We’re officially into the fantasy baseball stretch run, and with the 2023 fantasy trade deadline in the rearview mirror (in most leagues, at least), roster management is even more critical than usual. Spring rankings are out the window; now it’s all about who can get your team to the finish line. And while everyone loves swinging a big trade to plug holes, 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.
Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 22
Pitchers to stream
Paul Blackburn, Oakland Athletics — Since getting rocked by the Red Sox in his first outing after the All-Star break, Blackburn has been sharp, posting a 2.10 ERA in 30 innings over his last five starts. Now he gets two solid matchups this week: a Royals team that’s been surprisingly frisky on offense of late but is still lacking in impact bats behind Bobby Witt Jr. and a White Sox team that’s been abysmal all year against right-handers. If Blackburn has his breaking stuff cooking once again, he should be in for a solid day at the pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum.
Zack Littell, Tampa Bay Rays — Littell doesn’t do anything flashy, but he keeps on getting starts behind that formidable Tampa Bay offense — and he keeps on churning through innings, with a 2.78 ERA and 0.971 WHIP over four starts since shifting into the Rays’ rotation. The matchups this week really couldn’t get much friendlier: Littell will face the Rockies and Yankees, two teams that rank near the very bottom of the league against right-handed pitching since the start of August. He stands a very good chance of nabbing two wins while helping out your ratios.
Mike Clevinger, Chicago White Sox — Clevinger dominated both the Yankees and Cubs over his last two starts, with just one run allowed and 13 Ks over 13 innings of work. The Mariners have been heating up at the plate of late, but we don’t yet know how sustainable that is, and they still carry a 25.2% K rate against righties since August 1 that’s the seventh highest in baseball over that span — giving Clevinger major strikeout upside. And even if survives against Seattle, you’ll definitely want to hold him for a start against the woeful Athletics over the weekend.
