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As the saying goes, "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

As the fantasy saying goes, "When all else fails, target the Rangers' pitching staff." Or the Reds'. Or the Orioles'. Or …

You've heard of "streaming" pitchers, rotating in fringe options, either off your roster or the free-agent wire, based on upcoming matchups or two-start weeks. Well, it's time to think about streaming hitters, too.

Of course, a lot of the top hitters are safely tucked away on teams in your league, especially those who steal bases and/or hit home runs. But you can give yourself nice boosts in runs, RBIs and batting average by subbing in a hitter or two each week based on upcoming matchups.

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How much of a boost? Let's break this down mathematically. A moderately good player scores, oh, about 100 runs a season, with 90 RBIs and 165 hits. We shall call him Player A. Now, unless you're in a really shallow league, you're not going to find a Player A-like option who can maintain that pace over the course of the season. But if the matchups are right, a fringe player (we'll call him Player B) who normally produces, say, 60 runs, 50 RBIs and 120 hits over the course of a season can perform like Player A for a given period of time.

So whereas you're usually getting Player B's 2.3 runs, 1.9 RBIs and 4.6 hits per week (average weekly stats over 26 weeks), you now can get 3.8 runs, 3.5 RBIs and 6.3 hits per week. And those numbers could be more generous if the player is truly hot.

Take that improvement in weekly stats, multiply by five (the number of weeks left in the season) and by two players (you probably would be streaming players in a couple of positions), and you get a jump of 15 runs, 12 RBIs and 17 hits. Now, tell me you couldn't use those numbers if those categories are tightly packed, as they are in many of my leagues. The difference seems small on a week-to-week basis, but we have just enough weeks left in the season that it adds up. And you're doing nothing more than picking up available players to make that improvement.

All this is hypothetically speaking, of course. You could pick the wrong guys, or the guy could just not hit. Hey, it's baseball. But it's worth a try if you're in a tight race. You don't want to look at the standings at the end of the season and see you've lost by three runs or .002 in batting average and wonder, "What if?"

So whom do you target? Well, if you're looking to truly stream, rotating on a week-to-week basis, you'll want to check Tristan Cockcroft's Fantasy Forecaster, posted every Saturday. But if you're looking to just pick up a few players who can help you from now to the end of the season and be done with it, here you go. Below are the teams with the five most favorable schedules for hitters from now (beginning when active rosters are due next Monday) until the end of the season, along with the five with the least favorable:

Most favorable schedules (pitching ranks through Sunday's games)

1. Brewers: Just what we like to see. A team in a playoff chase with more games at home than on the road and six games each against the lowly Reds and Pirates staffs. Score!

2. Angels: Well, 10 games against the bottom-ranked Rangers pitching staff is the big factor here, but they also face the vulnerable Mariners eight times, and three games against the Yanks at home ain't as scary as it used to be.

3. Astros: A few tough matchups, but they are more than offset by the Astros having six more games at home than on the road, plus seven games versus the Pirates and six versus the Reds. They also have three games at Coors.

4. White Sox: Let's put it this way: The AL Central has only one team in the upper half in the majors in runs allowed, and it's the White Sox. These Sox have 15 games against division teams, plus another three at favorable Baltimore and four at Yankee Stadium.

5. Reds: Only three games (versus the Cubs) against teams in the top nine in pitching.

Least favorable schedules (pitching ranks through Sunday's games)

1. Orioles: When you have three teams ranked in the top seven in the majors in runs allowed in your own division during a key divisional month, you're at a slight disadvantage. The O's have torn it up in the second half, but beginning Monday, 22 of the team's final 32 games will be against teams that rank in the top 10 in runs allowed.

2. Yankees: The Yanks do get to face Baltimore pitching, but they also get nine games against the top-ranked Blue Jays staff and six games against the second-ranked Rays (that still seems strange to write). Six games against the Red Sox and three at Angels Stadium aren't friendly either.

3. Rockies: Sure, the home ballpark is nice, but the Rox have as many games on the road as they do at home. Plus, a lot of those road games are at unfavorable parks, including six at San Fran, and all of their matchups are against teams that rank in the top 18 in pitching. Not that it's so unfavorable, just that it's not as favorable as you might expect to run out the string.

4. Rangers: The majors' top run-scoring team also has a less-than-favorable schedule for the remainder, mostly because it faces a good Angels staff 10 more times this season. Seven games against the A's and three more against Boston aren't too nice, either. The only cushy matchup is three games next week against the Royals.

5. Pirates: Three games at Cincy. That's about the only thing truly favorable they have in store. A lot more are neutral, and a four-game series versus the third-ranked Dodgers, three games at Petco Park and divisional games against the Cubs (three) and Brewers (six) make an already-struggling offense look all the worse.

Hideki Matsui, OF, Yankees: Sometimes injuries have a way of making us think a player isn't very good. In some cases, they're not -- if they're playing hurt. That's not the case with Matsui. The guy can still hit, and as long as he's in the lineup, which he will be Tuesday, he can produce with the top outfield options. Let's not forget he still is hitting .323 this season and is being counted on to make a difference in the Yanks' playoff chase. So why is he unowned in 40 percent of ESPN standard leagues?

Daniel Murphy, 3B/OF, Mets: Looking at his minor league track record, I honestly see no reason Murphy couldn't continue to hit well. One caveat: Playing time. Ryan Church is due back soon, and with Fernando Tatis having locked down outfield playing time, there's just no obvious spot for the rookie. If the Mets were playing out the string and looking to next year, Murphy would be a big part of the game plan. But they're not, likely leaving Murphy as a pinch hitter, spot starter and only an NL option.

Marlon Byrd, OF, Rangers: Suddenly he's the best big thing. Come on, it's Marlon Byrd, people. The guy with the .275 career batting average, only 30 steals in 600-plus games and a 2.36 strikes-to-walks ratio. What are we all gaga about here? That he's hot? Well, he hit .398 in May 2007, and that didn't make you like him going into this season. He hit .346 in May 2005, and that didn't make you like him. So what leads you to believe he won't go cold tomorrow and maintain that streak? I'm sorry, I've seen this song and dance too many times before, and I ain't buyin'.

Brandon Inge, C, Tigers: I, too, was excited when he regained catcher eligibility, and I, too, was pleased when he was given the starting job. Here's what many, myself included, failed to consider: He wasn't any good at hitting when he was a catcher. We looked at the numbers he posted while playing third base, and we saw legit mixed-league, second-catcher numbers. But check this out: In his career as a catcher, he is hitting just .200 with a meager .259 OBP and .334 slugging. At every other position: .259 average, .329 OBP and .437 slugging. Um, can he go back to third base now?

Grady Sizemore, OF, Indians: Sizemore's fortunes falling? Believe it or not, yes. He's hitting just .172 with no homers in August, and I can understand why. He's been carrying the Indians' offense on his back, or trying to, all season, and he's a play-every day, maximum-effort player. Those are the type of guys who wear down toward the end of a season. Not coincidentally, his worst month of the year in 2007 was September, and he's begun his September swoon early. Look, he'll still get his steals and score his runs, but his owners would be foolish to expect typical Sizemore-like numbers from here on out.

Mixed: Jeff Clement, C, Mariners: He is the Mariners' everyday catcher now, has six hits in his past eight at-bats and still is unowned in 99 percent of ESPN standard leagues. You just don't find his type of upside for a catcher available on the bench too often.

AL-only: Jeff Bailey, 1B, Red Sox: With Mike Lowell on the DL, the Sawx need another slugging corner infielder, and this guy fits the bill, with 24 homers and 71 RBIs at Triple-A Pawtucket this season.

NL-only: Travis Ishikawa, 1B, Giants: He projects as a big league reserve, if that, but he can do a little bit of everything with regular playing time. He was called up last week after having hit .296 with 22 homers and 88 RBIs combined between Double-A and Triple-A.

How bad is the Mariners' offense? Well, Jose Lopez, who I think is overrated in his own right, is on pace for 194 hits but just 80 runs (despite hitting mostly in the No. 2 hole). Since 1990, only two players have had that many hits and that few runs in a season, Garret Anderson in 2003 and Michael Young in 2007.

One category that tends to be most consistent from season to season among everyday players is walk rate. So again, I wonder what is happening to Ryan Howard this season. Not only is he hitting only .232 (36 points worse than last season), but his walk rate has fallen from a walk every 6.1 at-bats in 2007 to a walk every 9.0 at-bats this season. What's happening is a combination of pitchers challenging him more (because of his troubles) and Howard pressing, thus chasing more pitches out of the strike zone. The result is a player who finished 10th in OPS in 2007 entering Monday ranked 80th in OPS in 2008.

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So lemme see if I have this right: Hank Blalock can't throw from third base, so he'll go to first base. Chris Davis will move to third base, where he'll platoon with Travis Metcalf. Ramon Vazquez will move to second base, where he'll take over for the DLed Ian Kinsler … oh, never mind. I don't want any of those guys. Where's Rusty Greer when you need him?

I talked about "streaming hitters" above, and it might become a popular activity in your league these final five weeks. That means you'll have to get the flavors of the week earlier than normal. As in, right after the Monday roster deadline in weekly transaction leagues. For instance, target a few players to grab for the week of Sept. 1-7, then pick them up right after the Aug. 25 deadline. Then you're sure to get them, and if you change your mind later in the week and decide you want someone else, you always can wait until late to drop that Monday pickup so he won't clear waivers in time for someone else to use him. In essence, you get first, and maybe only, dibs at the hot pickups.

Brendan Roberts is a contributing writer and editor for ESPN Fantasy.