Which Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pitcher is a Better Streamer on Thursday: Tyler Anderson or Stephen Kolek?

It's time for our fourth fantasy baseball waiver wire stories of the week!

We'll check out pitchers first again today, as there's some early MLB games today. We won't cover anyone who appeared in stories on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, or who appeared in the Thursday streaming article.

Check back later for the waiver wire hitting article.

Check out the top fantasy baseball waiver wire options everyday on FantasySP. 

Should You Add Stephen Kolek?

Kolek is a streaming option on Thursday. He is owned in 28% of fantasy leagues synced here at FantasySP.

Across three starts, Kolek is 2-1 with a 2.33 earned run average across 19 1/3 innings. He's allowed five runs on 17 hits and five walks, while striking out 15 batters.

He opened his season with a start against the Pirates on May 4. Kolek tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and two walks, while striking out four.

In the Padres' 21-0 win over the Rockies on May 10, Kolek tossed a complete game. He surrendered five hits and two walks, while punching out seven.

Kolek was roughed up against the Mariners in his last start on May 16, allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk over five frames. He struck out four batters, but gave up three homers.

He will face the Blue Jays on Thursday, which is a pretty solid matchup on paper. San Diego is the better team in that contest, so at the very least, Kolek has a chance to get a win if he can cover enough innings and not allow too many runs.

After his last outing, I'm a bit more skeptical of streaming Kolek. He's still a pretty good deep-league option for this one, and I'd be fine using him in those leagues. There's not a ton of streaming options today, so hopefully you don't need to stream him in a standard redraft league.

This will probably be the case for Kolek for as long as he's in the big leagues this season. We'll keep an eye on him and let you know what leagues he should be rostered and maybe streamed in.

Should You Add Tyler Anderson?

Anderson is another streaming option on Thursday. He's up 2.5% today, bringing his overall mark to 49.48%.

Anderson has made nine starts on the season, going 2-1 with a 3.04 ERA. Over 50 1/3 innings, he's allowed 20 runs (17 earned) on 38 hits and 17 walks, while punching out 43 batters.

In his first start this month, he allowed two runs against the Blue Jays. Anderson allowed three against the Orioles and then four against the Dodgers.

He's trending in the wrong direction, but a matchup against the Athletics is definitely better than facing the Dodgers. Anderson has not faced the Athletics this season.

The thing I like about Anderson the most is that he's eating innings. He's been at just five frames his past two starts, but has at least five innings pitched in each start so far, and has five instances where he went over five frames.

His strikeout numbers have been solid of late, and he's limited walks pretty well. Anderson has allowed seven or less hits in each start, and usually does a good job of limiting runs, with just his last start being over three runs allowed.

Anderson is a better streaming option because of his individual work, because the Athletics can have a decent offense at times. The Athletics have lost eight in a row and have been at or under five runs in all those contests. They have scored five runs in back-to-back games, so Anderson will need to be on his game.

Anderson is at least a streaming option in deeper leagues for this start, and he probably should be rostered and held in most of those leagues, especially if he pitches well tonight. I wouldn't mind using Anderson in a standard league, but again would prefer to skip him in those leagues.

Should You Add AJ Smith-Shawver?

Smith-Shawver is our final streaming option we'll hit on in this story. He's rostered in 85% of leagues, which is way up from the 12% he was at near the start of this month.

He's made seven starts this season, going 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA over 38 2/3 innings. Smith-Shawver has allowed 11 runs (10 earned) on 31 hits and 17 walks, while also striking out 40 batters.

Smith-Shawver's own percentage skyrocketed after his start against the Reds on May 5. He went eight scoreless frames in that contest, allowing a hit and four walks, while striking out five.

He followed that up with a start against the Pirates. Smith-Shawver worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing a run on five hits and two walks. He struck out seven in that contest.

Smith-Shawver tossed six innings against the Nationals his last time out. He allowed an unearned run on two hits and two walks, while striking out six.

The young pitcher has the tough test of facing the same opponent for a second straight start. Washington is a pretty favorable matchup, and based on how Smith-Shawver looked against the Nats his last time out, he's really a good option for Thursday.

Smith-Shawver isn't going to stay as hot as he's been, but there's reason to believe the youngster can remain a fantasy asset all season. At the very least, I think he'll be rostered in all deeper leagues and streamed in standard leagues for the average or favorable matchups.

Today, I'd have no problem utilizing Smith-Shawver in all fantasy leagues. He needs to start in deeper leagues for sure, and I'd add and start him in a standard league if he was available.

Use FantasySP's improved AI Waiver Advice inside the Fantasy Assistant to see which waiver wire targets might fit your team best. 

Should You Add Daniel Palencia?

Palencia earned a save for the Cubs on Wednesday, so it makes sense to see him on the rise. He's rostered in just 4% of leagues.

Palencia has worked 16 2/3 innings on the season. He has the one save, a blown save and five holds to his name. Palencia has allowed four runs on eight hits and seven walks, while striking out 16 batters.

Ryan Pressly has struggled in the closer role, so the Cubs are avoiding him in that role. Porter Hodge was the next in line, but now he's out with an injury. Palencia has gotten two save opportunities in a row now.

He allowed two runs and blew a save on Monday, but the team turned right back around and used him to close out Wednesday's game. It's pretty clear that Palencia is going to be the team's closer, at least for the time being.

Palencia is worth adding in some deeper redraft leagues, but I'd want to see a bit more of him in the closer role before adding him in all deeper leagues. If he's able to hold onto the closer role, Palencia could eventually work his way into standard leagues, as the Cubs are good enough to support a standard league closer threat.

Should You Add Abner Uribe?

Uribe is up 1.76% today, bringing his overall mark to 20.35%.

He earned a save on Tuesday. It was Uribe's first save of the season, and he was utilized with regular closer Trevor Megill unavailable after pitching several times in a short span.

Uribe has 12 holds, two wins and no losses or blown saves on the season. Across 22 2/3 innings, Uribe has allowed four runs (three earned) on 16 hits and 10 walks, while punching out 32 batters.

You can tell by his own percentage that Uribe was already a fantasy asset to some with how he's been pitching. Getting a save was going to bump his own percentage up even more, and because he earned a win in the game before that, everything is kind of coming together positively for Uribe.

I think he's the long-term closer for my Brewers, but Megill is the go-to guy this season, and will only be avoided if he's injured or has been pitching too much. Uribe might be next in line if Megill is even out of action, or gets hurt, so he's a name to keep in mind.