Whether your fantasy league baseball is a standard rotisserie or head-to-head point-based format, streaming starting pitchers has proven to be a very effective strategy.
Anytime you can find your way to a player who can give you at least a quality start, that’s a win.
The problem is sifting through the array of mediocre talent sitting on your waiver wire.
Who is worth adding and who is not?
As we eagerly await the schedule for the coming week, you should start looking for available Cubs pitchers.
The Cubs have already started their season well.
They may be third in their division, but they’re above .500, and while it’s way too early to think about the playoffs, they’re at least one of the wildcard contenders.
But with the weather already starting to warm up and everyone too concerned about the possibility of the wind blowing at Wrigley Field, you might be able to find some of their starting pitchers on waivers.
Marcus Stroman is likely signed up, and there’s a good chance Justin Steele is, too, but pitchers like Drew Smyly and Hayden Wesneski could be solid streamers for the week ahead.
For starters, the Cubs are playing a full seven-game schedule this week.
They are on the road for four games to face a nine-win national team that has the fourth-worst wOBA (baseline average of .283), then returns home to host the Marlins – who are just .500, have a .314 average wOBA on the road and hits 26.8% of the time.
Both teams have a negative point differential, so stifling those offenses shouldn’t be a difficult task.
Stroman and Steele should be your first roster targets for Chicago, but Smyly and Wesneski have had huge success lately and should be in strong positions this week.
Smyly has allowed just four earned runs in his last 23 ¹/₃ innings (four starts) and is 24-4 K-BBs in that span.
Wesneski has less batting advantage, but has allowed just five runs in his last 16 ¹/₃ innings (three starts) and is 11-2 K-BB in those games.
Both pitchers have handled the daunting lineups of the Padres and Dodgers well, and should have just as much success, if not more, this coming week.
Being a diligent, high-performing fantasy manager isn’t just about tweaking your roster and making weekly pickups.
You need to make sure you’re set to succeed every week, so studying the schedule and individual matches is essential.
Keep following the teams that feed the bottom and you will find more and more streamers to use. The Cubs are just the tip of the iceberg.
Howard Bender is Content Manager at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and find him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy baseball tips.
2023-04-30 04:03:36
#Cubs #starters #time
