Fantasy Baseball: 5 Pitchers to Stream for Week 21

A.J. Griffin, Texas Rangers

Start: August 25th at Oakland Athletics
ESPN ownership: 7 percent

To say there's nothing particularly interesting about A.J. Griffin is a rather profound understatement: the Texas Rangers righty represents the definition of replacement level in the current offense-forward game, touting a 5.07 ERA and unappetizing 6.07 FIP to go with a strikeout rate just a hair above 20%.

Griffin's perennial single-digit ownership makes him an interesting desperation play when he encounters the right matchup, which seems to be the case in Week 21 when he toes the rubber in the pitcher-friendly Oakland-Alameda Coliseum for a road date against the Athletics.

Granted, the A's have improved on the plate-discipline woes that made them an easy mark for streamers in the first half, compiling the fifth-best chase rate in the majors since the All-Star break. However, even with this skills growth, the fact that the team still carries a top-third strikeout rate and swinging-strike rate in the second half should speak to their vulnerability.

Of course, the real kicker here is the margin for error that Oakland's home park affords a pitcher with a 59.1% fly rate who has seen 15.5% of those fly balls leave the park. Griffin's homer problems make him a high-variance play, but against an Oakland squad that is middling in terms of on base plus slugging at home (and backed by the league's most fearsome second-half offense), the Texas righty has a decent shot to compile usable ratios and bring home the W.