Let's call this no-nonsense Tuesday as there are several familiar names populating the list of hitters along with a bonus pitcher to stream if you're not lucky enough to own Chris Sale or Corey Kluber, both looking to add to their Cy Young resume. After Monday's short slate, it's even more important to make sure Tuesday's lineup is full strength. Here's what you need to make it happen.
Pitching
Pitchers to stream
Parker Bridwell (R), 36 percent ownership in ESPN leagues, Los Angeles Angels vs. Baltimore Orioles: Bridwell's not dominant, sporting a pedestrian 5.8 K/9, but he doesn't walk many and he does a good job keeping the ball in the yard. Bridwell's former team, the Orioles, is taking a big park hit in Anaheim.
Ariel Miranda (L), 34 percent, Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics: It's been an odd season for Miranda. His strikeout rate is a little worse than league average while his walks are a little better than average. What's weird is an extremely lucky batting average on balls in play (BABIP) in concert with a high home run per fly ball mark. As a fly ball pitcher, Miranda should carry a low BABIP but those fly balls yield even more homers. Homers aren't a concern facing an Athletics club sporting the fifth lowest home run clip in the league against southpaws.
Jeremy Hellickson (R), 20 percent, Baltimore Orioles at Los Angeles Angels: Acquired by the Orioles for innings as opposed to skills, Hellickson impressed in his first start returning to the American League, blanking the Royals for seven frames. Don't expect many punch outs, but Hellickson should again provide solid innings facing a weak lineup in a pitcher's paradise.
Chad Kuhl (R), 5 percent, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Detroit Tigers: Kuhl's ERA has been impressive for a couple of months, though his WHIP and strikeouts portend a higher ERA. While a correction is likely, he's still in a good spot at home, facing an Tigers club devoid of their designated hitter.
A.J. Cole (R), 1 percent, Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins: Cole's risky, facing the club that shellacked him last time out, but that was on the road, the rematch is in the nation's capital. Cole has yet to translate the skills displayed in the minors to the bigs, but he wouldn't be the first pitcher to take a little while before things clicked.
Pitchers to avoid
Jason Vargas (L), 90 percent, Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals: I'm generally aggressive when it comes to streaming, as is likely apparent by some of the above choices. As such, I'd likely use Vargas despite some ominous trends. His home run rate has incurred the expected regression, driving his ERA up from its first half level. He's only tossed more than five frames once in his previous five efforts. The Cardinals pick up a designated hitter, plus can run out a long string of righty swingers versus the southpaw.
Your team, your call, there's plenty of risk here. For what it's worth, my aggressiveness sides with starting Zach Godley at home, despite the challenge of facing the Dodgers.
Bullpen
Just a quick update on the Mets and Jeurys Familia. The embattled reliever is on pace to return next week, though perhaps not as closer right away. A.J. Ramos owners are safe for now, but could be in danger of losing saves towards the end of the month.
Projected game scores
GS is the projected game score for the pitcher. A "*" means that the pitcher lacks requisite career major league data to produce an accurate rating; these are the author's ratings.
Hitting
Catcher
Dustin Garneau (R), less than 1 percent, Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners (LHP Ariel Miranda): The on-going attempt to find a platoon partner for Bruce Maxwell continues, with the Athletics have turning to Garneau, former Rockies reserve backstop. Garneau's numbers aren't impressive, however it's always good to know what teams use a catcher platoon and which employ a bell cow where you need to guess when they get the day off. The allure to this matchup is Miranda has surrendered a whopping 17 homers over his last 59 1/3 innings.
First base
Mitch Moreland (L), 14 percent, Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays (RHP Austin Pruitt): Moreland's slump appears to be over as he's slashed .333/.385/.792 the last week, featuring two homers and five doubles. Rafael Devers ownership has eclipsed our 50 percent cutoff, but is still available in ample leagues to check if he's out there in yours.
Second base
Cesar Hernandez (B), 37 percent, Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves (RHP Julio Teheran): Many point to Teheran's woes at home. The deeper issue is troubles with lefties. Hernandez, Freddy Galvis, Nick Williams, Odubel Herrera and Hyun-Soo Kim are all options.
Third base
David Freese (R), 5 percent, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Detroit Tigers (LHP Matthew Boyd): Boys is susceptible to righty pop, surrendering 24 of his 26 homers allowed, and all nine this season, to right-handed swingers. Freese, along with Francisco Cervelli and newly acquired Sean Rodriguez are all in play.
Shortstop
Orlando Arcia (R), 27 percent, Milwaukee Brewers at Minnesota Twins (LHP Adalberto Mejia): Hitting at the bottom of the order is more palatable in an American League park, which is the scenario in this interleague affair. Arcia has quietly enjoyed a solid campaign, hitting .282 with 11 homers and 10 steals through Sunday's games. Keon Broxton, Hernan Perez and Jesus Aguilar all are favored with the platoon edge on a promising, but raw southpaw.
Corner infield
Joey Gallo (L), 38 percent, Texas Rangers at New York Mets (RHP Chris Flexen): Gallo is the classic boom or bust option. When he busts, I'm tempted to say I recommended Joey Callo, using my best Cousin Vinny voice. Flexen's had two MLB outings, each lasting three stanzas, each including a long ball.
Middle infield
Ben Zobrist (B), 44 percent, Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants (LHP Ty Blach): Blach's forte is control and keeping the ball in the yard. This set of skills plays well in AT&T Park. However, the Cubs possess some grinders capable of getting to Blach, headed by Zobrist. Ian Happ and Javier Baez could dovetail on the rest of the lineups production.
Outfield
Jesse Winker (L), 3 percent, Cincinnati Reds vs. San Diego Padres (RHP Luis Perdomo): Perdomo tossed almost 150 frames last season so it's a little early for him to exhibit workload issues after 104 1/3 innings this season. That said, something is amiss as he's allowed 39 hits over his last 26 frames. Perhaps he's run into a streak of bad luck, but his strikeouts have cratered during this span. Fortunately, he's only given up two homers in this time. Lefties have been particularly damaging, putting rookie Winker in a good spot, along with catcher Tucker Barnhart.
Curtis Granderson (L), 15 percent, New York Mets vs. Texas Rangers (RHP Andrew Cashner): Cashner's not giving up a lot of homers, but he's also not missing many bats. Granderson's forte is contact, with the pop to take Cashner deep.
Max Kepler (L), 14 percent, Minnesota Twins vs. Milwaukee Brewers (RHP Matt Garza): Garza is a lot like Cashner, a middling starter getting by via mitigating homers despite a low whiff total. Over his career, Garza has had difficulties with lefties. Kepler, along with Eddie Rosario, Joe Mauer, Jason Castro plus switch-hitters Eduardo Escobar and Robbie Grossman all enjoy the platoon bump.
Hitter matchup ratings
Notes: Hitter ratings account for the opposing starting pitcher's history (three years' worth, as well as the past 21 days) and ballpark factors. "LH" and "RH" ratings account only for left- and right-handed batters, respectively. Weighted on-base average (wOBA) is the primary statistic used in the calculation. Ratings range from 1 to 10, with 10 representing the best possible matchup, statistically speaking, and 1 representing the worst. So, for example, a 10 is a must-start rating, whereas a 1 should be avoided (if possible); a 1-2 is poor, 3-4 is fair, 5-6 is average, 7-8 is very good and 9-10 is excellent.