This Returning Pitcher Is Sunday's Absolute Must-Start Fantasy Baseball Streamer

Dodgers' pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a perfect game through 7 2/3 innings against the White Sox yesterday. Then Mookie Betts was the victim of a bad hop with two outs in the eighth, and his error ended the perfect day for Yamamoto.

The first batter in the ninth inning for Chicago hit a home run to end the no-hit bid, leaving Yamamoto with simply a great start and a win rather than an all-time performance. I can't help thinking that the homer saved Betts, though, as it has to be an awful feeling to cost your pitcher a perfect game based on an error (bad hop or not...and it may not have been that bad).

Moving to fantasy baseball, let's look at four starting pitchers in action on Sunday 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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Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks @ Cincinnati Reds

We'll start today with a game in which we can target both teams with streaming pitchers. Arizona ranks in (or very close to) the bottom 10 in most offensive categories, leaving them as a low-level offensive team, but they don't strike out very much, so they don't present the same high ceiling that some other teams do. Cincinnati also ranks low in a lot of categories, but they rank very high in walks and home runs, two things that can combine to lead to a lot of runs on any given day. The Reds also rank in the top five in most batter strikeouts, so they set a higher ceiling than the Diamondbacks.

Hey Abbott! The Cincinnati pitcher is owned in over 50% of leagues, on the precipice of no longer being able to be called a streamer. There's still enough availability to make it worth checking, though, and Abbott brings intrigue because he has been average with walks and strikeouts in his career while limiting hits, runs, and home runs well. The real problem is that his K and BB rates are both on the wrong side in 2026, and that strikeout rate is especially bad (16.5% versus league average around 22%).

Gallen is owned in under 50% of leagues, so he still fits as a streamer for now. He was previously owned in essentially every league but has seen his performance fall off this season: 69 2/3 innings, 88 hits, 47 runs (45 earned, 5.81 ERA), and 11 homers. Each of those numbers is worse than average, and though his walk rate is very good, Gallen is far below average with strikeouts, holding a 14.7% rate. His career K number is close to 25% so it's easy to think that he will bounce back eventually, but Gallen has been way down so far in 2026.

Abbott is a mid-level streamer and Gallen a low-to-mid-level streamer. Their career work is enough to possibly expect better, but Gallen's overall performance has been poor, while Abbott has seen a major drop in strikeouts, bringing down his ceiling.

Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers @ Cleveland Guardians

Mize has been on the IL the past few weeks after leaving his May 27 start early with a groin injury. He had been fantastic before getting hurt, limiting hits, runs, and homers very well while maintaining his usual great walk rate. Most intriguing, Mize has a 26.5% strikeout rate in nearly 50 innings when his career rate is just 20.2% (and last season was the first time he was even average). There's real value here with the returning pitcher.

Cleveland is another group in the bottom 10 in most offensive categories. They rank high in doubles and walks, and they strike out at a bottom-10 rate, so they don't create a big ceiling. The Guardians are still a good team to target because they don't generally do a lot of damage otherwise, setting a decent floor for opposing pitchers.

Mize is a mid-to-high-level streamer. It's not a bad idea to use caution with a player coming back from an injury, but Mize had a good outing in his last rehab start, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him pick up where he left off with a good matchup here.

Trevor Rogers, Baltimore Orioles vs. San Diego Padres

The Padres are one of our favorite targets right now, not just ranking in the bottom 10 in many areas but actually down in the bottom two or three in most of those box stats, including the fewest runs scored. San Diego sits in the middle in strikeouts, so they don't set an extra-high ceiling for opposing pitchers, but they do everything else at such a low level that there might not be a better floor set by any team in baseball right now.

Rogers has been a frequent flier here on our streaming list because he has had good matchups in many of his outings. He started off owned in most fantasy leagues, but despite the positive matchups, Rogers has had a rough season, allowing 69 hits and 43 runs (41 earned, 6.15 ERA) in 60 innings. Most concerningly, his strikeout rate is all the way down at 16.5% from his career rate of 22.7% (and 2025's number of 24.4%).

Rogers is a low-to-mid-level streamer. I'm tempted to list him even a step lower given his struggles, but he has better work in his recent past, and the matchup is heavily in his favor.

Sunday's Streamer Rankings

1. Casey Mize, DET
2. Andrew Abbott, CIN
3. Zac Gallen, ARI
4. Trevor Rogers, BAL