Friday's Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Colin Rea, Charlie Morton and More

And we've (essentially) made it to another weekend! The weeks are flying by; I remember I was just bemoaning the fact that it was Monday. With the NFL season and MLB playoffs creeping closer and closer, we are getting toward one of the best sports times of the year. Can you feel the anticipation?

Let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Friday 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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Joe Boyle, Tampa Bay Rays @ San Francisco Giants

Landen Roupp, San Francisco Giants vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Let's start with a matchup of two teams who are both at least five games back in the wild card race and in danger of falling out altogether, as they each have at least four teams to jump before they would be in playoff position. Over the past month, both teams are in the bottom 10 in runs, doubles, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. The Rays also sit in that group in hits and batting average, while the Giants fall short in home runs and walks. It's something of a dire situation.

Boyle has gotten big-league time in each of the past three seasons, never reaching 50 innings in any of them. He has been good with strikeouts but also walked way too many guys, holding a 14.8% walk rate, pushing toward twice the league average (near 8%). He has been good limiting hits, giving up just 67 in 94 1/3 innings, but Boyle needs to find some control if he wants any sustained success.

Roupp is returning from the IL to make this start, his last outing coming on July 22. He is an average strikeout pitcher but walks a few too many guys, though not as many as Boyle. Roupp has a 3.32 ERA in 151 2/3 innings, and a big part of that is not giving up home runs: he has allowed just 10 in his career, about half as frequently as the average pitcher on a per-inning basis.

Boyle is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Roupp a mid-level streamer. Boyle has the better strikeout work, but his walks are a major problem. Roupp is the better pitcher, though he might be in for a shorter start coming off more than a three-week absence.

Aaron Civale, Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals

Civale went through a stretch where he looked better after moving to Chicago from Milwaukee, but he is now back to a lowly level, holding an ERA near 5.00 and both a walk rate and strikeout rate a little worse than average. He asked for the trade from the Brewers, so he's a victim of his own doing, as he moved from the team that now has the best record in baseball to the one who will finish last in the American League.

Kansas City has some OK hit skill, but they are completely bereft of power and don't draw walks, their main two drawbacks. That also makes them a friendly fantasy target. The Royals don't strike out, so that hurts the ceilings of opposing pitchers, but KC also doesn't instill fear in anyone.

Civale is a low-level streamer. The matchup is right for an OK day, but he has performed poorly pretty much the whole season and doesn't have much of a ceiling.

Charlie Morton, Detroit Tigers @ Minnesota Twins

Minnesota has leaked into the bottom 10 on offense over the full season, ranking in that group (or very close to it) in runs, hits, doubles, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS. Trading away half their team at the deadline didn't help matters, though they got rid of more pitchers than hitters.

Morton debuted all the way back in 2008 and has racked up over 2,200 innings and 2,100 strikeouts. He will turn 42 shortly after the World Series, so this might be his last run before stepping away; good thing he moved from Baltimore to a team likely to make the playoffs in Detroit. Morton has struggled a bit this year, but he has been average with strikeouts and just a little worse with walks, though he has given up more than a hit per inning and a home run every 6.2 innings versus his career rate of one every 10.1 innings.

Morton is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup is good but not great, and Morton has lost plenty from his top level, so it's not a slam dunk streaming opportunity here, but Morton is also good enough to put together an acceptable outing, especially with decent strikeout numbers.

Colin Rea, Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Cubs need wins in the worst way. They lost 2-1 in Toronto yesterday, and that included an eighth inning in which they had runners on second and third with no outs and didn't score. That dropped Chicago to eight games back in the NL Central, but they have a chance to pick up some ground, playing three at home against the Pirates followed by a five-game series against Milwaukee, the team they are chasing. They could be right back in the race a week from now, or they could be completely out of it and looking up at the wild card. The matchup here sets them up for a few wins, but the Cubs must take advantage.

Rea is good with walks but a below-average strikeout pitcher. Most of his numbers are very average, and that's a good way to describe his performance both in 2025 and in his career. Rea has faced the Pirates twice this season, both times going six innings and giving up four hits and two runs. He combined for six strikeouts and three walks in those games.

Rea is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He is a decent pitcher, and the matchup is right, but he also has a bit of a lower ceiling because of his low strikeout rate, making him more of a name to consider than someone to chase.

Friday's Streamer Rankings

1. Landen Roupp, SF
2. Colin Rea, CHC
3. Joe Boyle, TB
4. Charlie Morton, DET
5. Aaron Civale, CWS