Thursday's Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Patrick Corbin, Logan Allen and More
Five starting pitchers in action on Thursday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
The schedule is a little light today (11 games, including a Mets/Orioles doubleheader), but luckily, we have a few matchups of weak offensive teams, including four of our best targets for fantasy pitchers. Sometimes, quality is better than quantity; that's the case today.
Let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Thursday 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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Logan Allen, Cleveland Guardians @ Chicago White Sox
Jonathan Cannon, Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians
The AL Central is the worst division in baseball. While Detroit has the best record in the league, the other four teams are all under .500 and have negative run differentials, showing that they have earned their bad records. Each of those four teams are also worth targeting with fantasy pitchers, particularly the White Sox, Guardians, and Royals, who sit in the bottom 10 in most offensive box stats.
Allen is in his third season, having totaled 306 2/3 innings in that time. He has been a little bit below average as a pitcher, something that extends to his walk rate, strikeout rate, and run/hit prevention. Allen is a backend starter right now, fitting in nicely as a fifth starter. That's fine, but it doesn't spark a lot of excitement in the fantasy baseball world. In one start against the White Sox this year (April 9), Allen gave up one unearned run in 4 2/3 innings with four hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.
Cannon has a very similar profile to Allen, holding below-average rates in strikeouts and hits and runs allowed, though he is at least average with walks in 196 1/3 career innings. He made one start against the Guardians back in early April, the day after Allen started against the Sox, and things didn't go well: 5 1/3 innings, seven hits, six runs (two home runs), three walks, and six strikeouts. He hasn't given up six runs or more in any other start this season.
Allen and Cannon are both low- to mid-level streamers. The matchups are right for either guy to have a good day, but with low strikeout work and below-average overall performances, it's tough to expect a lot out of these two pitchers.
Patrick Corbin, Texas Rangers @ Los Angeles Angels
Jack Kochanowicz, Los Angeles Angels vs. Texas Rangers
I just talked down the AL Central, but what about the AL West, where the Rangers and Angels reside? Well, the results are better, with two teams over .500 and three with positive run differentials, but I don't think anyone is confusing this division for the AL East, NL West, or even NL Central. Texas and LA stand out as bottom-10 offensive groups who help bring down the average.
Corbin hasn't had a good season since 2019, his first season of a six-year contract with Washington. From 2020-24, he gave up 905 hits in 744 2/3 innings and had a below-average strikeout rate each year, only once finishing with an ERA under 5.00 (4.66 in 2020). He has had something of a bounce back this season simply by being average, though his Ks are still way down. At least he is always good with walks. Corbin started once against the Angels back in April, picking up a win in 5 1/3 innings with just one run allowed, six strikeouts, and one walk.
Kochanowicz debuted last season with a great walk rate but horrible strikeout rate in 65 1/3 innings. He still doesn't strike anyone out, but now his walk rate is also on the wrong side of average by several percentage points, leaving him a terrible profile if he wants to find any sustained success. Kochanowicz's 13% strikeout rate is close to 10 points below the middle (22%). He made one start against Texas back in April (a real theme today) and picked up the loss while allowing four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings with one walk and one strikeout.
Corbin is a low- to mid-level streamer, and Kochanowicz is a low-level streamer. I don't trust Corbin, but he has found a little success. Kochanowicz is so far down with strikeouts that I can't trust him as a fantasy player, as he has a lot more that can go wrong than right.
Colin Rea, Chicago Cubs @ Minnesota Twins
Back to the AL Central, the Twins aren't as lowly offensively as the White Sox, Guardians, and Royals, but they are still a below-average offense on the fringe of our target list. Minnesota ranks in the bottom 12 in runs, hits, doubles, home runs, walks, batting average, and on-base percentage, though they aren't bottom-feeders in any of those categories the way the previous four teams are.
Rea is another guy who is good with walks but also has a well below-average strikeout rate, fitting a very popular group among our usual streamers. He has been hit a little hard, giving up 89 hits in 85 innings and 15 home runs (one every 5.7 innings). Rea has been decent since the beginning of June, making four starts with two or fewer runs allowed and two others with four and seven runs allowed.
Rea is a low-level streamer. The matchup isn't as good as what our other pitchers get today, and he has been just OK, with his strikeout rate bringing him down another notch.
Thursday's Streamer Rankings
- Logan Allen, CLE
- Jonathan Cannon, CWS
- Patrick Corbin, TEX
- Colin Rea, CHC
- Jack Kochanowicz, LAA
