Baseball daily notes: Pitcher and hitter rankings for Friday

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Todd ZolaFantasy
As usual, all 30 teams will be in action of Friday, with all 15 matchups under the lights. The pitching is strong, led by a pair of NL Cy Young candidates at the top of the card. Overall, 18 of the announced starters check in with a Game Score of at least 50.

Even so, there are a handful of arms to stream, along with the standard assortment of batters in favorable scenarios. Good luck as we head down the homestretch. Here are Friday's players designed to get your weekend off in the right direction.

 

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Pitching​

Adrian Houser (R), rostered in 42% of ESPN leagues, Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs: Houser would be higher than the fourth best starter on most teams, but that's his standing in a rotation featuring Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta. Houser can be wild, but he has limited damage by keeping the ball in the yard. In his first 75 2/3 innings this season, Houser allowed 11 long balls. In the 51 2/3 frames since, no one has taken him deep. The Cubs have exhibited league average power facing righties since the break, though their overall production is the 10th lowest, buoyed by a generous 28% strikeout rate.

Elieser Hernandez (R), 27%, Miami Marlins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: Just 26-years-old, Hernandez is the elder statesman of one of the youngest and most promising rotations in the league. Keeping in mind his August 31 may not be captured as such in game logs since it was part of the resumption of the April 11 suspended affair, Hernandez has been inconsistent since returning from a quad injury on August 15, though his 4.24 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in those 29 2/3 stanzas are playable in the right matchup. Suffice it to say, a home date with the weak Pirates lineup is a great spot for Hernandez.
Chris Flexen (R), 59%, Seattle Marinersat Kansas City Royals: Yes, Flexen's rostership edges over the 50% cutoff used to identify streaming options, but it is crunch time hence worth checking on the righty's availability. He's not especially dominant, but Flexen has registered a dozen quality starts this season, following one our short of two more. Seattle has won 18 of Flexen's 27 starts and should be favored in this road tilt.

Miles Mikolas (R), 6%, St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres: Don't look now but heading into Thursday's action, the Cardinals were a game up on the Padres for the second NL wild card. One of the reasons is San Diego has recorded the 10th lowest wOBA facing righthanders over the second half. Mikolas hasn't pitched well since returning from a forearm issue on August 20 but look for an inspired effort from the veteran in a game with significant playoff implications.

Bullpen:

Let's look at the holds leaders this month. There aren't many leagues scoring the stat, but those that do may be interested in a late season boost. Through Thursday's slate, T.J. McFarland (St. Louis Cardinals), Blake Treinen(Los Angeles Dodgers) and Jhoulys Chacin(Colorado Rockies) are tied for the lead with five. However, McFarland hasn't fanned any batters in his 7 2/3 innings, reducing his overall contribution. Next up with four are Luis Garcia (St. Louis Cardinals), Casey Sadler(Seattle Mariners), Steve Cishek (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Ryan Tepera (Chicago White Sox). Sadler and Tepera offer the most enticing mix of holds potential, strikeout ability along with team context.

 

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Starting Pitcher Projected Game Scores for September 17​

Calculating Bill James game scores: A pitcher starts with 50 points, gets a point for each out, two points for each innings completed after the fourth inning, and one point for a strikeout. He is docked two points for each hit, four points for each earned run allowed, two points for each unearned run allowed and one point for each walk.
Note: In 2019 and 2020, the average game score was 50.

GS	TEAM	NAME	T	OPP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
61		Zack Wheeler	R	@NYM	13-9	2.86	1.02
60		Walker Buehler	R	@CIN	14-3	2.32	0.95
58		Chris Sale	L	BAL	3-0	2.52	1.40
56		Hyun Jin Ryu	L	MIN	13-8	4.11	1.19
54		Ian Anderson	R	@SF	7-5	3.61	1.29

 

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54		Taijuan Walker	R	PHI	7-9	4.29	1.19
54		Logan Webb	R	ATL	10-3	2.80	1.11
54		Elieser Hernandez	R	PIT	1-1	4.14	1.16
54		Dylan Cease	R	@TEX	11-7	4.22	1.26
53		Corey Kluber	R	CLE	4-3	4.02	1.31
53		Brady Singer	R	SEA	4-10	4.85	1.56

 

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52		German Marquez	R	@WSH	12-10	3.93	1.20
52		Adrian Houser	R	CHC	9-6	3.25	1.26
52		Luis Patino	R	DET	4-3	4.62	1.37
51		Zach Plesac	R	@NYY	10-5	4.45	1.16
51		Luis Castillo	R	LAD	7-15	4.24	1.36
51		Michael Pineda	R	@TOR	6-8	3.87	1.22
51		Vince Velasquez	R	@STL	3-6	5.95	1.48
50		Casey Mize	R	@TB	7-8	3.66	1.14
50		Chris Flexen	R	@KC	11-6	3.73	1.26
49		Taylor Hearn	L	CWS	6-4	3.99	1.24

 

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49		Cole Irvin	L	@LAA	9-13	4.04	1.29
48		Wil Crowe	R	@MIA	3-7	5.97	1.62
48		Josiah Gray	R	COL	0-2	6.00	1.46
48		Keegan Akin	L	@BOS	2-9	6.83	1.58
47		Brandon Bielak	R	ARI	3-3	4.47	1.31
47		Miles Mikolas	R	SD	0-2	5.47	1.41
47		Madison Bumgarner	L	@HOU	7-10	4.66	1.21
46		Zach Davies	R	@MIL	6-11	5.40	1.55
		TBD		OAK	--	--	--

 

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• Right-handed batters on both sides will be in line for a productive evening with southpaw Jose Quintana taking the hill for the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates to be opposed by Drew Smyly of the Chicago Cubs. Likely available low-rostered Cubs include Nick Madrigal (44% rostered in ESPN leagues), Patrick Wisdom (24%), Jonathan Villar(11%), Nico Hoerner (3%) and Clint Frazier(1%). Meanwhile, Michael Chavis (3%), Kevin Newman (1%), Diego Castillo (1%) and Jake Marisnick (0%) are in play for the Pirates.
• A good rule of thumb when looking for pitchers to stream is to consider all available hurlers in the top third of our daily rankings. Friday's top option is Seattle Mariners RHP Chris Flexen (46%) in a home tilt against the Kansas City Royals. Flexen has struggled over his first two outings, but a home date against a lineup sporting the third-worst wOBA in the league could be the elixir. Backing up Flexen is one of the best bullpens in the league.
• Using that same filter, Flexen's mound foe, Brad Keller (26%), makes the cut. The Mariners lineup has been more productive than the Royals, but Keller has been sharp to open the season. Flexen is a better play, but Keller is still in the streaming mix. If you back Keller, chances are that runs will be scarce, so betting the under could be doubly profitable.
• After a rough first outing, Steven Matz(42%) rebounded in his next time out, fanning six over 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Milwaukee Brewers. On Friday, Matz will draw a Cincinnati Reds lineup striking out at a league-worst 28% clip, qualifying Matz for a triple play: a solid streamer, a good DFS candidate and an option for hitting the over of any strikeout prop set at 5.5 or lower.

 

[BobbyFK]

Thanks for the notes