Friday Fantasy Baseball Streamers: Is Top Prospect Jackson Jobe Ready to Break Out?
Five starting pitchers in action on Friday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
We made it: another Friday! Days and weeks start running together in the MLB season once we get past that opening stretch; we're kind of reaching that point, especially if you're one of the many who can't keep up with the daily grind.
The fantasy baseball grind never stops, though, so let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Friday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups. Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable pitchers. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
Bryce Elder, Atlanta Braves vs. Minnesota Twins
Chris Paddack, Minnesota Twins @ Atlanta Braves
Two of baseball's most disappointing teams to start the year are facing off over the weekend in Atlanta. They are a combined 12-25, and their moribund offenses are a major reason why both teams are struggling. Both Minnesota and Atlanta are in the bottom 11 in runs, hits, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Elder is a below-average strikeout guy who is a hair worse than average with walks. He also gets hit a little hard, allowing 280 hits in 288.1 innings. His start to 2025 hasn't been great, as Elder allowed 12 hits and eight runs in 10 innings.
In his career, Paddack has been better than average with both walks and strikeouts, but he hasn't had a good start to 2025. In 12.1 innings, Paddack has allowed 15 hits and 15 runs (13 earned) with eight walks and nine strikeouts; both his BB% and K% are far worse than average. He'll probably pitch better in the future by simple luck, but it's been ugly in the small sample.
Elder is a low-level streamer and Paddack a low- to mid-level streamer. Elder just hasn't been good enough to really count on in any matchup, while Paddack has upside given his career performance. It's tough to trust him given his horrendous start to the season.
Bowden Francis, Toronto Blue Jays vs. Seattle Mariners
The AL West is going to be a roller coaster. The Rangers currently lead the division followed by Seattle, and both teams are on our list of teams to target because they are bottom-10 offensive units. Seattle had maybe the best pitching staff in baseball last year, but they're right in the middle so far this season; that's still much better than their offense.
Francis has mostly worked as a reliever (16 starts in 51 appearances) but appears to have moved to the rotation full-time. He has been better than average with both walks and strikeouts in his career, but he has also had an uneven start to 2025: 17 innings, nine runs, 15 strikeouts, seven walks. That's not bad, but it's not up to the standard he set the past few years.
Francis is a mid- to high-level streamer. His past work gives him a nice ceiling, and the matchup against Seattle is a good one.
Jackson Jobe, Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals
I was looking for Jobe to burst onto the scene at the beginning of 2025: that hasn't quite happened. The results have been good, as his ERA sits at 3.00 in 15 innings, but Jobe has just nine strikeouts and eight walks. He did better strikeout work in the minors, so that will probably improve, but it might take time for him to adjust to the big leagues.
Kansas City is in the bottom 10 in runs, hits, walks, and all four slash categories. They also have the fewest home runs of any team. A year after making the playoffs, the Royals are a daily target for our purposes.
Jobe is a mid-level streamer. He has the potential to begin his breakout at any time, but it's best to show some restraint in expecting big things immediately.
Luis L. Ortiz, Cleveland Guardians @ Pittsburgh Pirates
Ortiz used to be a Pirate before joining Cleveland (the Pittsburgh kind, not the Johnny Depp kind). He was worse than average with both walks and strikeouts in 238.1 innings. He's been around average in both areas this season but has been hit way too hard, allowing 17 hits and 11 runs in 16.1 innings.
His former team is one of the worst offensive groups in the league (Ortiz ended up on the better side of this swap; the grass was greener). Pittsburgh is in the bottom 10 in essentially every offensive category. They are tied for fourth in most batter strikeouts.
Ortiz is a low- to mid-level streamer. He's not doing great, but the matchup is right, and Ortiz has found a little strikeout magic early.
Friday's Streamer Rankings
- Bowden Francis, TOR
- Jackson Jobe, DET
- Chris Paddack, MIN
- Luis L. Ortiz, CLE
- Bryce Elder, ATL
