Saturday's Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser and More
Five starting pitchers in action on Saturday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
The weekend is a state of mind as much as a set of days. Some people like to relax on the weekends, doing as little as possible (like me!), but others prefer to use their free time to get things done around the house. What's the point of having time off if you're just going to keep working, though? May as well be getting paid if you're wasting your time off.
Jumping to fantasy baseball, let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Saturday 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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Mike Burrows, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago White Sox
Adrian Houser, Chicago White Sox @ Pittsburgh Pirates
We started here yesterday, so let's go back to the well. We have two of the worst teams in the league facing off, a matchup ripe for good pitching streamers. Both the Pirates and White Sox are in the bottom 10 in pretty much every offensive category, and things might get worse before the end of the month if they sell off the few good players they do have. (We'll ignore Chicago's 10-run outburst from yesterday.)
Burrows made one appearance last season but is in his first real season this year, having now totaled 44.1 innings. He has walked a few too many guys, but Burrows has been an average strikeout pitcher. He was decent with Ks in the minors also, so there's hope that level can hold. It's too early to know what to expect from Burrows as a pro, but he has been OK in a small sample.
I said this before, and it's still true: Chicago needs to trade Houser before he gets hurt. He has been close to an average pitcher in his career, but he's having his best season after joining the Sox in late May, giving up just 10 earned runs and two home runs in 57 2/3 innings, holding a sparkling 1.56 ERA. He won't continue pitching that well, but every team that needs pitching for the home stretch should be calling about Houser.
Burrows and Houser are both mid-level streamers. The matchups couldn't be better, and they've both found success in their own ways, Burrows with strikeouts and Houser by preventing hits and runs.
Eric Lauer, Toronto Blue Jays vs. San Francisco Giants
Most of the pitchers who end up on our streamer list are here because of the matchup and not the player in question; if they were better pitchers, they would already be on a fantasy roster. Lauer is an exception. In 55 innings, he has allowed just 41 hits and 17 runs with 16 walks and 58 strikeouts.
The Giants haven't improved offensively since trading for Rafael Devers. They are in the bottom 10 in most offensive categories over the full season, their reason for showing up on our streaming list. Over the past month (since acquiring Devers), San Fran ranks in the bottom 10 in runs, hits, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. They need a few more moves to get to a competitive level for the playoffs.
Lauer is a mid-to-high-level streamer. He has found success overall and struck guys out at a high rate, making him a valuable fantasy player in all cases and especially against a weak offensive team.
Zack Littell, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore fails offensively in every area aside from power; they are above average in home runs and slugging percentage. They are also in the bottom five in walks drawn and right at the edge of the top 10 in strikeouts, setting a good profile for opposing pitchers. Maybe the most disappointing team of 2025, the Orioles have been let down by their lineup all season.
Littell has always been really good with walks, but he's doing near-career-best work this season. He has a microscopic 3.7% walk rate, just 17 BBs in 116 1/3 innings. He's also allowing less than one hit per inning for the first time as a starter (he did so as a reliever in 2019 and 2021). Littell is giving up too many home runs (one every 4.8 innings), but not putting guys on base before those big knocks has helped him be successful.
Littell is another mid-level streamer. His strikeouts are generally average but have been a little lower this season, but he has otherwise looked good. There is a little risk given those HR numbers.
Keider Montero, Detroit Tigers @ Texas Rangers
Montero is a little better than average with walks, but he is well below average with strikeouts, a real knock to his fantasy value. That is with about half of his appearances coming out of the bullpen, and most pitchers strike out more batters working in relief, so it's tough to expect him to improve that number. Montero's results have been OK, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of upside.
The Rangers do offer the right matchup for success, as they are a bottom-10 offensive unit who rank in that lowly group in runs, hits, doubles, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. They are closer to average in home runs, but the Rangers are less than 10 HRs from that bottom group.
Montero is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The strikeouts really hurt his fantasy potential, and though the matchup is a good one, I'm not looking at Montero as a guy I want to trust in my lineup.
Saturday's Streamer Rankings
- Eric Lauer, TOR
- Adrian Houser, CWS
- Mike Burrows, PIT
- Zack Littell, TB
- Keider Montero, DET
