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The starting pitching picture has been topsy-turvy all season long, with injuries and this new run-happy environment turning plenty of top draft picks into drags on your fantasy baseball roster. Everyone loves swinging a big trade to plug holes, but sometimes you just need a player who will give you a solid week of production — which is where our weekly pitcher streaming recommendations come in. Here are three guys we recommend targeting on the waiver wire, highlighted by some juicy two-start schedules.
Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 11
Pitchers to stream
Braxton Garrett, Miami Marlins — Garrett introduced a cutter to his repertoire last month, and the lefty has been on a tear ever since, with a 1.66 ERA, .160 batting average against and 26 strikeouts across his last four starts (21.2 innings). Now he gets a two-start week featuring friendly matchups at home against the Kansas City Royals and on the road against the Chicago White Sox, both of which provide plenty of strikeout upside and a chance at a quality start.
JP Sears, Oakland Athletics — Far be it from me to recommend any part of the A’s historically bad pitching staff, but Sears has shown real signs of promise — a chase rate in the 78th percentile and whiff and K rates around league average — while putting up solid results recently, with a 2.42 ERA across his last four starts. The floor here is still pretty low, but Sears’ two starts this week come against pretty soft competition: a Pittsburgh Pirates team that’s cooled off dramatically over the last month (88 wRC+, 24th in baseball) and a Milwaukee Brewers lineup that’s the league’s worst against left-handed pitching.
Kyle Gibson, Baltimore Orioles — You know what you’ll get with Gibson: not too many strikeouts, a kitchen-sink approach led by a dynamite slider (44.7% whiff rate) and a chance to nab a quality start (he’s worked at least six innings in four of his last six starts). The matchups are awfully friendly this week, with a trip to Milwaukee to face the Brewers on Tuesday followed by a weekend date with the Royals, and both of them carry a very good chance of notching a win behind Baltimore’s solid offense and bullpen.