Stream This Returning Cy Young Ace at Your Own Risk Today
Four starting pitchers with good matchups on Tuesday who are widely available in fantasy leagues.
We have officially seen teams start to get eliminated from playoff contention. There are fewer than 20 games remaining for each team, and the Angels, Rockies, and Giants have been mathematically eliminated from the postseason. The A's will join them soon, then we will start seeing more franchises realize their 2026 hopes dashed periodically over the next few weeks. Enough teams should stay in the hunt until the final weekend to keep us entertained, but the worst teams in the league are officially learning the inevitable.
Moving to fantasy baseball, let's look at four starting pitchers in action on Tuesday who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups. Most stats are from MLB.com, as are the probable pitchers. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
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Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks @ Kansas City Royals
Burnes has been out all season after suffering an injury early last June that required Tommy John surgery. He was previously a Cy Young-level pitcher, but it's impossible to know what to expect in his return after 15 months away. Burnes is going to be on a pitch limit, so he's going to make a short start (maybe most likely less than five innings), taking away some value. That all sounds bad, but there's some value to be found in a guy who was such a high-level player previously and is available in many leagues.
The Royals are more of a middling offensive team than we would like from our targets. They don't really reach the basement in any area, so even though they don't excel anywhere, Kansas City doesn't present a great outlook. A lack of strikeouts means there's not an appealing ceiling either; this isn't a team we will look to go after often. They are here more today because of Burnes' situation and upside, not because we expect bad things from the Royals.
Burnes is a low-to-mid-level streamer. That might even be a little kind given the circumstances, but I do hold out a little hope based on what we have seen from him in the past. If you are hurting at pitcher, Burnes might give you a little boost in a few starts over the rest of the season.
Dean Kremer, Minnesota Twins @ Detroit Tigers
Detroit ranks around 20th in most offensive areas over the full season, not really a bottom team but mostly below average with the bats. They are a much more appealing target over the past month, though, as they rank in the bottom five in runs, hits, home runs, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS during that time. The Tigers also strike out at a top-10 rate, setting a nice ceiling for opposing pitchers.
Kremer faced these same Tigers his last time out, and it didn't go well: four innings, six hits, four runs, two walks, and five strikeouts. Those latter two numbers are good, but Kremer was hit too hard in a game in which his team lost in extra innings. Kremer has been a little better than average with both Ks and BBs this season while giving up too many runs and home runs, so while he's not hurting himself often, he is vulnerable to getting knocked around. That leaves him somewhere in the middle (where most of our streamers reside).
Kremer is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He is worth considering when the matchup is right and does decent strikeout work, but Kremer just struggled in a start against this same team less than a week ago, so it's prudent to show caution.
Quinn Mathews, St. Louis Cardinals @ San Francisco Giants
Mathews was listed here before his last start against a team you wouldn't think we would look to target: the Los Angeles Dodgers. LA has been on a cold streak, though, and Mathews had a good outing, allowing just four hits and one run in five innings. He did walk four batters to go with four strikeouts, but Mathews put his team in position to win (even though they lost 3-2). Mathews is only five starts and 24 2/3 innings into his career, and he has been decent so far, just with some control issues that could cause problems.
San Francisco is more of a middling offensive team rather than truly bad. They've had worse stretches, but the Giants aren't a team we will go after all the time. When looking just at games they have played at home, though, San Fran ranks in the bottom 10 in essentially every box stat, looking much worse than their overall numbers. Oracle Park in San Francisco plays as a very good pitcher's park, quelling offensive output, so we can be more aggressive in targeting the Giants when they play at home.
Mathews is a low-to-mid-level streamer. He has shown flashes of good stuff in his short time, but it's hard to trust such a young player when the matchup is just good, not great. The Giants also don't strike out much, leaving a bit of a lower ceiling.
Patrick Sandoval, Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels
The Angels are one of our favorite matchups. They are a bottom-five offensive team, ranking in that lowly group in most box stats, and they have kept up those struggles in more recent times as well; there's no reason to expect much improvement from one of the worst teams in baseball. Just to add a cherry on top, the Angels rank second in most batter strikeouts, setting a high ceiling in fantasy baseball for opposing pitchers.
Sandoval missed half of 2024, all of 2025, and the first two-plus months this season recovering from Tommy John surgery and other setbacks. He has made just 10 starts in 2026, showing mostly average numbers, though he has walked too many batters and given up too many hits. Over his career, Sandoval has struggled a bit with walks while doing average strikeout work, mostly looking like a decent pitcher with one very good season in 2022.
Sandoval is another low-to-mid-level streamer on a day full of them. He could be bumped up a level given the fantastic matchup, but Sandoval has looked a little rusty after close to two years away, so it's best to show a little hesitancy, though this could be a big day for Boston's pitcher.
Tuesday's Streamer Rankings
- Patrick Sandoval, BOS
- Corbin Burnes, ARI
- Dean Kremer, MIN
- Quinn Mathews, STL
