Tuesday's Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Cade Horton, Cam Schlittler, and More

Six teams are officially eliminated from playoff contention: the Angels, White Sox, Twins, Nationals, Pirates, and Rockies. There's a line in the movie Full Metal Jacket where our main character, Joker, says something like, “The dead know only one thing: that it is better to be alive.” Well, in the MLB standings, the eliminated know one thing: that it's better to still be in the race.

Let's look at six starting pitchers in action on Tuesday 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.

Check out FantasySP's Who Should I Start? tool to compare players and help make all your lineup decisions.

Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs @ Pittsburgh Pirates

Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Guardians

I'm including these two together because they have good matchups against strong target teams, but both Horton and Mize are owned in more than half of leagues, not exactly fitting our definition of streamer. Go check to see if one or both are available in your league, though, as they are good plays on Tuesday.

Mize has been average with strikeouts and better than average with walks this season. Horton is a little below average with strikeouts, but his pedigree and minor league work say he will probably increase that number as he gets more big-league innings.

Both Horton and Mize are mid-to-high-level streamers. If available, they are great pickups, but these guys are less likely to be in your free agent pool than the others listed below.

Dean Kremer, Baltimore Orioles @ Chicago White Sox

Shane Smith, Chicago White Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles

Two teams here near the bottom of the American League. I mentioned above that the White Sox are officially eliminated from playoff contention, and the Orioles are only days away from the same fate. Even winning all of their remaining games would require multiple teams losing almost all their games for Baltimore to even have a shot at the end; it's not happening.

Kremer has both a walk rate and a strikeout rate just a little lower than league average (good for the BBs, bad for the Ks). His work limiting walks has been at a career-best level this year, setting Kremer up well. He has also been very average at limiting hitters, allowing exactly one hit per inning and a homer every 7.5 innings, a rate a little better than average. Kremer is right in the middle as a pitcher.

Smith has been good with strikeouts while walking a few too many guys in his rookie season (131 innings). He has done really well limiting hitters, giving up 102 hits and a homer every 8.2 innings; shaky control at times is really the only area where Smith has faltered. He's a good streaming pitcher.

Kremer and Smith are both low-to-mid-level streamers. The matchups are good but not great, and both pitchers have been right on that line of average. I want to bump them up to the next level but can't quite get there; it's close.

Eury Perez, Miami Marlins @ Colorado Rockies

Perez was owned in a lot more leagues before he went on a cold stretch, even getting out of streamer range for a while. He is good with strikeouts and right around average with walks, but he went through some times where he was hit a little hard. Perez has good numbers overall, but he has had some bad luck as well that make his numbers look worse than the performance may have been.

The Rockies are as bad as any other offense in baseball. They get the benefit of playing this one at home, where they are just a below-average unit instead of possibly the worst, but that only raises their level so much; this is a poor collection of talent.

Perez is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He has a lot of numbers in his favor, but the results haven't quite been there, and this game taking place at Coors Field pushes Perez down another notch.

Cam Schlittler, New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins

Schlittler started against the Twins on August 13, throwing five innings with just two hits, one run, two walks, and six strikeouts. He makes shorter starts, only topping six innings once, but Schlittler has been really good with strikeouts while walking a few too many guys. He has found success so far, with an ERA right around 3.00.

The Twins are a middling matchup, performing like a below-average offensive group but not bottoming out the same way some of our other target teams have, like the Pirates and Rockies. Pitchers still see value in facing Minnesota, and the best pitchers have chances at quality starts, but they don't offer a big ceiling.

Schlittler is a mid-level streamer. The matchup isn't great, but his performance has been strong in his first season, giving him a good outlook.

Tuesday's Streamer Rankings

1. Cade Horton, CHC
2. Casey Mize, DET
3. Cam Schlittler, NYY
4. Dean Kremer, BAL
5. Eury Perez, MIA
6. Shane Smith, CWS