Fantasy Baseball: 5 Pitchers to Stream in Week 11
Jameson Taillon, Pittsburgh Pirates
Start: June 12th at Arizona Diamondbacks
ESPN percentage owned: 56.0%
Turn back the clock to April 8th: would you believe that the same former top prospect who tossed a complete-game one-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in his second start of the season would be available on more than 40% of ESPN waiver wires two months later?
Such is the fate of up-and-down Pittsburgh Pirates righty Jameson Taillon, who has labored to a 4.79 ERA in 56.1 innings since that seeming star turn, with a lackluster 20.8% strikeout rate that's done little to encourage patience for fantasy owners.
Taillon's 3.92 fielding independent pitching (FIP) over that same span hints at some bad batted-ball luck, though considering his 51.8% ground ball rate, tough hops may be a feature to Taillon's curveball-intensive approach rather than a bug.
Whatever the case, the 26-year-old Pirate draws a soft assignment in Week 11 against an Arizona squad that has been the MLB's least-productive against righties over the past month, posting a .614 group OPS and 25.9% strikeout rate in the split. Taillon shouldn't be left floating on the waiver wire in any but the very shallowest leagues.
