September 15 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Streamers: MacKenzie Gore, Andrew Heaney, Ben Lively and More

Major League Baseball is celebrating Roberto Clemente Day today. If you’re unfamiliar, Clemente is regarded as one of the best hitters baseball has ever seen, finishing with exactly 3,000 hits, a .317 batting average and a .359 on-base percentage. He led the league in batting average four times, topping out at .357.

The Puerto Rican-born Clemente started his career in 1955 and played until his untimely death in 1972. Clemente was flying to Nicaragua on New Year’s Eve to oversee supplies he was sending after a major earthquake hit the country and caused devastation. (The aid he originally sent was possibly being misappropriated, so he was going to make sure there was no funny business.)

The plane he was in went down in the ocean, and Clemente’s body was never recovered. It wasn't just a baseball tragedy, as he was on a good will mission at the time; baseball lost a great player and a great man.

Let’s look at Sunday’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.

Sean Burke, Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland Athletics

JP Sears, Oakland Athletics @ Chicago White Sox

The battle of the White Sox and A’s continues on. This is the last time they’ll face off, so let’s take advantage of two streamers in the same game with two of the worst offenses in baseball. Friday’s score was 2-0 Athletics, and Saturday was 7-6 White Sox after a walk-off home run. Despite the high score yesterday, the starting pitchers only allowed three of those runs.

Burke pitched out of the bullpen last Tuesday in his big-league debut: He threw three innings with just one unearned run allowed, three strikeouts and one walk. He’ll get his first start in this one. Burke has struggled with run prevention and control in the minors, but he did really good strikeout work, leaving hope for a future high ceiling.

Sears does well limiting walks, but he’s also below average striking batters out. In an August 5 start against the Sox, Sears threw seven innings and allowed just one run with five strikeouts and one walk. He’s been a very average pitcher, and that goes a long way against the White Sox.

Burke is a low-level streamer, and Sears is a mid-level streamer. We don’t know what to expect from the rookie, so expectations must be majorly tempered; Sears is a decent pitcher against a terrible team.

MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins

Gore has been my favorite pitcher to regularly show up on the streamer list. He has struck out close to 24% of the batters he has faced (league average is around 21-22%) and reduced his walk rate in every season of his career to a rate just a little higher than average. The 25-year-old lefty has the upside of a future ace if he can stay healthy (good luck).

Miami is one of the worst teams in the league, not to the level of the White Sox but still at the bottom of the NL. Gore has started twice against the Marlins this season with sparkling results:

• June 14: 7 innings, 1 run allowed, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk
• September 4: 6 innings, 1 run allowed, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk

There’s not much reason to expect different results this time. While he might not dominate to the same degree, Gore can’t expect a much better situation.

Gore is a high-level streamer today; get him into your lineup.

Andrew Heaney, Texas Rangers @ Seattle Mariners

Heaney has thrown well amidst a lost season for the Rangers. His walk rate, strikeout rate, ERA and WHIP are better than last year, but Heaney has a 5-13 record (10-6 last year) because his team has let him down. He’s still done his thing, putting him firmly on the streaming radar.

The Mariners strike out more than any other team, which will play well with Heaney’s 24% strikeout rate. They don’t excel in any area; Seattle’s best trait is hitting home runs, which they do at a middling rate. They are still in the playoff race thanks to the best rotation in baseball, but this team’s offense is way too weak to make a real run even if they do sneak in.

Heaney is a mid- to high-level streamer. His strikeout work gets him the higher ceiling, and the matchup makes it even juicier.

Ben Lively, Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Lively left his last start after two innings because he was hit in the leg with a line drive, but it looks like he’s fine to take the mound on Sunday. Lively is another very average pitcher who is sitting just a hair lower than average in both walk rate and strikeout rate. In a start against the Rays right before the All-Star break, Lively gave up two runs in 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Tampa stayed in the wild card race for a long stretch after dumping big-league talent at the trade deadline, but it seems like they are finally falling too far behind. They are 5.5 back with 13 to play; it’s not mathematically impossible, but the Rays would also have to jump two other teams that they trail by two-plus games. It’s probably not going to happen, and the offense is a big reason why.

Lively is a mid-level streamer. A good pitcher with a good matchup: that sounds about right in the streamer world.

Sunday’s Streamer Rankings

1. MacKenzie Gore, WSH
2. Andrew Heaney, TEX
3. Ben Lively, CLE
4. JP Sears, OAK
5. Sean Burke, CWS