For the past five-plus years, I’ve contributed The Week Ahead and Impact Report at Rotoworld. Those articles included a look at two-start pitchers, streamers, waiver pickups, and injuries. Many readers planned their week and FAAB deadlines around those articles, so my plan is to contribute something similar weekly throughout the 2023 season in this space.

My current intention is to post on Saturday, but with some more freeform notes rather than a set format. I’ll post my player and team observations from the past week, as well as some matchups to consider for the upcoming week, in addition to my look at the scheduled two-start pitchers and streamers.

If there’s something else you’d like to see, please let me know in the comments section.

 

Two Start Pitchers

American League

Strong Plays

Framber Valdez: @PIT, TEX

Gerrit Cole: @CLE, MIN

Luis Castillo: @CHC, COL

Shane McClanahan: BOS, @TOR

Shane Bieber: NYY, @WAS

Dylan Cease: @MIN, BAL

Grayson Rodriguez: OAK, @CHW

Pablo Lopez: CHW, @NYY

 

Decent Plays

Kenta Maeda: CHW, @NYY

Alek Manoah: DET, TB

Garrett Whitlock: @TB, LAA

Andrew Heaney: KC, @HOU

Kyle Gibson: OAK, @CHW

Nick Pivetta: @TB, LAA

Domingo German: @CLE, MIN

 

At Your Own Risk

Zack Greinke: @TEX, ATL

JP Sears: @BAL, NYM

Matt Manning: @TOR, SF

Josh Fleming: BOS, @TOR

 

National League

Strong Plays

Aaron Nola: MIA, @CIN

Sandy Alcantara: @PHI, ARI

Max Scherzer: SD, @OAK

Julio Urias: @SF, CHC

Zac Gallen: MIL, @MIA

Corbin Burnes: @ARI, @SD

Logan Webb: LAD, @DET

 

Decent Plays

Bryce Elder: CIN, @KC

Matt Strahm: MIA, @CIN

Wade Miley: @ARI, @SD

Mitch Keller: HOU, @STL

Roansy Contreras: HOU, @STL

Steven Matz: @COL, PIT

 

At Your Own Risk

Miles Mikolas: @COL, PIT

German Marquez: STL, @SEA

Graham Ashcraft: @ATL, PHI

Drew Smyly: SEA, @LAD

Patrick Corbin: @LAA, CLE

Luis Cessa: @ATL, PHI

 

Streamers

These are pitchers I’m considering as single-start streamers this week in a 12-15 team mixed league that are available in at least 50% of leagues.

American League

Dean Kremer: OAK (4/12)

Tucker Davidson: WAS (4/12)

Cole Irvin: OAK (4/13)

Marco Gonzales: COL (4/14)

 

National League

Zach Davies: @ MIA (4/14)

Jake Woodford: PIT (4/14)

Dylan Dodd: @ KC (4/15)

 

Player Notes

• Matt Strahm was outstanding in his first start of the year for Philadelphia, and has an easy two-start week ahead against the Marlins and Reds. That should make him a popular pickup, and I really like the long-term potential as a starter. The left-hander has had durability issues for much of his career and only has 26 starts over eight seasons, but few pitchers have shown better control than Strahm since 2019 (2.1 BB/9). He showed very good velocity in his first start relative to his career norm despite throwing five innings. Strahm seemed focused on his four-seamer and slider in his first outing. The obvious concern is Strahm’s extreme flyball rate and resulting history of home run issues, but the control has the potential to make him a viable matchup play for as long as he’s in the rotation.
• Matt Vierling could net some big bids after a hot week. The former Phillie has already been rewarded by moving up in the Tigers anemic lineup, hitting leadoff or third in five of his first six starts. While he’s never shown elite stolen base ability in the minors, Vierling’s Statcast data does show elite speed, and his power also started to surface in 2021 with 11 home runs in 80 games. Given the lineup positioning, a healthy bid seems warranted.
• I’m almost as intrigued by Jake Cave following Darick Hall’s thumb injury. The 30-year-old outfield has seen his fair share of injuries during his career, but he performed well in his first two seasons hitting .262-21-70 over 163 games with Minnesota and claims full health this year. His very early barrel rate has been elite, and Cave hit as many as 20 home runs as a minor leaguer. With regular starts against right-handed pitching, Cave could be worth a stash.
• The big FAAB pickup this week is Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, who was promoted following Omar Narvaez’s injury. I’ll preface this criticism by saying that I’m very high on Alvarez’s long-term prospects, but I don’t think Alvarez is worth a big bid in redraft mixed leagues. Alvarez has big power potential, but he’s hit only .236/.381/.466 in 218 plate appearances at Triple-A and seemed overmatched in the majors late last season and during Spring Training (3-for-28). More importantly, it’s not clear that the Mets are convinced he’s ready defensively, one of the criticisms we heard often in the offseason. In the short term, I expect something close to a 50/50 timeshare behind the plate with veteran Tomas Nido and a Mike Zunino-like upside as a big power hitter who could hurt your batting average. He’s a 30 home run hitter down the line.
• Now is the time to get back on the Aroldis Chapman bandwagon. The new Royals coaching staff has apparently fixed the flame-throwing lefty mechanically. His early fastball average velo is 100.5 mph, the best of his career and nearly three mph better than last season. The results have been clear with six strikeouts and only two baserunners allowed in three innings. Even if Chapman doesn’t get closer duties soon in KC, I expect him to close at some points, somewhere in 2023. If the velocity keeps up, Chapman could be one of the hottest commodities at the deadline with his very cheap one-year deal and long history of closing out games. In the meantime, his innings and strikeouts still hold plenty of value.
• The key to Yusei Kikuchi’s success has long been his velocity, and he was terrific in his first start with then average fastball better than 96 mph. You might recall his great first half in 2021 with Seattle, and he had similar velocity during that stretch. It remains to be seen how long the increased velocity will keep up, but fantasy managers should employ Kikuchi confidently for as long as he’s throwing gas.