As you look to stream hot hitters into your fantasy baseball lineup, always remember to be category-specific with your choices.
Whether you play in a standard roto league or head-to-head, you should always be seeking to improve the categories in which you can gain the most points.
How many strikeouts do you need to move up a few points? Is it easier to gain ground in home runs and RBIs instead? Staying focused on team-needs is paramount, so if you don’t need it, don’t get it.
Home runs and RBIs seem to be two categories in which we are seeing significant shifts in most fantasy league standings.
With as few as 10 home runs potentially being the difference between 12 and 7 points in your standings, every swing of the bat puts you closer to your championship.
Though you could try to trade for some extra power, you are probably better off scouring the waiver wire for a few overlooked hitters.
Streaming hitters is exactly as it sounds. When someone is hitting well, you grab them fast and put them into your lineup.
When they cool off, you send them packing and find a new flavor-of-the-week. It is really as simple as that.
Likely sitting on waivers right now are two white-hot hitters, both found on the Tigers.
The team isn’t going anywhere, so playing their youth and giving them vital big league experience is paramount to their future success.
And right now, Kerry Carpenter and Spencer Torkelson are on fire.
Carpenter, a 25-year-old outfielder, continues to improve on his power stroke and was batting .412 with four home runs over his previous five games heading into Friday.
His .236 ISO and power numbers throughout the minors are indicative of the damage he can do, and with a .347 OBP and low strikeout rate, he also isn’t hurting you in other categories.
He is a must-grab for the immediate future.
Torkelson was a highly touted hitter last year, but he failed to deliver much during his rookie campaign. This year, he got off to a slow start as well, but with 21 home runs on the season and four of those coming over the previous five games, the power surge needs to be noticed.
He is batting .368 over the past week as well. So though the Tigers don’t have much to write home about in 2023, Torkelson is making sure people remember him for next year.
With so much focus on the playoffs, it is easy for fantasy managers to overlook what is happening on teams out of contention. You have to be thorough in your search, especially if you need to stream power. The Tigers are just the tip of the iceberg right now, so keep tabs on every bottom-feeder through August. That’s where you’ll see most of the new September faces.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to Fantasy-Alarm.com for all your fantasy baseball advice.