Saturday's Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Mike Burrows, Cristian Javier and More

If you haven't seen the new Naked Gun movie, it's worth seeing. You have to like irreverent humor, but if you enjoy the older movies, you'll like this one. Plenty of movies suck these days, but Naked Gun had me laughing the entire time. It doesn't have much to do with sports or baseball, but it's a long season, so we can talk about something else for one day in the intro, right?

Let's move to fantasy baseball and look at five starting pitchers in action on Saturday 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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Mike Burrows, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Colorado Rockies

Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies @ Pittsburgh Pirates

This is a series to follow all weekend, as we have two of the worst teams in baseball facing off in what can charitably be called a game that might draw a profit. Both Pittsburgh and Colorado are easily among the 10 worst offensive teams, and they probably both qualify for the bottom five. These are two teams we will be targeting for the rest of the season.

Burrows has a good strikeout rate while walking just a few too many batters. He was listed here before his previous start against the Cubs despite a few rough outings before that, and he pitched well, going five innings and allowing five hits but just one run with four strikeouts and two walks.

Freeland's numbers look bad, but it's hard to tell what is his own doing and how much we should attribute to Coors Field, where he has spent all nine of his seasons. Freeland is decent with walks but a below-average strikeout pitcher. The thin air in Denver also causes breaking pitches to move less, making things even easier on hitters than it might seem at first glance. At least this is a game in Pittsburgh, something that helps both pitchers.

Burrows is a mid-level streamer and Freeland a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchups are about as good as could be, and the location is a positive, but Freeland just isn't good enough on a start-to-start basis. Burrows is intriguing, especially with his above-average strikeout work and Colorado's swing-and-miss ways.

Cristian Javier, Houston Astros @ Baltimore Orioles

Javier missed most of 2024 and 2025 after Tommy John surgery, and he has made just two starts this year, both since August 11. The sample isn't nearly big enough to make real determinations on his status, but Javier's career numbers are those of a pitcher who is well above average with strikeouts while walking too many guys. That can be a profile for success, especially since he has also done really well limiting hits and runs.

The Orioles were on our streaming list most of the season, but they have played better lately and pretty much gotten themselves out of that range. Over the past month, Baltimore is actually in the top 10 in most offensive categories, making them a team I'm not excited to target despite their below-average season-long numbers.

Javier is a mid-level streamer. His work has been good throughout his career, but the matchup isn't great based on recent numbers. Maybe that should push him down a notch, but I'm taking the optimistic view with just over a month left in the fantasy season.

Davis Martin, Chicago White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins

The Twins have a different story over the past 30 days. Part of that is selling at the trade deadline, but Minnesota was below average offensively for most of the season and now has regularly been in the bottom 10 for the last month. We can safely target Minnesota now and probably for the rest of the season.

Martin is another guy who is right around average with walks but below average with strikeouts. He has been very average in his career, giving up close to one hit per inning and holding an ERA of 4.28. Middling pitchers might not be exciting, but they are worthy of streaming consideration in the right situations.

Martin is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The low strikeouts cap his ceiling, but he has been fine, and he's worthy of consideration if you need innings as the season winds down.

Chris Paddack, Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals

Kansas City keeps fighting for the wild card, but they are being carried by their pitching staff while the offense drags far behind. The Royals have scored the third-fewest runs and rank in the bottom five in home runs, a major stain on their attempt to be average. It will be a major accomplishment if a small-market team can make the postseason with such a feeble offense.

Paddack came over from the Twins before the trade deadline. Since arriving, it hasn't gone well: 21 1/3 innings, 21 hits, 14 runs, four walks, and just 13 strikeouts. He also allowed six home runs. His numbers over the full season aren't much better, leaving Paddack as a well-below-average pitcher. He's tough to trust right now despite career numbers that are a little better.

Paddack is a low-level streamer. He hasn't been very good in 2025, and the matchup here is good but not great, limiting his ceiling just a little bit.

Friday's Streamer Rankings

1. Mike Burrows, PIT
2. Cristian Javier, HOU
3. Kyle Freeland, COL
4. Davis Martin, CWS
5. Chris Paddack, DET