Fantasy Baseball: 5 Starting Pitchers to Stream in Week 1

Ivan Nova, Pittsburgh Pirates

Starts: March 30th at Detroit Tigers, April 4th vs. Minnesota Twins
ESPN percentage owned: 13.9%

It's been five seasons since Ivan Nova has put together a full campaign that was worthy of serious fantasy attention. Even so, the veteran righty has shown stretches of mild brilliance, thanks in large part to the notable dwindling of his walk rate. Recall last April, across which Nova sported a 22:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That was hot off an excellent second half of 2016 when the Pittsburgh Pirates' hurler maintained a 3.3% walk rate over 82 innings.

Of course, the righty's utter lack of strikeout upside puts a firm ceiling on his fantasy appeal, so he's left to wallow on the waiver wire in more than 85% of ESPN leagues fresh out of draft season. This could be a buying opportunity for needy streamers as Nova opens the Pirates' season by squaring off against the declining Detroit Tigers at the pitcher-friendly Comerica Park.

A home date against the potentially frisky Minnesota Twins offense might have steamers pumping the breaks on Nova, but there's some solace in the veteran's recent home/road splits. Nova cruised to a cool 2.80 ERA across 74 innings at PNC last season, and he's limited hitters to a .400 slugging percentage at home over the past two seasons.