Catchers to Stream for Week 18 (8/6-8/12)

(Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire)

For some background on this article, check out Week 2’s article.

Reviewing Last Week

I’m writing this Sunday morning, so the week is not yet complete, but let’s look at how Austin did with last week’s streamers.

Caleb Joseph (Baltimore Orioles) — 2/14, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

I love the HR, but I can’t really give a W for a .143 AVG. Sorry, Austin.

Robinson Chirinos (Texas Rangers) — 5/10, 4 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

THIS. This is why I love Chirinos and I love Austin for making this selection. He’s got this ability on any given week.,

Jorge Alfaro (Philadelphia Phillies) — 3/12, 1 R, 2 RBI

The .250 AVG hurts a bit, but it comes with good counting stats and that’s good enough for me.

Dave’s Streaming Record: 24-19

Austin’s Streaming Record: 6-3

Austin Bristow did a phenomenal job filling in for me the last 3 weeks and I’m very grateful, you guys should be too.

Looking Forward

Before we get to this week’s streamers, a few notes:

• Wilson Ramos says he will 100% be back in August, so owners can take a small sigh of relief, knowing he’ll be back for the playoffs. However, August is just beginning, so it’s unclear if that means one week, two weeks, or even three weeks. Keep streaming, keep your head above water, and ride out this injury.
• Evan Gattis will likely ride the bench when the Houston Astros take a trip to AT&T Park to face the San Francisco Giants. The Astros will also host a four game series against Seattle, where Gattis will have the opportunity to DH, however, owners should expect half the usual at bats for Gattis in week 18.
•  The Indians pulled Yan Gomes early last night with discomfort in his right knee. The team said it was precautionary, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Gomes sat the weekend in order to rest the knee. Roberto Perez would not be a great streaming option in the event Gomes misses time.
• Shoutout to Jonathan Lucroy and his 7 RBI this past week. The consensus on Lucroy hasn’t changed- he’s still hitting shy of .250 with only 2 long balls.

Without further ado, let’s check out this week’s streamers:

Francisco Cervelli (Pittsburgh Pirates) — Early this season, there was some discussion that Cervelli was elite. That belief was somewhat ill-founded, but some of that can be pinned on his concussion issues. He appears to be past it now and the Pirates travel to Coors for a set this week, which always excites us as fantasy owners. After that, the Pirates play four less exciting games in San Francisco, but that also means seven games in a week, and we love that.

Robinson Chirinos (Texas Rangers) — There aren’t a ton of great options this week, so I’m gonna roll the dice on Chirinos again. Only Austin can tap into the mythical Chirinos power. I KNOW. Chirinos mashes lefties and he gets 3 this week in Wade LeBlanc, Marco Gonzales, and CC Sabathia. The Rangers get seven games between the Yankees and Mariners with only two DANs, so I see five possible starts this week for Robby.

Devin Mesoraco (New York Mets) — This is a bad idea. I tried this once this year and it didn’t work. Why am I doing this again? The Mets have an easy schedule, hosting the Reds and Sal Romano and Homer Bailey, plus a mysterious third starter. After an off day, the Mets travel to Miami to take on the terrifying trio of Wei-Yin Chen, Jose Urena, and Dan Straily. So yeah, that’s why I’m doing this. The mysterious third Reds game, and the Straily game are both DANs, so I expect four starts from Mesoraco this week.