Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitchers: 2 AL Central Starters Headline Thursday's Targets

Though Thursdays are often a shorter day on the MLB schedule, the All-Star break is coming next week, so we have 26 teams in action today. With days off coming for everyone soon, most teams would probably prefer to play several in a row now, knowing there's a reprieve soon. That helps us in the fantasy world, where most players are in action, including a full group of streaming pitchers.

Let's look at four 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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Griffin Canning, San Diego Padres vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks @ San Diego Padres

We'll start today with a game in which we can target both teams with streaming pitchers. The Padres are one of our favorite targets for opposing pitchers, spending all season as a below-average offensive team and continuing that paucity of prowess recently, a big part of the reason they fell under .500 last week. Arizona is also around that .500 mark while experiencing offensive struggles. Even more damning is that the Diamondbacks play in one of the best hitter's parks in baseball, making their low rankings stand out even more.

Canning has generally been a very average pitcher in his career, but he is struggling in 2026 in several areas. Most notably, Canning has walked 13.2% of the batters he has faced compared to his career rate of 9% (which is right near league average). He has always given up a few too many home runs, and that's the case again this season; add in the free base runners, and it's no surprise that Canning has an ERA of 6.71. At least his strikeout rate has remained average.

Kelly has been hit hard, giving up a higher-than-average number of hits, runs, and home runs. His walk rate is around average but would be the second-worst rate of his career. The most troubling area is his strikeout rate, which is a paltry 13.7%. His career rate is 21.3%, which is close to league average, so there's a chance he could improve, but Kelly has already thrown just under 90 innings; this is a major concern.

Canning is a low-level streamer and Kelly a low-to-mid-level streamer. The latter has a better matchup, so he gets the slight advantage, but I'm not excited about counting on either of these pitchers in my fantasy lineup.

Anthony Kay, Chicago White Sox vs. Boston Red Sox

Kay was listed here before his previous start against Cleveland and did well, allowing just one hit and one run in four innings. There was a long rain delay after that point, and Kay didn't reenter the game when it resumed, cutting his day short, but it was a successful outing. Kay was very good in May but struggled in June, and it's probably best to expect something in the middle, which is what his season-long numbers point toward. There's enough to consider Kay when the matchup is right, though he is a below-average strikeout pitcher.

Boston ranks in the bottom 10 in runs, hits, home runs, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. That's an overall team failure, but homers are the worst of it: the Red Sox rank last in home runs, a distinction they also hold in home games. Fenway Park has some wonky dimensions but generally plays very hitter-friendly, so seeing Boston struggle in that park is a major concern, particularly when their overall stats are so poor.

Kay is a low-to-mid-level streamer. The matchup is right, but he is a middling pitcher at best, and his below-average K work keeps his ceiling down.

Bailey Ober, Minnesota Twins vs. Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland is one of our favorite streaming targets, ranking in the bottom 10 in most offensive box stats over the full season. They were also one of the worst offensive teams in June, ranking near the bottom in most areas, so there's not really a downside to going after the Guardians right now. They remain near the top of their division, but that standing might not last too long if they don't figure out something just a little closer to league average.

Ober has been on the IL for over a month, last pitching on May 30, when he gave up 12 hits, eight runs, and three home runs against the Pirates. That capped off a rough month of May, so maybe a break from pitching was just what he needed. Ober has generally been better than average with both walks and strikeouts, but while his BB number is good this season, his Ks are way down at 16.4% (career rate 23.2%). There's hope that he has healed and will look better upon his return, but there's real risk here as well.

Ober is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His work in previous seasons had him owned in essentially every fantasy league, but he hasn't been up to that level in 2026. It's worth showing caution here unless you're in a deeper league.

Thursday's Streamer Rankings

1. Bailey Ober, MIN
2. Anthony Kay, CWS
3. Merrill Kelly, ARI
4. Griffin Canning, SD