September 6 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: DJ Herz, Frankie Montas, Erick Fedde and More

The process of deciding which teams to target with opposing fantasy starters isn’t overly complicated: Which offenses regularly rank in the bottom 10 in most offensive box stats? Runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, strikeouts (most), batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS are the numbers I like to use.

Now and then, I will re-evaluate the field to see which teams have graduated out of the target group and who has fallen into the bottom 10. Doing that exercise prior to Thursday’s games featured very little change since the trade deadline, with most of the same poor offenses standing out again.

• Chicago White Sox
• Detroit Tigers
• Los Angeles Angels
• Miami Marlins
• Oakland Athletics
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Seattle Mariners
• Tampa Bay Rays

Not a lot of surprises there, but one team showed up a lot in the bottom 10s after not being on the target list all season: the Texas Rangers. Texas had clearly fallen from last year’s World Series title, but it really stands out that a team with stars and All-Stars across the roster has become a basement dweller.

Let’s look at 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.

Samuel Aldegheri, Los Angeles Angels @ Texas Rangers

I was just talking about the Rangers, so what better place to start (alphabetical order wins again!). Texas has been hit by injuries but also is just underwhelming in 2024. So much must go right for a team to win it all, and Texas caught fire at the right time last year. As luck has turned around, this team is below .500 and forced to look to next season to rejoin the playoff picture.

Aldegheri made his first big-league start last Friday against the Mariners. He allowed seven runs in five innings, and while just two of those runs were earned, it wasn’t a great debut for the 22-year-old (three strikeouts, two walks). Aldegheri did really good strikeout work in the minors, so there’s hope for success there, but there’s no way to know what we are getting out of the young pitcher.

Because of that, Aldegheri is a low-level streamer. The matchup is the only thing that puts him here, but a little strikeout upside brings intrigue.

Erick Fedde, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Seattle Mariners

Seattle will look back and lament the pitching performance they’ve wasted this year. Mariner pitchers lead the league in ERA, hits allowed, earned runs allowed, walks, WHIP and batting average allowed. They are in the top 10 in the stats I didn’t mention. The batters, on the other hand, are in the bottom five in most of their relevant stats, putting an on anchor on this team that will likely drag them below the playoffs.

Fedde was acquired from the White Sox at the trade deadline and has been very up-and-down in six starts: He has allowed four or five runs in three of those starts and just one or two runs in the other three outings. Continuing the theme of inconsistency, Fedde had two starts against Seattle while with Chicago:

• June 10 @ Seattle: 7 innings, 1 run allowed, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk
• July 27 vs Seattle: 4 innings, 3 runs allowed, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks

Fedde is a low- to mid-level streamer. He’s been fine, and the matchup is good, but Fedde hasn’t been good enough on a start-to-start basis to fully trust or give a higher ceiling.

DJ Herz, Washington Nationals @ Pittsburgh Pirates

Just 70.1 innings into his career, Herz has underwhelming superficial numbers but better underlying figures. His 2-7 record is ugly and 4.09 ERA middling, but Herz has a phenomenal strikeout rate (29% versus the league average around 21-22%) and a walk rate right around league average. Until he gave up four runs in his last appearance, Herz was on a run of seven straight starts in which he gave up two earned runs or fewer, only once lasting less than five innings.

Pittsburgh is my go-to team when talking about a perennial baseball loser. They had major success before I was born but haven’t won a World Series since 1979. Beginning in 1993, the Pirates have had 27 losing seasons and just four years above .500; they’re on pace for No. 28 this year. The offense is a huge part of the issue this season, ranking in the bottom 10 in essentially every offensive box stat.

Herz is a mid-level streamer. Though he doesn’t have much of a track record, Herz has shown great strikeout work, giving himself a higher ceiling, especially against a Pittsburgh lineup that has struck out the fifth most.

Frankie Montas, Milwaukee Brewers vs. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies are away from Coors Field: Release the streaming pitchers. Colorado didn’t show up on the list above, and that’s because their stats are mostly average or better. Those numbers are pumped up by the games a mile above sea level, however, and Rockies hitters are a bottom-10 group away from home.

Montas was another trade deadline mover, changing teams within the division from Cincinnati to Milwaukee. He has been close to the same pitcher in both locations, combining to be a little worse than average in both walk rate and strikeout rate. Montas sits in the big group of middling pitchers that make up the bulk of the league; matchup dictates his fantasy value.

Montas is a low- to mid-level streamer. He’s OK, but the matchup and location of this game are what put him on the streamer list.

Mitch Spence, Oakland Athletics vs. Detroit Tigers

I say often that Detroit is in the bottom 10 but trying to fight their way out. That’s true over the past 30 days as well, as the Tigers rank near 20th in a lot of categories, scratching and clawing to become middling. They’re not quite there yet, and we will continue targeting them when it’s right.

Spence is another rookie, having thrown 126 very average innings this year. His walk rate and strikeout rate are both just a hair lower than average, and his 4.50 ERA is the definition of middling. On a team going nowhere, pitchers like Spence get lost in the shuffle; if he were putting up the same numbers for the Dodgers, he’d be lauded for contributing as a rookie.

Spence is a low- to mid-level streamer. He’s good enough to be on the streaming radar, and the matchup is good but not great.

Friday’s Streamer Rankings

1. DJ Herz, WSH
2. Frankie Montas, MIL
3. Erick Fedde, STL
4. Mitch Spence, OAK
5. Samuel Aldegheri, LAA