5 Waiver Wire Pitchers for Your Wednesday Fantasy Baseball Lineup

Every division in baseball has at least two teams with a losing record other than the NL Central, where every team is over .500. It's a bit of a surprise; the Cubs and Brewers were expected to compete, but Cincinnati seemed fairly middling, St. Louis was seen as ready to have a down year, and Pittsburgh had been bad for a number of years, though their pitching was expected to excel (which it has).

It's still early, and plenty will change, but it's interesting to see one division so much better than the others top to bottom. If you're looking for the worst division, it's probably a battle between the AL Central and AL West right now, though the NL East is harboring all losing teams aside from the Braves, who have the most wins in baseball.

Moving to fantasy baseball, let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Wednesday 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.

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Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals @ Chicago White Sox

Noah Schultz, Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals

We'll start with a game today in which we can look at both pitchers as possible streamers. The White Sox provide a good matchup, as though they are hitting home runs, they are lower in many other categories, including ranking in the bottom 10 (or very close to it) in runs, hits, doubles, and batting average. A team can be successful hitting for power while performing poorly elsewhere, but Chicago also strikes out at a top-10 rate, hurting their overall performance and giving opposing pitchers a nice bump.

Kansas City started off poorly but has improved their play, both offensively and in terms of record and run differential (which are both moving back toward the middle). They are in the bottom 10 in runs scored and just above that level in many other categories, sitting closer to middling than the bottom.

The Royals are listed here more because of the pitcher they are facing in Schultz. The former first-round pick made his big-league debut on April 14 and started off better, but his last start against the Angels was rough: 3 2/3 innings, seven hits, seven runs, four walks, and three strikeouts. That has his season-long numbers looking poor, but Schultz has had better performances also.

Lugo is owned in just under 50% of leagues but has enough availability to make it worth checking on him. He has been average with walks, strikeouts, and hits allowed, but Lugo has done very well limiting runs (3.21 ERA) and has given up just one home run in 47 2/3 innings. While he won't be a top pitcher in real life or fantasy, Lugo has plenty of value when the matchup is right.

Lugo is a mid-level streamer and Schultz a low-to-mid-level streamer. Schultz has a bigger ceiling to his game, but Lugo has a much longer track record and has found more success than Schultz has in his short career. Lugo also has the better matchup here.

Jake Irvin, Washington Nationals @ Cincinnati Reds

Irvin has been a below-average strikeout pitcher in his career, but that number is up a tick over average in 39 2/3 innings this season (41 Ks). His walk rate is right around the middle, as is his career rate, and Irvin has been fine limiting hits and home runs. Bad luck has played into his poor run prevention (5.22 ERA), but I also expect his strikeout rate to fall back toward his career mark, which would lower his ceiling.

Cincinnati has hit for power but not much else, ranking in the bottom five or very close to it in runs, hits, doubles, batting average, and on-base percentage. I keep talking about how luck finally turned on the Reds after a fortunate start, but it really is the story of their season; Cincinnati has more evidence pointing toward them going down from here rather than up.

Irvin is a low-to-mid-level streamer. I'm still skeptical of his K rate, but we can ride that while it's going, especially because the Reds strike out at a top-five rate. There seems to be a ceiling on Irvin's upside, though.

Ryne Nelson, Arizona Diamondbacks @ Texas Rangers

The Rangers rank in the bottom 10 in essentially every offensive box stat, including the bottom five in runs and OPS. They also sit in the top 10 in most batter strikeouts, providing a nice ceiling for opposing pitchers while keeping a good floor. This game takes place in Texas, which plays as a major pitcher's park.

Nelson is right in the middle with walks and strikeouts, but bad luck and a few too many home runs have pumped up his ERA (5.68, and even that could be worse, as only 24 of his 30 runs are earned). Nelson had his best season last year, but that came with about one-third of his appearances out of the bullpen, and he hasn't been as effective back exclusively in the rotation in 2026.

Nelson is a mid-level streamer. Though his run prevention hasn't been good, the rest of his numbers are mostly average, and while he keeps striking guys out, he has a decent ceiling. The matchup is also heavily in his favor in this one.

Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies @ Boston Red Sox

Painter is in his first big-league season, and things haven't gone very well: 32 2/3 innings, 44 hits, 25 runs, six home runs, 12 walks, and 30 strikeouts. His walk rate is fine, but everything else is worse than average, leaving Painter with an ERA near 7.00. Now, he's young and has upside as the 13th overall pick in 2021, and Painter did good work in the minors, including high-level strikeout numbers. He will almost certainly improve, but it's a risk to trust him too much right now.

The Red Sox rank in the bottom five in runs, home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS, and they are in the bottom 10 in most other offensive box stats. The top of the AL East looks uber-competitive, as it usually is, and Boston sits at the bottom of the division, fighting with the Orioles and Blue Jays for last place in the East. Without a major improvement from multiple players, Boston will toil longer.

Painter is a low-level streamer with some upside. I love young pitchers with big pedigree, an apt description of Painter, but he hasn't been good in his short time in the majors, so this is more of a deep-league play.

Wednesday's Streamer Rankings

1. Seth Lugo, KC
2. Ryne Nelson, ARI
3. Noah Schultz, CWS
4. Jake Irvin, WSH
5. Andrew Painter, PHI