April 29 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Garrett Crochet, Kenta Maeda, Steven Matz and More
A look at Monday's probable starters who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
A new week will soon lead into a new month. Memorial Day is often used as a benchmark in the season to signify that what we’re seeing is real. The small sample of the first few weeks can cause fans to get overly optimistic or pessimistic about something that quickly regresses to the mean.
It’s time to start believing what we see; trust those lying eyes of yours. I often mention the same teams here and talk about their offensive ineptitude, and there’s a reason for that. The White Sox, Athletics, et.al., have proven they are among the worst teams in the league.
Let’s work through Monday’s probable pitchers (according to MLB.com) who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups, creating streaming value. Most stats and offensive rankings are from ESPN. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins
Crochet makes a case as a keeper for your roster despite his 1-4 record and 6.37 ERA: He has struck out 40 batters in just 29.2 innings. Crochet has struck out 32% of the batter he’s faced, about 10% higher than the league average. Along with that, he has walked only eight batters, making for a fantastic 5:1 K:BB ratio (13th in the league as of Saturday).
The matchup here makes Crochet a no-doubt streamer who should be in a lineup in every league. Minnesota continues hitting like a bottom-10 team (maybe bottom-five); they have struck out the 11th-most of any team.
Crochet’s skill set against a lineup prone to strikeouts portends good things. It’s worth mentioning that his last start was against the Twins on Wednesday, and he allowed five runs in four innings to take the loss.
I’m trusting the long-term numbers more than one game, though, and counting on Crochet as a high-level streamer. He did strike out six in those four innings against Minnesota, so there is hope for a strong outing.
Bailey Falter, Pittsburgh Pirates @ Oakland Athletics
I imagine that facing Oakland as a pitcher is like when you get mad at the video game you’re playing, so you turn down the difficulty to easy level to get a few wins. No matter how tough things have been, the Athletics are there to get you back on track.
Falter hasn’t been struggling, but he’ll take the good matchup, nonetheless. After allowing six runs in four innings in his first start of the season, Falter has given up just four runs in 23 innings over his last four starts.
He doesn’t strike a lot of guys out, but he also doesn’t walk many, so Falter doesn’t hurt himself. With the good matchup, Falter is a mid- to high-level streamer today.
Steven Matz, St. Louis Cardinals @ Detroit Tigers
Kenta Maeda, Detroit Tigers vs. St. Louis Cardinals
We’ll finish up with two matchups of good streamers facing each other (something that has been a theme this weekend). Detroit has been at the same level for multiple seasons, bereft of high-level talent and with holes in the lineup. Miguel Cabrera retired, but they still have the albatross contract of Javier Baez on the books, making it hard for the team to fully rebuild.
St. Louis has just been unable to hit: Paul Goldschmidt is batting .208 with two home runs, and Nolan Arenado is at .262 with one homer. When the guys who are supposed to be carrying the middle of the order are struggling like this, it’s not going to mean good things for the lineup. The Cardinals are among the bottom 10 in most major offensive stats.
Matz and Maeda are both veterans who have had success in the past but are beyond their best days. They both have below-average strikeout rates and ERAs over 5.50 this year. Neither pitcher is a fantasy regular.
They do have a little value this time through the rotation due to their weak opponents, but neither has a high ceiling because of their lack of strikeouts. Both Matz and Maeda are low-level streamers, more fit for the end of your lineup (I slightly favor Maeda).
Jake Irvin, Washington Nationals @ Miami Marlins
Trevor Rogers, Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals
Three days in a row the starters for the Marlins and Nats have been listed here as streamers while facing each other. It’s a testament to their weak lineups and inconsistent rotations. The Nationals actually put up 11 and 12 runs on Saturday and Sunday, but their lineup is still among the bottom third of the league.
In 148.2 career innings, Irvin has been a little below average by walk rate, strikeout rate and ERA. His 2024 numbers follow what he did last year (his first in the Majors), but he is walking batters around 40% less than in 2023, a positive sign.
Irvin is a pitcher who will be worth streaming in the right matchups, and Monday presents one of those opportunities. He is a mid-level streamer here.
Rogers’ best ability is striking out batters: He has 345 Ks in just 312.1 career innings. Otherwise, he has been a little better than Irvin, settling in closer to the middle of the league. Like Irvin, Rogers can be used in the right matchups, and his strikeout rate gives him a higher upside.
Rogers is also a mid-level streamer, but he is a better bet than Irvin. Rogers has the chance to excel if he can miss the bats of Washington hitters.
Monday’s Streamer Rankings
- Garrett Crochet, CHW
- Bailey Falter, PIT
- Trevor Rogers, MIA
- Jake Irvin, WAS
- Kenta Maeda, DET
- Steven Matz, STL
