Friday's Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Can Michael Soroka Recapture Early-Career Upside?

Another Friday! If you're an NBA fan, you surely saw last night's exhilarating Game 1, when the Indiana Pacers came back from 15 down in the fourth quarter to shock the Oklahoma City Thunder at home. Baseball gets a few days back in the spotlight now, as the NBA Finals doesn't pick up again until Sunday, though the Stanley Cup is back in action tonight.

Moving to fantasy baseball, 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.

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Colton Gordon, Houston Astros @ Cleveland Guardians

Houston is in a stretch of good matchups, getting the Guardians this weekend before playing three apiece against the White Sox and Twins next week. That means good things for Astro pitchers, as all three teams are on our target list for fantasy hurlers. Specific to Cleveland, they hit some home runs, but that's about all they do; they are otherwise in the bottom 10 in pretty much every offensive box stat, struggling to do much damage.

Gordon has fewer than 20 big-league innings to his name. He has good rates in that time (20 strikeouts and just three walks), but Gordon has also been hit hard, allowing 24 hits, 13 runs, and four home runs in 19.2 innings. We don't have enough information on Gordon to really know what to expect.

Gordon is a low- to mid-level streamer. He has put up some decent work so far, but Gordon is an enigma right now and has been hit a little hard in his short stint.

Davis Martin, Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals

Usually, the White Sox are the ones we are targeting, but KC's pitcher (Seth Lugo) is owned in most leagues. (Lugo is a must-start player if he happens to be a free agent in your league.) Martin is the streamer in this case, as Kansas City is an especially weak team, ranking last in home runs (just 39 in 63 games). Ten teams have at least 30 more home runs than the Royals, and 22 teams have 20 or more homers.

Martin is good with walks, but he is a well below-average strikeout pitcher. He has also gotten hit a little hard this year, allowing 68 hits, 32 runs, and nine home runs in 68.2 innings. Four of those runs are unearned (a hazard of playing with one of the worst teams in the league), but Martin hasn't made up for his lack of Ks in other areas.

Martin is a low-level streamer. That low strikeout rate seriously caps his ceiling, and the Royals are better in other areas, like hits and batting average.

Joe Ross, Philadelphia Phillies @ Pittsburgh Pirates

Ross has been pitching out of the bullpen all season, racking up 29 innings in 21 appearances. He's making his first start here after throwing just OK up to this point. He has been very good with walks but also well below average with strikeouts, and most pitchers strike out more hitters when pitching in relief.

Pittsburgh is one of the worst offensive teams in baseball, regularly in the bottom five in most box stats. When Paul Skenes picked up the loss on Tuesday after allowing just one run in eight innings (the Pirates eventually lost 3-0), the internet was hot with trade wishes (which won't happen) and condemnation for Pittsburgh's inability to put together a functional team around their generational pitcher.

Ross is a low- to mid-level streamer. He's a very average pitcher, the type of guy we get on the list often. He is closer to “mid” than “low,” but I also want to temper expectations a little.

Michael Soroka, Washington Nationals vs. Texas Rangers

Soroka missed all of 2021 and 2022. Usually when a pitcher loses full seasons, it's because of Tommy John surgery. Soroka, though, twice tore his Achilles tendon in this time, causing the big gap early in his career. His career numbers are right around average with both walks and strikeouts; the former number has been very good in 2025. Soroka has been hit hard, though, with an ERA approaching 6.00.

The Rangers continue to struggle offensively while the pitching staff excels. Their division-mates, the Mariners, did the same thing last season, and it cost them a playoff spot by just a few games. Texas is in danger of suffering the same fate if their offense can't get above a bottom-five level.

Soroka is another low- to mid-level streamer. While he has been OK at times but struggled overall, the matchup is great, bumping him up a notch.

Randy Vasquez, San Diego Padres @ Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee is a fringe target team but makes the list today because we are a little short otherwise. They are in the top 10 in runs, but they are otherwise an average offensive team at best and fall into the bottom 10 in doubles, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Vasquez is well below average with strikeouts. He's around the middle with walks, but that rate has been much worse in 2025, putting him behind in both categories this year. He has been decent with run prevention, but I have trouble trusting Vasquez because he also gets hit hard, allowing 205 hits in 194.1 career innings.

Vasquez is a low-level streamer. The matchup is just OK, and his lack of strikeouts seriously caps his upside.

Friday's Streamer Rankings

1. Joe Ross, PHI
2. Michael Soroka, WSH
3. Colton Gordon, HOU
4. Davis Martin, CWS
5. Randy Vasquez, SD