I had some nervy streamers as recommendations last week, but I was pleased with the results. Merrill Kelly and Jack Flaherty were horrid all season, but they put together some nice starts, making for a successful week of streamers. That’s all we can hope for, and we’ll look to keep that momentum rolling here. We’re somehow creeping into June as another year goes rapidly down the drain, so let’s get started by looking at the favorable matchups this week and then dive into the streamers!
Favorable Team Matchups
7 Games
Arizona Diamondbacks (vs. LAD, vs. WAS)
Kansas City Royals (at CIN, at MIN)
Los Angeles Dodgers (at ARI, vs. LAA)
Milwaukee Brewers (vs. SF, at COL)
Minnesota Twins (vs. CWS, vs. KC)
6 Games
Atlanta Braves (vs. TOR, vs. PIT)
Chicago Cubs (vs. ATH, vs. SF)
Colorado Rockies (at LAA, vs. MIL)
Houston Astros (vs. PIT, vs. ATH)
Los Angeles Angels (vs. COL, at LAD)
New York Yankees (vs. CLE, vs. BOS)
Philadelphia Phillies (vs. SD, vs. CWS)
St. Louis Cardinals (vs. TEX, vs. CIN)
Pitching Streamers
Cade Cavalli, WAS (vs. MIA)
Cavalli has shown glimpses of brilliance at times throughout his career, but we’re finally seeing some consistency this season. This Nats righty has allowed four runs or fewer in all 12 starts this year. What’s more impressive is the strikeout stuff, sporting a 3.38 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 11.3 K/9 rate across his last seven starts. That’s a must-roster player in every league, especially since we saw Cavalli surrender four runs or fewer in nine of 10 starts last season. Allowing four runs or fewer in 21 of 22 starts is something you’d typically see from an ace, but Cavalli is sitting on waiver wires in over half the leagues on Yahoo. A home matchup with Miami only adds to his intrigue, because they rank 29th in xwOBA while Cavalli has allowed two runs or fewer in all three of their matchups.
Streamonator Valuation: $17.9
Dustin May, BOS (vs. TEX)
It’s appropriate that May is finally pitching well because we’re at the end of his favorite month. The month of May has been good to May, maintaining a 3.02 ERA and 1.10 WHIP across his last nine starts. That sort of ability is why he was so highly touted by the Dodgers a few years ago, and it appears his move to Boston is what’s finally made things click. Our favorite part about this is that he has a matchup with Texas. The Rangers are missing their two best bats right now and are ranked 23rd in wOBA and 27th in runs scored. It’s also a Texas team that hasn’t seen May since 2021, so that should benefit this righty, given the changes he’s made to his arsenal.
Streamonator Valuation: $11.1
Connor Prielipp, MIN (vs. CWS, vs. KC)
We’re a bit hesitant on Prielipp as one of our streamers after his last two starts, but we’ll just hope these were two outlier shellings. This rookie had a 2.88 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 10.4 K/0 rate through his first five starts before that terrible week. It’s unclear which sample size to trust, but a month of good pitching is more reliable than one woeful week. This guy was also impressive at Triple-A before his call-up, collecting a 2.30 ERA and 1.25 WHIP while striking out 22 batters across 15.2 innings. The most impactful variable here is that he has a two-start week at home in favorable matchups. Chicago has improved massively, but they still rank 29th in K rate. KC has not improved, and we’ll talk about that more in the next streamers write-up!
Streamonator Valuation: $-5.6
Zebby Matthews, MIN (vs. KC)
We just foreshadowed how special a matchup KC is right now, so let’s get into that. The Royals rank 27th in wOBA and 28th in runs scored. That won’t bode well in this road series against Minnesota, especially against these talented young arms. Zebby is having a career year in his first real opportunity in this rotation, registering a 2.37 ERA and 0.84 WHIP through three starts. That’s the stuff we saw from Matthews throughout his minor league career, amassing a 3.19 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 29 percent K rate. Zebby was successful as one of our streamers last week, so let’s just go right back to the well!
Streamonator Valuation: $3.8
Ben Brown, CHC (vs. SF)
We have a ton of carryover from last week’s streamers, and Brown is another one of them. This righty is finally getting a fair crack at this rotation, and the Cubs can’t take him out of it with the way he’s pitching right now. This right-hander has a 2.01 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 9.5 K/9 rate this year. He’s been even better since his promotion into the rotation, providing a 1.32 ERA and 0.94 WHIP since April 11. It looks like Brown might develop into a must-roster player if this continues, and it should against the Giants. San Francisco sits bottom three in OBP, OPS, wOBA, xwOBA and runs scored. Not to mention, Brown struck out a career-high nine batters in his only matchup with San Fran last season.
Streamonator Valuation: $16.9
Hitting Streamers
Trevor Larnach, MIN (vs. CWS, vs. KC)
It feels like Larnach is one of the most underrated hitters in baseball. He started his career as a platoon player, but he’s been hitting third nearly every day for the Twinkies. It’s rare to find any three-hole hitter on the waiver wire, especially with the way Larnach has looked recently. This outfielder has a .381 OBP and .770 OPS so far this season. The power has been lacking a little, but a .381 OBP is outstanding. The best part about this is that he has seven games this week and six of them are against right-handers! Larnach has a .399 OBP and .794 OPS with the platoon advantage in his favor this year. It’s an easy week of righties too, facing a Royals team that ranks 24th in ERA, 25th in WHIP and 26th in xwOBA while Chicago sits 22nd in wOBA and 23rd in ERA.
Jake Bauers, MIL (vs. SF, at COL)
Bauers and Larnach are actually in very similar circumstances as hitting streamers. Much like Larnach, Bauers has been hitting in the heart of Milwaukee’s lineup every day. He’s earned that with a sensational stretch, posting a .387 OBP and .915 OPS across his last 35 fixtures. Bauers also rakes against right-handers, totaling a .378 OBP and .882 OPS against them this year. That’s great news since Milwaukee matches up with six right-handers across this seven-game week. We didn’t even mention that he faces a 29th-ranked Rockies pitching staff in Coors Field and a struggling San Fran staff at home.
SAGNOF (Saves/Steals Ain’t Got No Face)
Steals Specialists
Nasim Nunez (WAS)
Nunez has been in this section every week because he’s been one of the best steals streamers throughout the season. This speedster is one of the league leaders with 22 steals.
Leodys Taveras (BAL)
Taveras has been playing nearly every day over recent weeks, recording a steal in four of his last 10 outings.
Saves Specialists
Richard Lovelady (WAS)
The Nationals haven’t had a designated closer all season, but Lovelady looks like the guy right now. He has a 2.70 ERA so far this season while recording four saves this month.
Caleb Kilian (SF)
San Fran hasn’t designated a closer since Ryan Walker was demoted, but Kilian has been getting the most chances. He had a 2.22 ERA and 0.99 WHIP before a shelling on Friday, but he also had three saves before that.
Feel free to comment here or reach me on Twitter @Bartilottajoel if you have any questions! Also, feel free to check out my Waiver Wire article from yesterday!
Dustin May is in Boston?!?