Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Deep in the Heart of Texas

Lance McCullers, Houston Astros

Yahoo Ownership: 50%
ESPN Ownership: 44%

Get on the Lance McCullers train before it leaves station, folks. The Astros righty has allowed two earned runs or fewer in all four starts to begin his Major League career. The best part about his start (and something the Astros are presumably ecstatic about) is that it isn’t a fluke. His 1.80 earned run average (ERA) is on par with his 1.70 FIP, and he already owns a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of 1.0. McCullers gets two juicy starts against the White Sox in Chicago and the Mariners at home this week.

The White Sox have yet to get valuable returns on free agent signings Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche, and LaRoche is the only Chicago hitting willing to take a walk. Their 82 runs at home are the worst in baseball and 20 runs fewer than the next closest team to only play 24 home games. The Pale Hose have the worst batting average, on-base and slugging percentages in the American League. Their slugging percentage is 60 points below the American League average. Chicago also owns a 3.12 strikeout-to-walk ratio at home.

The Seattle Mariners have scored the fewest runs in the AL and are one of six teams that have not cracked the century mark in runs scored on the road this season. The only thing that the Mariners do well away from home is hit for power. Shocking, right? The bad news for Mariners hitters is that McCullers has yet to allow a home run this season and has produced a 1.53 G/F ratio.

Lance McCullers is no-brainer two-start pitcher this week.