2024 Fantasy Baseball SP Streaming Options: March 29 – 31
There are a couple of relievers, who have converted to become starting pitchers, that you should stream in fantasy this weekend.
Streaming starting pitchers is a common strategy that often leads to success in fantasy baseball. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the idea is simply to pick up a “lesser” pitcher for an inviting matchup, or maybe longer, that is soon to come.
The strategy certainly comes with risk, as there is usually a good reason, or several, that a particular hurler is rostered at a lower rate in most leagues. Still, the gamble can pay off nicely if a fantasy manager gets it right and their waiver add delivers a positive performance.
The goal of this weekly article is to help fantasy managers pinpoint streamers with favorable matchups for each weekend (Friday – Sunday) of the 2024 MLB season. These suggestions should be able to help out in a variety of season-long or daily formats, but they are especially useful to gain an edge and finish off a week in head-to-head leagues.
*** Each SP below was rostered in less than 70% of Yahoo! leagues at time of writing
Fantasy Baseball SP Streaming Options
A.J. Puk (MIA) – Friday vs. Pirates
Puk is one of several pitchers around the league attempting to make the transition from reliever to starter. The Marlins are dealing with multiple injuries in their rotation, so the towering lefty will take the mound for the second game of the campaign. The Pirates are an up-and-coming bunch, but this still appears to be a favorable matchup for Puk in his pitcher-friendly home park.
If Puk’s spring numbers are any indication, his stuff is already in top form. Over 13.2 pre-season innings, he turned in a remarkable 1.32 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.
Perhaps even more impressive was his astounding 30.0 SwStr% and 23-to-4 K/BB ratio. Puk had a mostly solid season out of the Marlins’ pen in 2023, and though his workload may understandably be on the short side for a starter, he doesn’t require a ton of innings to rack up plenty of punchouts. A career 28.8 K% is plenty of evidence for that.
Jordan Hicks (SF) – Saturday at Padres
Sticking right with the theme of “relievers-turned-starters”, Hicks is also attempting to successfully accomplish that feat. And, just like Puk, Hicks is coming off a very promising spring that saw him piling up the strikeouts with ease. Across 17 frames in Spring Training, the rocket-armed righty recorded a 2.65 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 28-to-8 K/BB ratio.
Hicks’ first outing of the regular season will certainly provide a test against the division rival Padres. Yes, the Padres no longer have Juan Soto, but they still have several threatening bats. On the plus side, the San Diego lineup is quite right-hand heavy. Hicks has held same-handed hitters to a .543 OPS while striking them out at a 27.2-percent clip over the course of his career.
Another factor that could work in his favor is the pitcher-friendly environment of Petco Park.
Jack Flaherty (DET) – Sunday at White Sox
Being able to log 144.1 innings last year was an achievement for Flaherty. Sure, the results were mixed to put it lightly, but, after managing just a total of 114.1 frames over the previous two seasons combined, Flaherty at least managed to stay mostly healthy.
This year, he and the Tigers hope that some of the righty’s ace form of old returns, as the two sides came to terms on a $14-million pact for this season.
Flaherty showed flashes of his past self this spring, working to the tune of a 2.95 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 26-to-4 K/BB ratio over 18.1 innings. He’s slotted third in the rotation and will face off with what appears to be a weak White Sox batting order in his Tigers debut. Chicago really lacks much thump anywhere aside from the middle three in their lineup. Flaherty should have a nice start to his season.
Written by
Nate Miller is a feature writer at FantasyPros and Just Baseball. He has been an analyst in the fantasy sports industry for the past decade, covering…