Fantasy baseball weekend pitchers to stream: Despaigne, Noesi

Streaming is a time-tested approach prized by fantasy owners of all stripes. Categories in head-to-head leagues can often come down to the thinnest of margins, making the weekend a crucial time to think about streaming pitchers. Below are this weekend's best options -- all owned in 30 percent or less in either Yahoo!, CBSSports or ESPN leagues as of Thursday night. With most teams resetting their pitching rotations this weekend, streamable pitchers are few and far between.

Odrisamer Despaigne, San Diego Padres

Despaigne’s luck is probably going to run out at some point. He has a 1.35 ERA in 26 2/3 innings, despite striking out just 12 batters while walking eight. He has a 3.63 FIP and 4.14 xFIP, so clearly he hasn’t been quite as good as his surface numbers suggest. At the same time, he is four-for-four in terms of quality starts, and he struck out seven batters against the Dodgers his last time out.

Despaigne’s good fortune should hold through the weekend. He’s scheduled to start the Padres’ third game after the break, facing the Mets at home on Sunday. Petco Park is a great place to pitch and has already been quite kind to the rookie; he has surrendered two runs and seven hits in 12 2/3 innings at home. Just as important, the Mets rank at or near the bottom in all key offensive stats this season. They’re hitting just .242/.316/.369 with a .304 wOBA and 95 weighted runs created plus. Despaigne can be had in just about every league right now. If you’re in a league that counts this weekend as part of last week’s matchup, Despaigne is a solid guy to add for Sunday.

Hector Noesi, Chicago White Sox

Noesi has struggled this season, so you need to weigh this add carefully before taking the plunge. His last three starts before the All-Star break were a mixed bag, mostly on the bad side. He gave up five runs on three hits and seven walks in five innings against the Angles, shut out the Mariners for 6 2/3 innings, then surrendered six runs on seven hits and four walks against the Indians. Noesi isn’t a guy you want on your team for the long haul, and is a pitcher you only trust in the best of matchups. He finds himself as a potential stream pitcher this week precisely because he has one of those matchups.

The Astros have been better and more entertaining than most anyone expected this year. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a bad team. They enter the second half of the season 40-56, and losers of nine of their last 13 games. They’ve also had trouble pushing runs across the plate, scoring at least four runs just five times in those 13 games. Houston is hitting .238/.309/.386 with a .309 wOBA and 94 wRC+ this season, all of which, but the slugging percentage, ranks in the bottom half of the league. The Astros also lead the league in strikeout rate, making Noesi particularly attractive for owners grasping for some more Ks this weekend.