Thursday's Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Parker Messick, Tyler Mahle, and More

More clinching is happening every day. Recently, the Dodgers and Padres both clinched playoff spots in the NL West (where they're separated by 2.5 games), and the Seattle Mariners clinched the AL West; they are also on the cusp of clinching a first-round bye in the playoffs.

It's an earned outcome for a team that went all in at the trade deadline and brought over first baseman Josh Naylor and third baseman Eugenio Suarez from Arizona in separate trades. Maybe this will encourage more GMs to be aggressive in the future, creating more entertainment value.

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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Mitch Farris, Los Angeles Angels vs. Kansas City Royals

Michael Lorenzen, Kansas City Royals @ Los Angeles Angels

The Royals hung in the wild card race into the final week of the season, but they have finally been eliminated, meaning this series is between two teams with no 2025 future. That probably deflates a team to a degree, maybe helping pitchers a little if the lineup loses its sharpest edge. Either way, we're looking at two bottom-10 offenses here.

Farris has shown up a few times on our streaming list despite making just four starts. The most recent was a start in Coors Field against the Rockies, and it didn't go well: 4 1/3 innings, eight hits, seven runs, two walks, and five strikeouts. Farris has been good with strikeouts but has also walked too many guys and been hit hard.

Lorenzen is generally a little worse than average with both walks and strikeouts, but his 2025 numbers are much more positive, especially with walks. He has been hit a little hard this year, allowing more than a hit per inning and a homer every 5.9 innings, both numbers a little worse than average. Lorenzen is a fine streaming pitcher.

Farris and Lorenzen are both low-to-mid-level streamers. The matchups are right, but Farris hasn't found much success, while Lorenzen is a little low with strikeouts and getting hit hard.

Tyler Mahle, Texas Rangers vs. Minnesota Twins

Mahle is generally average with walks and above average with strikeouts in his career, but in 90-plus innings since returning from Tommy John surgery, his K number is way down. That's a small sample, and things could bounce back to normal in more innings. He has also done really well limiting hitters this season, giving up just 64 hits in 81 2/3 innings and a homer every 20 innings, a number you'll never see long term for a starting pitcher.

Minnesota started the season with hopes that they would compete for the division, maybe even as the favorite. It started poorly from the beginning, as the team lost its first four and didn't reach .500 until May 10. They dropped back below .500 on June 20 and haven't gone over again since. The Twins then sold heavily at the trade deadline and sank to their current state, likely to finish the season as the second-worst team in the American League.

Mahle is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His strikeout work is down since returning, something that caps his fantasy ceiling a bit. The Twins are also more of a good matchup than a great one.

Parker Messick, Cleveland Guardians vs. Detroit Tigers

Detroit is in something of a freefall. They held a double-digit lead in the division for most of the season, but they have now watched the Guardians come storming back to take the lead by one game after winning the past two days against the Tigers. Over the past month, Detroit has been a bottom-10 offensive team, ranking in that lowly group in essentially every offensive box stat and in the top 10 in most batter strikeouts. This is a vulnerable team right now.

Messick has made just six starts, and it has gone very well: 34 2/3 innings, 40 hits, eight runs (2.08 ERA), five walks, and 31 strikeouts. His walk rate is phenomenal and strikeout rate better than average, and Messick has given up just one home run. He's probably been a little lucky, and he will regress to the mean, but Messick has also been very good in his short big-league time.

Messick is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He has been good, but it's a short track record. The matchup looks good by recent numbers, but Detroit was much better for most of the season. There's just enough downside  to knock him down a notch.

Cade Povich, Baltimore Orioles vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Povich has now topped 100 innings for the first time in his second big-league season. He has an average walk rate and above-average strikeout rate, setting himself up well. Povich has been hit hard, though, giving up 116 hits in 106 2/3 innings and a home run every 6.3 innings, both numbers a little worse than average. Povich is a fine streaming pitcher who might improve with more experience.

The Rays are more of a middling matchup than a great one, like the Cubs. Tampa Bay ranks out as average offensively over the full season, but they had a brutal stretch in the middle of the season in which they were regularly on our streaming list and were losing more than winning; it's what knocked them out of the playoff race. Tampa is an OK team to target when we're a little short on streamers.

Povich is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His strikeout work is intriguing, but Povich hasn't had great results, and the matchup here isn't a great one.

Thursday's Streamer Rankings

1. Parker Messick, CLE
2. Tyler Mahle, MIN
3. Cade Povich, BAL
4. Michael Lorenzen, KC
5. Mitch Farris, LAA