Saturday's probable starters who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
Labor Day Weekend; the last weekend in August (bleeding into September), last weekend before the NFL starts, and last chance to see your family and friends before diving into football head first (like Pete Rose).
College football is underway, and I know it’s the second most popular American sports league, but I just can’t get into the college game. The level of play is part of it, but the separation in level of play is the worst. By that, I mean the number of times a team gets beat something like 51-0. I’ll watch the College Football Playoff, but I can’t get excited about the college football season.
Moving back to baseball let’s run through Saturday’s probable starters (according to MLB.com) who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups, creating streaming value. Most stats and rankings are from MLB. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
Tyler Anderson, Los Angeles Angels vs. Seattle Mariners
Anderson has had a successful season for the faltering Angels despite underlying numbers on the wrong side of the middle. Both his walk and strikeout rates are a few percentage points worse than average, and there’s not a lot advanced stats pointing toward increased performance. Anderson is having a good but lucky season.
Seattle is a bottom offense, and their few trade deadline additions haven’t made a real impact. Randy Arozarena (.242, three home runs) and Justin Turner (.205, one home run) have played at Mariners-level rather than boosting the team. In two starts against the Mariners in July, Anderson first gave up four runs in six innings then one run in 5.2 innings, combining for 12 strikeouts and just one walk.
Anderson is a low- to mid-level streamer. His strikeout work leaves a little to be desired, but Seattle’s struggles and Anderson’s continued good fortune makes him a decent fantasy option.
Matthew Boyd, Cleveland Guardians vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Boyd missed a year due to Tommy John surgery and has made just three starts this season. It’s gone fine, as Boyd has given up five runs in 16.2 innings with 12 strikeouts and five walks. Over his career, Boyd has been a little better than average both walking and striking batters out. He couldn’t ask for a better team to help him find his touch, as pitchers tend to thrive under Cleveland’s guardianship (much, much pun intended).
Yesterday, I lamented how 37-year-old Andrew McCutchen, who has been out for a few weeks, is one of the best offensive players on this Pirates team. I don’t mean to bad-mouth McCutchen, who was an MVP at his peak and has over 2,000 hits, 300 home runs and 200 stolen bases. It’s more to point out that a guy who should be a complementary bit player is instead being counted on as one of the team's top weapons. Pittsburgh is short on offensive talent, to say the least.
Boyd is a low- to mid-level streamer. None of his starts have gone over six innings, but he has been good during his short time on the mound. It’s hard to project a big ceiling with him just returning, though.
Cody Bradford, Texas Rangers vs. Oakland Athletics
Bradford missed more than three months with a rib injury and has made just nine appearances (eight starts). He’s done well in that limited time, holding an above-average strikeout rate and a walk rate about half the league average. That matches his work from last season (his first). In a start against the A’s in April, Bradford threw 6.2 innings and allowed just one unearned run with seven strikeouts and a walk.
Oakland got big days from two young players on Thursday: left fielder Lawrence Butler went 3-4 with three home runs, and center fielder JJ Bleday was 4-4 with two doubles and a homer. They still lost 10-9, but it was something exciting for a moribund team. While the A’s are sixth in home runs, they’re still in the bottom 10 in runs scored, hits, doubles, batting average, on-base percentage and OPS.
Bradford is a mid-level streamer here with some upside. He’s done well on both ends of the injury, allowing more than three runs just once.
Jose Quintana, New York Mets @ Chicago White Sox
Quintana started his career with the White Sox and looked like a possible ace. In his four full seasons with the team, he threw 200 innings every year with a strikeout rate right at league average and a walk rate better than average. He was traded to the Cubs in 2017, had a few more good years, then suffered through injuries and ineffectiveness for a stretch, though he never bottomed out. He’s a little worse than average now, but Quintana is still holding down a mid-rotation spot for a playoff contender.
The top offensive players on the team when Quintana was with the Sox were Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez, Jose Abreu, Adam Eaton and even two decent years from Melky Cabrera. That’s a different generation of baseball, especially after Abreu flamed out in Houston this season and was released (he’s still a free agent). Those players now in 2024 might be able to out-hit the current White Sox.
Quintana is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup couldn’t be much better, and Quintana does well enough to deserve a spot in someone’s fantasy lineup.
Randy Vasquez, San Diego Padres @ Tampa Bay Rays
I mentioned Arozarena in the Seattle section, and the team he left has been much worse off since his departure. It wasn’t just Arozarena, though: Tampa sent out more big-league talent and brought in more prospects than any other team at the deadline. The Rays have felt the effects, sporting maybe the worst offense in the league in August.
Vasquez was part of the return when Juan Soto went to the Yankees last offseason. The results have been OK in 87.2 innings: very good walk rate, very bad strikeout rate and an ERA around 4.50. He’ll likely work as a long reliever in the playoffs or might even get squeezed off the roster if the team wants to go with more traditional relief pitchers.
Vasquez is a low-level streamer. He’s been OK, but he doesn’t strike out nearly enough guys. Only the good matchup puts him on the fantasy radar.
Saturday’s Streamer Rankings
- Cody Bradford, TEX
- Matthew Boyd, CLE
- Jose Quintana, NYM
- Tyler Anderson, LAA
- Randy Vasquez, SD
#waivers #2024-fantasy-baseball
