Tuesday's slate is not an easy one for identifying good pitching options, thinning out very quickly after the first three or four. That should still give us a small handful of options to choose from though, and on the hitting side we have good weather and several homer-friendly parks and opposing pitchers to target.
Here are Tuesday's choices to bolster your fantasy squad, with everyone available in at least half of all ESPN leagues.
Pitching
John Gant (R), rostered in 10% of ESPN leagues, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: There's regression coming to Gant's 1.83 ERA, but it may have to wait another start. A league average pitcher like Gant becomes a good one when facing the worst offense in baseball. It's really as simple as that. Top streaming option of the day.
Spencer Turnbull (R), 6%, Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners: Turnbull is fully stretched out now, and he faces the weak, strikeout-prone Mariners offense today. He gets a nice park upgrade into a venue that suits his skills nicely. T-Mobile boosts both home runs and strikeouts, suppressing runs overall, and Turnbull's high groundball rate should help mitigate the home run downside of the park. Throw in the coldest weather of the day (53 degrees) and light winds blowing in, and you have the makings of a great spot.
Jameson Taillon (R), 51%, New York Yankees at Texas Rangers: Taillon is coming off a nice start, but the spot is much better today, and he's truly been great thus far in 2021. The 5.40 ERA belies a 3.58 xFIP and nearly 12 K/9. He gets a nice park upgrade today as well, and he faces a Rangers offense that is bottom 5 in overall quality and on the high side when it comes to strikeouts.
JT Brubaker (R), 46%, Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals: Brubaker has a shorter leash than most pitchers, but digging much beyond him today veers into "this guy has serious blow-up risk" territory. He faces a below-average Cardinals offense in a pitchers' park, and that's about as good as we can get here.
Bullpen
There are only two games under 60 degrees today, and both take place in pitchers' parks. Streaming relievers from the Mariners/Tigers game makes sense because both offenses are also so bad, and Astros relievers in Oakland would work as well. Seattle's Drew Steckenrider (rostered in less than 1% of leagues) is the most talented of the bunch, so he'd be my first choice and should be available just about everywhere.
For the latest team-by-team closer situations, please consult our Closer Chart.
Hitting
Catcher -- Mike Zunino (R), 10%, Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles (LHP John Means): Means has been fantastic this year, sure, but catcher is a wasteland, and there is legitimate power upside here. Means is a flyball pitcher with a history of gopheritis, and Zunino will hold the platoon advantage while getting a big upgrade into a very homer-friendly park. You can make a strong case for streaming Yandy Diaz here too.
First Base -- Brandon Belt (L), 22%, San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds (RHP Luis Castillo): Castillo is bound to improve at some point, and the velocity has finally returned, but Belt is too good to be so lowly-rostered to begin with. The only reason he isn't universally considered a better hitter is because he's hit in homer-suppressing Oracle Park for so long, but today he goes into the best homer park in baseball. Forget Castillo and stream the talent, park, and platoon advantage.
Second Base -- Starlin Castro (R), 19%, Washington Nationals at Chicago Cubs (RHP Zach Davies): Castro is the other guy I always mention because, with his talent, he projects as the top second base streamer basically every day if the matchup is even halfway decent. Today he gets a park upgrade against a bottom five pitcher on the slate. Check.
Third Base -- Maikel Franco (R), 10%, Baltimore Orioles vs. Tampa Bay Rays (RHP Luis Patino): Franco's power play wells in Camden Yards, and Patino gives up lots of flyballs. The batting average upside here is minimal, but there's homer potential.
Shortstop -- Niko Goodrum (S), 11%, Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners (RHP Justin Dunn): Dunn is not just the worst pitcher on the slate but one of the worst in all of baseball, and several Tigers would be in play today. Goodrum gets an extra boost because Dunn is extremely easy to steal on, giving him lots of ways to fill out a scoresheet.
Corner Infield -- Michael Chavis (R), 2%, Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays (LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu): Ryu is a good pitcher, but Chavis will hold the platoon advantage against him, and it's starting to really heat up in Dunedin. It's an elite hitter's park before you consider weather, and today it will be 83 degrees. There are also nearly 20-mph winds. They're blowing across the field for now, but if they shift to blowing out, look out.
Middle Infield -- Leury Garcia (S), 2%, Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins (RHP Michael Pineda): Garcia has hit second in two of the past three games, and if he's up there again today, he makes for a solid stream with RBI and run potential in a solid lineup at a shallow position.
Outfield -- Nick Senzel (R), 32%, Cincinnati Reds vs. San Francisco Giants (RHP Anthony DeSclafani): Senzel's numbers have been disappointing this year, but his 70th percentile xwOBA is the best of his short career thus far, so regression is in order. He's still leading off most days, and he's facing a homer-prone pitcher in baseball's premier power park. Outside of Belt on the other side of this game, Senzel is the day's top option.
Outfield -- Avisail Garcia (R), 37%, Milwaukee Brewers at Kansas City Royals (LHP Kris Bubic): Avisail is built in the Starlin Castro "too good not to be rostered" mold. Garcia catches a break as he was initially slated to face Danny Duffy, but the Royals ace is now on the IL with a flexor strain. Plus, Garcia gets a very sneaky park upgrade (Kauffman has been playing extremely hitter-friendly this year and now projects as a top-10 park). He will also hold the platoon advantage against a guy with eight walks and only seven strikeouts over 10 innings in his last two starts.
Outfield -- Jordan Luplow (R), 9%, Cleveland Indians at Los Angeles Angels (LHP Andrew Heaney): Luplow hits second against lefties, and while he faces a solid one, Heaney is certainly prone to blow-ups and giving up homers.