August 5 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Sean Manaea, JP Sears, Jonathan Cannon and More

With nine games on the schedule today, we have 40% of the teams sitting out. That lowers the number of fantasy options and makes streamers more important. It’s like when bye weeks start in the NFL and six teams are off on a single week: if your stars aren’t playing, it takes extra work to piece together a team that can win a fantasy week (or day).

Let’s run through Monday’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.

Jonathan Cannon, Chicago White Sox @ Oakland Athletics

JP Sears, Oakland Athletics vs Chicago White Sox

Two of the worst teams in the league are matching up here. The White Sox are about 15 games behind anyone else, and Oakland is only ahead of the Sox, Marlins and Rockies. Both teams have among the worst pitching staffs, and their offenses are just as bad. These are two of the top teams to target with opposing pitchers in fantasy.

Cannon is just 70 innings into his career (all this season), doing well limiting walks (18) but also well below average in striking batters out (46). There have been good starts and bad: an 8.2-inning scoreless outing was followed by Cannon allowing eight runs (five earned) in one inning.

Sears has a similar profile to Cannon this season, successful with walks but below average with strikeouts. He is coming off his best start of the season: seven scoreless innings, three hits, one walk and nine strikeouts against the Giants. He hasn’t reached nine strikeouts in any other game but does have three other scoreless outings that went either 6 or 6.1 innings.

Cannon and Spears are both mid-level streamers. They are middling pitchers at this point in their careers, but the good matchups put them on the streaming radar today.

Targeting the National League Central

The Cubs, Cardinals and Reds are the last three opponents for today’s pitchers. These three teams are all below average, but they don’t reach the depths of many teams that end up here regularly, like the White Sox and A’s.

Cincinnati hits for power and not much else. Chicago and St. Louis are between 15th and 25th in most offensive stats. On days that are strong with streamers, any or all these pitchers might not be listed. With a light schedule, though, these three guys are on the streaming radar.

David Festa, Minnesota Twins @ Chicago Cubs

Festa has made just four starts; it’s been a tale of two pitchers. His first two outings combined for 10 innings, 12 runs allowed, one walk and eight strikeouts. The last two starts have spanned 9.1 innings with just three runs allowed, three walks and 13 strikeouts.

Festa is a low- to mid-level streamer. He has shown high-level strikeout work both in his short big-league stint and in the minors, but it’s hard to expect too much this early, especially when the matchup against the Cubs is just OK rather than truly good.

Sean Manaea, New York Mets @ St. Louis Cardinals

Manaea has more than twice as many career innings as the four other pitchers listed here today. Where young hurlers are unowned in fantasy leagues until they prove their status, Manaea is a middling veteran who has shown us his ability. He’s walked too many guys this year but also has an above-average strikeout rate to help offset the free passes.

Manaea is a mid-level streamer in this one. Again, the matchup is middling, but Manaea has done enough to firmly be on the streaming list. In a start against St. Louis back in May, Manaea gave up three runs in six innings while picking up the win.

Roddery Munoz, Miami Marlins @ Cincinnati Reds

Munoz has been worse than average in strikeout rate, walk rate and ERA in his first season (66 innings). He did good strikeout work in the minors but held an ERA over 5.00, not showing the ability to prevent runs at any level. He’s just 24, so there’s plenty of time to grow, but Munoz is hard to trust right now.

As such, Munoz is a low-level streamer. The matchup might be the worst of these three NL Central teams, and Munoz might also be the worst of these pitchers, so he’s more of a desperation play than a strong streamer.

Monday’s Streamer Rankings

1. Sean Manaea, NYM
2. JP Sears, OAK
3. Jonathan Cannon, CWS
4. David Festa, MIN
5. Roddery Munoz, MIA