Monday's Fantasy Baseball Streamer Rankings: Ryan Bergert, Slade Cecconi, and More
Five starting pitchers in action on Monday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
The Dodgers had an odd happening on Saturday: Yoshinobu Yamamoto completed 8 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball before giving up a home run to Baltimore's Jackson Holliday with two outs. Los Angeles then brought in closer Blake Treinen to shut things down.
Treinen didn't get any of his four batters out, giving up a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two walks, the second of which brought in a run. Tanner Scott relieved Treinen and gave up a walk-off single to the next batter, giving the Orioles the win 4-3.
Baseball is unlike other sports because you must throw strikes and get the outs at the end. In football, you can kneel out the clock. In basketball, you can dribble around and make the opposing team foul you. In baseball, though, you have to get 27 outs, and there is no way to bleed the clock.
Let's shift to fantasy baseball and 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 pitchers. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
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Ryan Bergert, Kansas City Royals @ Cleveland Guardians
Slade Cecconi, Cleveland Guardians vs. Kansas City Royals
This is a huge division game, but not because the game will help decide the AL Central. The Tigers have essentially locked up the division, but both Cleveland and Kansas City are within three games of a wild card spot, so this is a huge four-game series. Both teams have been bottom-10 offensive teams, counting on their pitchers to do the heavy lifting.
Bergert is in his first season, having split it between the Padres and Royals due to a deadline deal. He has walked a few too many guys, but Bergert has also been better than average with strikeouts, something that was also true in the minor leagues. Bergert has been able to limit batters, allowing just 46 hits and eight home runs in 69 innings.
Cecconi is a little below average with strikeouts, but he is very good at limiting walks. That has been the only place he has been better than average, though, as Cecconi has also been hit a little hard, giving up more than a hit per inning and a home run every 5.0 innings, a well below-average number.
Bergert is a mid-level streamer and Cecconi a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchups are right, and Bergert has been the better pitcher and has the better matchup, so he gets the advantage.
Caden Dana, Los Angeles Angels vs. Minnesota Twins
Simeon Woods Richardson, Minnesota Twins @ Los Angeles Angels
Another matchup of weak offensive teams, the Twins and Angels are different from the previous duo in that they have fallen outside the playoff race, each more than eight games back in the wild card. Minnesota's problems are partly due to trading away hitters, but the Angels have kept trying to win and just can't do it. Both squads are regular targets for our streaming pitchers.
Dana has made only six appearances (four starts), all in the last two seasons. In his 21 1/3 innings, Dana has given up 23 hits and 19 runs (17 earned), not finding much success. He has been below average with strikeouts and walked way too many guys, all mixing together to result in a 7.17 ERA and 1.69 WHIP.
Woods Richardson spent a little time in the minor leagues this season while struggling to find his 2024 form, which had him looking like an average starter. He has been worse this season with walks, strikeouts, and home runs allowed, helping push his performance the wrong way before even seeing what happens when the ball is put in play. Woods Richardson hasn't tanked, but he has taken a small step backward from what looked like a promising young pitcher.
Dana is a low-level streamer and Woods Richardson a low-to-mid-level streamer. The former just hasn't found any success in his brief time, but Woods Richardson still has a little hope of finding his old form, especially with a strong matchup here.
Janson Junk, Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals
Junk has been on the IL with an arm injury since leaving his last start on August 23. He returns after a few weeks off with one of the best matchups he could hope for. Junk is a below-average strikeout pitcher but also has a miniscule walk rate. He pitched once against the Nationals back in June, entering as a reliever but pitching like a starter, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing two hits and no runs with no walks and four strikeouts, picking up the win.
Washington is one of our current must-target teams. They have bottom-10 offensive numbers across the full season and fall into the same underwhelming group over the past 30 days. A lack of power is one of the biggest issues, as the Nats rank in the bottom six in home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Junk is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup is right, and he pitched well against Washington earlier in the season, but he also isn't great with strikeouts and has a bit of a lower ceiling, especially since the Nationals are among the bottom 10 in batter strikeouts.
Monday's Streamer Rankings
- Ryan Bergert, KC
- Slade Cecconi, CLE
- Simeon Woods Richardson, MIN
- Janson Junk, MIA
- Caden Dana, LAA
