Fantasy Baseball SP Streamers: Monday Rankings and Matchup Targets

One week from today is the final day of August; after that, we will be two-thirds of the way through 2026, an astounding thought. Time flies, as we know, and the baseball season is no different. Before you know it, we'll be kicking off the first round of the playoffs.

Focusing on fantasy baseball, let's look at four starting pitchers in action on Monday 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.

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George Klassen, Los Angeles Angels vs. Cleveland Guardians

Klassen is in his first big-league season, having made five starts so far for the Angels. He struggled in two outings in April then spent most of the season in the minor leagues before returning earlier this month. He has been better in three August starts, allowing just 10 hits and three runs in 17 innings. He walked a ton of guys in those first starts but has gotten more to an average level with both BBs and Ks in these recent appearances, trending the right way.

Cleveland has many bottom-five numbers over the full season and is a clear bottom-10 offensive team over the past month. While their pitching has been good enough to keep them in the playoff hunt (as it usually is), the lineup has totally let down the club, holding them back from reaching the top of one of the worst divisions in baseball. Jose Ramirez continues to be a story I am following: since returning a month ago, Ramirez has just two doubles and no home runs in 89 at-bats, the worst stretch of a highly disappointing season.

Klassen is a low-to-mid-level streamer. His most recent work is more encouraging, but Klassen is so early into his career that it's impossible to know what to expect from him as a pro. The positive matchup is what puts him here.

Zebby Matthews, Minnesota Twins @ Athletics

Jeffrey Springs, Athletics vs. Minnesota Twins

We'll go after both teams with streamers here, though they are in different places. The A's have the worst record in the American League and the worst run differential in baseball. They have been especially bad offensively over the past month, a disappointing downturn for a club that looked like it was making improvements last season. Minnesota is more of a middling offense by many measures, though they have been a little worse recently. We won't go after them often, but it is a short day, so they help make up the numbers.

Matthews has been a little below average with strikeouts this season, but he was previously better than average with that number while doing well with walks. That sounds like a great start, but Matthews has continually been hit too hard, allowing more than a hit per inning and a home run every 5.1 innings, giving him a career ERA over 5.50. If he could limit hitters better when they make contact, Matthews would be a popular fantasy player, but that hasn't been the case very often in his short career.

Springs was previously average or better in most areas, but much of that work came out of the bullpen. Nearly every pitcher struggles more when making longer outings, and that has been the case this year for Springs, who has given up too many hits, runs, and home runs. While his walk rate has been OK, Springs is doing career-worst strikeout work, as his K% is 17.7% versus league average around 22% (and his career rate of 23.1%). Springs was much better as a starter last season, but it's hard to trust him for too much positive right now.

Matthews is a low-to-mid-level streamer and Springs a low-level streamer. Matthews has been the better pitcher this season and has the better matchup, while Springs just hasn't done enough to be on our radar. This game also takes place at the Athletics' home in a minor league park in Sacramento, which has been one of the best hitter's parks in baseball the past few years.

Carson Whisenhunt, San Francisco Giants vs. Cincinnati Reds

Whisenhunt has only 55 1/3 innings to his name, and it hasn't gone well: 61 hits, 40 runs (38 earned), 11 home runs, and 32 walks with 39 strikeouts. He did good work with Ks in the minors, so there's hope for improvement there, but Whisenhunt has allowed at least four earned runs in four of his seven starts, showing problems consistently. We need to see something positive out of Whisenhunt before really trusting him for much.

The Reds hit home runs and draw walks, but they don't do anything else at even an average level. A team can subsist on offense by mashing, but Cincinnati just hasn't put anything together on a regular basis, ranking in the bottom six (or very close to it) in runs, hits, doubles, and all four slash categories. Throw in their propensity to strike out as much as any team in the league, and there's a high ceiling available for nearly any pitcher that faces the Reds.

Whisenhunt is a low-level streamer. The matchup is right, and he has upside based on his pedigree as a second-round pick, but we haven't seen many positives from Whisenhunt in his short time, and we can't trust him for much in fantasy.

Monday's Streamer Rankings

1. Zebby Matthews, MIN
2. George Klassen, LAA
3. Jeffrey Springs, ATH
4. Carson Whisenhunt, SF