Wednesday Fantasy Baseball Streamer Rankings: Target Christian Scott, Avoid Max Scherzer

Run differential is often seen as a better way to measure team performance than straight record. A team's record is affected by many things, including luck in close games, but run differential often points toward teams that will flourish (or falter) as the season progresses.

Every National League division currently has one team with a differential over +100, and those teams are all leading their respective division by at least 4.5 games. No other squad is even close to those three in run differential in the NL, meaning it wouldn't be a surprise to see any (or all) of those divisions decided with more than a month left once we hit the fall (those teams are the Braves, Brewers, and Dodgers).

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

Use FantasySP's daily and weekly projections to find the players who are expected to excel and help make your toughest lineup decisions!

Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals vs. Texas Rangers

Lugo has been a good pitcher his whole career, notably keeping up his strong performances when moving to the rotation in 2023. His strikeout rate dropped from his time in the bullpen, which it does with essentially every pitcher, but Lugo has mostly stayed average in that area while holding a very good walk rate. His Ks are down a little in 2026, but it's close enough to the middle to still make him effective in fantasy. He has also continued to do well limiting hits, runs, and especially homers.

The Rangers are a different offensive team on the road, as their home park of Globe Life Field plays as one of the best pitcher's parks in baseball. I am mindful of avoiding Coors Field and other hitter's parks when choosing streamers, so it only makes sense to also target the best pitcher's parks. This game takes place in Kansas City, so we don't get that extra bonus, but I'm still OK with targeting Texas on the right days on the road.

Lugo is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He has again been just fine, but it makes a real difference when the Rangers are playing on the road, making this a lesser matchup than it would be otherwise.

Max Scherzer, Toronto Blue Jays vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia ranks in the bottom 10 in most offensive box stats. They are higher in home runs and slugging percentage, but the Phillies are otherwise faltering, leaving them as a strong fantasy target. They are also just outside the top 10 in most batter strikeouts, setting a nice ceiling for opposing pitchers.

Scherzer hasn't made a start since April 24, spending more than a month on the IL. He had a few decent starts before getting injured, but this is far from the Scherzer that his name recognition elicits, and his numbers in 2026 show that lesser performance. Scherzer was far below average with strikeouts before getting hurt, and in just 18 2/3 innings, he allowed 22 hits, 20 runs, and seven homers; that's untenable for a fantasy player.

Scherzer is a low-level streamer. No matter the matchup, he hasn't been nearly good enough to be a fantasy option this season. We need to see a stretch of good play to put him on our radar.

Brady Singer, Cincinnati Reds @ San Diego Padres

Singer has generally been good with both walks and strikeouts in his career, but his K rate is way down this season, and that has been combined with giving up a ton of hits, runs, and home runs. The latter number is most concerning: before 2026, Singer had allowed a home run every 8.5 innings. This year, he has given up 17 homers in 55 innings, a rate of one every 3.2 innings. That will get better because it has to, but it's part of a bigger picture of Singer struggling in about every area.

Yesterday, I talked about how a lot of our target teams have performed better over the past month, making their target status a little less certain. That happens throughout a long season, as even the worst teams have good stretches, and this early in the season, we still don't really know what each team will be. The Padres don't bring that worry, as they have continued as one of the worst offensive teams in baseball over the past 30 days, keeping them as a high-level target every day.

Singer is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His performance this season hasn't been good enough, but he had success in recent seasons, bringing hope that he can bounce back. The matchup is heavily in his favor, bringing at least a little hope here.

Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets

Christian Scott, New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals

We'll finish today with a game in which we can target both teams with streamers. While the Cardinals were expected to have a down year, they are eight games above .500, albeit with a run differential right around even. The Mets surely fancied themselves as contenders, but they have probably been the biggest disappointment of 2026, sitting eight games under .500. Both teams have been held back by below-average offensive performances.

Pallante has been very consistent in his career, sitting on the high end of average in walk rate and holding a well-below-average strikeout rate. He's right in the middle with allowing hits and runs, and Pallante does very well limiting homers. He struggled more last season, but Pallante has been back to normal this year, sitting as a very average pitcher who doesn't strike out enough guys to be a major fantasy factor.

Scott missed all of 2025 after Tommy John surgery, and he has been very good in his return this season: eight starts, 36 innings, 29 hits, 11 runs, 18 walks, 41 strikeouts, and just one home run allowed. That walk number is too high, but Scott is also doing very good strikeout work, bringing plenty of intrigue in the fantasy world. He has made shorter starts, but there's not much else to complain about with Scott so far this season.

Pallante is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Scott a mid-level streamer. The former has the better matchup, but the latter has been the better fantasy pitcher, particularly with his big K numbers. There's plenty of value to be had in this game.

Wednesday's Streamer Rankings

1. Christian Scott, NYM
2. Andre Pallante, STL
3. Seth Lugo, KC
4. Brady Singer, CIN
5. Max Scherzer, TOR