September 14 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: Max Scherzer, J.T. Ginn, Joey Cantillo and More

Only four teams are eliminated from playoff contention: the Angels, Marlins, Rockies and White Sox. More are soon coming: Washington and Oakland are on the bubble, with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Toronto and others to follow.

It’s that time of year when teams face the realization that their season is coming to an end. It’s a welcome sight for some, like the guy who was telling his opponents what pitch was coming; sometimes, enough is enough.

Let’s look at Saturday’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.

Joey Cantillo, Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Cantillo was born and raised in Hawaii, so that’s pretty cool. He made his MLB debut on July 28 and was part of the rotation through most of August. He has done well with both walks and strikeouts in his short time (25.2 innings), and his last start was his best: Cantillo threw seven innings against the White Sox and allowed just one run with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

Over the past 30 days, Tampa only has two guys batting over .300 and just one other over .250. No one has reached five home runs, but seven players have struck out at least 20 times. A team with an outside shot at a wild card, the Rays don’t have the offense to make a real run and are probably thinking more about 2025.

Cantillo is a low-level streamer. The matchup is good, but he doesn’t have a long track record; he did good strikeout work in the minors, giving him a little upside.

Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins

We might be seeing the last few starts of Corbin’s career. He signed a six-year, $140 million contract before the 2019 season and only had one year that matched that contract’s level. While he has stayed healthy, Corbin has had an ERA over 5.00 every season since 2021 and a dwindling strikeout rate since he signed. In two starts against Miami this year, Corbin has combined for 9.2 innings, nine runs allowed (six earned), 12 strikeouts and five walks.

The Marlins don’t have the hope of their Florida brethren to the north: While the Rays will expect to compete as soon as next season, Miami is still on the way down. The bottom is coming fast (they have the worst record in the National League), and it will take several years before the Marlins can even think about having an average baseball team.

Corbin is a low-level streamer. No matter how good the matchup, his performance level has fallen to the point where he is a desperation fantasy player.

Chris Flexen, Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland Athletics

J.T. Ginn, Oakland Athletics @ Chicago White Sox

It’s officially that point into the season in which we have worthless games. They’re not worthless in terms of dollars: Both the teams and players will be making a ton of money over the next few weeks. They’re also not worthless for the kid who gets to go experience his or her first baseball game late in the season when the stands are empty and tickets are cheap.

I mean worthless in terms of both teams being far out of the playoff race and having nothing to gain or lose. Players gain experience, but they also have the risk of getting injured while playing; it’s almost a wash. The game will go on regardless with two of the worst teams in baseball facing off.

Flexen recently had the dubious distinction of his team losing 20 straight games that he started. He hasn’t recorded a win since May 8. A lot of the blame goes toward his team rather than Flexen himself, but he has been worse than average with both strikeouts and walks.

Ginn has thrown less than 20 big-league innings over five appearances (three starts). He has been better than average with both walks and strikeouts in that very small sample. While he was good with walks in the minors, Ginn also struck out less than a batter per inning, so it’s likely he will regress in that area.

Ginn is a low- to mid-level streamer, and Flexen is a low-level streamer. Ginn is a little better with strikeouts and has the better matchup, though not a lot can be expected from either pitcher.

Max Scherzer, Texas Rangers @ Seattle Mariners

Jacob deGrom made his 2024 debut yesterday: Surely on a pitch count, he threw 3.2 scoreless innings and struck out four with no walks. Scherzer made eight starts over June and July but began the season on the IL and spent about the last six weeks there again before returning for Saturday’s start. He showed high-level work in his short stint, especially with strikeouts, but we don’t know what to expect with an oft-injured pitcher returning to a team that is out of the playoff race. A short start like deGrom is very likely.

Seattle hitters have about 20 less hits than any other team (the White Sox are next). They are second worst in both doubles and triples, though they get close to the middle in home runs. The Mariners are also last in batting average, 29th in slugging percentage and 26th in OPS. There are a lot of bad numbers even before we get to their place at the top of the strikeout list.

Scherzer is a mid-level streamer. His top form against Seattle is an unfair matchup, but it’s likely Scherzer will have a little rust and might make a short start.

Saturday’s Streamer Rankings

1. Max Scherzer, TEX
2. J.T. Ginn, OAK
3. Joey Cantillo, CLE
4. Patrick Corbin, WSH
5. Chris Flexen, CWS