August 10 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Sean Manaea, River Ryan, Yariel Rodriguez and More

The AL West might be baseball’s worst division this season but also the one with the best finish to the season. The Astros have controlled the division since 2017, winning every division title beginning that year except for the Covid season of 2020 (and they made the playoffs that season).

Despite one of the worst lineups in baseball (we’ll talk about that soon), Seattle is riding some of the best starting pitching in baseball and is just percentage points behind Houston. The Astros and Mariners have 60 and 61 wins, respectively, while every other division winner is between 66-69 wins.

Let’s run through Saturday’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.

Sean Manaea, New York Mets @ Seattle Mariners

I’m going to briefly start with Manaea because he’s owned in over 60% of leagues and not truly at streamer level. He might be available in your league, and it’s worth checking; Seattle batters strike out more than any other team, and they rank in the bottom five across most offensive box stats.

Osvaldo Bido, Oakland Athletics @ Toronto Blue Jays

Yariel Rodriguez, Toronto Blue Jays vs. Oakland Athletics

Toronto and Oakland are on opposite ends of the streamer target spectrum: While the Blue Jays threaten to reach league-average status, the A’s are in the bottom 10 in runs scored, hits, doubles, batting average and on-base percentage. They are fourth in home runs, but Oakland batters have also struck out the fourth most.

The tougher matchup won’t help Bido, who has some encouraging numbers but also red flags. He has a strikeout rate better than league average, but most of his appearances have been out of the bullpen (four starts, six games in relief) making that a little less impressive. More worryingly, he has a walk rate about 50% higher than league average.

Though all his appearances have been starts, Rodriguez mirrors the profile of Bido. He has both a strikeout rate and walk rate three-to-four percentage points higher than league average. The strikeouts are great, but that’s too many walks to find consistent success. In Rodriguez’s favor, he has the better matchup here.

Both Bido and Rodriguez are low- to mid-level streamers. Their strikeout work gives them a little higher ceiling, but the floor is also pretty low due to control issues.

Griffin Canning, Los Angeles Angels @ Washington Nationals

Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals vs. Los Angeles Angels

Another pairing of below-average offenses, the Angels play the role of the Athletics in that they are a true bottom-level offense. The Nationals are more like the Blue Jays because they show competence but not consistency. Washington’s real shortcoming is in the power department, as they rank last in home runs and in the bottom 10 in slugging percentage and OPS. It looks like a bright future for Washington; in LA, not so much.

Canning isn’t an inspiring pitcher. His strikeout rate is well below average, and his walk rate a hair higher than average. He gets hit well, having given up 125 hits in 121.2 innings. There’s not really an area in which Canning excels; he’s here because of the matchup.

I’ve guessed that this will be Corbin’s last season, as he’s collecting his last $25 million from the Nats before his contract runs out. At 35 years old, he could take a minor league deal to show up to training camp with someone, but Corbin hasn’t had a good season since 2019, and it seems like a good time to step away. He has an ERA near 6.00 this season.

Both Canning and Corbin are low-level streamers. They are both below average striking batters out, and while Corbin has the better matchup, it’s not enough to make him more than a desperation arm.

River Ryan, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Speaking of good matchups, the Pirates give nearly every pitcher fantasy value. They are in the middle of the mucked up National League wild card race, just under .500 and within five games of the playoffs. While the pitching staff is closer to an average unit, the offense is in the bottom 10, and Pirate batters are in the top five in most strikeouts.

Ryan has made three starts and combined for 15.2 innings with just four runs allowed (three earned), 14 strikeouts and nine walks. His walk rate is way too high, but Ryan has struck out close to a batter per inning.

Ryan is a mid- to high-level streamer. His work so far has been good, but it’s hard to project the highest ceiling for someone with such a limited workload.

Saturday’s Streamer Rankings

1. Sean Manaea, NYM
2. River Ryan, LAD
3. Yariel Rodriguez, TOR
4. Osvaldo Bido, OAK
5. Griffin Canning, LAA
6. Patrick Corbin, WSH