Advertisement

Fantasy Baseball Weekend Preview: Jesús Sánchez, Tommy Pham lead top streaming options

Fred Zinkie
Yahoo Fantasy Contributor
·4 min read
1
Fantasy Baseball Weekend Preview: Jesús Sánchez, Tommy Pham lead top streaming options

With a series at Coors Field and the Brewers hosting the A’s, there are plenty of fantasy streaming targets on the hitting side this weekend. And those in daily transaction leagues would be wise to grab Jesús Sánchez and Tommy Pham on Saturday.

On the pitching side, there are no sure-fire streaming stars, but there's very little to separate several solid options.

Matchups to target

Brewers vs. A’s

The Brewers get their turn to face an A’s staff with a 6.57 team ERA, and they should also benefit from playing the series at their hitter-friendly home park. The best Milwaukee streamers are Rowdy Tellez (70% rostered), Brian Anderson (27%) and Joey Wiemer (5%). Those in deep leagues can consider Andruw Monasterio (1%).

Padres at Rockies

Finding the teams that are playing at offense-inducing Coors Field is usually a good recipe for success. Both teams are starting two left-handers in this series, which makes the best streaming candidates Randal Grichuk (10%) and Ezequiel Tovar (28%) from the Rockies and Ha-Seong Kim (32%) and Gary Sánchez (8%) from the Padres.

Braves vs. Nationals

Atlanta is in prime position to score plenty of runs against three unimposing Washington starters and an accompanying bullpen with a 4.89 ERA. Marcell Ozuna (31%) and Orlando Arcia (42%) are solid streaming options, while Eddie Rosario (17%) is a great target against right-handed starters on Saturday and Sunday.

Orioles vs. Royals

Baltimore’s productive lineup should continue to excel when the O's face a trio of unimpressive Kansas City starters and a bullpen that ranks 29th in ERA. Adam Frazier (22%) and Austin Hays (51%) are the best streaming targets for this series.

Matchups to avoid

Blue Jays vs. Twins

Although the Blue Jays typically enjoy playing at home, they could struggle to score against a talented Twins starting trio of Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan and Louie Varland. Aside from Toronto’s stars (Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer) and catcher-eligible Daulton Varsho, the other options belong on the bench in shallow leagues.

Rangers at Rays

The old baseball saying “good pitching beats good hitting” will be put to the test when the high-scoring Rangers meet the Rays' stingy staff. There are six Rangers (Corey Seager, Adolis García, Marcus Semien, Jonah Heim, Josh Jung and Nathaniel Lowe) who have been so good that they have to stay active in all leagues. Everyone else can be benched.

Astros at Guardians

Houston could be stymied by three talented Cleveland starters (Logan Allen, Triston McKenzie and Shane Bieber) and a relief corps with a 3.13 ERA. Aside from Kyle Tucker, José Altuve and Yordan Álvarez, the remaining Astros belong on the bench in 10-team leagues. Alex Bregman and Jeremy Peña can stay active in 12-team formats.

Seeking steals

Those who hope to pick up a couple of extra steals this week should target speedsters in these contests.

Tommy Pham vs. Rich Hill (Saturday): Pham should find his way into the lineup against a left-handed starter, and he has the speed to swipe a base against Hill, who is one of 13 pitchers who have allowed at least 11 steals this year.

Alex Call vs. Jared Shuster (Friday): Call ranks second among active Nats in steals, which makes him a prime candidate to swipe a bag against Shuster, who has allowed eight stolen bases in 30 2/3 innings pitched. Also, the righty-swinging Call has traditionally done his best work against southpaws such as Shuster.

Big boppers

Looking to add a homer or two to your total this week? Consider streaming one of these players.

Carlos Correa vs. Yusei Kikuchi (Friday): Correa has fared poorly this year (.660 OPS), which has caused him to be benched in many leagues. But the right-handed hitter can get one more fantasy chance Friday, when he faces lefty Kikuchi, who sits second in the majors in homers allowed.

Jesús Sánchez vs. Michael Kopech (Saturday): The right-handed Kopech ranks third in the majors with 15 long balls allowed, and Sánchez (5% rostered) has had virtually all of his career success against righties. Sánchez is also on a roll, having homered three times in seven games this month.

Streaming starters

In order, here are the best streamers from Friday to Sunday, with their start date and Yahoo roster rate in parentheses.