RADIO
Jason Katz identifies fantasy baseball category streamers for week 24 of 2018. Waiver wire pickups, adds, and streamers for weekly head-to-head (H2H) leagues.
I like to consider myself a pioneer of the streaming approach. I won a league about seven years ago by completely ignoring saves and just stacking up the starts each week. While streaming is undoubtedly more directly associated with pitching, there's plenty of value in streaming for offense as well.
Maybe you have a stacked roster and you can't drop anyone. But for those of us with a couple of guys on the roster fringes, it's never too early to look into targeting a specific player or two to gain an edge in a particular category. This season, I will be making weekly recommendations for extreme short-term category specialists every week in three offensive areas: speed, power, and average; and three pitching areas: strikeouts, wins, and ratios (ERA/WHIP).
Below are my Week 24 category streamers for fantasy baseball. All position eligibility and ownership percentages are based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
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Head-to-Head Category Streamers to Consider
Speed
Amed Rosario (SS, NYM) - 31% Owned
Amed Rosario remains on this list because he just keeps on running. He's stolen a base in three of his last seven starts as of Wednesday and is stealing at a 30 stolen base clip.
Joey Wendle (2B, 3B, OF, TB) - 36% Owned
Most Rays fans are excited about Willy Adames, but it's Joey Wendle who is having a better debut. The rookie only has 12 stolen bases this season, but four of them have come in the past two weeks as he's really heating up at the plate.
Power
Luke Voit (1B, NYY) - 29% Owned
I hate trying to chase the previous week's stats, but I can't ignore a bat this hot. Luke Voit leads the majors with seven home runs over the past two weeks and the Yankees face the Twins and Blue Jays next week, neither of whom possess a particularly imposing pitching staff.
Franmil Reyes (OF, SD) - 28% Owned
The kid has made one heck of an impact in his rookie season. He has 30+ home run power and has been hitting the ball very hard lately. Reyes has 15 home runs this season in just 193 plate appearances. The power is real.
Average
Brandon Nimmo (OF, NYM) - 26% Owned
I acknowledge the risks of recommending a Met, but Brandon Nimmo has been on fire recently. Nimmo is hitting .348 over the past two weeks and is up to .270 this season. The Mets also benefit from a four-game set against the Marlins to open next week.
Matt Duffy (2B, 3B, TB) - 11% Owned
Matt Duffy's batting average is pushing towards .300 after he's spent two weeks hitting close to .370. Duffy is a career .286 hitter and while he doesn't provide much in the power department, he gets on base.
Strikeouts
Joe Musgrove (SP, PIT) - 28% Owned
Since his return from the DL, Joe Musgrove is striking out more than a batter an inning. His second start next week will be against the Brewers, a team that has struck out the fifth most in baseball this year.
Joey Lucchesi (SP, SD) - 28% Owned
Joey Lucchesi will either start against Seattle or Texas next week. Hopefully, it's Texas as they have struck out the fourth most in the league, but even if it is Seattle, Lucchesi strikes out more than a batter an inning regardless of opponent.
Wins
Brian Johnson (SP, BOS) - 7% Owned
The Red Sox have the best offense in baseball, leading the majors in runs scored. Brian Johnson's opponent next week, the Mets, are 24th in runs scored. The Red Sox will be heavy favorites in that one.
Nathan Eovaldi (SP, BOS) - 34% Owned
Why not stream two Red Sox pitchers? Nathan Eovaldi will also face the Mets next week. Everything that applies to Brian Johnson applies to Eovaldi with the added bonus that Eovaldi is a much better pitcher.
Edwin Jackson (SP, OAK) - 25% Owned
Edwin Jackson will have a road start at Tampa Bay next week. The A's should be small favorites in that game (unless he ends up facing Blake Snell, in which case, disregard this), but I like them to get the win.
ERA/WHIP
Jake Junis (SP, KC) - 26% Owned
After a brief stint on the DL, early season breakout, Jake Junis, has been on fire. He's given up three runs or fewer in each of his last five starts and gets an easy matchup next week at home against the White Sox, who rank 22nd in runs scored this season. He also has a second start at home against the Twins, in which he is also worth using.
Steven Matz (SP, NYM) - 20% Owned
The Mets lefty has a home start against the weak-hitting Marlins next week. The Marlins are last in the league in runs scored, while Matz has been excellent as of late, with back to back starts of seven innings, allowing one earned run.
