Friday's Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Will Cade Horton Excel Against the White Sox?
Four pitchers in action on Friday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
Happy Friday! It doesn't get much better than this, other than when you're staring at a long weekend. One of those holidays is coming up; Memorial Day is a week from Monday. We'll have to settle for just a regular old Friday this time around, though.
Let's look at four starting pitchers in action today 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.
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Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox
The Windy City rivals face off here, and the Cubs and White Sox couldn't be on more different paths. While the Cubs are on top of their division and have won three of their past five, the White Sox are 10 games behind their closest division rival and have the worst record in the American League and second worst in baseball (though they've also won three of their past five).
That means a good matchup for Horton, who is making his first career start. He made a four-inning relief appearance last Saturday against the Mets, allowing three runs but picking up the win. He struck out five batters and didn't walk anyone. Horton, the seventh overall pick in 2022, did really good strikeout work in the minor leagues, so there's hope he can keep up that performance.
Horton is a mid-level streamer with a little upside. I want to temper expectations because this is Horton's first start, but there's a nice ceiling here given the matchup and Horton's strikeout stuff.
Dustin May, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Los Angeles Angels
Let's stick with the theme of the crosstown rivals, and the dynamic is even the same. The Dodgers are on top of the best division in baseball, cruising to what will be another playoff appearance. The Angels, on the other hand, are on the bottom of the AL West and have the third worst record in the American League.
May gets the good matchup here, a reprieve after facing the Cubs, Braves, and Diamondbacks in three of his past four starts. May has been right around average with walks but a little worse than average with strikeouts this year, but his career numbers are both a little better than average. Health has been May's biggest issue, but he's on the field now and has a chance at success.
May is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup is right, but his K and BB rates are worse than his career numbers, bringing down both his ceiling and floor a little.
Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals @ Kansas City Royals
Pallante is a little worse than average with walks in his career; that's a bad way to start. He's also much worse than average with strikeouts, meaning he's not making up for those extra baserunners. His results have actually been pretty good, as he has a career ERA below 4.00 (4.36 this season), but I have a hard time trusting Pallante to keep excelling with those rates.
The Royals are a weak team. They have hit the fewest home runs and rank 26th in both slugging percentage and OPS. That's why, despite average numbers in hits and batting average and low strikeout numbers, Kansas City has scored the fourth-fewest runs.
Pallante is a low-level streamer. His low strikeout numbers limit his ceiling, and KC doesn't strike out, so there's not much hope for big numbers there. That means Pallante needs to not allow runs or hits to be an effective fantasy player, something of a toss-up.
Ranger Suarez, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates are another one of our high-level targets. They rank in the bottom 10 in essentially every offensive box stat, and Pittsburgh hitters are tied for the seventh-most strikeouts. This is another lowly team that fits in with the White Sox and Angels, mentioned earlier.
Suarez is owned a little bit more in fantasy baseball than our other streamers listed here, but he's still available in more than half of leagues, and this is a must-start day for the Philadelphia lefty. Suarez is a little better than average with both walks and strikeouts in his career and has 11 Ks and just three walks in 10.2 innings this year after beginning the season on the IL.
Suarez is a mid-level streamer with some upside. There's a little risk because he might still be working into shape, though Suarez threw seven scoreless innings against Cleveland his last time out.
Friday's Streamer Rankings
- Cade Horton, CHC
- Ranger Suarez, PHI
- Dustin May, LAD
- Andre Pallante, STL
