Monday's Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Dustin May, Brady Singer and More
Five starting pitchers in action on Monday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers played a huge series over the weekend in LA. The Padres had a one-game lead in the NL West at the beginning of the weekend, but the Dodgers swept the series and now hold a two-game lead. They will meet again for three games next weekend in San Diego.
There will be big-time series like that the rest of the way, including a five-game series between the Cubs and Brewers starting today with a double-header. It's getting toward crunch time in the marathon that is the MLB season, and the best of the best need to show up every day.
Let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Monday 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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Nestor Cortes, San Diego Padres vs. San Francisco Giants
Cortes was listed here before his most recent start against these same Giants last Tuesday. He did well, allowing just one run and one walk with six strikeouts, but he only pitched 4 2/3 innings and didn't qualify for the win that he would have picked up if he was able to get one more out. Cortes has made just four starts this year, only two of them coming after April 3, so he's easing back into things but should lengthen out the more he throws. While his season number aren't good, it's a super-small sample, and his career work is much better.
The Giants continue to struggle offensively. They lost seven in a row before Sunday's win, scoring just 12 runs in that time. Their offense is the main thing holding them back, as the pitching staff is probably a top-10 unit. There's not much hope of things getting better; this is a season-long problem.
Cortes is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The success against San Fran last time out is promising, and his career work is that of an above-average pitcher, but it's tough to trust him for that high-level work as he gets back into the groove after missing most of the season.
Dustin May, Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore has played well enough lately to generally not be on our target list anymore, but we're a little short on streamers today, and they are still in or close to the bottom 10 in runs, hits, walks, strikeouts (most), batting average, and on-base percentage. For much of the season, the Orioles were a prime target, and I'm still OK going after them at the right times.
May came over from the Dodgers at the trade deadline and has been good in two starts with Boston. Despite giving up 11 hits in 9 2/3 innings, he allowed just three runs and no home runs with two walks and 12 strikeouts. He's average with both walks and strikeouts in his career, a good enough pitcher to consider in fantasy in the right matchups and maybe even more if he can ever stay healthy and effective for any length of time.
May is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His work has been good enough, but the matchup is more middling now than it would have been earlier in the season. This game also takes place at Fenway Park, which operates more as a hitter's park, knocking down pitcher value a little.
Brady Singer, Cincinnati Reds @ Los Angeles Angels
Singer, both in his career and in 2025, is just a very average pitcher. Both his walk and strikeouts rates are right at average, and his ERA is a little over 4.20. He has given up almost exactly one hit per inning (810 in 810 2/3 innings). Singer is about as “in the middle” as a pitcher can be. That's a guy who can find success as a streamer.
The Angels swept the Dodgers earlier in the week before losing two of three against the A's, scoring just five runs combined on Friday and Saturday (they scored 11 yesterday, but six of them came in extra innings). They hit for a lot of power, sitting in the top five in home runs, but top out as average otherwise, sitting in the bottom 10 in hits, walks, batting average, and on-base percentage. Best for our purposes, Angel hitters have struck out more than any other team (1,210 times in 124 games).
Singer is a mid-level pitcher. He's in the middle, the matchup is in the middle, and his average strikeout work should play well against the team who strikes out more than anyone else.
Michael Wacha, Kansas City Royals vs. Texas Rangers
Jack Leiter, Texas Rangers @ Kansas City Royals
We'll finish with two teams who have bottom-10 offenses but are still fighting for the wild card in a packed group. The Royals are four back in the wild card and the Rangers 5.5 back after losing eight of nine before Sunday's win. Texas has a top-five pitching staff that is carrying them, while the Royals are more of a top-10 group, not quite as good but still getting much more from their pitchers than their hitters.
Wacha is on a bit of a hot streak: over his past six starts, he has gone at least five innings each time while giving up either one or two runs. He has a 3-0 record in that time to go with 22 strikeouts and seven walks. He's a little below average with strikeouts but also good with walks, setting himself up for success most outings.
I've been too impatient with Leiter. He has fantastic pedigree, so I want him to be a star right away, but he is just 140 2/3 innings into his career, so I realize I need to give him a little time to find that top level. He has been fine, holding a strikeout rate near average, though he walks too many guys, causing most of his problems. He has given up just 87 hits in 105 innings this year and has an ERA under 4.00, so fixing those walks would likely put him on that more successful path.
Wacha and Leiter are both low-to-mid-level streamers. The matchups are right, but both guys are a little low with strikeouts to really expect big things. They have found success, but I'm just not quite ready to bump either up to that next level in this one, though they are worth consideration for your fantasy lineup.
Monday's Streamer Rankings
- Brady Singer, CIN
- Michael Wacha, KC
- Nestor Cortes, SD
- Dustin May, BOS
- Jack Leiter, TEX
