Friday's Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Cade Horton, Nestor Cortes and More
Five starting pitchers in action on Friday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
Welcome to another weekend! I have talked about the start of the NFL season, which is the biggest news in sports right now, but this weekend features several big-time college football matchups to act as an appetizer, including Texas versus Ohio State, the first- and third-ranked teams in the country, respectively.
College football is the second-biggest sport in America based on ratings and the money thrown around, so plenty of people will be tuned in; with the NFL one week away, it might be even more of an eye magnet for those salivating with anticipation.
Turning to fantasy baseball, 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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Nestor Cortes, San Diego Padres @ Minnesota Twins
Cortes is coming off a stellar start against the Dodgers last Saturday, when he threw six shutout innings with just one hit allowed and no walks, though he also only struck out three. That was after a rougher start against the Giants, when Cortes gave up seven hits, four runs, and three home runs in 5 2/3 innings with four walks and five strikeouts. Still likely trying to find his best stuff after missing most of the season with injury, Cortes has been fine, someone who can help in the playoffs, even if just as a lefty out of the bullpen.
Injuries might be as much to blame for Minnesota's subpar season as anything else. They have played 133 games, and only three players have appeared in more than 101 of them. Trevor Larnach, an OF/DH who was a first-round pick in 2018, leads the team in games and at-bats and has 19 doubles and 16 home runs, a decent year. Another first rounder, infielder Brooks Lee, is second in both games and at-bats and has 13 doubles and 14 homers. Other than Byron Buxton, no one else has really made a sustained impact, either because of injury or ineffectiveness (or both).
Cortes is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His career work says he should be up another notch, but after missing so much time, it's best to be a little skeptical. There is a little upside here against a somewhat depleted team.
Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs @ Colorado Rockies
Oh, the Cubs. They are still technically alive in the division race, but that's looking more and more unrealistic, as they sit 6.5 behind the league-best Brewers (83-52, 4.5 above any other team). Chicago leads the wild card by one game over the Padres and eight games over the Reds, the first team out of the playoffs, so the Cubs are in very good position to make the postseason.
After winning eight of 10, though, they came out and got swept by the Giants this week, a team that was five games under .500 before the series started. They now get the Rockies, who are a league-worst 38-96, and Chicago needs to come out and show something by taking at least two of three if they don't pick up the sweep. Colorado's offense is putrid, but this game takes place at Coors Field, boosting the offenses a little on both sides.
Horton, a top-10 pick in 2022, has started coming into his own after a bit of a rough beginning to his rookie season, now with 93 2/3 innings, 81 hits, 32 earned runs (3.07 ERA), 29 walks, and 77 strikeouts. That K number is a little lower than average (and lower than what we expect moving forward), but Horton has only given up eight home runs, doing a great job limiting hitters when they make contact.
Horton is a low-to-mid-level streamer here. I want to bump him up a notch, but this game being in Colorado gives me just a little bit of pause.
Adrian Houser, Tampa Bay Rays @ Washington Nationals
Mitchell Parker, Washington Nationals vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Two teams here in different stages of “likely to miss the playoffs,” the Rays are 7.5 back in the wild card race while the Nationals are 18.5 out and just days away from being officially eliminated. Both teams have been bad on offense, though it's been a season-long problem for the Nats, while the Rays are lowlier over the past few months (and that was before mostly selling at the trade deadline, though they brought in a few veterans also).
Houser is one of those players who was brought in at the deadline after 11 very good starts with the White Sox. It hasn't gone nearly as well in Tampa: four starts, 22 innings, 27 hits, 13 runs (5.32 ERA), six walks, and 15 strikeouts. That walk number is good, but everything else is worse than average and closer to his career work.
Parker had a good rookie season last year but has been demonstrably worse in every major stat in 2025. In 134 2/3 innings, he has allowed 148 hits, 100 runs (91 earned, 6.08 ERA), and 20 home runs with 53 walks and 87 strikeouts. It's a disappointing step backward on a team with a few young potential stars but not nearly enough to bring real excitement.
Houser is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Parker a low-level streamer. Houser has been the better pitcher and has the better matchup, so he gets the advantage between the two, but he still hasn't been good enough with the Rays and is risky to trust in your lineup. Parker is just a no-go right now.
Dean Kremer, Baltimore Orioles @ San Francisco Giants
Kremer is part of that huge group that is good with walks but a little below average with strikeouts (though not as far off from average as most of the other guys on our list today). He is about average in terms of both hits and home runs allowed, both in his career and this season; Kremer fits in nicely as an average pitcher, a valuable player in real life and a viable streamer in fantasy baseball.
San Francisco is coming off that sweep of the Cubs that I mentioned above, but they are still a couple games below .500 and six back in the wild card race. They need to sweep a few more series to really get back into the playoff picture, and three games against a disappointing Baltimore team could keep the good times rolling. The Giants' offense is a big problem, though, as they are a bottom-10 unit who need to step up now at the biggest times.
Kremer is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup is a good one, and Kremer is fine, but he isn't quite up to that next level, and the Giants are coming off a little hot streak here.
Friday's Streamer Rankings
- Cade Horton, CHC
- Nestor Cortes, SD
- Dean Kremer, BAL
- Adrian Houser, TB
- Mitchell Parker, WAS
