Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: Thursday's Top Waiver Wire Pickups

It's a short day on the MLB schedule today, but we still have a hefty helping of streaming pitchers who are worth considering. Streamer consideration isn't the same for all owners; you're not fishing for these free agents if you have a strong rotation. For those in deeper leagues or with weaker pitchers, though, these guys could be just what you need to piece together a successful fantasy day.

Let's look at five starting pitchers in action on Thursday 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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Hunter Dobbins, St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets

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

The section on Scott was originally published in yesterday's article, as Scott was listed as the probable starter for Wednesday before being bumped to Thursday.

We'll start today with a game in which we can target both teams with streaming pitchers. While the Cardinals have a good record, they have the run differential of a .500 team, and they are riding luck more than any great performance from their hitters or pitchers. The Mets continue to rank in the bottom 10 in most offensive stats, and they aren't getting the benefit of luck, sitting with a bottom-six record in the league.

Dobbins has made just three appearances this season, two in long relief before starting a game last Friday against Cincinnati. That start went well, as Dobbins threw five shutout innings with four hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. He only has 74 career innings, so it's hard to know what Dobbins will be as a big leaguer, but he has mostly been an average pitcher in that short time.

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.

Dobbins is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Scott a mid-level streamer. They both have short track records, but Scott has been a little better, particularly with strikeouts. Dobbins has the better matchup, making him a decent bet as well.

Zebby Matthews, Minnesota Twins @ Detroit Tigers

Matthews was listed here before his last start against the Royals, and he did well, going seven innings with just five hits and two runs allowed (though he walked four to go with two strikeouts). He has generally been better than average with both walks and strikeouts, but Matthews has been hit hard, holding a 5.56 career ERA. That number is better in 2026 (4.15), giving hope that he will continue having positive performances moving forward.

Detroit qualifies as one of the biggest disappointments of the first few months. They were true contenders last year and expected to be the same this season, but even with the injury to Tarik Skubal, the Tigers are faltering elsewhere, including ranking in the bottom 10 (or very close to it) in runs, hits, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. A lot needs to turn around for Detroit to make the playoffs again, let alone look like they can compete.

Matthews is a mid-level streamer. His strikeout numbers bring the hope of a big performance on any given day, and with his overall work looking better and the matchup in his favor, this could be one of those days.

Tyler Phillips, Miami Marlins vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona has had some ups and downs, but their overall numbers point toward a below-average offensive team; that's even more true given that their home park one of the best hitter's environments in baseball. When looking only at games that teams have played on the road, the Diamondbacks are in the bottom 10 in essentially every offensive box stat aside from doubles. This game takes place in Miami, not Phoenix, helping the pitchers even more (the Marlins' park has played very neutral over the past three seasons).

Phillips has only started in 10 of his 80 appearances, mostly working as a reliever in his career. He either started or came in as a bulk pitcher after an opener in each of his past two outings, now working as part of the rotation. Those two games weren't great: 9 2/3 innings, 13 hits, six runs, four walks, and five strikeouts. Phillips has been a below-average strikeout pitcher his whole career, so there's not much upside there now that he's working longer outings. Phillips seems to have a ceiling on his fantasy value.

Phillips is a low-level streamer. His numbers are decent, but that is mostly out of the bullpen, and it's tough to expect big things right now until we see it over an extended period.

Kumar Rocker, Texas Rangers @ Kansas City Royals

Rocker threw 64 1/3 innings last season; in 61 innings this year, he has been much better, just with a few more walks and a few fewer strikeouts, but those numbers are very close. More importantly, he has given up 17 fewer hits, 18 fewer runs, and five fewer home runs in about the same number of innings, showing some of the potential surrounding the two-time top-10 pick. I hold out hope that he will pump up his K numbers eventually, and that's really the next step toward pushing him to the next fantasy level.

The Royals are in the bottom 10 in many offensive areas, including sitting right on the fringe of the bottom five in a few of the most important ones, like runs, home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS. They top out as middling in any area and sit right near that middle in both walks and strikeouts, but while Kansas City doesn't set a high ceiling for opposing pitchers, they do set a nice floor by not excelling anywhere.

Rocker is a low-to-mid-level streamer. I want to bump him up to that next level, but until he shows better strikeout numbers, it's hard to really expect that sustained performance in the fantasy world.

Thursday's Streamer Rankings

1. Christian Scott, NYM
2. Zebby Matthews, MIN
3. Hunter Dobbins, STL
4. Kumar Rocker, TEX
5. Tyler Phillips, MIA