March 28 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Ryan Pepiot, Jeffrey Springs, Mitch Keller, Connor Gillispie and Kyle Freeland

Well, Opening Day has passed. Settle in: It's going to be a long six months until October. The fantasy baseball season is a grind just like the actual season, especially if you're in a daily league.

If you do set your lineup daily, you've come to the right place. I'm here to give you starting pitchers with good matchups who are probably available in your fantasy league. Most of the players listed are owned in less than half of leagues, and many are barely owned at all.

Let's look at five streaming starting pitchers who are taking the mound on Friday. Most stats below are from MLB.com, as are the probable starters.

Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies @ Tampa Bay Rays

Pitchers for and against the Rockies aren't eligible here half the time: Games in Coors Field aren't conducive to good fantasy pitching stats. They're starting the season on the road, so Freeland gets the chance to be a streamer here.

Freeland is better than average at limiting walks, but he is well below average at striking batters out, close to five percentage points lower than average over his career in K%. Freeland has a ceiling due to his lack of strikeouts.

Tampa scored the second-fewest runs in the league last year, ahead of only the moribund White Sox. They were also in the bottom 10 in hits, doubles, home runs, strikeouts (most), and all four slash categories. The Rays might be better by pure luck, but they don't appear set to excel on offense.

Freeland is a low-level streamer. He will always be capped due to low K numbers, and he doesn't make up for it elsewhere. Even against a poor offense, I'm skeptical of Freeland and not using him this early in the season.

Connor Gillispie, Miami Marlins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Gillispie threw his first eight big-league innings last year, striking out eight and walking five. That was with Cleveland, a franchise that churns out good pitchers, so there's hope for good things. It's also concerning that he left Cleveland and might lose that magic touch that the Guardians have on guys in-house.

The Pirates were one of the worst offenses in baseball last season. Andrew McCutchen was their third-best hitter, batting .232 (though 18 doubles and 20 home runs are decent). McCutchen is back, but the team will be hoping to get more out of other players. There just doesn't seem to be much reason to think they are going to be better. Pittsburgh is a team to target.

Gillispie is a low-level streamer. The matchup is right, but there's not much here to think Gillispie will have a great outing. This early in the season, you can wait for a better pitcher and save your innings (unless you have no limits).

Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates @ Miami Marlins

Pittsburgh has pitching. Paul Skenes started yesterday, and while Miami got two runs in 5.1 innings, he did strike out seven, and Skenes will be a force to be reckoned with every time he takes the mound. Jared Jones has a UCL sprain and won't throw for six weeks; that's often a precursor to Tommy John surgery, but let's hope for the best.

Keller is the third part of that group, and though he doesn't have as high of a ceiling as his younger teammates, the 29-year-old (on April 4) has been better than average with both walks and strikeouts the past two seasons while making 63 starts. That's a valuable real-life pitcher and a guy who fits in fantasy on the right days.

Miami is a team to target. They were among the worst teams in the league last season, but the White Sox kept them out of the basement for the most part. That doesn't help their upside at all, as they return much of the same lineup, and the new players aren't projected to make huge impacts. The Marlins will likely be one of our targets all season.

Keller is a mid-level streamer with a little upside. His work has been good enough to put him on the fantasy radar, and the matchup is prime for a good first outing.

Ryan Pepiot, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies were a top-five offense at home last season and a bottom-five group on the road. We are likely going to be targeting Colorado 81 times this year, including in this one. They don't play at home until April 4, giving six good matchups in the meantime.

Pepiot is a high-level strikeout guy who always walks a few too many batters. He has been very good with run prevention, though, holding a 3.28 ERA in 208.1 innings. Pepiot is probably worthy of a roster spot and might force his way onto fantasy teams early.

Pepiot is a high-level streamer here. This is the type of guy to get into your lineup if you're able to pick him up (he's available in about half of leagues, depending on which platform you use). You might end up keeping Pepiot, though his next start against Philadelphia won't be so easy.

Jeffrey Springs, Athletics @ Seattle Mariners

Seattle batters struck out more than any other team last season. They were also regularly in the bottom 10 in most offensive box stats. The Mariners are going to look a lot the same in 2025, so I don't see where the improvement is going to come from unless a few guys just turn it on out of nowhere.

Springs was acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay, where he only made 10 starts over the past two seasons because of Tommy John surgery. Springs has been a high-level strikeout guy when on the mound, though, and is just a little better than average with walks. If he shows his old form, Springs will quickly be added to fantasy rosters.

Springs is a mid- to high-level streamer. He's just a half-step lower than Pepiot because of the recent major injury, but Springs is still in position for a good first game.

Friday's Streamer Rankings

1. Ryan Pepiot, TB
2. Jeffrey Springs, Athletics
3. Mitch Keller, PIT
4. Connor Gillispie, MIA
5. Kyle Freeland, COL