Thursday's Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Can Justin Verlander Find His Old Magic Against the Flailing Rockies?

It's time to look at six starting pitchers in action on Thursday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.

Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable starters. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.

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Ben Lively, Cleveland Guardians vs. Minnesota Twins

Minnesota is trying desperately to become an average team. They had a nice stretch of six wins in seven games before dropping their past two to the Guardians, but they have a chance to at least leave Cleveland with a 2-2 split if they can take this one. The Twins are still a target team, but that could change if they go on another hot streak.

Lively's numbers are close to his career marks in most statistical categories. That makes him a slightly below-average pitcher, a player who fits into a large portion of the muddled middle of the league. He's worth considering in the right matchups.

Lively is a low-level streamer. The matchup is OK but not great, and a pitcher like Lively who is below-average with strikeouts and doesn't do anything at a high level has a low ceiling.

Chad Patrick, Milwaukee Brewers @ Chicago White Sox

Patrick is in his debut season: in 25.2 innings, he has 22 strikeouts and 11 walks. The latter number is too high, but he has done well enough with Ks and given up only seven runs. Patrick did good strikeout work in the minors, so there's reason to believe he can hold up that performance.

The White Sox are one of THE teams to target, failing in every offensive stat. That includes bottom-five rankings in runs, hits, doubles, home runs, and all four slash categories. How many years do you think it will be before Chicago has an above-average offense?

Patrick is a mid-level streamer. It's hard to project anything huge given his limited big-league exposure, but Patrick has some strikeout magic on his side, and the matchup couldn't be much better. I like Patrick as a sneaky play today.

Colin Rea, Chicago Cubs @ Pittsburgh Pirates

Rea has made three starts and three relief appearances this season, totaling 18.2 innings and allowing only two runs and three walks with 19 strikeouts. He's usually just a little lower than average with both walk rate and strikeout rate, so Rea has started this season a little hotter than expected, especially in run prevention.

If you want a lack of runs, though, look no further than the Pirates, who rank 24th in runs scored. They were also 24th last season; and 22nd in 2023; and 27th in 2022. This is an ongoing problem that doesn't seem to have a solution coming anytime soon.

Rea is a mid- to high-level streamer. I can't ignore his hot start to the season, so he gets a bump, but we also have to remember that Rea is more of a middling pitcher over his career and is likely to regress closer to those marks.

Jeffrey Springs, Athletics @ Texas Rangers

After throwing six shutout innings in his first start of the season, Springs has allowed five, four, three, six, and seven runs over his subsequent five outings. Six of those runs were unearned, but Springs has been getting hit hard, allowing 27 hits in 22.1 innings in those five starts with 18 strikeouts and 15 walks. His K rate is down, and his BB rate is higher than in any season since 2019.

The Rangers are a bottom-10 offense in everything except for power stats. A team can win like that if they draw walks, have a good pitching staff, and hit for top-level power. Unfortunately for Texas, they are only in the middle in home runs and doubles, and they are in the bottom 10 in slugging percentage and OPS. Oh, and they have drawn the second fewest walks.

Springs is a mid-level streamer. His career work suggests a nice ceiling, but Springs has been struggling this year, so he gets brought down a notch. The matchup is right for a good start.

Justin Verlander, San Francisco Giants vs. Colorado Rockies

And the Rockies are back! Colorado played six straight games at home, last playing an away game a week ago today against the Royals. The Rockies are the main contenders to the White Sox for worst team in the league; Colorado might be even more hopeless. When they aren't playing at Coors Field, the Rockies are a must-target offense.

Verlander has been uneven in six starts this year. He had at least five strikeouts in four of those starts but two or fewer in the other two starts. He allowed three or fewer runs in four starts, but he combined for 10 runs allowed in the other two starts. His strikeout rate and walk rate are both just a hair worse than average.

Verlander is a mid-level streamer. He has had some nice highs this year, though he will never get back to anything close to his prime. The matchup also couldn't be better, setting Verlander up to feel young again (you know, like 35 years old).

Simeon Woods Richardson, Minnesota Twins @ Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland is the weaker offensive team in this one. I mentioned above that the Twins are attempting to become average, but the Guardians seem to have no such qualms about their lack of prowess. While they have a winning record, both Cleveland's offense and pitching staff are carrying bottom-10 numbers, something that's not sustainable if they want to keep winning.

Woods Richardson is right around average in most box stats, not excelling anywhere but also not faltering often. In his five starts this year, Woods Richardson twice allowed three or more runs and three times allowed two or fewer runs. He's a bit of a mixed bag, but that makes Woods Richardson a player who fits as a streamer.

Woods Richardson is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup is decent, but he also has a defined ceiling; his floor is also a little higher than some other guys who end up on the streaming list.

Thursday's Streamer Rankings

1. Colin Rea, CHC
2. Chad Patrick, MIL
3. Justin Verlander, SF
4. Jeffrey Springs, ATH
5. Simeon Woods Richardson, MIN
6. Ben Lively, CLE