An ace-laden slate took a hit when Chris Sale returned to the disabled list with recurrence of shoulder soreness. Still, there's a bevy of elite arms on the schedule, meaning you may need to take a chance on a streamer to keep pace with your opponent for those toiling in head-to-head leagues. As it happens, there are a couple of candidates offering the upside you need, along with some potent bats to help fortify your offense.
Good luck to all those chasing down or solidifying a playoff spot as the fantasy week comes to an end. Here are the names and numbers you need to get it done.
Pitching
Pitchers to stream
Anibal Sanchez (R), rostered in 47 percent of ESPN leagues, Atlanta Braves vs. Colorado Rockies: It's understandable why Sanchez is still available in many leagues despite a sparkling 3.07 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. It's hard to ignore the past several seasons he spent with the Tigers as one of the worst pitchers in the game. His 8.9 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 support the turnaround, though perhaps not to the full extent. Further, naysayers point to his past five outings, none of which were a quality start. However, Sanchez's skills have remained strong during this recent stretch, fanning 28 in his past 25.1 innings. Away from Coors Field, the Rockies are the third-weakest offense versus righties, toting a generous 26 percent strikeout rate on the road.
Nick Pivetta (R), 43 percent, Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Mets: The Mets may have done some damage versus Phillies pitching this weekend, but this time, they'll be facing a 95 mph heater and not a 45 mph Eephus-like floater. Pivetta's strikeout and walk rates are elite, he's been snakebit by a high hit rate. Pivetta has the strikeout upside to help counter an opponent starting one of the aces on today's card.
Luis Castillo (R), 40 percent, Cincinnati Reds vs. San Francisco Giants: Castillo joins Pivetta as a candidate to offset facing a team with an ace going on Sunday. It was defensible to drop the disappointing righty, but doing so enabled others in your league to take advantage and pick Castillo up when he righted the ship. During the past month, Castillo has tossed 28.1 innings with a 3.18 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, fanning 26 with just five walks during that span. The Giants are the fourth-poorest road team against right-handers, punching out a 25 percent clip in that scenario.
Jake Odorizzi (R), 20 percent, Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers: Odorizzi is the prototypical matchup guy, able to dominate lesser lineups while taking it in the chin from good-hitting clubs. The Tigers are the former, sitting at the bottom of the heap with respect to road weighted on-base average (wOBA) with a righty on the hill, including an above average 24 percent strikeout rate.
Reynaldo Lopez (R), 16 percent, Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals: We've picked on the bottom four teams when it comes to road wOBA versus righties, let's add the fifth worst with the Royals' offensively challenged unit. Lopez isn't nearly as established as the others discussed, but he may be the only available in deeper leagues. The 24-year-old is showing signs he may be figuring things out, posting a 3.32 ERA and 1.11 WHIP his past three outings, although with only 12 whiffs in those 19 frames.
Bullpen
Several teams could follow the Rays' lead and deploy a bullpen brigade as injuries to not only Sale, but also Blaine Hardy and James Paxton have their respective clubs scrambling. Hector Velazquez (Boston), Jacob Turner (Detroit) and Roenis Elias (Seattle) are all scheduled to start, but none are really stretched out enough to work deep into a game. Tampa Bay will go with a bullpen game for sure, with Diego Castillo opening and Jalen Beeks lined up to follow.
Hitting
Catcher
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R), 15 percent, Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels (RHP Jaime Barria): Kiner-Falefa has been splitting catching duties with Robinson Chirinos. The advantage for listing Kiner-Falefa is there's also a chance he plays at a different position. Both Kiner-Falefa and Chirinos are in play, with Kiner-Falefa more likely to hit higher in the order. Reading too much into a small sample often leads to misleading conclusions, however during his short career, right-handed batters have been much more effective facing Barria.
First base
Steve Pearce (R), 13 percent, Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays (Bullpen game): There's a strong chance former Red Sox lefty Jalen Beeks absorbs the bulk of Sunday's innings, meaning Pearce will have a few chances at his specialty, mashing southpaw pitching.
Second base
David Fletcher (R), 2 percent, Los Angeles Angels at Texas Rangers (RHP Bartolo Colon): The Angels are using the rest of the season to see what they have in both Fletcher and Taylor Ward, so expect both to be featured when the Halos draw a lesser opposing hurler. Colon hasn't registered a quality start since July 6, posting a 6.75 ERA and 1.53 ERA in the ensuing six outings. Batting second, Fletcher is in a fine spot to take advantage.
Third base
David Freese (R), 7 percent, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs (LHP Jose Quintana): Freese is another hitter cashing a check on his ability to do damage with a left-hander on the hill. Quintana surrendered at least five runs in three of his previous four starts, showing no signs he's setting up for a strong finish.
Shortstop
Scott Kingery (R), 10 percent, Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Mets (LHP Jason Vargas): After a sluggish rookie campaign, Kingery has been relegated to a reserve role, seeing most of his action with a lefty on the hill. To be honest, this pick is less about Kingery and more about getting as much exposure to Vargas and his 8.10 ERA and 1.78 WHIP.
Corner infield
Yandy Diaz (R), 1 percent, Cleveland Indians vs. Baltimore Orioles (RHP Yefry Ramirez): Edwin Encarnacion's injury forced the Indians to shuffle things up with Diaz serving as designated hitter. He's built like an NFL linebacker but has yet to catch on with the launch-angle revolution, continuing to hit it down and hard. This results in a decent batting average but a paucity of power. Batting cleanup after a couple of MVP candidates affords Diaz the chance to be productive, even without the threat of a homer.
Middle infield
Jorge Polanco (B), 8 percent, Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers (Jacob Turner): Frequent readers of this space know one of my favorite ploys is using a switch-hitter on a day when the opposing pitching, and especially bullpen looks to be weak. Thus is the case on Sunday for Polanco and the Twins. It doesn't hurt that Polanco is finally showing last season's form after missing 80 games this season.
Outfield
Jon Jay (L), 13 percent, Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres (RHP Brett Kennedy): Jay continues to lead off against righties, posting a multihit game in three of his past five starts. Kennedy has been knocked around in his first two career starts, to the tune of 11 runs on 20 hits in just nine stanzas.
Phillip Ervin (R), 2 percent, Cincinnati Reds vs. San Francisco Giants (LHP Andrew Suarez): It would be interesting to see what Ervin could do with full-time at-bats, as his numbers translate to 20-homer, 20-stolen base upside. As is, he's stuck in the soft side of a platoon role, seeing action mostly against southpaws. After a string of subpar efforts, Suarez rebounded last time out, but with the platoon edge, look for Ervin to have a solid game.
Nicky Delmonico (L), under 1 percent, Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals (RHP Heath Fillmyer): After hitting leadoff, Delmonico was dropped down in the order earlier in the weekend. It remains to be seen if this is a permanent move, but regardless, he's in play against Fillmyer and his 24 strikeouts to 22 walks in 42.1 innings.
Hitter matchup ratings
Hitter ratings account for the opposing starting pitcher's history (three years' worth), as well as 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. For example, a 10 is a must-start rating, while 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.