When you’re looking for streaming pitchers, it’s fun to look ahead to what might be with some options in the minors. One name to keep an eye on is Brian Johnson, a minor league pitcher for the Red Sox. When Farrell was asked whether Johnson was an option to take Joe Kelly’s spot in the rotation, he mentioned that Johnson was getting closer to his major league debut. Johnson hasn’t posted a FIP above 3.49 in any of his minor league seasons so far, and with an 8.48 K/9, a 2.68 BB/9, and a 2.68 ERA in AAA this year, he may not have much left to prove. Other good options will come along, but Johnson is knocking on the door. Now, on to tomorrow’s streaming pitchers!
Streaming Pitchers: 7/2/2015
Matt Boyd LHP TOR (vs. BOS)
Matt Boyd had a bit of bad luck against the Rangers in his first major league start. Okay, he had a lot of bad luck. He allowed three long balls, which put his HR/9 at 4.05 and his HR/FB rate at 33.3%! It’s unreasonable to think that will continue to be the case, and other than the homers, he actually did pretty reasonable for his first start, allowing four runs in all on nine hits and no walks, striking out seven. His xFIP from the game came out to 2.88, which, while he isn’t going to be that good, it reveals an idea of what his skill set can be. Throughout the minors, Boyd never had a K-BB% below 15%, and it was over 19% most of the way through. K-BB% is the best in-season estimator of ERA, and league average this season is at 12.6%. While those numbers were against minor leaguers, if he can get close to that production, he should be a very useful streaming option. He gets the Red Sox and their potentially depleted lineup, which has already been bad on the road (87 wRC+) and against lefties (81 wRC+). I’d give him a go.
Matt Cain RHP SF (@ MIA)
Matt Cain is finally ready to make his first start of the season. He’s made four starts on a rehab stint that began on June 9th, and has been mostly solid in those starts. Having no previous starts in the majors this year and coming back from injury, this is a speculative pick with a bit of risk involved. Still, I think he couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to make his first major league start with. The Marlins have been miserable on offense already (81 wRC+ at home and 79 wRC+ against righties), and now you’d have to imagine their offense can only go down with Giancarlo Stanton out four to six weeks with a hamate bone injury. It sucks for Giancarlo, it sucks for the Fish, and it sucks for baseball, but it makes Cain’s first start back a little easier.
Good luck and happy streaming!
