July 10 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Tobias Myers, Frankie Montas and Luis Severino

Despite a full slate of games, Wednesday is a light day for streamers. It’s not that there aren’t good matchups; plenty of poor offensive teams exist, to be sure. Instead, many of those situations are enjoyed by pitchers who are already owned in many fantasy leagues.

Two guys don’t really fit the bill but are worth checking out: Nick Pivetta and Marcus Stroman. They both have good matchups (the A’s and Rays, respectively) but are owned in close to 75% of leagues. They’re probably already on a team but take a look at your free agents just in case your league-mates have overlooked them.

Let’s look at Wednesday'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.

Frankie Montas, Cincinnati Reds vs. Colorado Rockies

It’s too easy to say Colorado only hits well when their home field gives them a boost. It’s also true. Rockies’ hitters are in the top 10 in runs scored, hits, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS, and only four home runs away from the top 10 in home games. They are in the bottom 10 in all those categories in road games. This game takes place in Cincinnati, a huge boost for Montas.

Montas sits a little worse than average in strikeout rate and walk rate, the opposite of his career numbers. He’s 31 years old and coming off a missed season, so it’s reasonable to think he won’t ever hit his highs again. His last three starts have been positive, though, as he has allowed five runs in 17 innings. Montas’ 13 strikeouts and seven walks during that time aren’t good enough, but he is on the streaming radar.

Montas is a mid-level streamer. He has the advantage of pitching this game away from Coors Field, and the Rockies have struck out the third most among all teams regardless of location.

Tobias Myers, Milwaukee Brewers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Myers has an average-or-better strikeout rate, walk rate and ERA during his rookie season (64 innings). His last two starts against the Cubs and at Colorado went poorly (seven runs in 12 innings), but his four outings before that totaled 24.1 innings with only eight runs allowed and 18 strikeouts to six walks.

Pittsburgh offers the chance for a bounce-back, featuring one of the weakest lineups in the league. They are in the bottom 10 in most offensive stats and rank fifth in most batter strikeouts. Andrew McCutchen has batted leadoff in most of the team’s recent games; he’s 37 and hitting .225 on the season.

Myers is a mid- to high-level streamer here. His league-average strikeout work gives him a nice floor and ceiling, and Pittsburgh’s offensive struggles offer a chance for Myers to have a big outing in this one.

Luis Severino, New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals

Severino has close to 200 innings over the past two seasons showing that he is a below-average strikeout pitcher at this point. His career-long K rate is over 25%, a great mark, but age seems to have sapped some of that ability, lowering his ceiling in both fantasy and real baseball.

Washington is a below-average offense, but they aren’t in the basement like many teams that end up here often. Power is the only area where they really lag behind, ranking 29th in home runs, 26th in slugging percentage and 25th in OPS. While hitting for power isn’t the only way a team can be successful, the Nationals don’t have enough good hitters to consistently string together hits and score runs at a high rate.

Severino is a low- to mid-level streamer. This matchup is just OK, and Severino’s loss of strikeout magic caps his ceiling, especially against a team like Washington who sits in the bottom 10 in batter Ks.

Wednesday’s Streamer Rankings

1. Tobias Myers, MIL
2. Frankie Montas, CIN
3. Luis Severino, NYM