July 31 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Brayan Bello, Kyle Freeland, Roddery Munoz and Davis Daniel
A look at Wednesday's probable starters who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
The trade deadline has come and gone, and there was a flurry of activity, though a few of the big names stayed put. The White Sox, owning by far the worst record in baseball, must have felt they were being low-balled with offers for Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr., maybe the best pitcher and hitter in trade rumors who didn’t move. Both players are under contract for multiple seasons, so the offseason is another chance for dealing.
Trades peppered in throughout the day, though, with starting pitchers (Martin Perez, Jack Flaherty), relief pitchers (Tanner Scott, Lucas Erceg) and position players (Paul DeJong, Eloy Jimenez) moved in the final hours. Those names are just a small sample of the players dealt; it would take more space than I have to go into every trade.
With a new landscape to observe, let’s run through Wednesday’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 MLB. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
Brayan Bello, Boston Red Sox vs. Seattle Mariners
The Mariners made moves over the past few days to improve one of the worst offenses in the league, a necessity given their dominant starting pitchers. How much is it going to help, though? Randy Arozarena was the big name; he hit for power this year with the Rays, with 15 home runs, but he also batted .211 with 101 strikeouts. Seattle is 10th in home runs, but they lead the league in strikeouts and are 29th in batting average. Arozarena seems to fit into the problem rather than solving it.
Bello has struggled to prevent runs despite strikeout and walk rates near the league average. He has given up at least three runs in each of his last four starts, none of which went longer than six innings. His strikeout work is the best thing about Bello’s performance, including games with seven and 11 Ks within that four-start run.
Bello is a mid-level streamer with upside. His positive strikeout work combined with Seattle’s swing-and-miss ways mean there is a chance at a big outing; there’s also a chance the Mariners could score early and often.
Davis Daniel, Los Angeles Angels vs. Colorado Rockies
Location is everything. Where you live, where you eat, and especially where you go to the bathroom. In this case, we’re talking about the location of a baseball game, as the Rockies fall from a dominant offense at home to a bottom-10 unit on the road. This game taking place in Los Angeles makes the Rockies a team to target.
Daniel doesn’t have much big-league mileage, sitting under 30 total innings. He had one phenomenal start in June in which he threw eight scoreless innings against the Tigers and struck out eight batters with no walks. His other two outings combined for nine innings and 12 runs allowed, so it’s not all good, but he has shown the ability to succeed.
Daniel is a low-level streamer. We don’t know anything about him, so I have trouble giving him a higher grade.
Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies @ Los Angeles Angels
Freeland has a good walk rate, but his strikeout rate is several percentage points below average, something that has been true his whole career. He missed a stretch in April and May on the IL, which has limited him to just 10 starts this season; they haven’t gone well, as he has allowed 68 hits in 52 innings and holds a 6.23 ERA.
LA did well in a few of their deadline deals, but they added prospects and no one who will boost the current roster. The lineup didn’t lose much, but there also wasn’t much to lose. The Angels are a bottom-10 offense without much help coming in 2024.
Freeland is a low-level streamer. The right matchups put him on the streaming radar, but his lack of strikeouts limits his ceiling and floor.
Roddery Munoz, Miami Marlins @ Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa stripped a lot of parts considering it would take less than a week for them to control the Wild Card. While it will probably means better things for the team’s future, they are worse for the final two months of 2024. A team that already sported a bottom-10 offense is worthy of targeting for the rest of the year.
Munoz is a 24-year-old rookie who has thrown 61 innings. Both his strikeout and walk rates are several percentage points worse than average, and it has led to a 5.61 ERA. There’s not a lot else to say right now; we have a small sample of innings that don’t tell us much, but Munoz has been a below-average pitcher.
Munoz is a low-level streamer. We don’t have enough right now to give him a higher ceiling than that.
Wednesday’s Streamer Rankings
- Brayan Bello, BOS
- Kyle Freeland, COL
- Roddery Munoz, MIA
- Davis Daniel, LAA
