June 6 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Cade Povich, Cal Quantrill, J.P. Sears and Teams to Target

There are 10 games on the schedule Thursday. That seems like a good amount, but it also means there are 10 teams not playing. The list of available fantasy options shrinks with every team that gets the day off.

With only a few streamers meeting the usual criteria (available in the majority of leagues and with matchups against bottom-10 offenses), it’s a good day to reassess the teams I’m targeting with opposing pitchers in fantasy baseball.

I used eight batting statistics for this exercise: runs scored, hits, home runs, batter strikeouts (most), batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. I tallied the number of times each team showed up in the bottom 10 in those stats over both the full season and the last 15 days.

This is by no means a perfect formula. There aren’t many advanced stats, and it doesn’t dig deeper into the types of pitchers that teams struggle against, etc. Any club that is regularly near the bottom of the league in these box score stats, though, probably isn’t hiding any great underlying performance.

I’ll start by looking at the teams I will be targeting for the next few weeks then give you a few streamers for Thursday. Stats and rankings are from MLB and correct before Wednesday’s games.

Teams to Target

Everyday Targets

• Chicago White Sox
• Cincinnati Reds
• Miami Marlins
• Oakland Athletics
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Seattle Mariners
• Toronto Blue Jays
• Washington Nationals

Most of these squads rank in the bottom 10 in at least five of the eight categories monitored both over the full season and in the last two weeks. The bottom of the barrel exists here: Cincinnati, Oakland and Toronto have had success over the past 15 days, but each is near the bottom in at least five statistics over the full year.

I trust the season-long numbers more than just two weeks; anything can happen over the stretch of 12 games to make the best team look hapless and the worst team seem playoff-bound. Those squads with recent success need to prove it longer before I move them up from the basement.

Chicago, Miami, Pittsburgh and Washington are about as bad as it gets. They don’t just rank bottom 10 in most of these categories, but they fall as low as the bottom five or (in the White Sox’s case) the bottom two. There’s not much hope of any of these four working their way toward league-average offense in 2024.

Oakland and Seattle hit for power and not much else. They also rank second and first, respectively, in batter strikeouts. I talk about high-ceiling pitchers who strike out a lot of hitters; the A’s and Mariners are high-ceiling matchups, capable of striking out 10 or more times in many games.

The eight teams listed here are the ones I will immediately search out to see who the opposing pitcher is when identifying streamers. Many times, that makes up the whole list. When there are fewer games, though, we have to look down a tier at better teams to find streaming options.

Others

• Chicago Cubs
• Los Angeles Angels
• Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are really close to daily targets right now. They started down before performing well for a while but are now back toward the basement. Tampa is a target, but not against the bottom group of streamers.

The Cubs started the season hitting well, as projected, but the offense has dropped off over the last month or so, falling closer to the level of their division-mates in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. I’m expecting Chicago to eventually hit better, but they are a potential target right now.

I’ve been wanting to target the Angels most of the season, but they have hit well enough to keep themselves just off the list. Even with Shohei Ohtani on the Dodgers and Mike Trout hurt again, LA is putting up a respectable performance, though far from dominating. They are in the bottom 10 in seven of the eight included stats over the past 15 days, something I’ll be keeping an eye on.

Thursday Streaming Options

These three are the probable starters (according to MLB.com) who fit my criteria as streamers:

Cade Povich, Baltimore Orioles @ Toronto Blue Jays

With Toronto harboring talented players, their recent improvement is something to monitor as the season continues. As things stand, though, the Blue Jays are still a team to target in fantasy, though they might move away from the bottom feeders.

Povich is making his Major League debut in this game. He has been a strikeout maestro in the minor leagues, striking out 413 batters in 307.1 innings. That starts him with a good floor and ceiling, though it’s hard to know what to expect from the rookie until we see him at the highest level.

Povich is a mid-level streamer here because of his strikeout potential and the decent matchup. This might be your chance to pick up Povich before he breaks out, though it’s a little premature to be projecting that.

Cal Quantrill, Colorado Rockies @ St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals have played themselves out of the teams to target, but with so few games, I will include them and Quantrill here today. St. Louis’ best players were hitting below replacement level until recently. Paul Goldschmidt was batting .200 a month ago; he’s up to .225 and has seven home runs. Nolan Arenado’s .250 average and five home runs are underwhelming, but he does lead the team with 56 hits.

The middling matchup gives Quantrill a little fantasy value. He is well below average striking batters out, but at least he’s OK limiting walks. It has worked out to an ERA a little under 4.00 both in his career (638.2 innings) and in 2024.

Quantrill is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup isn’t great, but it’s good enough with a light schedule. Quantrill can have a good outing, and he is helped by this game taking place away from Coors Field.

J.P. Sears, Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners

I mentioned above that these teams are the top two in most batter strikeouts, with the Mariners holding the top spot. Oakland has 15 more strikeouts than third-place Boston, and Seattle is another 13 above the A’s. Most pitchers gain fantasy value by that stat alone, but the Mariners also rank in the bottom 10 in most offensive stats both over the season and in the past 15 days.

Like Quantrill, Sears doesn’t strike out a lot of batters but also limits walks. His strikeout rate is currently lower than he has finished any season, so maybe the swing-and-miss Mariners can help Sears find that groove. Sears is a capable starter who won’t overwhelm anyone.

Sears is a mid-level streamer. He’s a better option than Quantrill because of the matchup, most importantly the potential for strikeouts.