Fantasy Baseball: 4 Pitchers to Stream for Week 13
Zach Godley, Arizona Diamondbacks
Starts: June 26th vs Philadelphia Phillies, July 2nd vs. Colorado Rockies
ESPN ownership: 51 percent
It's hard to believe that the modest ownership numbers for Arizona Diamondbacks breakout Zack Godley still distinguish him as a streamable pitcher in standard leagues, especially given that he's been haunting the top-10 of the ERA leaderboard for the better part of the season.
Godley's 2.68 walks-per-nine lifts a minor red flag, but his tidy 3.17 fielding independent pitching (FIP) certifies his status as a borderline must-own in all but the shallowest leagues, even if the return of Taijuan Walker and Godley's recent, brief demotion last month do lend some uncertainty to the young righty's season-long prospects.
As for Godley's outlook for this coming week, arm-chair streamers might bristle at two home starts at pitcher-hostile Chase Field, but they'd be overlooking how terrific Godley has been at home this season, with a 2.13 ERA in 25-plus innings despite an abnormally high 20% homer-per-fly rate.
What makes Godley's skill set adaptable to his unfriendly home environs is his elite groundball rate, buoyed by an ace cutter that's earned a 50%-plus chase rate and a stellar changeup that coaxes a near-90% grounders.
The Rockies and Phillies are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of production off of changeups this year, with the former team very capable and the latter quite futile. You've still got to like Godley's chances against a Rockies squad that's above average in terms of chase rate and grounder rate. Godley is fresh off an impressive outing at Coors on Thursday; despite their surprising success this season, the Rockies' stark home/road splits are no myth.
