Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Scott and Sasaki Lead Friday's Top Options
Five starting pitchers with good matchups on Friday who are widely available in fantasy leagues.
I often used the term “Dog Days of Summer” without really knowing when the period started. Apparently, it's July 3 through August 11, which the Farmer's Almanac recognizes as the hottest, muggiest days of the year generally. It's coming soon, but in terms of the MLB season, we might already be to that dragging part of the season as we reach the first weekend in June.
Moving to fantasy baseball, let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Friday 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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Anthony Kay, Chicago White Sox @ Philadelphia Phillies
After two mostly successful years in Japan, Kay's return stateside has been OK. He has a 5-1 record, but none of Kay's numbers are better than average, and he's been a little worse than that mark with walks. His fantasy value also has a cap on it because Kay has a well-below-average strikeout rate, leaving him as a middling streamer at best on any given day.
Philadelphia might seem like they have figured it out based on their record (33-29), but their run differential is the fourth worst in the National League, and their offense is seriously struggling to find any consistent production. A few guys are putting up their regular numbers (or better), but most of the team is faltering together, bringing real issues if things can't get straightened out.
Kay is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He has been fine, and the matchup is good, but he doesn't strike guys out, leaving him at a lower fantasy level.
Zebby Matthews, Minnesota Twins vs. Kansas City Royals
The Royals have a true star in Bobby Witt Jr. and another young player in Maikel Garcia who is producing, but there's not much else going right for KC offensively. Salvador Perez is tied for the team lead with nine home runs, but he is batting .207. There are other guys they surely are holding out hope for, like Jac Caglianone (who has been OK), but there's not a lot to get excited about in Kansas City right now.
Matthews is several percentage points better than average with walks and strikeouts both this year and in his career. That's a great start, but he has struggled giving up hits, runs, and home runs, again both throughout his career and in 2026. That leaves him somewhere in the middle, though his Ks will always bring a little upside.
Matthews is a low-to-mid-level streamer. I want to believe in him because he keeps striking guys out without walking batters, but he has continually been hit hard and given up too many runs, leaving him as a questionable player to really trust.
Kumar Rocker, Texas Rangers vs. Cleveland Guardians
Rocker has been decent overall this year, giving up just 48 hits, 22 runs, and five homers in 56 innings, but his walk and strikeout rates are both on the wrong side of average, something that is also true of his career numbers. Rocker entered the league with big strikeout upside and did good work there in the minors, so there's hope he can improve, but it hasn't been the case through 132 career innings.
The Guardians are in first place in their division and in line with the top of the AL, but they have a run differential of +6, pointing more toward an average team. They might have an easy path to the playoffs because they are in a weak division, but Cleveland's offense could hold them back from truly competing, as they rank in the bottom 10 (or very close to it) in runs, hits, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Rocker is a low-to-mid-level streamer. I hold out hope that he can improve his K work and be a higher-level pitcher, but that hasn't been the case so far. There's still plenty of time for the 26-year-old.
Roki Sasaki, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Los Angeles Angels
Sasaki has been very average in most areas this season, including walks, strikeouts, and giving up hits and runs. He has been prone to giving up homers, allowing one every 5.1 innings (after one every 6.1 last season versus league average around 7 innings), but after a very up-and-down rookie season, Sasaki has looked fine this year, leaving hope that he can turn into an above-average pitcher in the majors eventually.
The Angels have been up and down themselves, going through some rough stretches but also finding success at times. They are very middling right now, ranking near that middle ground in most box stats. That doesn't necessarily make for a great target, but LA has also struck out more than any other team this season (590 times!), leaving a nice ceiling for opposing pitchers.
Sasaki is a mid-level streamer. There is a little downside, as the Angels haven't been awful, but they also haven't been great to the point where we need to fear them the way we do with the Dodgers, for instance. With the strikeout upside here, there's value for Sasaki.
Christian Scott, New York Mets @ San Diego Padres
San Diego might be our favorite target right now; if not, they are close to it. The Padres are in the bottom five in runs, hits, doubles, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. They rank last in several of those categories, most notably at the bottom in hits and batting average by a sizeable margin. This is a team to go after every single day if you can.
Scott had Tommy John surgery late in 2024 and missed all of last season after a decent but short debut in 2024. In 30 1/3 innings this year, he has combined for 32 hits, 11 runs, and just one homer, finding nice success. His walk rate is too high, but he's also striking out a ton of batters (16 BBs, 38 Ks). Another 26-year-old pitcher, Scott has room to improve and has shown promising stuff in 2026.
Scott is a mid-level streamer. It's best to keep expectations in check given his short track record, but the matchup couldn't be much better, and Scott has showed that he has the chops to be a useful fantasy player, bringing intrigue in this one.
Friday's Streamer Rankings
- Christian Scott, NYM
- Roki Sasaki, LAD
- Zebby Matthews, MIN
- Kumar Rocker, TEX
- Anthony Kay, CWS
