May 8 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Jose Quintana, Chris Paddack, Jack Leiter and More
A look at Wednesday's probable starters who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
Today is a good day for streamers if you’re looking for depth, but there isn’t necessarily a high-level option. There are worse things than dependable innings, though; just ask any manager ever.
Let’s look at Wednesday's probable starters (according to MLB.com) who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups, creating streaming value. Most stats and rankings are from ESPN. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy baseball trade analyzer and trade value charts to break down trade scenarios and weekly projections to find the best fantasy options.
Jack Leiter, Texas Rangers @ Oakland Athletics
Michael Lorenzen, Texas Rangers @ Oakland Athletics
These teams are playing a doubleheader on Wednesday, so two lucky starters get a good matchup. On the season, Oakland is in the bottom five in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage and batter strikeouts (fourth-most).
Lorenzen has been a slightly below average pitcher in his career, something that has held true in 2024. He has been worse than average at both walking and striking batters out, setting himself up for failure, though he has a career ERA near 4.00.
Leiter made his first career start earlier this year, and it wasn’t pretty: In 4.2 innings against the Tigers, Leiter allowed seven runs and eight hits, striking out three and walking three. As a top prospect, though, there is hope for better results moving forward.
I recommended Leiter last time, and I’ll do the same here because the matchup dictates it. Leiter and Lorenzen are both mid-level streamers, and I prefer Leiter’s upside.
Chris Paddack, Minnesota Twins vs. Seattle Mariners
Paddack has been better than average in his career both in terms of strikeouts and walks, leading to an ERA a little over 4.00. His 2024 has been inconsistent, shown no better than by two back-to-back starts in April:
- April 16 @ Orioles: 5.1 innings, 9 earned runs allowed, 2 strikeouts, 1 walk
- April 22 vs White Sox: 7 innings, 0 earned runs, 10 strikeouts, 0 walks
Of course, Baltimore is much stronger than Chicago, but it proves Paddack is a streaming-level pitcher. Seattle is a great team to stream against, as their first-place performance has been driven by the pitching staff while the lineup (including Julio Rodriguez) hits like a bottom-10 unit.
Paddack is a mid- to high-level streamer, especially with his strikeout and walk rates.
Jose Quintana, New York Mets @ St. Louis Cardinals
Quintana is similar to Paddack in that he is the definition of a streamer. His career numbers are better than league average, but he has been on the other side of the line in 2024, particularly not striking enough batters out.
While St. Louis doesn’t strike out a lot, they also don’t do much else. With their top players struggling most, the Cardinals can’t hit at a high level even if other guys play well.
Quintana is a mid-level streamer, holding upside if he can ever find his strikeout skills again.
Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels @ Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates create usable fantasy pitchers everywhere they go. In this case, Soriano gets the lucky draw coming off his best outing of the year: six shutout innings against the Guardians but with just three strikeouts and a walk.
In 42 innings out of the bullpen last season, Soriano struck out a ton of batters (56) but also walked way too many (23). Working mostly as a starter this year, he is still walking batters at the same rate but is striking them out much less, a ratio that won’t bring success.
Against one of the worst lineups in the league and with big strikeout numbers in his recent past, Soriano is a mid-level streamer on Wednesday.
Gavin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Miami Marlins
A pitcher on the Dodgers going against the Marlins just sounds like something you want to be a part of. Miami has been bad on offense and recently lost their best hitter, Luis Arraez, in a trade to the Padres.
Stone has been below average in 62 career innings in terms of strikeout rate, walk rate and ERA. This season has been much better than 2023, so there’s hope the 25-year-old is figuring things out.
With the juicy matchup and recent success, Stone is a mid-level streamer this time through the order.
Wednesday’s Streamer Rankings
- Chris Paddack, MIN
- Jose Soriano, LAA
- Jack Leiter, TEX
- Jose Quintana, NYM
- Michael Lorenzen, TEX
- Gavin Stone, LAD
