Field of Streams 2021: Week 12
We are back again to give you some starting pitchers to look into sliding into your fantasy lineups this week that might be a help to you if you’re in need of extra points/stats in your matchup(s). As was the case last week in Week 11 there are not a ton of solid options in general this week, but there are still guys that could provide you with solid value should everything work in their favor.
As was the case last year, any game that I reference here is subject to change should individual players or full teams end up missing games due to the COVID protocols. Sometimes we have little to no heads up on any of these schedule adjustments, and games — especially later in the weekdays after this series posts — may not play out as they were originally expected to at the time of this writing. Two-Start Adds may turn into Single Game Streamers if one of their games gets postponed or pushed back in the week and SGS picks may not actually have that selected game happen, so be sure to check on player and team news daily to make sure you put yourself in the best possible position.
NOTE: I will typically try to stay around the 50% owned mark for my selections, but may reach up to guys owned in around 65% of leagues as well depending on different matchup factors. Owned percentages will read (ESPN, Yahoo), and all percentages and stats are current prior to Sunday’s games unless stated otherwise.
Without further ado, here are my streaming picks for Week 12 of the 2021 season.
Two-Start Adds
Tarik Skubal — DET (36.1%, 46%) vs STL, vs HOU
Skubal earned a quality start in his last outing against the Royals, and that is his third quality start in his last four games. Since May 19 he has been very solid with a 3.00 ERA, 1.333 WHIP, and if your league still values pitcher wins he has picked up four of them in that stretch.
His first start of the week is the most promising as he will start his week against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards rank well below league average in AVG (.226), OBP (.298), OPS (.676), and runs per game (3.97). They have been especially bad over the last week as they own a .172/.234/.218 slash line with eight total runs in their last six games entering play on Sunday.
The second scheduled start for Skubal is set to come against the Houston Astros, who are arguably the best offensive team in baseball right now. Though their numbers are not as strong against left-handed starting pitchers — which is where the silver lining in this matchup currently lies — they still rank above league average in their splits against southpaws. If you pick up Skubal for the whole week then you’ll be hoping his first start carries you through the week, but with how well he has been pitching of late on his own he may come out and surprise and be serviceable in his second outing as well.
Jake Odorizzi — HOU (12.3%, 15%) at BAL, at DET
Though Odorizzi has not pitched too deep into games so far this season, this week will provide him with two strong opportunities to earn quality starts as he is scheduled to face two of the less productive offenses in the league. The Orioles do rank right at the league average mark for AVG (.239) and SLG (.400), but other than that they fall noticeably short of the league average in nearly every other main offensive category.
The Detroit Tigers can’t even hang their hat on being near the league average in anything, as they fall significantly short in every main category including the second-lowest OBP (.298, tied), fourth-fewest RPG (3.86), AVG (.229), and SLG (.378).
Odorizzi only allowed two hits and did not walk a batter in his last outing against the Rangers, so if he is able to carry that momentum into this week and pitch deeper into games then he could easily pick up his first two quality starts of the season.
Single Game Streamers
James Kaprielian — OAK (47.7%, 42%) at TEX on 6/23
So far this season Kaprielian has been solid with a 2.84 ERA, 1.105 WHIP, and a very strong 5.9 H/9. While that has not always translated to quality starts — he has just two to this point in the season — he still gets enough strikeouts and limits damage against him to put up serviceable fantasy numbers.
He will have a very strong chance to pick up another quality start this week as he is set to go up against the Texas Rangers, who have been one of the more underwhelming offensive teams this year. Entering play on Sunday the Rangers rank in the bottom-five in all of baseball in RPG (3.94), AVG (.228), OBP (.298), SLG (.369), and OPS (.667). His ability to limit damage and Texas’s inability to create damage make for a good matchup in Kaprielian’s favor.
Adam Wainwright — STL (60.5%, 55%) vs PIT on 6/25
Entering play on Sunday (prior to his start against the Atlanta Braves), Wainwright had earned a quality start in each of his last three outings. In that stretch he owns a 3.15 ERA, 0.900 WHIP, and a 16:3 K:BB ratio. Waino has continued the success that he found in the shortened 2020 season thus far with a quality start in over half of his outings (7 QS in 13 GS), and he has also continued with an improved ERA (3.95), WHIP (1.142), and K/BB rate (3.32) compared to his numbers from 2016–19.
He will have a great chance at continuing that stretch late in Week 12 with a start coming against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who own the worst SLG (.354), OPS (.653), and RPG (3.54) in all of baseball. Their .228 AVG and .299 OBP also rank in the bottom-five, so Wainwright should be able to put up another quality start in this one as long as he maintains the success that he has been having in his other recent outings.
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