Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Civale, Kelly, and Monday Waiver Wire Rankings

Happy Memorial Day! The late-May holiday was first celebrated in the 1860s at the end of the Civil War, and it was made a federal holiday in 1971. It is treated as the unofficial start of summer for many, as schools are getting out, and the weather is nice enough to be outdoors in most parts of the country.

In the baseball world, they say that Memorial Day is the point where we can start believing what we see from teams and players. Those hot and cold stretches that were seen as small-sample anomalies are now sustained performances, as all teams have played more than 50 games.

Moving to fantasy baseball, let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Monday 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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Aaron Civale, Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners

Civale is generally good with walks and average with strikeouts, but his K numbers are down in 2026. He has also given up a few too many hits and home runs, but Civale's run prevention has still been good, a quirk of good luck and decent pitching even with batter's getting the best of him at times. Civale is likely to stay close to average as a pitcher, but upping his strikeouts would increase his fantasy ceiling.

Seattle hits for power but falters in many other areas. With their home run total closer to the middle of the league than the top, they can't rely on just mashing their way to victory, leaving the Mariners below .500, though only a few games back in the worst division in baseball. They are also just outside the top five in most batter strikeouts, setting a nice ceiling for opposing pitchers.

Civale is a low-to-mid-level streamer. Though his overall numbers are fine, he's more likely to regress backward than improve from his current performance. Unless his Ks pick up, he also has a lower ceiling than we'd like.

Tatsuya Imai, Houston Astros @ Texas Rangers

The Rangers are in the bottom 10 or close to it in essentially every offensive box stat, sitting in the middle in walks and strikeouts but otherwise struggling with the bats. Their numbers are actually pretty decent on the road, but Texas plays in a major pitcher's park, and this game will take place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, giving both pitchers a nice advantage in this one.

Imai was one of the biggest free agent pitchers this offseason while making the move from Japan, but his numbers have been brutal through five starts: 17 1/3 innings, 17 hits, 16 runs, four home runs, 14 walks, and 21 strikeouts. That K number is good, but everything else is on the wrong side so far, proving a tough transition for the 28-year-old pitcher (to go along with some injury issues).

Imai is a low-to-mid-level streamer. I thought about leaving him a notch lower, but his strikeout work has been good, and the matchup/location in this one is in his favor, giving Imai a little value despite getting hit hard.

Janson Junk, Miami Marlins @ Toronto Blue Jays

Junk is generally good with walks but way below average with strikeouts, and that has mostly held this season (with his BBs higher than usual). He hasn't done great limiting hitters either, giving up more than a hit per inning and holding an ERA over 5.00 on the season.

The Blue Jays have shown a decent hit tool, and they don't strike out much. They also don't draw many walks, and they haven't hit for power at all this season, leaving them in the bottom 10 in runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. We will keep expecting last year's American League champions to improve, but they haven't shown enough yet to put fear into opposing pitchers.

Junk is a low-level streamer. The matchup here is good but not great, and Junk hasn't done enough this season to really trust him outside of the best matchups, particularly with the low strikeout rate that he has held his whole career.

Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks @ San Francisco Giants

San Francisco has scored the second-fewest runs and is right at the bottom five in home runs; that's not a good start no matter what else we say. They are better in some areas, including their hit tool, but the Giants remain far behind the rest of the league in walks, sitting more than 40 BBs below the next closest team. The lack of free runners and big hits to get quick runs is a major factor in San Fran sitting nearly 10 games below .500.

Kelly has had a very unusual season by his own standards. He generally is average or better with both walks and strikeouts but is on the wrong side in both categories in 2026. He also has given up less than a hit per inning in his career but has allowed 44 in 41 innings this season. His career home run rate is one every 7.6 innings, but this year, it's one every 5.1; it's not hard to see why his ERA is up near 6.00.

Kelly is a low-to-mid-level streamer here. He might belong a little lower, but his good career work makes me believe that a bounce-back is coming, and even if he doesn't get to an above-average level, he should eventually pitch better. This game is also in a good pitcher's park in San Francisco.

Zebby Matthews, Minnesota Twins @ Chicago White Sox

Matthews has made just two starts in the big leagues this year, spending most of his time in the minors, where he wasn't great. In the majors, he has combined for 13 innings, nine hits, two runs, and just one walk to go with 11 strikeouts. His BB and K work has been good in his short major league stint (130 career innings), but he has been hit too hard and given up too many runs at the same time.

The White Sox are more of a tenuous target team at this point, looking much better than the moribund Chicago lineup that we have been used to seeing the past few seasons. They are hitting a lot of home runs this season and drawing walks, but their hit tool hasn't been nearly as good, and the Sox are striking out at a top-five rate, setting a nice ceiling on any given day.

Matthews is another low-to-mid-level streamer. His strikeout work gives him a little bump, especially combined with Chicago's swing-and-miss ways, but this isn't the fantastic matchup we expected at the beginning of the season, leaving a lower floor than fantasy owners might like this early in the year.

Monday's Streamer Rankings

1. Aaron Civale, ATH
2. Merrill Kelly, ARI
3. Zebby Matthews, MIN
4. Tatsuya Imai, HOU
5. Janson Junk, MIA