Streaming Pitcher for April 11: Yovani Gallardo
By Bill Pivetz
Apr 6, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo (49) pitches the ball against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Thank you Jonathon Niese for making it out of the first inning. He had a decent outing last night, improving my streaming picks to 3-1, only one quality start but three pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA. I put my streak on the line tonight with Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo. He should be must better in his second outing that he is worth streaming on Saturday.
In his first start against the Oakland Athletics, he went just four innings, allowing four runs, six hits, one walk and struck out five batters. He had a 9.00 ERA and 1.750 WHIP. Not a good outing for the Ranger’s Opening Day pitcher.
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He has a chance to redeem himself against the Houston Astros. In four games, the Astros have struck out 43 times on their way to a combined .154 batting average, .242 OBP and .256 slugging percentage. New addition Evan Gattis is 0-for-15 with nine strike outs.
Gallardo’s strikeout rate has dropped over the last few seasons, 9.9 K/9 in 2009 compared to 6.8 last year. He likely won’t strike many Astros out, unless they are swinging at everything, but not allowing many men on base is one of his specialties.
I own Gallardo in the Fantasy Baseball Crackerjacks’ league. He didn’t do me any favors on Opening Day. With the outings he and Mat Latos had, I’m not surprisingly down in the pitching categories. I was hesistant on staring Gallardo, but I’m already losing the ratio stats, so it can’t get much worse. It’s only the first week, so I’m not too concerned about my record, nor should you be.
After his horrible outing, Gallardo’s ownership percentage has dropped 10.5 percent and currently is at 13.5 percent in ESPN.com leagues. If you need a last-minute boost to win your Week 1 matchup, take the risk on Gallardo.