I had nervy streamers as recommendations last week, but I’m happy with the results. Merrill Kelly and Jack Flaherty have been underwhelming all season, but put together a great start, making for a successful week for the broadcasters. That’s all we can hope for, and we’ll look to keep that momentum going here. Somehow we’re entering June as another year quickly ends, so let’s start by looking at the favorable matchups this week and get into the water!
Popular Team Games
7 Games
Arizona Diamondbacks (vs. LAD, vs. WAS)
Kansas City Royals (CIN, 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)
Throwing Streamers
Cade Cavalli, WAS (vs. MIA)
Cavalli has shown glimpses of brilliance at times throughout his career, but we are finally seeing some consistency this season. The Nats righty has allowed four runs or fewer in all 12 starts this year. Most impressive is the strikeout stuff, sporting a 3.38 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 11.3 K/9 average over his last seven starts. That’s a player who should be picked in every league, especially since we saw Cavalli give up four runs or less in nine of his 10 starts last season. Allowing four runs or less in 21 of 22 starts is something you don’t see very often from an ace, but Cavalli sits on the waiver wire in more than half of the leagues on Yahoo. The home game against Miami only added to his antics, as they ranked 29th in xwOBA while Cavalli allowed two or fewer runs in all three of their matchups.
Streaming Average: $17.9
Dustin May, BOS (vs. TEX)
It’s only fitting that May finally hits the mark because we’re at the end of her favorite month. He’s had a great May, maintaining a 3.02 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over his last nine starts. That kind of ability is why he was so popular with the Dodgers the past few years, and it seems his move to Boston is what made things click. Our favorite part about this is that it has a match with Texas. The Rangers are missing their two best bats right now and rank 23rd in wOBA and 27th in runs scored. And it’s a Texas team that hasn’t seen May since 2021, so that should earn him the right, given the changes he’s made to his arsenal.
Streaming Average: $11.1
Connor Prielipp, MIN (vs. CWS, vs. KC)
We’re excited about Prielipp as one of our starters after his last two starts, but we’ll hope these were two outside shells. The pitcher averaged a 2.88 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 10.4 K/0 over his first five starts before that bad week. It’s not clear what sample size to trust, but a month of good placement is more reliable than one rough week. The youngster also impressed in Triple-A before being called up, compiling a 2.30 ERA and 1.25 WHIP while striking out 22 batters in 15.2 innings. The most impactful variable here is that you have a doubleheader at home in favorable matchups. Chicago has improved significantly, but still ranks 29th in K rate. KC hasn’t developed yet, and we’ll talk about that more in the next streamer write-up!
Streaming Average: $-5.6
Zebby Matthews, MIN (vs. KC)
We just hinted at how special KC’s matchup is right now, so let’s get into that. The Royals are ranked 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. Those are the things we’ve seen from Matthews throughout his minor league career, accumulating a 3.19 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 29 K percentage. Zebby was successful as one of our hosts last week, so let’s get back to the source!
Streaming Average: $3.8
Ben Brown, CHC (vs. SF)
We have a lot of carryover from last week’s broadcasters, and Brown is one of them. The righty is finally getting good in this rotation, and the Cubs can’t get him out of it the way he’s going right now. The righty is averaging a 2.01 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 9.5 K/9 this year. He’s been even better since his promotion to the rotation, posting a 1.32 ERA and 0.94 WHIP since April 11. It looks like Brown could develop into a starter if this continues, and should against the Giants. San Francisco sits in the bottom three in OBP, OPS, wOBA, xwOBA and runs scored. Not to mention, Brown struck out nine batters in his only career with San Fran last season.
Streaming Average: $16.9
Hitting Streamers
Trevor Larnach, MIN (vs. CWS, vs. KC)
It sounds like Larnach is one of the most underrated hitters in baseball. He started his career as a platoon player, but has been hitting third almost 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 lately. The outfielder has a .381 OBP and .770 OPS so far this season. The power has been a little lacking, but the .381 OBP is outstanding. The best part about this is that he has seven games this week and six of them are against right fielders! Larnach has a .399 OBP and .794 OPS with team advantage in his favor this year. Easy week for the righties again, 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 the same situation as hitting the broadcasters. Like Larnach, Bauers has been beating the heart of the Milwaukee roster on a daily basis. He’s achieved that with an impressive stretch, posting a .387 OBP and .915 OPS over his last 35 games. Bauers also attacks righties, totaling a .378 OBP and .882 OPS against them this year. That’s good news since Milwaukee is down to six right tackles this week for seven games. We didn’t even mention that he’s facing a 29th-ranked Rockies pitching staff at Coors Field and a struggling San Fran pitching staff at home.
SAGNOF (Saves/Steals No Face)
Theft Specialists
Nasim Nunez (WAS)
Nunez has been in this category every week because he has been one of the leading stealers all season. The speedy player is one of the league leaders with 22 steals.
Leodys Taveras (BAL)
Taveras has played almost every day in recent weeks, recording a steal in four of his last 10 games.
Keeps Professionals
Richard Lovelady (WAS)
The Nationals haven’t had a close season all season, but Lovelady looks like a 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 picked a closer since Ryan Walker was demoted, but Kilian has been getting plenty of opportunities. He had a 2.22 ERA and 0.99 WHIP before Friday’s firing, but also had three saves before that.
Feel free to comment here or contact me on Twitter @Bartilottajoel if you have any questions! Also, feel free to check out my Waiver Wire article from yesterday!
