August 18 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Charlie Morton, Clayton Kershaw, Marcus Stroman and More

I said it yesterday, but it’s worth repeating: Three weeks from today is the opening Sunday of the NFL. It is fantasy football SEASON. A lot of fantasy baseball owners have probably checked out by now, and those who fall out of the race will soon follow.

Keeping some focus on your baseball team even as you ramp up for football will give you an advantage over those who fully immerse themselves in the start of the NFL season. I’m as excited as anyone for football to start, but it’s been a long baseball season, and there’s no reason to give up now!

Let’s look at Sunday’s probable starters (according to ESPN.com) who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups, creating streaming value. Most stats and rankings are from ESPN. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.

Paul Blackburn, New York Mets vs. Miami Marlins

Blackburn missed all of June and large parts of May and July, so he’s only made 12 starts. Just three of those appearances were for the Mets, who acquired Blackburn at the trade deadline to bolster their rotation depth. His first two outings with the Mets went well, but Blackburn faced his old team the A’s on Tuesday and gave up seven runs (six earned) in just four innings.

Miami provides one of the best matchups in the league. They are particularly weak in the power department: The Marlins are in the bottom three in doubles, home runs, slugging percentage and OPS. This is a team to target with essentially every pitcher in fantasy.

Blackburn is a mid-level streamer. In a start against the Marlins back in May, he threw seven innings and allowed just one run. While that’s his ceiling, there’s a good chance of another strong outing.

Bowden Francis, Toronto Blue Jays @ Chicago Cubs

Francis was listed here before his last start against the Angels on Monday: He threw seven innings and allowed just one hit, a solo home run. He also struck out eight batters without any walks. He has better-than-average strikeout and walk rates, though many of his appearances have been out of the bullpen, making that just a little less impressive.

The Cubs aren’t a bottom offense. They are around 20th in most offensive areas, particularly the power categories. They are still fighting for a wild card spot, but the offense isn’t doing enough to help a good pitching staff.

Francis is a low- to mid-level streamer. His strikeout rate gives him a good ceiling, and Chicago batters have struck out more often than the league average.

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers @ St. Louis Cardinals

Kershaw brings the allure of ace-level work. We can’t expect that level of pitching, but we can dream of it on the right day. Kershaw has made four starts this year, struggling in one against the Padres (3.2 innings, seven runs allowed, though just three earned). In his other three starts, though, he has combined for 14.1 innings, four runs allowed, 17 strikeouts and four walks. The starts have been short, but Kershaw is showing high-level work.

The Cardinals are another team who isn’t a great target but are lowly enough to go after with the right pitchers. Opposite of the Cubs, they are a little better contact team rather than hitting for more power.

Kershaw is a mid- to high-level streamer. The upside is there, but it’s likely he tops out around six innings (he went 5.2 in his last start).

Charlie Morton, Atlanta Braves @ Los Angeles Angels

Morton is owned in about 60% of leagues, higher than most of our streamers but still with enough availability that he might be a free agent in your league. His walk rate has often been a little higher than average, but Morton has a great strikeout rate (23.5% this year and 25% for his career, against the league average of 21%). Morton’s superficial numbers aren’t great (6-7 record, 4.48 ERA), but he strikes enough guys out to create value.

The Angels are in the bottom 10 in essentially every offensive box stat: runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs and all four slash categories. They are near the middle of the league in both batter strikeouts and walks, not giving the highest ceiling to opponents.

Morton is a mid- to high-level streamer. His strikeout work remains positive, and the matchup is right for a good outing.

Marcus Stroman, New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers

Stroman has seen a real decline in his first season with the Yankees, sporting a walk rate higher than average and a strikeout rate well below average. He’s still holding an ERA right around 4.00, but Stroman’s underlying numbers aren’t as good as recent seasons. Stroman started against the Tigers on May 3 and allowed just one run in 5.1 innings, though he walked five batters with three strikeouts.

Detroit dwells among the bottom 10 in most offensive stats, another team that’s bad but not among the worst in the league. They have better pitching, but the team will have to add offense to contend, even for the generally weak AL Central.

Stroman is a low- to mid-level streamer. His lesser performance has been noticed by fantasy owners, as he went from being owned in virtually every fantasy league at the beginning of the year to about half of leagues right now.

Sunday’s Streamer Rankings

1. Charlie Morton, ATL
2. Clayton Kershaw, LAD
3. Paul Blackburn, NYM
4. Bowden Francis, TOR
5. Marcus Stroman, NYY