Welcome back from the All-Star Break! I hope you utilized it to get refreshed for the dog days of fantasy baseball. I took an extended All-Star Break because moving is one of the most involved things I have ever done. It’s good to be back.
Let’s get to it and take a look at two streamers who can help you get back in the swing of things. Remember, the streamer options seen on numberFire are owned in less than 50% of ESPN and Yahoo! leagues.
Chad Bettis, Colorado Rockies
Yahoo! Leagues - 4%
ESPN Leagues - 8%
Chad Bettis’ strong start was muddled by a couple of bad starts in recent weeks, highlighted by allowing 10 runs in two-plus innings against the Angels July 7. His earned run average has climbed to an unhealthy 4.91, but his FIP of 4.10 indicates that his rough stretch should be as bad as it gets for the 26-year-old. Bettis gets a crack Saturday against the San Diego Padres.
The Padres are not the biggest fans of playing at home. San Diego is 25th or worst in batting average and slugging at home, including league lows in on-base percentage (OBP) and on-base plus slugging (OPS). The Fathers own a 3.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio and sport a clean 1.0 groundball-to-flyball ratio (G/F), tied for fifth highest in baseball. The Padres are one of three teams to reach the century mark in extra base hits at home, the cherry on top of San Diego’s home woes.
Danny Duffy – Kansas City Royals
Yahoo! Leagues - 17%
ESPN Leagues - 7%
Danny Duffy may be the definition of a streaming pitcher: never good enough to roster full-time but a strong option when you need him. Case in point is this Sunday when he toes the rubber in the series finale against the White Sox in Chicago.
Chicago has won four of their last five series to get them close to .500. There is slim to no chance that they do enough to constitute a playoff run, and their offense is still miserable despite their series wins, especially at home and against left-handed pitching. Chicago has 91 extra-base hits at home, worst in baseball. The Pale Hose also sport the worst average at home and own the second worst slugging and OPS at the friendly confines despite playing in one of the smaller parks in the Majors.
Against 652 at-bats against lefties such as Duffy, Chicago has scored 56 (!) runs and is slashing .227/.269/.311. The White Sox have the worst OBP, slugging and OPS in the Majors against southpaws. Perhaps worst of all: a 1.29 G/F and an average of 81.5 at-bats per home run hit against lefties.
Get after these two this weekend, and welcome to the second half of the fantasy baseball season.