Starts: June 27th vs. Atlanta Braves, July 2nd vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
ESPN ownership: 7 percent
Padres righty Jhoulys Chacin's season-long 4.95 ERA is certainly nothing to write home about, but aside from a few nasty blowups, he's quietly been one of the steadiest pitchers in the bigs, carrying a 3.56 ERA over the last month and six quality starts in his last eight assignments.
To be fair, Chacin has managed this success despite a perennially bad fastball, with his four-seam surrendering a 200 or worse wRC+ in three of the past four seasons. The not-so-hot heater has proven less troublesome for Chacin in San Diego, though, where his spacious home ballpark is a welcome relief from the pitcher-hostile bandboxes in Arizona and Colorado. Indeed, the veteran righty has some extremely favorable home/road splits this season, with a 1.72 ERA and 12.5% homer-to-fly (HR/FB) rate at Petco compared to a 9.08 ERA and 23.5% HR/FB on the road.
Deep-league streamers should thus perk up at Chacin's Petco two-step this week, even if the Dodgers have been notable power producers against righties of late. Chacin should thrive against the Braves, though, with that team's reach-rate struggles set to play poorly against Chacin's go-to slider, which has earned a 41% reach rate and 17% swinging-strike rate across 454 offerings this season. Circle the Atlanta start for sure, but don't be afraid to lean on Chacin in weekly-lock leagues either.