Field of Streams 2021: Week 3
If I have learned anything in the first two weeks of this baseball season, it’s to never nominate Ryan Yarbrough in this article again. The game that I suggested he be streamed for last week against the Texas Rangers, he allowed 6 ER on 10 H through 6 IP (but that 6:1 K:BB was nice?). Then his second outing of the week (as a bulk reliever behind an opener) comes up against a Yankee lineup that typically does pretty well, but their bats keep struggling as he gave up just 1 ER on 2 H (and only 2 BB) through 5 IP.
I know I won’t remember to never nominate him again, or just stubbornly keep picking him because *next* time will be the time I correctly pick him. But until that moment comes, for the sake of Yarbrough and his fantasy owners, I will not pick him for this list again in 2021.
Until we get more games in the season and gather more data on how pitchers are actually performing, I am only going to be listing a couple of guys in each section. As we get through the season and have a better picture on what is going on I will expand out and add more options as necessary, but until then we will have to make do with what we have.
Additionally, for people that maybe skipped out last year due to the shortened season and/or just as a general reminder, make sure to keep an eye on the news for any games getting postponed due to COVID protocols. We have already seen one series get postponed this past weekend and there is a chance that the beginning of this week gets affected as well, so be sure to have plenty of options in case anything goes south.
As was the case last year, any game that I reference here is subject to change for that very reason. 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 3 of the 2021 season.
Two-Start Adds
Jake Arrieta — CHC (53.0%, 45%) vs NYM, vs MIL
While he won’t be the 2015 version of himself ever again, Arrieta has been good to start the 2021 season. In his first three starts he has a 3.18 ERA (backed by a 3.33 FIP), 1.294 WHIP, and a pair of quality starts to show for it.
His two scheduled starts of the week are both scheduled to come against two of the least productive offensive teams in the league. The Mets are an interesting bunch as they have the second-highest OBP (.347) and eighth-highest team AVG (.251), but they also have the fifth-lowest SLG (.363) and manufacture the third fewest runs per game (3.50). They do a good job of getting them on, are okay at getting them over, but can’t get them in.
Meanwhile, the Brewers rank dead last in SLG (.338) and OPS (.643) while owning the fourth-lowest team AVG (.210), but they have managed to score about 4.36 runs per game which is right around league average. Arrieta’s last outing was also against the Brewers, and in that game he allowed a 1.000 WHIP (4 H, 1 BB) and 3 ER over 5 IP. Not great numbers, but nothing that’s going to hurt your squad either.
Honorable Mentions:
Honestly, Jake is the only available two-start guy that I like this week. Rich Hill (TB) is worth keeping an eye on to see if he can improve on his last couple of outings. Nick Niedert (MIA) is scheduled to go up against a pair of struggling offenses in the Orioles and Giants, but he has not been able to get through five innings in a single outing so far this year. Maybe Danny Duffy (KC) is worth a look if you’re in need for more innings, but I’m not buying in just yet as his 3.33 FIP helps indicate that his 0.75 ERA is set to regress.
Single Game Streamers
Trevor Rogers — MIA (53.4%, 71%) vs BAL on 4/21
This one is definitely a stretch for those of you playing in Yahoo leagues, but his owned percentage on ESPN was too low for me to let him go by unmentioned. In his three outings this year Rogers owns a 2.40 ERA (close to being backed by his 2.96 FIP), 1.133 WHIP, and an electric 13.8 K/9 rate.
Although he does only have one quality start to show for his efforts thus far, he will have a strong chance at picking up another one this week as he gets set to take on the Baltimore Orioles. To this point in the season Baltimore ranks in the bottom-five in OBP (.286) and OPS (.662), and they also slot in below league average in most of the other main offensive categories. In addition to their general struggles, they have been especially poor offensively with a .182/.248/.294 slash line in five games facing starting southpaws.
Ryan Yarbrough — TB (32.9%, 45%) vs TOR on 4/23
Aaaand this is why I don’t make promises.
Taking a gander at Yarbrough’s scheduled appearance for this week (because of course I am), he actually matches up pretty well against the Toronto Blue Jays. In 12 career appearances against them (5 of them starts) he owns a 2.45 ERA and a 1.052 WHIP over 51 1/3 IP, and that’s a pretty hefty sample size. There is also a chance that this appearance comes as a bulk reliever behind an opener, just as he did on Sunday against the Yankees.
While the Jays do have some individual players who are swinging the bat well right now, as a team they rank right around league average across the board. Plus, the Jays’ hottest hitter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., has been held to a .083 AVG (1-for-12) in his career against Yarbrough.
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