The Friday Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitchers With Elite Upside

The last weekend in June brings us close to the middle of summer. Though the official start of summer was only about a week ago, it really begins in May for many around the country, and the Fourth of July is often a peak before the downhill of the season leads us back toward the school year and fall. Get outside while you can, especially since the hottest and most humid days are nearly upon us.

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.

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

Joey Cantillo, Cleveland Guardians vs. Seattle Mariners

Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners @ Cleveland Guardians

We'll start today with a game in which we can target both teams with streamers. Seattle ranks in the bottom 10 in many areas, but they are worse at home, where they play in maybe the best pitcher's park in baseball (this game is in Cleveland, helping their case and hurting the pitchers a bit). Cleveland is poor offensively no matter where they play, ranking in the bottom 10 in most areas and even down in the bottom five (or very close to it) in runs, hits, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Cantillo does good strikeout work but walks too many guys, particularly when his K rate is just average instead of above average this season. His work limiting hits, runs, and home runs has been decent, right near the middle in each area. Cantillo has been a very average pitcher this season, a valuable real-life player and a guy who is worth considering in fantasy when the matchup is right.

Castillo is owned in over 50% of leagues, so it's fair to say that he doesn't qualify as a streamer, but there's still enough availability to make it worth checking on him, and we're a little short on good options today, so he helps make up the numbers. A former ace, Castillo is having his worst season in essentially every area, but there is hope given his previous performance and his still-average strikeout rate.

Castillo is a mid-level streamer and Cantillo a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchups are right, particularly for Castillo, and both pitchers do good enough strikeout work that they can find multiple paths to successful outings.

Patrick Corbin, Toronto Blue Jays vs. Texas Rangers

Corbin had some All-Star-level seasons in his prime, most notably striking out 484 batters in 402 innings in 2018-19 with an ERA around 3.20. He had a steep drop-off in the COVID year of 2020 and never recovered, putting up below-average numbers essentially across the board since that time (though he has maintained a good walk rate). He has been a little better the past two seasons but still worse than average, leaving him with a low ceiling and floor in fantasy.

The Rangers are another team that is hampered by their home stadium, as Globe Life Field is another contender for the best pitcher's park in the league. They rank in the bottom five in runs and the bottom 10 in many other categories, but Texas is much less appealing of a target when they are playing on the road (like in this one). Plan accordingly with your fantasy pitchers.

Corbin is a low-level streamer. His subpar work combined with the Rangers being a different team when away from home limits his fantasy value here and makes him a player to skip in about every league.

J.T. Ginn, Athletics @ Los Angeles Angels

The Angels aren't a terrible offensive team, sitting very close to the middle in most offensive box stats. They don't really excel in anything, though, leaving them more as an average offensive team. Their real benefit to us from a fantasy perspective is that LA has struck out more than any other team, sitting more than 30 Ks above the second-place Pirates. On a day that's a little short on streaming, this will have to do.

Ginn was listed here before his most recent start against these same Angels with the caveat that he was pitching in one of the best current hitter's parks in baseball, the Athletics' temporary home at a minor league park in Sacramento. It didn't work out in his favor, as Ginn allowed seven hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings with three walks and five strikeouts. Ginn has walked too many guys this season, but he is also good with strikeouts and has generally been very good at limiting hits, runs, and homers.

Ginn is a low-to-mid-level streamer. I like his strikeout work, but the matchup is less than stellar, creating a lower floor than some of the other guys listed here. There is still a chance for success for a guy who has had a good 2026, though.

Roki Sasaki, Los Angeles Dodgers @ San Diego Padres

Sasaki has been average with walks and above average with strikeouts this season, but he's giving up too many runs (4.76 ERA) and home runs (one every 5.2 innings). Sasaki won't turn 25 until the offseason, and he has big-time upside, so it's worth considering grabbing him in deep leagues for sure; with a good matchup today, it's probably worth grabbing him in any league and throwing him into your lineup, even though there's a bit of a lower floor to go with a decent ceiling.

San Diego is one of our favorite targets, ranking low in essentially every offensive box stat: they are either last or second-to-last in runs, hits, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS while not getting higher than the middle in any area. They are only around the average in strikeouts, so they don't set quite as high of a ceiling as they could, but there's not a much better floor than a pitcher facing the Padres.

Sasaki is a mid-level streamer. I could be tempted to raise him another half-notch, but Sasaki has continued to suffer some struggles along with his good marks, so it's best to temper expectations just a bit. Sasaki is still a strong streaming option today.

Friday's Streamer Rankings

1. Roki Sasaki, LAD
2. Luis Castillo, SEA
3. J.T. Ginn, ATH
4. Joey Cantillo, CLE
5. Patrick Corbin, TOR