Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Tuesday Waiver Wire Rankings and Analysis

Now less than two weeks from Memorial Day, the MLB season is starting to take a little bit of shape. The late-May holiday is often pointed to as a time when we can start believing what we see from both players and teams, and while things will continue changing in a long, long season, it will be over one-third of the way finished by the end of the month.

Moving to fantasy baseball, let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Tuesday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchup. Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable starters. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.

Use FantasySP's waiver wire tool to find the players who are being added to fantasy rosters most often!

Jack Flaherty, Detroit Tigers @ New York Mets

Flaherty started the season owned in most fantasy leagues, but an 0-3 start with an ERA over 5.50 has dropped his ownership under 50%. While his strikeout rate is still well above average, his walk rate is an obscene 16.1% versus league average around 8-9% (which is where his career rate sits). He has done well limiting hits and homers, but Flaherty is putting way too many guys on base, helping lead to his career-worst run prevention.

The Mets might be our favorite target right now, performing like a bottom-five offense while holding the worst record in baseball. They don't strike out, but New York meets our want of weak offensive production in every other area, bringing a low offensive floor and ceiling. Until we see extended success, the Mets will be a common target here.

Flaherty is a mid-level streamer. Given his career work, we have to expect his walk rate to regress to the mean, and if he keeps striking guys out and limiting hitters when they make contact, things should turn back normal for Flaherty, giving him fantasy value.

Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks @ Texas Rangers

Texas ranks in the bottom 10 in most offensive box stats, back into a place in which they finished each of the past two seasons. The Rangers are better when looking just at games played away from home, but Texas' home stadium plays as a major pitcher's park, playing a part in their overall performance dropping so far. This game is being played in Texas, leaving the Rangers plenty vulnerable.

Gallen is owned in just over 50% of fantasy leagues; you could argue that he doesn't meet our streaming criteria, but there's enough availability to make it worth mentioning him here. While he is generally good with walks and well above average with strikeouts, Gallen's Ks are way down this year; combined with too many hits and runs allowed, that has dropped his fantasy value.

Gallen is a mid-level streamer. It's likely that his strikeout performance will improve, and though he has gotten hit around a bit this year, the matchup (and location) is in his favor.

Tatsuya Imai, Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners

Imai came over from Japan to much fanfare this offseason, but he mostly struggled in three starts before hitting the IL after his April 10 start. His second start was good, as Imai threw 5 2/3 shutout innings with nine strikeouts and three walks. In his other two appearances, though, Imai gave up seven runs in three innings with eight walks and four strikeouts. It's far too small of a sample to say that Imai will mostly struggle, but his control hasn't been there, leaving his numbers looking rough.

Seattle is in the bottom 10 in many offensive stats, hitting home runs but not doing much else at a high rate. They are near the top of that bottom-10 range in some categories, but their overall low performance makes them a good target. Most importantly for us, the Mariners strike out at a top-five rate, setting a nice ceiling for opposing pitchers.

Imai is a low-to-mid-level streamer. There's intrigue, especially as he has struck batters out, but he's just coming back after time off and has been uneven, leaving plenty of risk.

Stephen Kolek, Kansas City Royals @ Chicago White Sox

The White Sox keep hitting home runs; they are one of eight teams with at least 50 homers. Japanese rookie Munetaka Murakami leads the way, just one behind the top of the league. Chicago is faltering elsewhere, though, and they rank in the top 10 in most batter strikeouts, setting a nice ceiling. After they were so bad the previous few years, it's hard to trust the Sox to excel, but at least they are showing some signs of life.

Kolek has generally been good with walks in his career but far below average with strikeouts. He started this season in the minors, just making his 2026 debut last Tuesday. While he was better in AAA, his first start in the major was just OK, with three runs allowed in six innings, three strikeouts, and no walks (he did pick up the win). There's competence without a big ceiling here.

Kolek is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His lack of Ks leaves him with a lower ceiling, and with Chicago showing improvement, this isn't the fantastic matchup it has been for the last few years.

Miles Mikolas, Washington Nationals @ Cincinnati Reds

Mikolas is having his worst season by many measures. Though his walk rate is still better than average, it would be the worst of his career, and he is still striking batters out at a well-below-average rate. Even worse, he's getting knocked around, giving up 39 hits, 29 runs, and nine home runs in just 32 2/3 innings. There aren't many redeeming factors to Mikolas' performance this season.

Cincinnati is another team that is hitting home runs but not doing much else offensively; we certainly have a type early in the season. The Reds won their last two games of the weekend after losing eight straight, getting swept by the Pirates and Cubs in the process. They did themselves a favor by winning games early, but Cincinnati doesn't seem to have the makings of a contender based on their subpar offensive numbers.

Mikolas is a low-level streamer. No matter the matchup, his performance has been way too weak to count on him in any fantasy league, even the deepest ones. Skip Mikolas in this one.

Tuesday's Streamer Rankings

1. Jack Flaherty, DET
2. Zac Gallen, ARI
3. Tatsuya Imai, HOU
4. Stephen Kolek, KC
5. Miles Mikolas, WSH