September 4 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Yu Darvish, MacKenzie Gore, Albert Suarez and More

I don’t have a preamble for you today; let’s run through 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 MLB. The full streamer rankings are listed at the bottom.

Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres vs. Detroit Tigers

Darvish hasn’t pitched since the end of May due to an elbow injury. He was throwing well before the injury and was owned in most fantasy leagues. Darvish is still owned in over half of leagues, but he’s available enough that you might be able to snag him for the last run of the season.

Detroit isn’t the best matchup; we’ll get to much worse offensive teams. They are a bottom-10 offense, though, and Darvish is a good enough pitcher to have fantasy value against most squads. You won’t see them here every day, but the Tigers are a team worth going after with better pitchers.

Darvish is a high-level streamer. He’s a fantasy keeper, and if you can grab him now coming off an injury, you might get a big boost over the last month.

MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals @ Miami Marlins

Gore will be a pitcher to watch going into 2025. He is only 25 years old, and Gore is in line to be Washington’s ace for a while. He has a walk rate just a hair higher than average and an above-average strikeout rate. Gore is worth considering as a keeper if you’re in a deep league or hurting for pitching.

The one matchup between Gore and the Marlins was big for the pitcher: seven innings, one run, 10 strikeouts and one walk. Miami is among the worst teams in baseball with their offense probably the weaker unit. The pure futility of the White Sox (we will get to them) will cover the stink of poor offenses like Miami over the final month.

Gore is a high-level streamer. His strikeout work gives him a big ceiling, and the matchup couldn’t be much better, though the Marlins don’t strike out a lot.

Bobby Miller, Los Angeles Dodgers @ Los Angeles Angels

Miller has made just 10 starts and thrown 44.2 innings while dealing with injuries this season. He has been giving up home runs at an absurd rate: Miller allowed 12 homers in 124.1 innings last year and has allowed 12 in close to one-third of the innings this season. His walks have also sky-rocketed (32 last year, already 22 this year). It’s been a trying season for the young pitcher.

The Angels are the anti-Dodgers. Everything the Dodgers do seems to go right (until the playoffs, that is). The Angels failed to trade Shohei Ohtani when it was clear he was going to leave, traded prospects for middling veterans to deplete the farm system before Ohtani left, and now are one of the most directionless franchises in all of baseball. Mike Trout is the only positive, and he’s been hurt all year.

Miller is a low-level streamer. The matchup is right, but he has been all over the place and is hard to trust as more than a desperation arm.

JP Sears, Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners

Same story, different day for the Mariners: lots of strikeouts, not many runs and no redeeming qualities on offense. The pitchers keep dominating, but the Mariners are going to miss out on the playoffs because of one of the worst lineups in baseball.

Sears does well limiting walks but is below average with strikeouts. He’s been just a hair below average overall in about 150 innings this season, a win for a team in Oakland that is short on talent. It’s hard to predict huge things, but Sears is good enough to be on the streaming radar.

Sears is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup is right for a nice day, even if Sears is unheralded.

Albert Suarez, Baltimore Orioles vs. Chicago White Sox

Yesterday’s Orioles starter, Cade Povich, threw 7.1 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in another win over the White Sox. Povich had been one of Baltimore’s worst starters before that outing. Given their bottom-five rankings in most offensive stats, every pitcher has fantasy value against Chicago. That’s good news for Suarez.

Suarez started one game against the White Sox back in May. He only threw four innings, but Suarez didn’t allow any runs with only two hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Suarez has done well this season, his first in the majors since 2017, as he spent time playing in Japan and Korea. He’s probably going to be pitching out of the bullpen in the playoffs for a team with World Series aspirations.

Suarez is a mid- to high-level streamer. He’s pitched well, but his strikeout prowess isn’t big enough to have the highest ceiling.

Wednesday’s Streamer Rankings

1. Yu Darvish, SD
2. MacKenzie Gore, WSH
3. Albert Suarez, BAL
4. JP Spears, OAK
5. Bobby Miller, LAD