Saturday's Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Joey Cantillo, Eduardo Rodriguez and More

Another weekend! I'm writing this on Friday night, so I'm headfirst into weekend time (like Pete Rose). Summer days are running low, especially as school starts up again in some areas of the country, so while baseball is always a priority, it's probably a good idea to get outside a few more times, particularly with football just four weeks away.

Moving to fantasy baseball, let's look at six starting pitchers in action on Saturday who have good matchups and are widely available in fantasy leagues. Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable starters. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.

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Sean Burke, Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians

Joey Cantillo, Cleveland Guardians @ Chicago White Sox

We'll start with two matchups of poor offensive teams, first heading to the AL Central, where the American-League-worst White Sox have a chance to play spoiler the rest of the way: they play two series against Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, and the Yankees and one series against San Diego. All those teams are fighting for the wild card and/or division. The Guardians are in the thick of the wild card race, but they are also back in the division race, as the Tigers have faltered. They need a bottom-10 offense to keep playing better, as they have since the All-Star break.

Burke is having a decent rookie season. Though his walk rate is too high, he is close to average with strikeouts and has allowed less than a hit per inning. He has been a little susceptible to home runs (17 in 110 2/3 innings), and his 10 unearned runs would bring his ERA from 4.23 to 5.04, but for a guy with fewer than 20 big-league innings before this season, he has been very serviceable.

Cantillo has done most of his work out of the bullpen (21 relief appearances, six starts). He has fewer than 100 career innings to his name but has done great strikeout work in that time while walking too many batters. Starting is different from relieving, so that K rate could come down (28.5% versus league average around 22.5%) when he makes longer outings, though it has held so far. Cantillo had a successful relief appearance against the White Sox in April, but his one start against them (July 13) saw him give up seven hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings, though he did strike out six with no walks.

Burke is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Cantillo a mid-level streamer. The latter has the better matchup and a high-level K rate, while the Guardians have been a little better lately offensively and pose a tougher test for Burke.

Brad Lord, Washington Nationals @ San Francisco Giants

Carson Whisenhunt, San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals

Our next matchup of weak offenses features another wild card contender versus bottom feeder, as the Giants are in the hunt while the Nationals have the third-worst record in baseball behind the White Sox and Rockies. Both teams are bottom-10 offensive squads; San Francisco's pitching staff is carrying them to playoff contention, but Washington doesn't have that luxury, falling short everywhere.

Lord is another rookie and another guy who has worked mostly out of the bullpen, with 29 relief appearances and nine starts. He has an average walk rate but a below-average strikeout rate while doing well limiting hits (71 allowed in 79 innings), runs (30 earned, 3.42 ERA), and home runs (six). Lord was also below average with Ks in the minors, so there's not a lot of hope for a big jump there, and things will get tougher if he keeps starting.

Make it four for four on rookies in these two matchups, and Whisenhunt is the greenest of the group, having thrown just 10 1/3 innings. He has given up eight hits, six runs (five earned), and two home runs with four walks and seven strikeouts. It's impossible to glean much from such a small sample, but Whisenhunt was a good strikeout pitcher in the minors while doing just OK with run prevention.

Lord and Whisenhunt are both low-to-mid-level streamers. The matchup is right for each guy, but neither has done enough to earn a lot of trust yet. They might grow into better pitchers, but it's just hard to tell now what either guy will be as a big leaguer.

Nick Martinez, Cincinnati Reds @ Pittsburgh Pirates

We're done with the young guys: Martinez is 35 years old and made his debut back in 2014. He took a four-year hiatus in Japan from 2018-2021 before returning and working mostly as a reliever until this year. Martinez has started in 22 of his 25 appearances this season, doing really well with walks but also well below average with strikeouts. That matches his career work, though Martinez is OK limiting hits, giving up fewer than one base hit per inning every season since his return.

The Pirates have been better offensively and as a team since the All-Star break, and they won 7-0 Thursday to earn Paul Skenes another win, his third in four starts after just four previously this season despite pitching lights out. Yesterday, Pittsburgh won 3-2, but Cincinnati starter Chase Burns pitched six innings and struck out 10.

Martinez is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup is a good one, but Martinez's lower strikeouts limit his ceiling and leave owners hoping for good results instead of great ones.

Eduardo Rodriguez, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies

Let's keep going with the old heads: Rodriguez is a 32-year-old, 11-year veteran who has struggled since joining the Diamondbacks last season (when he missed most of the year). In 147 2/3 innings in Arizona, Rodriguez has allowed 181 hits, 88 earned runs (5.36 ERA), and 26 home runs (one every 5.7 innings). He has been around average with both walks and strikeouts, but Rodriguez isn't doing well in a hitter's park.

I try avoiding the Rockies at Coors Field, but while they are away in this one, Arizona has been the third-most hitter friendly park in baseball over the past three years. We can still look to target Colorado, who tops out as average on offense no matter where they play and is much worse away from hitter havens. Most enticingly, Rockies hitters have struck out the second most while walking the second least.

Rodriguez is another low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup is right for a possible big day, but Rodriguez just hasn't been able to find much success, and the environment is against him, even if he does benefit slightly from not being in Coors Field for this one.

Saturday's Streamer Rankings

1. Joey Cantillo, CLE
2. Eduardo Rodrigez, ARI
3. Brad Lord, WSH
4. Sean Burke, CWS
5. Nick Martinez, CIN
6. Carson Whisenhunt, SF