Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.Some days, the Stream Team pick is easy to make. I check the next day's probable pitchers, see a pitcher that has been lights out in recent weeks but for whatever reason hasn't earned owner's trust, see that that pitcher has an easy matchup, and get to writing. This wasn't one of those days.
The Team has had great success since the All-Star break, with the last great start coming from new Cub Tom Gorzelanny yesterday. Gorzelanny pitched 7.1 innings of three-hit ball, allowing one run and picking up the win in his first start for his new team.
Tomorrow, I finally settled on a pitcher who had his first bad outing in his last start: Tommy Hunter. The Texas rookie was dominant in July, picking up three wins in four starts while posting a 1.11 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Unfortunately, he gave up more runs in his first start in August (four) than he did in all of July (three). Are teams figuring out Hunter, or was this just a blip in the radar?
The reason I like Hunter to rebound is that he's facing a Triple-A-esque offense in Oakland. While the A's have won the first two games of the series so far, they aren't trotting out a scary lineup. Tommy Everidge, Cliff Pennington, Bobby Crosby -- Nomar Garciaparra of all people hit cleanup in a recent game. In the pitcher-friendly environment of the Colisseum, Hunter should have no problem putting together a quality start. With any luck, the Rangers' bats will finally show up and give him a win.
Stream Team Data
August: 32 IP, 3 Ws, 1.69 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 23 Ks, 4 BBs.
Post-ASB: 119 IP, 7 Ws, 2.95 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 96 Ks, 32 BBs.
Since 7/1: 181.1 IP, 11 Ws, 3.92 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 132 Ks, 48 BBs.
