I'm inclined to think he's still shaking off the rust from missing most of the last two years. He's destined to land in the bullpen once Alex Wood returns from a shoulder injury. Ryu has a difficult assignment versus the Nationals.
Speaking of tough matchups, Dan Straily is visiting the Cubs. The winds often blow out around this time of year at Wrigley Field. It's inadvisable to use a fly ball pitcher under those conditions. If you do pick up Straily for the start, confirm the wind won't ruin his day. The righty has shown modest improvement for a second straight season. This time, he's hunting down strikeouts with more efficiency - 9.49 K/9 with a 3.56 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. That'll play in any format, hence his 41 percent ownership rate.
Other Targets: No
Pitchers to Exploit
As with any day, we have no shortage of exploits. Asher Wojciechowski is set to face the Cardinals. He's an extreme fly ball pitcher who lacks any other positive attributes. Pitching at Great American Smallpark is a recipe for disaster. Roster any ground ball oriented Cardinals.
Nick Pivetta may eventually solve for X where X equals an ability to command in the majors. He's living proof of the deep divide between Triple-A and the bi leagues. Down on the farm, he posted 0.56 BB/9 and 10.41 K/9 in five starts. Upon reaching the majors, he's maintained the strikeouts (9.78 K/9) but lost control of the strike zone (4.19 BB/9). Hitters have slammed him for a .389 BABIP and 2.33 HR/9. This tells me he has control but lacks command. If lucky, the Phillies have a poor man's Jose Berrios on their hands.
Other Targets: Bartolo Colon, Eddie Butler, Mike Fiers, Ian Kennedy
Homers on the Wire
Paul DeJong has emerged as my go to ultra-deep recommendation. However, he's a fly ball hitter so you'll want to be careful using him against Wojciechowski. That's not to say you should avoid him. He's an elevated home run threat versus the Reds bullpen and they'll probably enter around the fifth inning. Tommy Pham is dangerous to both starter and relievers.
Jed Lowrie is just 19 percent owned despite offering four categories of glory. Lowrie won't steal bases, but he can hit for average and OBP while producing runs and driving homers. Much like other unexpected breakouts around the league, he's turned into a hard contact fly ball machine this season.
Domingo Santana looks an awful lot like George Springer except he's not universally owned. He's cut down on the strikeout rate without making any other changes to his profile. I'll chalk it up to experience. Springer did the exact same thing after entering the league as a strikeout machine. Santana has a rough pairing opposite Jeff Samardzija, but he should be owned in most formats.
Other Targets: Matt Adams, Howie Kendrick, Tommy Joseph, Austin Slater, Domingo Santana, Ian Happ, Derek Dietrich, Jorge Bonifacio, Brandon Moss, Josh Reddick
Steals on the Wire
Thankfully it's Rajai Davis day versus J.A. Happ. Davis has a long track record of running successfully versus left-handed pitchers. It's been too long since the Athletics last faced a southpaw.
The alternatives lack much potential for a stolen base. Alcides Escobar may be the most likely of the bunch to actually run - assuming he can reach base against Mike Fiers.
Other Targets: Brandon Phillips, Freddy Galvis, Hernan Perez, Michael Taylor
Skill Positions
Tyler Flowers and Josh Phegley are the best catchers to target for Monday's thin slate. Flowers has a solid matchup versus Pivetta while Phegley gains the platoon advantage opposite Happ.
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