Fantasy Baseball – Streaming Starter Help – Spot Starters for August 2

Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

As usual for the Major League Baseball schedule, Thursday is a little bit of a lighter day with nine games on the schedule and 12 teams taking a day off. If you are streaming starters or need to collect some innings, your options can be limited by a day like today, but there are three solid options that I think can help you out for Thursday.

Pitching Pickups

Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

Bartolo Colon – Oak: (12.0%) Colon isn’t a flashy starter, but he has been a workhorse this year for the A’s and can be for your fantasy team as well if you’re in need of a solid, non-spectacular start. He’s allowed one or zero runs in three of five starts since coming off the DL with the Rangers and Yankees being the two exceptions. He held the Orioles to no runs on seven hits his last time out while picking up the win to move his record to 7-8. He has a 1.26 WHIP and a 3.78 ERA for the season and he can contribute in those categories even without helping much in strikeouts (78 in 123.2 innings).

Mike Minor – Atl: (34.3%) Minor has picked it up recently for Atlanta ans is coming off of a nice July. He was 2-1 for the month in four starts with a very nice 1.98 ERA. His last time out he allowed just a run to the Phillies while equalling his season-high with nine strikeouts. Minor’s ERA and WHIP are high from an ugly run in May, but he seems to have rediscovered his groove and will look to turn in another quality start as the Braves close out their four-game set with the dismantled Marlins. He’ll be opposed by the newly-acquired Nathan Eovaldi.

Corey Kluber – Cle: (0.0%) Kluber is an ultimate sleeper making his first MLB start for the Indians in their matchup with the Royals in KC. He’ll be opposed by Jeremy Guthrie who has been pummeled in both starts since returning to the AL allowing five and six runs to the Twins and Mariners. Kluber has been pitching well in Triple-A Columbus with a 11-7 record on the season with a 3.59 ERA. In July he was 4-0 in five starts with a 2.91 ERA. It’s risky taking a rookie, but he’s an ok option if you need the innings and your choices are limited. I think the Tribe should be able to get him some runs against Guthrie and he may get his first Major League win.

Past Pitchers

Here’s how our picks have fared over the past week: