Thursday's Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Noah Cameron, Taj Bradley, and More

Although it's a short day on the schedule, we still have a stable of streaming pitchers that can offer value to those in need of innings (or in desperation mode). It's not a great set of guys, but if they were, they would already be on a fantasy roster. Streaming is a fickle game.

Let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Thursday 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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Logan Allen, Cleveland Guardians @ Tampa Bay Rays

Allen is worse than average with strikeouts and just a little worse with walks. He has been a little bit below average overall, getting hit a little hard at times but not completely imploding. Allen is coming off two rough starts against Texas and Seattle: 11 combined innings, 14 hits, 13 runs, four home runs, six walks, and seven strikeouts.

The Rays are better by the full-season numbers, but the past couple months haven't been nearly as kind. They have hit like a bottom-10 offensive team in that time, something that threatens to sink their playoff hopes despite being just 2.5 games back in the wild card.

Allen is a low-level streamer. He has been a below-average pitcher, and the Rays are in a cold streak but not at the bottom of the league like some of our other targets.

Taj Bradley, Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox

Fraser Ellard, Chicago White Sox @ Minnesota Twins

These are now the two worst teams in the American League, as Minnesota continues a steady decline since selling hard at the trade deadline. The White Sox have won the first three games of the series and are going for the sweep here; it's a new low for the Twins. Chicago has been better offensively the last month, so they aren't as great of a matchup as they have been most of the past few years.

Bradley spent some time in the minors before he was traded to the Twins at the deadline. He has made two starts in the big leagues with Minnesota, combining for 10 innings, 10 hits, eight runs, four walks, and seven strikeouts. Bradley has been worse than average with both walks and strikeouts this season and has an ERA near 5.00.

Ellard has worked mostly as a relief pitcher and will likely be just an opener in this one. He filled the same role on Monday, pitching 1 2/3 innings. Ellard has been very good with strikeouts but also has walked way too many guys, mixing good and bad in just 33 1/3 innings. He loses some fantasy value because he is unlikely to qualify for a win even if his team does well, but if you want a few innings with a chance at strikeouts, Ellard is a decent option on a light schedule day.

Bradley is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Ellard a low-level streamer. Bradley might have been better than his poor results so far, but Ellard just doesn't have much value in the opening role. No White Sox pitcher went more than 1 2/3 innings on Monday, and they might follow the same script in this one.

Noah Cameron, Kansas City Royals vs. Los Angeles Angels

Kyle Hendricks, Los Angeles Angels @ Kansas City Royals

These teams are both in the wild card race to different degrees. Kansas City is just 2.5 games out of the playoffs and well within striking distance, with only the inconsistent Rangers and Mariners between them and postseason position. Los Angeles is 6.5 out; that's still short enough to overcome with 23 games remaining, but it's going to take everything going right, as the Angels would have to overtake five teams on their way to an improbable playoff run.

Cameron has had positive results overall this season, but he has been a little inconsistent. Over his past seven starts, Cameron allowed four or more runs three times and one run or fewer in three other games. He has been below average with strikeouts but good with walks; Cameron has also been good limiting hitters, giving up just 87 hits in 108 innings and a home run every 8.3 innings.

Hendricks has been below average with strikeouts most of his career, but he is also very good with walks. When he was allowing fewer than a hit per inning, that formula worked, but Hendricks has been on the wrong side of that equation since 2021, leading to inflated ERAs. His K rate has been especially low the past two years, sitting at 15.3% in both seasons (versus league average around 22.5%).

Cameron is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Hendricks a low-level streamer. Cameron is the better pitcher at this point, and he has the better matchup here. Hendricks' strikeout numbers are low enough to take away most of his fantasy value.

Thursday's Streamer Rankings

1. Noah Cameron, KC
2. Taj Bradley, MIN
3. Logan Allen, CLE
4. Kyle Hendricks, LAA
5. Fraser Ellard, CWS