Sunday's Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Mike Burrows, Yu Darvish, and More

The Milwaukee Brewers are the first team to clinch a playoff spot. I often think it's silly when a big deal is made over a team fighting for the top record in the league when they clinch the playoffs, but it is important when the first team does because it means more will soon be coming.

The Tigers and Phillies are probably next up, with the Cubs, Blue Jays, and Yankees knocking at the door. Even when those playoff spots start filling up, there will be plenty to figure out in terms of seeding and division titles, setting up for a fun finish.

Let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Sunday 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 @ Washington Nationals

Cade Cavalli, Washington Nationals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

We've been following this series all weekend, two of the worst offensive teams in baseball who make for great pitcher targets every day. After the Nationals won the first game, Pittsburgh came back to take Saturday's contest 5-1. There's not much else to say; these teams are just playing out the next few weeks until their season ends.

In 89 innings, Burrows has an average walk rate and above-average strikeout rate. He has also done well limiting hitters, giving up just 77 hits and a home run every 6.8 innings (close to average). Burrows has been a good pitcher as a rookie.

Cavalli is even less established than Burrows, having thrown just 39 big league innings. He has been good with walks but also below average with strikeouts. Cavalli was better than average with Ks in the minors, though, so there's hope that he can improve in that area with more innings under his belt.

Burrows is a mid-level streamer and Cavalli and low-to-mid-level streamer. The former has looked good all season, and the latter has a bit of a ceiling but not enough track record to fully trust.

Slade Cecconi, Cleveland Guardians vs. Chicago White Sox

Yoendrys Gomez, Chicago White Sox @ Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland has helped themselves out by winning the first two games of this series, but they still sit 3.5 games back in the wild card race. Things will get tougher from here on out, as three of the final four series Cleveland plays are against the Rangers and Tigers (twice). Chicago has scored just one total run in the first two games, providing a good matchup even after a streak of better play.

Cecconi is better than average with walks but a little below average with strikeouts. He also gets hit a little hard, giving up more than a hit per inning in his career and a homer every 5 2/3 innings. Those aren't numbers that will combine to give him real success, and in kind, Cecconi has a career ERA over 5.00, though he's at 4.45 this year.

Gomez has made appearances this season for the Yankees, Dodgers, and White Sox; all the best teams! After working only as a reliever for his first two teams, he has mostly started for Chicago, making six starts and three relief appearances. In just 59 2/3 innings, Gomez has been average with strikeouts but walked too many guys. That has led to giving up a few too many runs, and his K rate may drop if he does more starting and less bullpen work.

Cecconi and Gomez are both low-to-mid-level streamers. The matchups are right, but Cecconi is lower with strikeouts, and Gomez hasn't gotten enough time under his belt to expect much.

Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres vs. Colorado Rockies

Darvish didn't make his season debut until July 7 because of an elbow injury. He has a good strikeout rate and a good walk rate, but he has been giving up too many home runs, allowing 11 in 57 1/3 innings. That's one every 5.2 innings versus his career rate of one homer every 7.7 innings. That is the biggest factor toward Darvish holding a 5.65 ERA this season.

He gets one of the best matchups in the league here, as the Rockies are maybe the worst offensive team in baseball. They get the bump of Coors Field in half their games, but in only games away from home, the Rockies rank at the bottom of many offensive box stats. Every pitcher has fantasy value against Colorado.

Darvish is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He has found his strikeout touch, and the matchup is great here, so I want to bump him up a notch, but the results still haven't been there, so I have to temper expectations just a bit. I like Darvish in this game, though.

Sunday's Streamer Rankings

1. Mike Burrows, PIT
2. Yu Darvish, SD
3. Cade Cavalli, WAS
4. Slade Cecconi, CLE
5. Yoendrys Gomez, CWS