July 5 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Reese Olson, Luis Severino, Albert Suarez and More
A look at Friday's probable starters who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
The Fourth of July has passed; summer is all downhill from here. As a former teacher, that was always our measuring stick during the time off. Everything before the Fourth is gravy until we had to start dreading the return for the next school year. Baseball continues on, though, as the regular season still has about three months left.
Let’s run through Friday’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 MLB. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.
Bryan Hoeing, Miami Marlins vs Chicago White Sox
Drew Thorpe, Chicago White Sox @ Miami Marlins
Let’s start with a matchup of possibly the two worst teams in baseball. Runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS: Chicago and Miami are the bottom two teams in each of those categories, and they both rank bottom-five in home runs. Miami might be a hair better, but these teams are both incredibly moribund.
Hoeing has only pitched out of the bullpen this year, showing good results in 19.2 innings. It’s not enough to get a real read, nor are his 103 career innings over the last three seasons. The matchup is the reason Hoeing is listed here.
Thrope is similar in that he hasn’t thrown many major league innings, making his first appearances this season. He has almost as many walks (12) as strikeouts (13) but has looked better in his past two starts, combining for 12 innings with only two runs allowed, picking up two wins in the process.
Neither guy here can be trusted for high-level innings, but the matchup is right to put them on the radar as low-level streamers.
Reese Olson, Detroit Tigers @ Cincinnati Reds
Carson Spiers, Cincinnati Reds vs Detroit Tigers
Another matchup of two weak offensive teams with inexperienced pitchers on the mound, this is just a better version of the Chicago/Miami series. Both the Reds and Tigers struggle mightily on offense, each sitting in the bottom 10 in hits, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage and OPS.
Olson has more of a track record, approaching 200 career innings. He has been above average in terms of strikeout and walk rate and holds an ERA under 4.00. He has fallen victim to Detroit’s lack of firepower, though, holding a 2-8 record on the season.
Spiers has done fairly well in just over 50 innings. The most impressive (an unsustainable) trait he has shown is limiting home runs, as he has allowed just two dingers in that span. While his strikeout rate has been below average, he has done very well limiting walks, helping himself in the process.
Olson is a mid-level streamer and Spiers a low- to mid-level streamer. Olson’s strikeout work gives him an edge even though Cincinnati hits better than Detroit.
Luis Severino, New York Mets @ Pittsburgh Pirates
Severino is the lone MLB veteran listed here today: His 824.2 career innings are more than the other five guys combined. He previously was a high-level strikeout pitcher, but that has fallen to a below average level over the last two seasons. Home runs are the main difference between 2023 and 2024 for Severino: after giving up 23 in 89.1 innings last year, he has allowed just nine homers in 97.1 innings this season.
Pittsburgh isn’t a power team. They’re also not a team that hits for average. They don’t get on base a lot, and they don’t steal much when they are on. What’s left? Not much, which helps explain why they are 10 games out of first in their division.
Severino is a mid-level streamer. If he was still striking guys out, he’d be a notch higher, but his current work sets him up as a middling pitcher.
Albert Suarez, Baltimore Orioles @ Oakland Athletics
While the other pitchers here aside from Severino are young guys, Suarez is 34 years old. He doesn’t have much major league experience because he spent a lot of time playing in Japan and Korea, so this year has been his first action stateside since 2017. He has done well in 10 starts and seven bullpen appearances, holding an ERA under 3.00 but lacking in strikeouts.
The A’s present a chance for Suarez to have another good outing after throwing six shutout innings his last time out. While Oakland does well hitting home runs (tied for seventh), they rank in the bottom 10 in all four slash categories and second in most batter strikeouts. The Athletics are a good matchup for any pitcher.
Suarez is another mid-level streamer today. His decent work combined with Oakland’s struggles set up Suarez for success.
Friday’s Streamer Rankings
- Reese Olson, DET
- Luis Severino, NYM
- Albert Suarez, BAL
- Carson Spiers, CIN
- Drew Thorpe, CWS
- Brian Hoeing, MIA
