June 3 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Can Lance McCullers Find His Old Form Against Pittsburgh?
Four starting pitchers in action on Tuesday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
It's that time again: Let's look at four starting pitchers in action on Tuesday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
Most of the stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable pitchers. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
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Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins vs. Colorado Rockies
Alcantara is still trying to find his form after missing all of 2024. The former Cy-Young winner has given up 49 runs (48 earned) and 56 hits in 51 innings and has both a walk and strikeout rate far worse than average. He has allowed fewer than four runs in just three of his 11 starts. It can't get much worse than it has been for Alcantara.
Colorado catcher/outfielder Hunter Goodman has gotten off to a great start, hitting .273 with nine homers and 11 doubles while recording the most at-bats on the team. No other Rockies hitter is doing anything of note, though. Only one other batter is above .250, and just one other guy has more than six home runs. The Rockies are brutally bad, but there is at least one bright spot after the first few months.
Alcantara is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup couldn't be better, but Alcantara hasn't looked anything close to his old self, making him a risky proposition.
Lance McCullers Jr., Houston Astros @ Pittsburgh Pirates
On top of trying to come back after making just eight starts in three years, McCullers has also been dealing with online threats, which have recently been found to have come from a bettor overseas. He has been doing great strikeout work in 2025 (28 Ks in 18.1 innings) but has also walked too many guys (11) and given up 14 runs. While we can't expect McCullers to get back to his previous levels of pitching, he can have a little fantasy success if he keeps striking guys out.
The Pirates have struck out at a top-10 rate, setting a high ceiling for opposing pitchers. They also don't do well in any offensive area; some teams who strike out a lot also hit home runs, but Pittsburgh doesn't do that or anything else, really, leaving them as one of the best targets in fantasy baseball.
McCullers is a low- to mid-level streamer. He's likely in line for a short start, but McCullers has been OK and has the matchup heavily in his favor; it's not a bad day to bet on the veteran.
Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals
Pallante is an average walk pitcher, but he's well below average with strikeouts, something that has been true his whole career (359 innings) and in 2025. There's not much hope of him making a big jump in that area, capping his ceiling. Pallante has been a very average pitcher, especially the past two seasons working exclusively as a starter.
The Royals suffer from a severe lack of power. They have hit 34 home runs in 60 games; no other team has fewer than 43. The most powerful teams hit about an extra home run per game more than Kansas City. They also rank last in walks, so KC isn't getting free runners and isn't scoring instant runs. That's a big part of the reason they are tied for the second-fewest runs scored despite a decent hit tool.
Pallante is a low-level streamer. His strikeouts are just so low that he's never going to be on that top level, and even the weaker matchup doesn't help him that much, as KC still does a little offensive work even as they lack overall.
Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay Rays @ Texas Rangers
Texas has too many batters who are bottoming out to find any success. Only three batters with at least 20 at-bats are hitting over .250, and Wyatt Langford is the only guy with more than seven homers (he has 11). Five hitters do have at least 47 strikeouts, though, so they are racking up one number. The Rangers have been a bottom-five offense through the first two-plus months.
Rasmussen is owned in over half of leagues, but he still has enough availability to make it work checking to see if you can grab him with such a great matchup here. He is a few percentage points better than average with both walks and strikeouts; Rasmussen also hasn't had an ERA over 3.00 since 2021, when he was pitching out of the bullpen in Milwaukee. Staying on the field has been the only problem for Rasmussen.
Rasmussen is a high-level streamer. He has pitched well enough to be worth considering for a permanent spot on your roster, and the matchup here is fantastic, making him a must-start fantasy player today.
Tuesday's Streamer Rankings
- Drew Rasmussen, TB
- Lance McCullers Jr., HOU
- Sandy Alcantara, MIA
- Andre Pallante, STL
