A look at starting pitching options who are widely available in fantasy leagues, and can be used for a spot start.
Streaming by the Numbers: SP for 5/24
Carlos Frias RHP LAD (vs SD)
I like Carlos Frias way more than you do, probably. Which is fine, because that can help him be useful as a streamer. One of the best things about streaming is a guy that you can keep going back to. Of course, if he’s good enough, he’ll probably eventually get picked up by someone else, and that will be the end of that. Carlos Frias may be that good. Fangraphs writer Carson Cistulli noted Frias’ control of his big fastball in his research to find the next Garrett Richards. The strikeout rate hasn’t shown up just yet (18.3%), but with a walk rate at a cool 5.8% and the balls put in play burning worms at a wonderful 61%(!), it’s hard not to want to use him, especially with this matchup (for the season, the Padres have a 93 wRC+ on the road and a 91 wRC against righties). So use him while you can. Tonight he’s the best low-ownership pitcher for me. The matchup is a decent one and the park (102 HR factor) is the only question mark here, and that’s barely. I say stream away!
Miguel Gonzalez RHP BAL (@MIA)
Uh oh. At least that’s what I would say if I saw his name come up on an article like this. I’ve used Gonzalez in leagues before for streaming and spot starts, with some very mixed results. If you look past the nice ERA to start the season, the skills are improved this year, but it’s still a bit of a mixed bag. The strikeout rate is up, from 16.5% to 20.7%, and that’s backed somewhat by an increase in his swinging strike rate (up from 8.0% to 9.3%). The walk rate is high, though, all the way up to 9.4%. His first-pitch strike percentage is still good, so one hopes that the walks will calm down a bit. He’s still not getting much in ground balls, and it’s only gotten worse. In a home run park like Camden Yards, that can only be trouble for him. But in Miami? Those fly balls should hopefully get swallowed up in the outfield. If he can show more of the control we’re used to from him (career 7.8% walk rate), this should be a nice start against an iffy Marlins offense.
Jon Niese LHP NYM (@PIT)
Ok so today’s research kind of bummed me out, to be honest. I used to have really meh feelings about Miguel Gonzalez, but for him things are starting to look up. Meanwhile, I used to really like Niese, but looking at his numbers so far this year, things seem to be trending down this year. So far, his swinging strike rate has fallen from 7.2% last year to 5.2% this year, leading to a big drop in strikeout rate (17.6% to 12.7%). I just about talked myself out of using him, but then I looked at Pittsburgh’s stats. They’ve been miserable on offense so far this year, and it only gets worse against lefties (78 wRC+). With this pick, you’re hoping that the skills are still there, and that a good matchup against a struggling offense could be just what he needs. That’s a lot of hoping, but if you’re out of options, he might be able to squeeze a good game out of this one.
