Fantasy Baseball: 4 Pitchers To Stream For Week 6
Charlie Morton, Houston Astros
Starts: May 9th vs. Atlanta Braves, May 14th at New York Yankees
ESPN ownership: 18 percent
The late-career renaissance for Charlie Morton has been as surprising for Houston Astros fans as it has been rewarding for fantasy owners, who have enjoyed the incredible spike in Morton's swinging-strike abilities to the tune of 10-plus strikeouts per nine (K/9) over six starts, compared to a 6.5 career K/9. Morton's been giving up a fair bit of hard contact, though, which might explain why his near-4.00 ERA somewhat overshadows an expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP) mark of 3.19.
What has kept Morton grounded, despite the occasional bouts of hard-hittability, is not the notable velocity gains on his fastball but the deception of his curveball, which has coaxed a lot of swings (in- and out-of-zone swing rates on the curve have spiked significantly compared to the last two seasons) and a lot of misses (21.8-percent whiff rate).
Morton could give the Braves some trouble in this respect, seeing as Atlanta is competing for the MLB lead in team chase rate on the season. To be fair, the Braves also have a strong penchant for contact on pitches outside of the zone, though it might not be productive contact -- Atlanta is league average against righties in terms of hard-hit rate, with a decidedly below-average isolated slugging (ISO).
And while streamers eyeing Morton might find a weekend away date against the surging Yankees less than appealing, it's worth noting that the Bronx Bombers haven't exactly been scorching the ball against righties of late, despite their gaudy results. In fact, the Yanks carry a hard-contact rate over that span that is the second-worst clip in the league, and one look at the Yanks' bloated 27 percent homer-per-fly-ball rate over the past week should indicate that some negative regression is in order.
So, sure, Morton's weekend trip to Yankee Stadium might make the Astros' hurler seem like a risky play in weekly lock leagues, but then again, all streamers carry a degree of risk, and there's a chance the perceived menace of the Yankees start will make him more affordable.
