Stream Pies (6/12/11)

Start Carlos Carrasco against the Yankees? Damn right.
Photo Credit: Rory Connell

At “Stream Pies,” we are serving up gooey loads of knowledge. Here, we’ll provide invaluable streaming advice on SPs who are owned in less than 30-percent of Yahoo! leagues. We list the options in order of best option to “least-best” option (with the best streamers starting at the top).

The early results on my stream recommendations are predictably favorable. Yesterday, the four pitchers I advocated for came through and totaled the following line:

1 Win (four starts), 26.1 IP, 2.73 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 3.76 K/9

The strikeout rate is low, but it's very difficult to pull off a ton of Ks when you are picking from largely unowned players. We'll keep track all season of how my stream picks pan out, just to illustrate how great I am. You're welcome.

For games played on Monday, 6/13/11
Jason Vargas vs. LAA
I’ll never trust Vargas as a true 12-team mixed option, but his control and home park make him a viable streamer when the matchup is right. Facing an Angels offense that is struggling to score runs (despite their seven run effort yesterday), this a good opportunity to make use of Vargas.

Paul Maholm vs. NYM
I didn’t recommend teammate James McDonald in his matchup versus the Mutts (W, 6 IP, 2 ERs, 8 Hs, 3 BBs, 2 Ks), but Maholm gets a shout here. I’ve come to enjoy the consistency that comes with streaming Maholm. Sure he won’t strike many people out (5.90 K/9), only has two wins on the season, and was rocked by the Mets just two starts ago (5.2 IP, 6 ERs, 8 Hs, 2 BBs, 2 Ks), but he hasn’t let me down yet in stream starts so I’m willing to go to the well again.

Carlos Carrasco @NYY
He’s coming off a gem versus the Twins and despite the unimpressive 4.52 ERA and 1.31 WHIP on the season, he’s been a pretty good stream bet at times. I’m always a fan of young pitchers who can throw a changeup, particularly when they have good velocity on their fastball (92.5 mph). Carrasco is netting a solid 49.0 GB% and has the stuff to shut down a lineup when it’s all working for him. Even though it’s the Yankees, New York has been known to loaf it against pitchers they’ve never seen before, so I’m liking the odds of a useful start here.