Wednesday's Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Tyler Wells, Jose Soriano, and More

A friend I talk to often is a big Mariners fan, so I've paid extra attention to the AL West race. Seattle is one game back of the Astros for the division and 1.5 games ahead of Texas for the final wild card. The Mariners went big at the trade deadline, adding both Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez from the Diamondbacks in separate trades. It would be nice to see it work out to at least a playoff berth for a franchise that hasn't had a lot to cheer about in the past few decades.

Let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Wednesday 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.

Remember to use the FantasySP waiver tool to identify the players being added most to fantasy rosters.

Logan Allen, Cleveland Guardians vs. Kansas City Royals

Jonathan Bowlan, Kansas City Royals @ Cleveland Guardians

I said at the beginning of this series that it could effectively eliminate one of these teams from the playoffs if the other could sweep all four games. Well, Cleveland is on the way, winning 10-2 on Monday and 2-0 on Tuesday. The second game is more of the scoring we expect from these teams, who both rate as bottom-10 offensive groups.

Allen is just a little worse than average with walks and several percentage points worse than average with strikeouts, starting on the wrong side of things. He also allows a little over one hit per inning and a home run every 6.5 innings; everything he does is just a little bit worse than average it turns out.

Bowlan has mostly worked as a reliever but gets the start in this one. He made more starts than relief appearances in the minors, so it's not new for him, but Bowlan is probably at risk of making a short start or even working more as an opener in this one. The few innings of an opening pitcher can be fantasy-worthy in terms of limiting runs and getting a few strikeouts, but it's a low-ceiling play, especially because those pitchers often don't throw long enough to qualify for the win. Bowlan is good with strikeouts, but he also walks too many guys.

Allen and Bowlan are both low-to-mid-level streamers. Allen is at too low of a level as a pitcher to qualify any higher, and while Bowlan has some intrigue from his strikeouts, he is probably at risk of a short start and has been just OK overall.

Taj Bradley, Minnesota Twins @ Los Angeles Angels

Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels vs. Minnesota Twins

Our second matchup of poor offensive teams is a little different, as these groups are two of the four worst teams in the American League. They both had better runs earlier in the season, but neither seemed up to the level of a team who could actually compete in the playoffs. Now, they are both bottom-10 offenses who are playing out the string of the final few weeks.

Bradley was traded from the Rays at the deadline, who had sent him to the minors after some trouble with control and run prevention. Things haven't gone well in three starts with the Twins: 15 innings, 18 hits, 12 runs (7.20 ERA), five walks, and 14 strikeouts. The BBs and Ks are good, but Bradley has been hit really hard, something that has been a problem at times in his career but not always.

Soriano is average with strikeouts but a little worse with walks. That's about his only fault, as Soriano has done well limiting hits and only gives up a home run every 13.3 innings, a phenomenal rate. That's the type of number relief pitchers and guys with fewer than 100 innings have, not someone over 300 innings through three seasons (one of which was as a reliever).

Bradley is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Soriano a mid-level streamer. Soriano's good strikeout work brings him up just a bit, while Bradley has a lower floor due to his struggles this season.

Tyler Wells, Baltimore Orioles vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Wells missed most of 2024 and essentially all of 2025 after undergoing elbow surgery (he had an alternative to Tommy John). He returned to make his first start last Tuesday, throwing five innings with five hits, two runs, no walks, and four strikeouts while picking up the win over the Padres. In his career, Wells has been a little better than average with strikeouts and really good with walks.

The memes about the Pirates won't end until they make a little progress in team building. Whenever Paul Skenes (today's starter) has another great game, the word on the internet is that Skenes should immediately ask for a trade because he has an ERA under 2.00, a WHIP under 1.00, and one of the worst teams around him. Pittsburgh ranks in the bottom five offensively in runs, hits, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS. They are in the bottom 10 in everything else, including striking out the ninth most of any team.

Wells is a mid-level streamer. It's risky to expect a lot from a pitcher just coming back after a long layoff, but he looked good in his first game back, and the matchup here is much better, setting up Wells for success.

Wednesday's Streamer Rankings

1. Jose Soriano, LAA
2. Tyler Wells, BAL
3. Jonathan Bowlan, KC
4. Logan Allen, CLE
5. Taj Bradley, MIN