Catchers to Stream for Week 19 (8/13-8/19)

(Photo by Stephen Hopson/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.

Francisco Cervelli (Pittsburgh Pirates) — 4/15, 4 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI

The average isn’t spectacular, but everything else is. That grand salami did wonders for your week if you scooped Cervelli up.

Robinson Chirinos (Texas Rangers) — 2/16, 2 R

Chirinos feels like the catcher equivalent of a Cherry Bomb. This week, he blew up in our faces.

Devin Mesoraco (New York Mets) — 0/6

In my defense, I said from the beginning this was a bad idea.

Dave’s Streaming Record: 25-21

Austin’s Streaming Record: 6-3

 

Looking Forward

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

• Wilson Ramos is starting a rehab assignment today. No word yet on how long it’ll last.
• Francisco Cervelli was removed from yesterday’s game after taking a foul tip off the mask and is out of today’s lineup. Normally, I wouldn’t be concerned about that, but Cervelli has had concussion issues this year and the team recalled Jacob Smalling. This screams upcoming DL stint to me, if only precautionary. If he misses time, Elias Diaz is an excellent fill in.
• Gary Sanchez posted this video of him throwing and hitting. He’s still a ways off, but it’s ok to start getting hyped for his return.

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

Elias Diaz (Pittsburgh Pirates) — This is conditional on Francisco Cervelli getting placed on the DL, so if he doesn’t and Diaz does nothing, I’m making it clear that it was based on that condition. Diaz is batting .295/.342/.464 through 225 PAs with just a 13% K rate. He’s one of the best backups in the game and I hope he’s able to make the most of this opportunity if there turns out to be an opportunity.

Yan Gomes (Cleveland Indians) — Gomes has perhaps the best matchups of any streamer catcher, getting Homer Bailey, Sal Romano, and Tony Disco before hosting to Baltimore and Dylan Bundy, Yefry Ramirez, and Alex Cobb. That should say it all. The downside is it is 6 righties and Gomes rakes against lefties. There’s still a good shot for him to perform.

Austin Hedges (San Diego Padres) — There’s not a ton of excellent matchups, so I’ll go with the guy on a tear. Since July 3rd (his first game of July), Hedges is slashing .344/.392/.624. Prior to 7/3, he struck out 36.7% of the time, down to 22.5% since. The risk here is Hedges faces Ray, Godley, and Grienke and plays the whole week in San Diego. He’s also capped in his counting stat upside, but he has a good chance to give you an excellent average.