April 28 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Jose Quintana, Michael Wacha, Patrick Corbin and More
A look at Sunday's probable starters who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
With the NFL Draft over, more focus can return to the baseball field, though the NBA and NHL playoffs inevitably steal some of the attention. With close to a month of the regular season over, we only have…five months left. It’s a grueling season, but we'll keep pushing through as fantasy baseball owners.
Let’s run through Sunday’s probable starters (according to MLB.com) who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups, creating streaming value. Most stats and rankings are from ESPN.
Zack Littell, Tampa Bay Rays @ Chicago White Sox
Littell is the lucky winner of Sunday’s lottery, getting to face the moribund White Sox. There’s not much left to say: Chicago is plain bad.
Littell gave up just two runs in his first three starts combined before an OK game against the Angels and a rough outing against the Tigers on Monday. His season numbers look good, especially his 29 strikeouts in 27 innings with just five walks.
This is a case of a high-upside pitcher against one of the worst lineups in the league. Littell is the streamer of the day, worthy of a spot in your lineup and maybe approaching keeper status on your roster.
Jose Quintana, New York Mets. vs St. Louis Cardinals
I was late to the party on the Cardinals, expecting them to perform better. They are in the bottom 10 in most offensive categories, though, and a team to target most days.
Quintana has been a little above average in his career, something that has mostly held in 2024. He has walked too many hitters, but that has only been a problem in one season of his career (2021), and he’s likely to find the strike zone more moving forward.
Quintana is a mid- to high-level streamer against St. Louis He strikes out a little less than a batter per inning, and his career ERA sits under 4.00. He has a chance for a good outing in this one.
Albert Suarez, Baltimore Orioles vs. Oakland Athletics
Suarez began his professional career as an 18-year-old out of Venezuela, working in the Minor Leagues for about eight years before making his debut in 2016. He played in Japan and Korea over the ensuing years before returning to MLB this season for the first time since 2017.
He has started two games this year, lasting 5.2 innings in both starts and allowing no runs with nine strikeouts to two walks. It has been a successful return to the majors by any standard.
Oakland presents one of the best matchups in baseball, fighting with the White Sox over who is most hapless at the plate. Suarez has a chance to put up another start near six innings with a low number of hits and runs allowed.
He is a mid- to high-level streamer in this one, as we can expect Suarez to keep putting up good innings while acknowledging that he won’t hold opponents scoreless forever.
Michael Wacha, Kansas City Royals @ Detroit Tigers
Wacha’s 2024 numbers are very close to his career stats, striking out and walking batters at a rate near the league average while sporting an ERA under 4.00. He has been part of Kansas City’s surprisingly hot start to the season.
Detroit’s outlook is bleaker, though they have a winning record right now. Part of their winning ways are a product of the schedule, as the Tigers have played series against the White Sox, Mets, Athletics and Twins (twice) in the early season.
Their offense has been close to a bottom-five unit through April, and a correction in record is likely coming as the schedule toughens up. Detroit is still a team to target with opposing starting pitchers in fantasy.
Wacha is another mid- to high-level streamer. He doesn’t have the upside of pitchers with higher strikeout rates, but Wacha is a dependable starter matching up with a weak offense.
Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals @ Miami Marlins
Ryan Weathers, Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals
The starters for these two teams were both listed here yesterday against each other: While Washington’s Mitchell Parker had a decent outing (allowing one run in four innings), Miami’s Edward Cabrera allowed six runs (five earned) in his 4.1 innings, albeit while striking out four batters to Parker’s two. The Nationals won 11-4.
Both offenses are easily in the bottom 10 in 2024, so we’re going back to the well with Corbin and Weathers on Sunday. Neither has been great this year, but each has a chance to put together a quality start due to the opponent.
Corbin is a former ace who has watched his strikeout rate plummet and ERA balloon since his second year with the Nats (2020). He hasn’t bounced back at all since that COVID season, and he is only a low-level streamer here because of the matchup with Miami.
Weathers is only 24 years old with 181.2 innings to his name, about nine times less than his veteran opponent (1,638.1 innings for Corbin). His results in that young career have been below-average in terms of strikeout rate, walk rate and ERA.
His 2024 season has started better than his previous numbers, so maybe the young pitcher is starting to find something, but he’s still no better than a mid- to low-level streamer due to his low number of strikeouts and underwhelming results overall.
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