Is Ryan Pepiot the Top Fantasy Baseball SP Streamer for April 9?
Six starting pitchers in action on Wednesday who have good matchups and are widely available in fantasy leagues.
Happy Wednesday, or something like that. The middle of the week is a bit of a doldrum, but at least we are in the beginning weeks of the baseball season. When we get into the dog days of summer, these mid-week blues will feel even worse.
Flipping the focus to fantasy baseball, let's look at six starting pitchers in action on Wednesday who have good matchups and are widely available in fantasy leagues. Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable starters.
Logan Allen, Cleveland Guardians vs. Chicago White Sox
Allen has 228 innings to his name and has been a little worse than average with both walks and strikeouts. He also gets hit a little hard, giving up more than a hit per inning in both of his two seasons.
The White Sox lost to Cleveland 1-0 yesterday; the one run was scored on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the seventh time in 10 games that Chicago scored three or fewer runs. This is a bottom offensive group.
Allen is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup puts him here as a guy to consider, but he's also a middling pitcher at best, and you can probably find more valuable innings at some point during the season.
Erick Fedde, St. Louis Cardinals @ Pittsburgh Pirates
Fedde spent 2023 playing in Korea, and he returned to have the best season of his career in 2024 split between the White Sox and Cardinals. He was worse after being shipped to St. Louis, and he hasn't started 2025 strong: in two starts, Fedde has totaled nine innings, seven runs allowed, four walks, and just three strikeouts.
The Pirates are a good team to target. They are a poor offensive team without much power; there's not much more they can do. At least Paul Skenes goes out there every five days.
Fedde is a low- to mid-level streamer. He had a good start against the Twins before struggling against the Red Sox, and this game could lean closer to the former, but Fedde also has a lower ceiling.
Tylor Megill, New York Mets vs. Miami Marlins
Megill has started the season hot: two starts, 10.1 innings, one run allowed, four walks, 10 strikeouts, and two wins. He's been a little higher than average with both walks and strikeouts in his career, putting himself on the streaming radar.
The good times could keep on rolling with Megill matching up against the Marlins next. Miami has one of the most no-name offenses in the league. Seriously, you might not be able to name one of their position players who has appeared in a game. That is reflected in the numbers, and the Marlins will probably be a popular target in this column.
Megill is a mid- to high-level streamer. I want to keep expectations in check because he is a middling pitcher off to a good start to the season. Megill is a good strikeout pitcher, though, and the matchup gives him the chance at another positive outing.
Ryan Pepiot, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Los Angeles Angels
Pepiot is owned in more than half of leagues, and he will probably become a fixture in someone's lineup soon. He's a high-level strikeout guy who also walks too many batters, but he's been great at preventing runs, holding a 3.24 ERA in 219.1 innings.
The Angels are bad. They are among the worst offensive teams, and even Mike Trout is slumping to start the season. It's going to be a long year in LA, especially as Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers keep dominating across town.
Pepiot is a high-level streamer. He's getting to the level of not being a streamer anymore, and you would do well to pick him up for this start and then keep him on your team moving forward unless your pitching staff is stacked.
Randy Vasquez, San Diego Padres @ Athletics
Vasquez came over from the Yankees when they acquired Juan Soto; we were all so young back then. He has been a little worse than average with walks and well below average at striking batters out. His results have been OK, but Vasquez doesn't have great rates.
The A's have been near the middle offensively. They got better as last season went on, hitting their best toward the end, so there's reason to think they will get off the target list soon.
Vasquez is just a low-level streamer. His own work is OK but doesn't portend great things, and the matchup might not be very good; we'll know more after a few more weeks.
Justin Verlander, San Francisco Giants vs. Cincinnati Reds
The veteran Verlander started against Cincinnati in his first outing of the season, throwing five innings with six hits and two runs allowed, five strikeouts, and just one walk. His second start didn't go quite so well, as Verlander gave up five hits and three runs in 2.1 innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
He had become a below-average strikeout pitcher the past few seasons, and now he is getting hit hard. Verlander is obviously at the end of his career, so don't let the name fool you; he is only a low-level fantasy pitcher.
The matchup isn't great in this one either. The Reds have a few really good hitters, led by electric shortstop Elly De La Cruz, and they have been near average offensively in 2025. This is another team who might play themselves off the target list.
Verlander is a low-level streamer today. His own performance mixed with the middling matchup makes Verlander a player to skip in this one.
Wednesday's Streamer Rankings
- Ryan Pepiot, TB
- Tylor Megill, NYM
- Erick Fedde, STL
- Logan Allen, CLE
- Justin Verlander, SF
- Randy Vasquez, SD
