Welcome back to another week of Streamer Tidd-Bits, week 20 to be exact! Over the last couple of weeks fantasy baseball managers have been spoiled by the welcome returns of established starters such as Clayton Kershaw, Robbie Ray (maybe not so welcome now), and Jeffrey Springs. The final major injury returnee that we are still waiting for, Jacob deGrom, may not even make it back this year primarily because it looks like a lost year for the Rangers. As I just alluded to, not to mention the extra detail we’ll get into shortly regarding Robbie Ray, it’s nowhere close to a guarantee that deGrom will even be worth close to whatever FAAB bids he goes for if he does pitch this season. He could very well be on a strict pitch count, so at that point you’d be hoping for a glorified long reliever – no thanks. If you’re someone who missed out on the first wave of injury returnees and have turned your sights on deGrom, perhaps you may want to start attacking pitchers who are pitching well now and worry about later another time.

In regards to our most recent round of recommendations we have to review (that’s a lot of r’s), not too bad. We split both sets of recommendations 1-1, and depending on your team needs both losses may not have been that detrimental to you either. Our lone win from the merit-based recommendations from 7/29 – 8/4 was Clayton Kershaw, thanks to three strong starts with very good cumulative ratios. Our loss, Robbie Ray, did some serious damage to your ERA and WHIP over his four starts, but like I said when I recommended both him and Kershaw, if you needed help in strikeouts then Ray was your man. Our merit-based recommendations from the week of 8/5 – 8/11 were led by Martin Perez’s no decision against the Marlins in Miami. Even though he didn’t earn a win, Perez threw a quality start and racked up six strikeouts. Let’s hope the changes he’s made since being traded to the Padres stick. Our loss, Ross Stripling, couldn’t even take advantage of a cake matchup against the White sox. I really need to stop going back to the Stripling well. With all that said, here are our recommendations for the week of 8/19 – 8/25.

7/29 – 8/4 Merit Based Results:

Clayton Kershaw: 3 GS, 14.0 IP, 14 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 11 Ks, 3.21 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 1 Win

Grade: Win

Robbie Ray: 4 GS, 16.0 IP, 16 H, 13 ER, 10 BB, 22 Ks, 7.31 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 1 Win

Grade: Loss

Year-to-date Merit Based stats: 78 GS, 403.7 IP, 424 H, 213 ER, 136 BB, 302 Ks, 4.75 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 19 Wins

Year-to-date Merit Based record (W-L-N/A): 11-21-2

8/5 – 8/11 Matchup Based Results:

Martin Perez @ MIA: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 2.57 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, No Decision

Grade: Win (QS, 6+ Ks)

Ross Stripling vs CHW: 5.3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks, 6.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, Loss

Grade: Loss

Year-to-date Matchup Based stats: 31 GS, 159.7 IP, 171 H, 86 ER, 57 BB, 146 Ks, 4.85 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 3 Wins

Year-to-date Matchup Based record (W-L-N/A): 15-17-2

Note: Unless otherwise specified, all stats referenced in this article are through 8/14, and all players are rostered in 30% or fewer of NFBC Main Event leagues.

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