Sunday Fantasy Baseball Streamers: Jones, Bieber and Starting Pitcher Rankings

Did anyone ever tell you that you're bad luck? In yesterday's preamble, I talked about how the Boston Red Sox were the hottest team in baseball, winning nine straight on their way toward strong playoff odds. Well, the Athletics snapped Boston's streak with a 7-3 win, sending the Sox to their first loss of August.

Boston still has a good outlook, 5.5 games up on the third Wild Card spot, but beware if we talk about your favorite team next on the streaming list! (Particularly if they're on a heater.)

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

Use FantasySP's waiver wire tool to find the players who are being added to fantasy rosters most often!

Shane Bieber, Toronto Blue Jays @ Philadelphia Phillies

Bieber didn't make his season debut until June 23 and has appeared in just eight games, showing a few highs but plenty of lows too. His strikeouts are down and walks up, and Bieber has given up 42 hits, 21 runs, and seven home runs in 37 innings, all poor numbers. A former ace-level pitcher, Bieber brings plenty of intrigue given his name recognition, but his performance hasn't been up to a fantasy level. Bieber gave up just one run his last time out but also nine hits, and in the game before, he allowed four runs with six walks in just 2/3 of an inning.

Philadelphia has vacillated between good and bad offensive performances recently, and they rank right near the middle in most areas over the past month. Their season-long numbers are now into that same middling area in most categories after sitting in the bottom 10 for much of the season. This team was previously a strong target, but they are now more of a questionable group to go after on the right days.

Bieber is a low-level streamer. The matchup is questionable, and Bieber just hasn't been very good in his short time. You can find a better way to use your innings unless you're desperate or in a super-deep league.

Ryan Gusto, Miami Marlins vs. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels have been one of the worst offensive teams in baseball over the past 30 days, ranking in the bottom five in pretty much every offensive box stat and scoring by far the fewest runs in the league during that time. They also rank very low in most areas over the full season, giving us plenty of evidence that they are a team to target as often as possible. Most importantly for our purposes, Los Angeles ranks in the top three in most batter strikeouts, battling with the Pirates and Reds for the dubious honor of the most K-happy team in the league.

Gusto is just 146 2/3 innings into his career, all accumulated over the past two seasons. He has been good with walks and just slightly below average with strikeouts while giving up too many hits and runs, working as both a starter and reliever. Gusto was just OK in the minor leagues, including his strikeout work, so there's probably not a big ceiling here, but he has shown enough to make it worth considering him when the matchup is right.

Gusto is a low-to-mid-level streamer. There's a ceiling on his fantasy value, but the matchup couldn't be much better, and Gusto might be worthy of a flier if you're in a deeper league.

Jared Jones, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. New York Mets

Jones is owned in around 50% of leagues, but his ownership had been growing at a big rate before he picked up two losses in his past two starts while allowing six runs in 10 innings. He is still doing strong strikeout and walk work (nine Ks and three walks in those two games), but Jones was hit harder after looking unhittable at times in July. It's not a surprise to see a little inconsistency after missing more than a year recovering from elbow surgery, but I still trust Jones to return to his high-level ways.

The Mets had a time when they were hitting better, but they rank in the bottom 10 in nearly every box stat over the full season and sit just outside the top 10 in most batter strikeouts. Over the past month, they have been hitting home runs but still ranking below average in most other areas; they are drawing walks but also striking out at a top-five rate, offsetting that improvement a bit. With Juan Soto out, New York is extra vulnerable, making them a good target right now.

Jones is a mid-to-high-level streamer. We can still expect ups and downs, but Jones has a high ceiling given his fantastic strikeout work, and I like his outlook against the Mets.

Davis Martin, Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland is one of our tougher teams to evaluate right now, as their season-long numbers point to them as a clear bottom-five offense, but their past month has gone much better, looking like an average lineup. They are still worthy of targeting because they haven't really excelled, but with Jose Ramirez back and a few reinforcements at the trade deadline, the Guardians could easily improve the rest of the way. (Ramirez hasn't looked good lately: He has zero extra-base hits in 13 games since returning from the IL.)

Martin's fantasy ownership was higher for a while, but it has fallen down near 50% after a recent rough patch. He allowed 10 hits and nine runs in five innings his last time out against the Red Sox, the fourth time in his past five starts that he has given up at least four earned runs. On the season, Martin has been good with walks and just slightly below average with strikeouts while doing very average work limiting hits and runs. He has been fantastic keeping the ball in the park (just 10 homers allowed in 122 innings), but there's a little concern given his past month of work.

Martin is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He hasn't been as good recently, and Cleveland has been better than their season-long numbers indicate. There's still some value here, but not as much as there would have been right before the All-Star break.

Sunday's Streamer Rankings

1. Jared Jones, PIT
2. Davis Martin, CWS
3. Ryan Gusto, LAA
4. Shane Bieber, TOR