Wednesday's Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Taj Bradley, Troy Melton and More

Some days, I'm able to look back at the streaming list and say that we did good work identifying guys who would succeed. With five or so pitchers listed here each day, though, there are bound to be some rough performances, and one of those came back on Monday.

San Francisco starter Hayden Birdsong was given a vote of confidence due to his good strikeout numbers and the matchup against a struggling Braves team; he failed to record an out, walked four batters, and was charged with five earned runs. If you took my advice and started Birdsong, I guess the only thing I can say is: whoops!

Let's keep on trucking, though, 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.

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Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox came out of the All-Star break red hot. They won their first four games by a combined score of 35-10 while sweeping the Pirates and taking the first from Tampa. In a quick scan of their first-half schedule, it looks like the most that Chicago scored over any four-game span was 24 runs, so the 35-run outburst was a major surprise, to say the least. I'm still trusting the season-long numbers more than the past few days, and that paints the White Sox as one of the worst offensive teams in baseball. (Tampa Bay won 4-3 yesterday.)

Bradley has seen most of his numbers stay the same this season after a successful 2024, but his strikeouts have taken a real downturn. After holding a 28% strikeout rate in 2023 and 26.6% in 2024, he is down at 20.7% this year, a slightly below-average number. He has still found success at times, but Bradley's fantasy value is a noticeable step down from where he was at his best last season.

Bradley is a mid-level streamer. While he is still a guy you can count on at the right times, finding his old strikeout touch would give him a higher ceiling. Don't be afraid of Chicago's recent offensive surge.

Zach Eflin, Baltimore Orioles @ Cleveland Guardians

Slade Cecconi, Cleveland Guardians vs. Baltimore Orioles

We've been following this series all week, so why not continue for a third day? (These teams also play a fourth game of the series tomorrow; stay tuned.) They scored 15 combined runs on Monday, not the type of outcome we are looking for with pitching streamers, but their season-long numbers are those of bottom-10 offensive teams. On Tuesday, they combined for a more reasonable nine runs (6-3 Guardians), so things are trending the right way for our purposes.

Eflin has missed a few stretches of this season with injury. When he has been on the field, he is having maybe the worst season of his career. His 5.95 ERA and 1.44 WHIP would be career worsts, and his 15.6% strikeout rate is his worst since 2016, his first year in the league. He has also been hit hard, giving up 78 base hits and 16 home runs in 62 innings.

Cecconi came from Arizona to Cleveland in the offseason, a place where pitchers have recently found success upon arrival. His walk rate has risen a little, but it's still a better-than-average number (6.8%). The biggest benefit is Cecconi's increased strikeout rate, which has gone from being several percentage points below average to right at an average rate this year. Just 26 years old, Cecconi has room to grow if he can further his improvement in Cleveland.

Eflin is a low-level streamer and Cecconi a mid-level streamer. The matchups are nice for both pitchers, but Eflin is on the way down and struggling hard while Cecconi is on the way up and showing the best work of his short career.

Troy Melton, Detroit Tigers @ Pittsburgh Pirates

Melton is making his big-league debut in this one after 273 minor-league innings. He did fairly well in the minors, striking out 319 batters in that time with an ERA near 3.60, so there's some intrigue here for a player stepping into one of the winningest teams in the majors right now.

The matchup is what really puts Melton on the fantasy radar. Pittsburgh ranks last in the league in runs, doubles, home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS. They have 15 fewer homers than the next closest team, the Royals. Pittsburgh's 66 home runs put them on pace for 105 over the full season; Detroit hit just 110 home runs in 2022, but no other team has had fewer than 120 since the COVID season of 2020. This is a historically weak offensive team.

Melton is a low-to-mid-level streamer with a little upside. Expectations need to be tempered given that it's his debut, but Melton's strikeout work and the great matchup make him worth considering if you need to fill a spot.

JP Sears, Athletics @ Texas Rangers

The Rangers are in the thick of the wild card race despite a weak offense. They are a clear bottom-10 offensive team propped up by a top-flight pitching staff, so if they can find a way to piece together capable offensive performances, they should be able to cruise to the postseason. They have started the second half on the right note, winning four of their first five, though they have averaged just four runs per game in that stretch.

Sears is good with walks, but he is a little below average as a strikeout pitcher. He has also been hit a little harder this season, giving up more hits than innings pitched for the first time in his four-season career and giving up a home run every 4.8 innings. Part of that is playing half his games in Sacramento, which has operated way too close to Coors Field in terms of being a hitter's haven.

Sears is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup is good, but Sears also has numbers that point toward a below-average pitcher, even if his environment is part of that. Trade rumors coming true might be the best thing for Sears moving forward.

Wednesday's Streamer Rankings

1. Taj Bradley, TB
2. Slade Cecconi, CLE
3. Troy Melton, DET
4. JP Sears, ATH
5. Zach Eflin, BAL