Fantasy Baseball: 4 Pitchers to Stream for Week 2

Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays

ESPN ownership: 23.1 percent

Yahoo! ownership: 40 percent

Young Tampa Bay Rays lefty Blake Snell has certainly been a volatile fantasy commodity since debuting with the big league club last season.

On the one end, he has tremendous strikeout upside with a four-pitch mix showcasing a ton of movement, highlighted by a changeup that generated a 14.3 percent swinging-strike rate last year while limiting hitters to a .508 on base plus slugging (OPS) over a 308-pitch sample.

On the other hand, Snell has a heck of a time commanding his fastball, which he threw for a near-18-percent walk rate last season, leaving the promising young hurler with an unsightly 5.16 walks-per-nine rate on the year.

So while Snell certainly needs to improve his command to reach "set it and forget it" status in fantasy, he has some streamer appeal this week as he toes the rubber against a young New York Yankees club that has begun the year in a notable offensive funk. Indeed, the reeling Baby Bombers might struggle to capitalize on Snell's walk problem, as the Yanks are a bottom-five offense in terms of team walk rate on the young season.

It also bears mentioning that through fluke of schedule, the Yankees have only had six total plate appearances against lefty pitchers this season, so there's a chance that a date against a young southpaw with a diverse (albeit erratic) arsenal and tons of movement will keep the New York bats off balance. And Gary Sanchez, one of the Yanks' tpp right-handed bats, is headed to the disabled list.

Add on the fact that Snell's likely opponent is the equally young and erratic Luis Severino, and there's a chance that even if Snell coughs up a few runs, he could still walk out with the win.