Sunday's Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Slade Cecconi, Zack Littell and More

Did you see that Mariano Rivera tore his Achilles at the Yankees' Old-Timer's Game? He's 55 years old; it's time to sit down. At 37, I am already fine stepping away from all sports because I'm just not ready to deal with an injury, which is only more likely the older I get. At 55? Standing up is going to be too much. For all you fellow old folks out there, take this as a warning: sit down.

Let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Sunday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups. Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable pitchers. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.

Check out daily fantasy baseball projections at FantasySP all MLB season!

Ryan Bergert, Kansas City Royals @ Minnesota Twins

Bergert came over from the Padres at the trade deadline when Kansas City sent catcher Freddy Fermin to San Diego. He made his big-league debut earlier this season and has now accumulated 41 1/3 innings between the two teams, allowing 26 hits, 13 runs (2.83 ERA), 20 walks, and 36 strikeouts. His K rate is near average, but that walk total is too high, something he'll need to reign in a bit. Bergert did good strikeout work in the minors, so there's hope he can continue being successful in that area.

We're still trying to figure out what Minnesota is after their fire sale at the deadline. They moved enough pieces that I'm comfortable calling them a bottom-10 lineup, and their season-long numbers paint them as at least below average. The Twins have actually been really good over the past week, winning four of five before Saturday's loss, but that's a small sample, and I'm still leaning toward them being a lowlier offensive group.

Bergert is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His strikeout work is intriguing, but he also has a super small track record, and Minnesota's recent success makes them more of a tentative target than a group I really want to attack without regard.

Slade Cecconi, Cleveland Guardians @ Chicago White Sox

Davis Martin, Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland won the first game of this series 9-5 on Friday then took Saturday's game 3-1 in a much more on-par offensive performance from both squads. Teams chasing the playoffs can't be losing games to the worst teams in the league in August and September, so Cleveland is doing themselves a real favor by taking care of Chicago (the same way Seattle did in sweeping them earlier in the week).

Cecconi has been popping up on our streaming list a bit lately, notably making recent starts against the Orioles and Rockies in which he was a listed streamer and was good but not great. His numbers on the season paint him in that same light, as Cecconi has been good with walks, just a bit below average with strikeouts, and good with limiting hits and runs. He's a very streamable pitcher and fits well in the best matchups, like this one.

Martin is another guy who is generally good with walks but a below-average strikeout pitcher. He has given up almost exactly one hit per inning in each of his three seasons and holds a career ERA of 4.38; those are very average numbers. Martin fits in around average (probably a little below) and is another guy to consider as a streamer when he gets the right matchup.

Cecconi is a mid-level streamer and Martin a low-to-mid-level streamer. Cecconi is a little bit better pitcher and has the better matchup here, so he gets the advantage, especially as Cleveland has looked decent offensively lately.

Zack Littell, Cincinnati Reds @ Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates scored seven runs on Thursday against the Reds, making me a little gun shy because they have been better in the second half, but they followed that up with just three runs on Friday and one run on Saturday, looking more like the low-level offense we are used to. I'm excited about targeting Pittsburgh even if they have improved over the past month or so.

Littell is another guy who moved at the trade deadline, going from the Rays (who have quickly fallen out of the division race and are now four games under .500) to the Reds (who are holding on four games above .500 and just outside the wild card). In his first start with Cincinnati, Littell threw seven innings and allowed just three hits and one run with two walks and eight strikeouts in a win over the Cubs. Littell is really good with walks in his career but a bit below average with strikeouts, numbers he has hit regularly.

Littell is a mid-level streamer. The matchup gives him a nice floor and ceiling, as the Pirates are in the top 10 in batter strikeouts, and Littell has been good all season, though he could strike out a few more guys.

Justin Verlander, San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals

Before beating the Giants 4-2 yesterday, Washington had been shut out two days in a row. The Nats rank in the bottom 10 (or very close to it) in runs, hits, home runs, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. They are generally toward the top of the bottom 10, but being that it's across almost every box stat, Washington qualifies as a clear bottom-10 offensive team.

Verlander has been an average pitcher this season. That's fine, but it's not what we expect when seeing his name. In 2025, Verlander has an average walk rate, below-average strikeout rate, and 4.39 ERA while allowing 103 hits in 94.1 innings. Those are numbers we would expect from Davis Martin, not Justin Verlander. Verlander is fine to consider as a fantasy streamer against the right teams, like Washington.

Verlander is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He's got some upside due to his former level of play, but we have to treat him more like a middling pitcher than a guy who can regularly dominate.

Sunday's Streamer Rankings

1. Slade Cecconi, CLE
2. Zack Littell, CIN
3. Ryan Bergert, KC
4. Justin Verlander, SF
5. Davis Martin, CWS