September 9 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: David Festa, Ben Lively, Walker Buehler and More
Monday's probable starters who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups.
What a flurry. Just as fast as it arrived, the first NFL Sunday of the year is gone. Monday night is a nice little after taste, like a turkey sandwich eaten the day after Thanksgiving, but the feast is over.
More focus will shift back to baseball, though it’s still always far behind football. The MLB season has less than three weeks remaining, and every game is becoming more important as the best begin pulling away.
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.
Valente Bellozo, Miami Marlins @ Pittsburgh Pirates
Bellozo has made just nine starts, and it’s been very boom-or-bust. In three of those outings, he allowed five or more runs; Bellozo also had four scoreless starts that lasted between five and seven innings. He has been below average striking batters out, but Bellozo struck out more than a batter per inning in the minors, so there’s hope of better future work there.
Pittsburgh is a good team to face if you’re looking for strikeouts. They’re also a good team to target when looking for a lack of power, contact ability, or about anything else offensively. The Pirates aren’t a last-place offense in any area, but they are regularly in the bottom 10 and rank fourth in most batter strikeouts.
Bellozo is a low- to mid-level streamer. The matchup is right, but he is opposing Paul Skenes, maybe lowering his chance of picking up a win.
David Festa, Minnesota Twins vs. Los Angeles Angels
Festa has thrown just 47.1 innings, holding a good walk rate and great strikeout rate (58 Ks). Festa has struck out at least one batter per inning in eight of his nine starts, regularly flashing high-level work. It’s a small sample, but he was just as good in the minor leagues, so Festa has a high ceiling.
The Angels are the opposite of a high ceiling. Even the thought of Mike Trout is disappointing recently. Trout’s games played by season beginning in 2021: 36, 119, 82, 29. It’s a guarantee he will miss games every season and a likelihood he is out for a month or more at a time. There’s not a lot to like about a team without much talent and their few big names often injured.
Festa is a mid- to high-level streamer. His strikeout work gives him that high-level upside, but Festa isn’t a guaranteed success; there is some risk as well with the young pitcher.
Ben Lively, Cleveland Guardians @ Chicago White Sox
Lively has been a very average pitcher. That’s valuable for any team, but he’s more of a staple for a Cleveland team that has suffered injuries and ineffectiveness from starters as they push for the top record in the American League. Lively has a walk rate and strikeout rate a little lower than average both on the season and in his career.
He gets one of the best matchups possible this time around, as Chicago is at the bottom of nearly every offensive stat. The Sox have scored 100 less runs than any other team. I had to double check to make sure that was an actual thing, but I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Lively has been OK in two starts against the White Sox, combining for 11.2 innings, six runs allowed, eight strikeouts and four walks.
Lively is a mid-level streamer. He’s been fine, and the matchup sets him up to have a successful day.
Paul Blackburn, New York Mets @ Toronto Blue Jays
Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs
I’ll just mention these guys quick because it’s a light day and we can use the bulk. Both the Blue Jays and Cubs have been on the target list at points this season, but each has played their way toward league-average offense, making them less appealing for fantasy pitchers. Neither of these pitchers would be listed here against these lineups on a normal day.
If you’re trying to add up volume stats during the final run, though, these guys might be worth considering for the bottom of your lineup. Buehler is 12 starts into his return from about two years away due to injury. He’s been a little below average, but there’s the allure of Cy Young upside from Buehler’s past.
Blackburn missed close to two months with an injury of his own, returning in time to get traded from Oakland to the Mets (I’d say that’s a good change). When on the mound, Blackburn has both a walk rate and strikeout rate a little lower than average; that matches his career numbers.
Blackburn and Buehler are both low-level streamers. Neither pitcher has been a great performer this season, and the matchups are more middling than actually good.
Monday’s Streamer Rankings
- David Festa, MIN
- Ben Lively, CLE
- Valente Bellozo, MIA
- Paul Blackburn, NYM
- Walker Buehler, LAD
