Wednesday's Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Clayton Kershaw, Tomoyuki Sugano and More

I really screwed up yesterday. I didn't mention that it was my favorite day of the year: Bobby Bonilla Day. For the uninitiated, Bonilla last played for the Mets in 1995 and played his final season in 2001 with St. Louis. He signed a contract with deferred payments with New York, though, and receives a little over $1 million every year on July 1. This will continue until 2035, when he is 72 years old.

I saw people on social media saying he actually screwed up because $1 million when he would have gotten it is only $600K-plus in today's money, but can we be real for a minute? Most people can't pay their rent or feed their kids, and this guy is getting a free million dollars every year. Save your heartache. (He also could have done what Mets ownership did with that money that was deferred and given it to Bernie Madoff; how did that turn out?)

Let's shift to fantasy baseball and look at five starting pitchers in action on Wednesday 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.

This first section on Didier Fuentes originally appeared in yesterday's column, as he was the listed probable starter before being bumped to today.

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Didier Fuentes, Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Angels

Fuentes made his first two career starts in late June, and it did not go well: 8 1/3 innings, 14 hits, 10 runs, four strikeouts, and one walk. He was a decent pitcher in the minors, striking out 223 batters in 185 innings with an ERA under 4.00, so there's a chance he could see improved results quickly, but it has been a rough start for the rookie.

Those first two outings were against the Mets and Marlins, two teams that have been around average (or maybe a little better) offensively this year. The matchup is better in this one. The Angels hit a lot of home runs, ranking in the top five, but they are in the bottom 10 in most other box stats. Most importantly for our purposes, LA batters have struck out the second most among all teams (818 times in 84 games).

Fuentes is a low-level streamer. The matchup is a decent one, but it's tough to expect much from a guy who has been beaten up each time he's taken the mound in the majors. We need to see something before I can recommend him.

Janson Junk, Miami Marlins vs. Minnesota Twins

The Twins are more of a fringe target than a team we go after often. They are reserved for the times when we don't have a lot of good streamers or if the pitcher on the mound is especially effective. The former is true today, as some of our best targets (Pittsburgh, Colorado, Cleveland) are facing guys who are owned in pretty much every fantasy league. Minnesota ranks in the bottom 10 in hits, walks, batting average, and on-base percentage, and they are right in the middle or below in most of the other box stats.

Junk made big-league appearances every year from 2021-25 but never reached 20 innings in any season until this one, where he currently sits at 31 1/3 in two starts and five relief appearances. For his career, he has been very good with walks and a little below average with strikeouts, but that BB work is especially impressive this year: 26 strikeouts and just two walks, though he has gotten hit a little (34 base hits allowed).

Junk is a low-level streamer. The matchup is just OK, and he has a very limited track record. I can't give him a big recommendation here.

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago White Sox

Kershaw won't ever truly be KERSHAW again; I keep saying that every time he ends up on the streaming list. He has found plenty of success this year, though, accumulating 38 2/3 innings with just 33 hits and 13 earned runs allowed. His strikeout rate is a below-average 18.6% versus a career rate of 28.3%, and he will never find those massive numbers again, but he has stayed average with walks and keeps on trucking for the first-place Dodgers.

The White Sox are in the bottom three in runs, hits, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. They are in the bottom 10 in pretty much every other offensive box stat, and they are in the top 10 in most batter strikeouts. This is the quintessential team to target when looking for fantasy streamers.

Kershaw is a mid-level streamer. The lack of Ks caps him a bit, but this is a tremendous matchup, and Kershaw has another chance at a nice outing.

Tomoyuki Sugano, Baltimore Orioles @ Texas Rangers

The 35-year-old Sugano is in his first MLB season after a long career in Japan, and he has been OK, holding an ERA near 4.00. He doesn't walk many guys, but he also is close to 10 percentage points below average in strikeout rate and has been giving up a lot of home runs (17, one every 4.9 innings). In fact, Sugano has only walked 18 guys, giving up almost as many homers as BBs. He's OK in the right matchups, but his K% really hurts his fantasy value.

Texas is another bottom-five offensive team along with the White Sox. They rank among that paltry group (or very close to it) in runs, hits, doubles, and all four slash categories. I wonder when the Rangers will start making moves for hitters, as they are two games under .500 and just 2.5 back in the wild card race. Most teams wait until the trade deadline to pull the trigger, both to make sure guys are healthy that late and because it saves them money, but every game is going to matter for Texas, and they can upgrade with pretty much any move they want to make given how bad the offense has been.

Sugano is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup is right, but that strikeout percentage doesn't point toward sustainable success, especially with how many bombs he's giving up. I'm not excited about using him on my fantasy team.

Blade Tidwell, New York Mets vs. Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers fall into the same category as the Twins in that they are just a fringe target team and not someone we are looking to go after every day. Milwaukee ranks in the bottom 10 in doubles, home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS, and they generally top out as an average team everywhere else on offense with a few exceptions.

Tidwell has made three appearances (two starts) in 2025, the first of his big-league career. He is learning the hard way what it means to be a major leaguer: 10 1/3 innings, 18 hits, 12 runs, eight walks, and just seven strikeouts. Those outings came against St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. The first two have good offenses, while the Pirates are bad but in the middle of a hot streak; things could get better. As it stands, though, it's impossible to trust him with any confidence in your fantasy lineup.

Tidwell is a low-level streamer. The matchup is middling, and he just hasn't shown anything yet. Let's give him some time to settle in before thrusting him into fantasy lineups, regardless of the matchup.

Wednesday's Streamer Rankings

1. Clayton Kershaw, LAD
2. Tomoyuki Sugano, BAL
3. Didier Fuentes, ATL
4. Janson Junk, MIA
5. Blade Tidwell, NYM