Monday's Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Can Arizona's Ryne Nelson Keep Up His Strikeout Numbers?
Five starting pitchers in action on Monday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
Happy Memorial Day, everyone. A lot of baseball players served during World War II, including Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. We also have lost professional players in war, and today is a great day to remember those guys.
Shifting to fantasy baseball, let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Monday 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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Erick Fedde, St. Louis Cardinals @ Baltimore Orioles
Fedde is usually worse than average with both strikeouts and walks, but he was on the better side of both metrics last year after spending a season in Korea (where he was dominant). This season, he has been much worse than average in both categories, but he has still been successful enough, holding an ERA under 4.00. He needs to get his rates back on the right side if he wants continued success, though.
One other note in Fedde's favor: Charlie Morton is scheduled to go for Baltimore, and he has a record of 0-7 and a 7.68 ERA, so Fedde's chances of picking up a win might be better than usual.
Baltimore is only 1.5 games better than the White Sox right now; that's all you need to know about how bad the start to their season has been. The offense is struggling mightily, ranking in the bottom 10 in everything except for power stats. A team can be successful with that profile if it does enough things well, but the Orioles haven't been anything close to a good team.
Fedde is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup is a good one, but Fedde has been just OK and doesn't have a real high ceiling.
Zack Littell, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Minnesota Twins
Chris Paddack, Minnesota Twins @ Tampa Bay Rays
Both the Twins and Rays are lower-end targets who are a little better offensively than our worst teams, like the Pirates and White Sox. They are both in the bottom 10 (or close to it) in the majority of offensive box stats, and they are more middling as teams than truly basement dwellers (again, like the Pirates and White Sox).
Littell is very good at limiting walks, and he was previously just a little below average as a strikeout pitcher. His numbers in the latter department have been down in 2025, as his strikeout rate is 15.9% versus the league average around 22% (and his career rate of 20.3%). Littell has been fine but hasn't stood out.
Paddack has almost the exact same profile: good with walks, average with strikeouts, but struggling with Ks this season. Paddack has been a better strikeout pitcher in the past than Littell, so there's some hope he can bounce back a little stronger.
Littell and Paddack are both low-level streamers. The matchups are only OK, and both pitchers have been down with strikeouts. Tampa and Minnesota batters each strike out right around league average, so there doesn't seem to be a high ceiling for either guy.
Ryne Nelson, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Nelson might have our best matchup of the day: Pittsburgh ranks in the bottom 10 in essentially every major offensive box stat, and they are near the very bottom in many of them. The Pirates have scored the fewest runs, hit the second fewest home runs, and rank in the bottom five in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Nelson's strikeout rate took a big jump between 2023 and 2024; that increase has continued into 2025, as Nelson has a K% over 23% while staying at an average number with walks. He was better with strikeouts in the minor leagues, so there's hope that Nelson's improved work might stick, which would help both his real-life and fantasy performance.
Nelson is a mid-level streamer with some upside. If the strikeouts hold, Nelson will take another half-step forward as a fantasy pitcher. With the matchup in his favor, Nelson is a good streamer to take a bet on today.
Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs vs. Colorado Rockies
If Nelson doesn't have the best matchup, then Taillon is the guy. Despite playing half their games at Coors Field, the Rockies have scored the second fewest runs behind Pittsburgh and are tied for the third fewest home runs. Colorado also sets a very high ceiling for opposing pitchers, as they have struck out more than any other team (close to 10 Ks per game).
Taillon is another guy who is good with walks and an average strikeout pitcher. Like Littell and Paddack, his Ks are a little down this year, but not as far as the other two. Taillon also had a below-average strikeout rate last season, so maybe he's losing a little bit with age (he's 33). He has found success, as Taillon has given up two runs or less in six of his 10 starts.
Taillon is a mid- to high-level streamer. The matchup couldn't be much better, and Taillon has both a track record and recent success pointing toward a possible good outing in this one.
Monday's Streamer Rankings
- Jameson Taillon, CHC
- Ryne Nelson, ARI
- Erick Fedde, STL
- Chris Paddack, MIN
- Zack Littell, TB
