Fantasy baseball streaming pitchers: April 23, 2016

3. Clay Buchholz-Boston Red Sox

Buchholz was a mess in his first two starts allowing a total of ten runs to the Indians and Orioles in nine innings while giving up 11 hits including three homers and walking six.  However, he showed huge strides of improvement in his last outing and  is in a matchup where he has historically had success.

In his last start, Buchholz held the Blue Jays scoreless for 6.2 innings keeping the ball in the ballpark and limiting damage from his six hits and two walks.  He didn’t get the decision in that contest, so he enters this afternoon’s game  0-1 with a 5.74 ERA which is why he’s owned in less than 20% of ESPN leagues.

Buchholz has been known throughout his career for being streaky (and getting injured), and he’ll look to continue his momentum against the Astros.  Last year, he faced Houston once and turned in a dominant performance and has had their number for the last three seasons.  In 2013-2015, Buchholz is 3-0 against the Astros with a 1.38 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 32.2 innings.  While some of that was against lineups that admittedly had much less pop than this one, he definitely has a good enough history to take notice of coming in to this afternoon’s game.  Given his volatility, he’s a boom-or-bust play tonight, but I think there’s definitely a lot to like as Buchholz takes the mound in Houston.

Next: 2. Hector Santiago