This is an extremely specific blog post as it’s geared towards NFBC players who want to stream hitters. A little background about how NFBC handles starting lineups. Basically, they allow each owner to set their hitting lineup twice a week: on Monday and Friday. So if you start a player on Monday you will receive his stats from Monday through Thursday.
Streaming hitters can be a very viable option in deep mixed leagues. NFBCs rules on starting lineups allow players a great opportunity to stream hitters with favorable matchups because an owner can start a hitter for three or four games and bench him for the other portion of the week. Below are hitters I recommend picking up.
First Half of the Week Starts
Brandon Barnes: Before the season began I thought Drew Stubbs would be platooned against all lefties, but it appears that role went to Barnes. The Rockies will face three Texas Rangers lefties; two games in Colorado and two in Texas. Barnes has a career .571 OPS against righties and .739 OPS against lefties.
Mike Olt: If you’re cool with a high risk, high reward player Olt is someone who could provide one or two home runs because he’ll be in two hitter’s parks and already has three home runs against lefties this year.
Delmon Young: Say what you want about Young the person, but against lefties he can simply mash. Since 2008 he has a .819 OPS against lefties and only a .706 OPS against righties. One of the matchups is against David Price, but he’s still a solid pick up in deep formats.
Justin Maxwell: He has almost identical numbers against lefties and righties, which is weird that he’s regarded as a better platoon option than every day player. Maxwell will get the opportunity to play against Eric Stults and Robbie Erlin, both soft tossers who throw a lot of strikes. If you have been streaming Jarrod Dyson it is time to let him go because he’ll likely only have two starts in first half of the week and Lorenzo Cain will be back by the middle of this upcoming week.
Other names to mention are Tyler Moore and Kevin Frandsen for the Nationals.
Second Half of the Week Starts
Jonny Gomes: I’ve mentioned him multiple times already. For 2014 he has a .829 OPS against lefties and since 2008 a .857 OPS.
Other names to mention are Grant Green and Brandon Hicks if you’re looking for middle infield help. Hicks has quietly hit five home runs in only 79 PAs, which means he’ll get a longer look at second base in the short term. However, I do not believe his power surge will last. Of the two I want Hicks because I know he’s going to play. I mentioned Green because he only has one AB in the last 10-14 days and my best guess is he gets an opportunity to play against the lefties.
