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Streaming starting pitchers can be one of the most effective strategies in fantasy baseball. Here are four pitchers that are widely available that should be useful on June 24.
Andrew Heaney @ Philadelphia Phillies
Andrew Heaney should be rostered in all leagues. The Miami Marlins prospect made his major-league debut last week against the New York Mets and he pitched six innings while giving up one run, four hits, one walk and he struck out three. Heaney is a huge prospect who has the potential to be a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher; he’s still available in 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues and in 37 percent of ESPN leagues, go snatch him up and start using him regularly if he’s still available in your league.
Jake Arrieta vs. Cincinnati Reds
Arrieta has been lights out so far this season, and it’s mostly been because of skill, not luck. Arrieta’s microscopic 1.98 ERA is backed up by an impressive 2.31 FIP and much of this can be attributed to Arrieta’s cutter. The Chicago Cubs pitcher toyed with the cutter a little bit last season, but he’s unleashed it in full force in 2014 and major league hitters don’t know what to do with it. Arrieta has a 13.20 percent whiff rate with his cutter and in his last three seasons he’s had a 6.95 percent whiff rate with his fastball, if he keeps throwing cutters in place of fastballs he should see continued success.
Bartolo Colon vs. Oakland Athletics
The Athletics are one of the best offenses in all of baseball and one of their biggest strengths is their patience, they’ve taken the most walks in all of baseball. Bartolo Colon though is one of the best in baseball at not giving up walks, his 3.3 percent walk percentage is the third best in MLB. Colon has allowed three runs or fewer in 11 of his 14 starts this season, and he’s allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last six.
Danny Duffy vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Duffy has a 2.80 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP to go with 47 strikeouts over 61 innings this season, and he’s allowed just five total runs over his last four starts. The Dodgers have struggled against left-handed pitching this season, they’re 24th in baseball in both OPS (.671) and wOBA (.300) against southpaws.
Billy Moy is a Fantasy Sports writer at www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter @william_moy6, “like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
