Hello all! Fantasy baseball can be hard, especially with all of the pitching injuries that occur in a year. With that in mind, streaming pitchers can be a viable strategy, even with the risk involved. That’s why I look at splits to minimize the risk and determine the best two starters in any given day that are owned in less than half of fantasy baseball leagues. Here are your streaming pitchers for Wednesday, July 29!
Streaming Pitchers: 7/29/2015
Patrick Corbin – ARI (@ SEA)
It’s been awhile since one has been able to mention any positive fantasy impact Patrick Corbin has had on a fantasy roster. At the start of last season, he looked like a potential breakout pitcher after posting 7.69 K/9 and 2.33 BB/9 over 208 innings in 2013. Unfortunately, he fell victim to a torn UCL and spent all of last season and most of this one rehabbing from the injury. In his return, he’s had mixed results: he’s put up a terrific 9.41 K/9 against 1.23 BB/9. He’s improved his ground ball rate to 51.7%, but he’s had terrible luck with the long ball, having a 23.8% HR/FB rate so far. This should improve, and even though his strikeout and walk rates should return to earth as well, he still has the making of a perfectly decent mixed league pitcher the rest of the way. To help with the home run issue, he’ll get to play in pitcher-haven Seattle against the Mariners. It’s not the best matchup, as the Mariners have improved their play at home (up to 102 wRC+), but the M’s woes against lefties continue, as they still only have a 93 wRC+ against them. Corbin should be able to dispatch them fairly handily.
Rick Porcello – BOS (vs CHW)
I’ll go ahead and duck now as I’m sure someone is trying to throw something at me, so excuse me a second. Rick Porcello has been pretty bad so far this year. I was hoping to see some statistical resemblance of improvement as time has gone on. It may be my Red Sox fanboyness crossing my fingers and toes, but he has shown improvement little by little each month if you squint hard enough. Consider his monthly xFIP numbers:
| Month | xFIP |
| Mar/Apr | 4.04 |
| May | 4.24 |
| June | 3.68 |
| July | 3.35 |
You see, there’s hope! Of course, there’s the whole HR/FB issue, but that should improve over time. If there’s any team to close out a solid(ish) month on, it’s the White Sox. The Pale Hose have had their issues on offense, posting a wRC+ of 83 on the road and 86 against righties. I’m assuming that Porcello can pull off a strong start here.
Good luck and happy streaming!
Main Photo Credit: FORT MYERS, FL – MARCH 18: Rick Porcello #22 of the Boston Red Sox throws the ball against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning during a spring training game at JetBlue Park on March 18, 2015 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
