Fantasy Baseball: The Righties – Targeted Streaming for a Championship Run

Hello, friends.

With the trade deadline behind us and rosters mostly settled, it’s time to take one final crack at identifying the teams you should be going out of your way to stream against, and who should be avoided whenever possible.

With waiver-wires long since picked clean, finding valuable streamers is your quickest way to big changes in your standings as we enter the championship run. But as the white-haired lothario, Kenny Rogers, once opined, it’s also about knowing when to fold ’em. As the season dwindles, so too must your spectrum of usable starters, at least compared to what it was early in the season, given how much more information you’re working with. Obviously, that starts with knowing much more about team offenses now than we did in May, but just as big of a decision driver should be your own individual league circumstances.

We’re no longer in the willy-nilly times of spring and early summer; if you’re hunting for a championship in the middle of August, you can’t just throw out every reasonable start you have available. The closer we get to the end, the more particular you might need to be, honing in on the categories you need to push, or possibly sacrificing any you can afford to. That might mean opening up your spectrum of usability for a team that’s sneakily been in the dumps against a certain hand (like the Dodgers vs LHPs), or tightening it almost all the way up to avoid a power-surger (Toronto vs RHPs).

We’ll tackle what to do with right-handers first, starting by splitting the season into two (unavoidably) arbitrary samples, using April through June, and post-July as our borders. We’ll also use runs scored as a jumping off point, but let’s first acknowledge the limitations of using team runs scored versus a particular hand.  IE. It’s not as black and white as the numbers suggest, given inherited runners, pitcher switches, etc.

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Regardless, here’s how the offenses stand currently, as well as how they scored in our two time periods, sorted by total runs for the season:

I mean, it tells us some things (who is surging, who is falling off), but it doesn’t provide us with a lot of information for streaming purposes, given how differently some teams perform against different-handed pitchers. With that in mind, it’s time to stretch things out.

Here is how teams have performed overall, as well as against each hand of pitcher, in our two time periods:

Ahh, now we gain some illumination, including, but not limited to, observations such as:

• Toronto is surging against everyone, but is murdering right-handers
• Arizona and Tampa Bay have fallen off overall, but the bottoms have fallen out vs RHPs.
• Cleveland has been awful vs RHPs all season, but has scored the second-most runs vs LHP since the start of July.
• Detroit has gone from one of baseball’s best teams vs LHPs to one of the worst.
• Pittsburgh remains horrible versus the world — then, now, forever.

Okay, now that we’ve got the bird’s eye view, let’s drill down further to better inform our streaming decisions, starting with how teams are handling the righties. But before we find some targets, let’s make sure we’re avoiding any landmines. And how do we do that?

With totally official tiers, silly.

Tier: Not to Be Trifled With

Toronto Blue Jays

As mentioned previously, the Blue Jays are just straight Canadian killling fools. I’m not even kidding; here are the 19 right-handed starters they’ve faced since the start of July:

This isn’t a matter of trade-deadline boost, as Toronto basically only added Ty France, and it’s not just a few guys carrying the load.

It’s the whole damn team:

Name	PA	HR	R	RBI	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+
George Springer	73	5	19	15	11%	.438	.507	.719	1.226	.281	.519	242
Nathan Lukes	98	6	17	19	9%	.253	.320	.506	.825	.253	.352	126
Bo Bichette	101	1	11	14	14%	.379	.416	.505	.921	.126	.401	160
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	107	5	19	13	13%	.348	.439	.587	1.026	.239	.435	184
Addison Barger	100	7	18	26	22%	.315	.354	.609	.962	.293	.400	159
Alejandro Kirk	57	0	6	7	9%	.313	.404	.333	.737	.021	.330	111
Ernie Clement	93	2	15	10	9%	.279	.308	.419	.726	.140	.313	100
Joey Loperfido	59	3	9	7	27%	.382	.424	.582	1.006	.200	.434	183

The Blue Jays are getting on base, hitting for power, and rarely striking out. This combo is not to be trifled with; I repeat, not to be trifled with.

Upcoming RHPs: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Cade Horton, Colin Rea, Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi

Chicago Cubs

Going by just runs scored, the Cubs look like they’ve gone from one of baseball’s best offenses vs RHPs to something far more mediocre. But that’s where looking at just total runs can steer you down a wayward path.

They haven’t scored as many runs since the start of July, but most of what’s under the hood looks really similar to how they performed before. While their overall power metrics have dropped some (.450 SLG to .419 SLG, .191 ISO to .177 ISO), Chicago’s HR per PA rate of 0.36 is only slightly down from a 0.38 HR per PA. And while a .319 wOBA is down from a .337 wOBA, their expected numbers (.347 xwOBA to .339 xwOBA) say not much has changed.

This might not be the same level of trifling-avoidance as we saw with Toronto, but I wouldn’t get too frisky, particularly if Wrigley’s weather happens to rear its ugly head. The Cubs have been a top-five offense vs RHPs all season, hitting for power, but still putting up elite non-whiffery (4th in K%, 8th in SwStr%)

This is not a recipe for potential trifling.

Upcoming RHPs: Andre Pallante, Sonny Gray, Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Max Scherzer, Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows

Houston Astros

The Astros have been in the middle of the pack all season in terms of runs scored vs RHPs, but have seen modest improvements since the start of July. Particularly in the power department, increasing from a .026 HR per PA to a .030 HR/PA, as well as going from a .133 ISO and .389 SLG, to a .168 ISO and .435 SLG.

It’s the additions that will make them more dangerous, though.

One of those was Carlos Correa; however, he’s more of a boost for facing LHPs. But there’s also the recent “addition” of a returning Jeremy Pena, who is slashing .322/.376/.490 vs RHPs in 2025, with a 141 wRC+ and .374 wOBA.

However, they both pale compared to the real trade-deadline steal…

The Jesus.

Newest Astro, Jesus Sanchez, might be one of baseball’s worst hitters against left-handed pitchers. Don’t believe me? Bet:

Career vs LHP: 362 PA – .177/.225/.283, .224 wOBA, 36 wRC+, 33% K%

Told ya.

And make no mistake, he hasn’t improved any in 2025, currently sporting a .178 wOBA and 5(!) wRC+ over 59 PA. But my guy Jesus can still smack those righties:

2025 vs RHP: 304 PA – .284/.345/.465, .349 wOBA, 123 wRC+, 19% K%

The Astros were already much improved vs RHPs, just got their best hitter back, as well as a righty-mashing specialist with a penchant for smashing dongs and polishing balls.

Sounds like a perfect combination for a trifle-avoidance strategery.

Upcoming RHPs: Luis Gil, Dustin May, Walker Buehler, Brandon Young, Dean Kremer

Tier: To Be Trifled With

Pittsburgh Pirates

We might as well start with ol’ faithful(less). The Pirates have been one of baseball’s worst teams vs RHPs literally all season, and there is no reason to think anything is about to change.

Pick a category, any category, and you’ll probably find the Pirates in last vs RHPs. Pittsburgh is 29th in wOBA for the year (27th to 30th), 26th in xwOBA (22nd to 30th), 30th in SLG (29th to 30th), and 30th in ISO (30th to…30th). But, hey! At least they’re only 24th in K%!

You want more details? Fine. Here’s how they’ve fared since the start of July vs RHP:

Name	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	K%
Tommy Pham	79	.310	.380	.493	.873	.183	.374	141	19%
Andrew McCutchen	87	.197	.299	.303	.601	.105	.275	72	24%
Isiah Kiner-Falefa	81	.269	.296	.308	.604	.038	.268	68	16%
Bryan Reynolds	98	.215	.255	.323	.578	.108	.254	58	32%
Oneil Cruz	90	.229	.267	.422	.688	.193	.292	84	27%
Jack Suwinski	44	.118	.318	.324	.642	.206	.300	90	32%
Spencer Horwitz	100	.272	.330	.380	.710	.109	.314	99	17%
Nick Gonzales	101	.245	.287	.319	.606	.074	.269	68	20%
Henry Davis	56	.087	.218	.109	.327	.022	.173	2	29%

Any time your streamer scouting strategy starts with “you’ll be fine as long as you can get past Tommy Pham*”, you’re probably in great shape.

*Please, no one tell Tommy Pham that I said something potentially negative about him…Nicky’s not looking to get man-slapped.

Upcoming RHPs: Nick Martinez, Zack Littell, Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Jameson Taillon, Cade Horton

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks were already swooning before their deadline sell-off, but with the shipping off of Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez, things will only get more dire as their power vacuum continues to open up.

Arizona hit 98 HR vs RHP through June, tying the Angels for the league lead. However, since the start of July, someone has hit the oppo-switch — the Diamondbacks have hit just 22 HR vs RHP, with a .032 HR per PA (down from .041 HR/PA).

Moving away from just home runs, their other power rates show the same drops in SLG (.463 SLG to .418 SLG) and xwOBA (.344 xwOBA to .310 xwOBA).

While there is plenty of blame to pass around, the biggest holes are obvious:

Josh Naylor vs RHP: 266 PA – .310/.390/.493, .378 wOBA, 144 wRC+

Eugenio Suarez vs RHP: 325 PA – .271/.335/.582, .387 wOBA, 150 wRC+

This mathin’ ain’t too hard — when your best two hitters vs RHPs (outside of Corbin Carroll) get traded and are replaced with unreliable youngsters, you’re probably not going to see a lot of improvement.

I’m expecting Arizona to continue floundering and will hammer them with streamers until they prove otherwise.

Upcoming RHPs: Bradley Blalock, Tanner Gordon, Nathan Eovaldi, Jack Leiter, Merrill Kelly, Bradley Blalock (@ COL), Tanner Gordon (@ COL), Anthony Molina (@ COL)

Cleveland Guardians

As noted earlier, Cleveland has been sneaky-decent vs LHPs since the start of July, so you might want to be more careful when trying to hit them with a substandard stream.

But not with righties! Acting like the Pittsburgh of Ohio, the Guardians were awful vs RHPs through June, and have remained awful vs RHPs since July. Consistency, thy name is Cleveland*.

*Not to be confused with Consistency, a dancer at the Airport Crazy Horse in Cleveland, where a recent Google review gushed, “cheap drinks, great price lap dances, ask for Serena.”

Bad from head to tail, the Guardians currently sport a .300 OBP (.298 OBP to .305 OBP), .385 SLG (.385 SLG to .385 SLG), .301 wOBA (.300 wOBA to .303 wOBA), and a 7.9% Brl% (8.4% Brl% to 6.6% Brl%).

That’s not to say their lineup is without RHP-punishers; Jose Ramirez (.395 wOBA vs RHP since July 1) does still exist, after all. But there is also Kyle Manzardo (.391 wOBA and 154 wRC+ vs RHP since July 1), and Steven Kwan, while not his former self, is still sporting a 104 wRC+ since the start of July, while Bo Naylor (albeit in only 60 PA) has a .352 wOBA and 127 wRC+.

But where your streamer of choice can make a lot of hay is with the bottom half of a lineup that involves a lot of Gabriel Arias (.289 wOBA, 84 wRC+ vs RHP in 2025), Nolan Jones (.286 wOBA, 82 wRC+), and Brayan Rocchio (.275 wOBA, 74 wRC+). Not to mention a bench full of guys who are only suited (at best) to be short-side platooners, like Austin Hedges, David Fry, and Angel Martinez.

And not to get too greedy, but we might also eventually see the return of Jhonkensy Noel, and that’s only a good thing when it comes to streaming righties. Over his short career (54 PA), Noel is slashing .154/.185/.288, with a .206 wOBA and 27 wRC+.

As long as you don’t go in expecting a lot of strikeouts – Cleveland annoyingly remains one of the harder lineups to pile up Ks against – the Guardians should remain a fine streaming target for the rest of the season.

Upcoming RHPs: Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Janson Junk, Eury Perez, Edward Cabrera, Erick Fedde, Spencer Strider