And so it begins—the new baseball season.
Since this is a weekly column on streaming starting pitchers, it seems appropriate to mention the Hall of Fame pitcher, Bob Feller. Many people think of Feller when the season begins. Do you know why? He pitched the only Opening Day no-hitter on April 16, 1940. Now that’s an athlete ready for baseball to start. He even said that he didn’t have his best stuff.
I grew up a Cleveland fan, and I met Bob Feller twice. The first time, he asked me where I was from. I told him Port Clinton, Ohio, confident he wouldn’t know it. He said, “Oh, good fishing there.” Then he signed my baseball, which my dog ate years later.
The second time, I told him my dog devoured the first baseball. So he gave me another one.
Here’s to Opening Day and Bob Feller.
I’ll be your host this year. My job is to provide daily SP streamers for your fantasy baseball league. Here are the ground rules. Any streamer I choose should be rostered in less than 30% of Yahoo leagues. I may occasionally go above that mark, but only slightly. My explanation will follow each choice.
*At publication, we use probable starters listed on CBS Sports on Saturday, April 2. We’re splitting it into two parts for the first week to achieve greater accuracy with probable starters. So the first part of Week 1 covers April 7–April 10.
Thursday, April 7
Patrick Corbin (SP – WSH) vs. NYM 13%
Opening Day is tough for streaming because teams send out their aces, so many of the pitchers are owned by fantasy managers. Only three pitchers fit our 30% rule. I’m going with Corbin. Corbin has caused many of us consternation since 2020. He hasn’t been fooling people as much with his slider, but his strikeouts improved slightly by the end of 2021. I know we should be careful analyzing Spring Training, but consider that he was getting many more strikes on his slider and fastball, so we’ll gamble on a reset in Game 1. He faces a plus-offense, but let’s start the season by rolling the dice.
Other option: Madison Bumgarner (SP – ARI) vs SD 10%
Friday, April 8
Jake Odorizzi (SP – HOU) at LAA 4%
Streaming can be a messy business. We’re taking a risk when we do it. But another unofficial rule for myself is that I must choose a guy. I’m assuming that some managers want a streamer every day, for whatever reason. Maybe you’re churning and burning in an H2H league, or you’re trying out some fancy new strategy where you get ALL of your innings before the hotter weather. Usually, I’d avoid streaming today, but this is strictly a team-play, as his team can get a Win. Jake Odorizzi was solid in the first half of the 2021 season before running into an injury. Let’s see if we can get some miles out of him in the first half this year. My first two picks go up against solid lineups.
Other option: None
Saturday, April 9
Kyle Gibson (SP – PHI) vs. OAK 26%
Gibson was showing a new splitter in Spring Training, and while it had sub-par results, I saw him strike out the side at one point and thought he’d be a sturdy streamer option against the right team. Oakland sold off most of its top talent in the offseason, but I would never write them off. When an opponent is an underdog, sometimes they relax and perform better. But let’s assume a wily veteran can find ways to get these guys out. I almost want to choose Hernandez (below), but Gibson might be able to give us more innings and, therefore, a Win.
Other option: Elieser Hernandez (SP – MIA) at SF 7%
Sunday April 10
Drew Rasmussen (SP – TB) vs BAL 16%
In 76 innings last year, Rasmussen had a 2.84 ERA with a 3.09 FIP. He keeps the ball on the ground nearly half the time, and he’s at home against Baltimore the first week. I’m worried about getting five innings; he didn’t start pitching five innings until August last year. But let’s hope he’s efficient and that Tampa Bay is ready to let him go.
Other Option: Adrian Houser (SP – MIL) at CHC 9%
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Joshua Thusat is a featured writer at FantasyPros.
