We have a couple big debuts this weekend. Crazy to think you could be staking your fantasy seasons on a rookie debut! But that’s what many of you are doing, no doubt.
First, we’ll see Jonah Tong. And I’ve made fun of his baby face enough that I don’t think I need to do it here.
Okay, I can’t help it. He looks more like a bat boy than the starting pitcher. I bet he could absolutely kick my ass, though. He probably squats like 400.
So that will be fun. I would advise that he be picked up in most, if not all, leagues. The freaking guy has struck out 40% of hitters he’s faced this year with a 10.6% BB%. The 37.3% Ball% makes you believe he can be a single-digit walk rate guy in the bigs. And the 18.1% SwStr% with that awesome fastball would make you believe in the strikeouts as well. His four-seamer is around 95-96 and he has a changeup that is also dominant. Or at least was dominant against the minor leaguers. He throws those two pitches about 85% of the time. We only saw a few outings in AAA from the guy, so I don’t have full pitch mix data. But here’s how he attacked righties in AAA:
FF 59%
CH 30%
SL 10%24% SwStr%, 56.8% Strike%, 28.8% Ball%
Against lefties:
FF 47%
CH 36%
CU 17%17% SwStr%, 50.9% Strike%, 36% Ball%
No surprise that he’s better against righties, but it’s not like lefties had any real success either. A guy with a strong four-seamer and changeup is a good candidate to manage the splits pretty evenly. The guys who get in trouble are the ones without elite fastballs who are heavily reliant on a slider. The slide piece just doesn’t work that well against opposite-handedness.
Tong is a priority. And he’ll be a massive source of FAAB bidding this weekend. It is worth noting that he might not stick in the rotation. If he gets thrashed tonight, he probably goes back down to AAA. But if he does well (which I think he will), I think they’ll have a hard time not keeping him in the rotation, seeing as they do not have other good starting pitchers.
The other guy is Payton Tolle. He will pitch in some role tonight. He might not start, but he’ll go for 3-5 innings in relief if he doesn’t. He’s had a marvelous season in the minors.
36% K%, 6.3% BB%, 19.5% SwStr%, 32.7% Ball%
Even better numbers than Tong, honestly! He’s a lefty. He’s also 22 years old, just like Tong.
Payton Tolle and Jonah Tong walk into a bar. Tolle probably gets served a Busch Lite before he gets a single cheek in the barstool, and the bouncer throws out Jonah Tong before Tolle can take a sip.
Tolle is tougher to start in fantasy because of the pitch counts (he threw 72, 72, and 63 pitches in his last three) and because of the long relief thing that could happen.
But he’s a tough lefty. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him have success. He threw a ton of strikes in the minors (not a common thing) and has a mid-90s fastball with a slider, cutter, sinker, changeup, and curve. Lots to work with.
No guarantees, but both of these guys are fun names to watch tonight and for the future.
Now to the actual streamer picks, besides those two.
Friday, August 29
Cade Horton at COL
Jack Leiter at OAK
Cristian Javier vs. LAA
Dean Kremer at SF
Zebby Matthews vs. SD
Saturday, August 30
Edward Cabrera at NYM
Cam Schlittler at CWS
Dustin May vs. PIT
Johan Oviedo at BOS
Shane Smith vs. NYY
Sunday, August 31
Ian Seymour at WSH
Lucas Giolito vs. PIT
Jose Soriano at HOU
JT Ginn vs. TEX
Justin Verlander vs. BAL