Fantasy Baseball Pitching Streamers: Junk Mail

One key to winning fantasy baseball matchups is making sure you pick the right pitching streamers. In doing so, you give yourself a major edge over the competition. Finding pitchers with good matchups to fill gaps in your lineup and maximize your starts is an essential strategy for winning fantasy baseball leagues. Make sure to check out this column weekly for all of the best streaming options.

Below are some of my favorite pitching streamers for the upcoming week.

Pitching Streamers for Shallow Leagues (Over 20% Rostered)

Seth Lugo (SP – KC)

Next Start: Thursday, 4/9 at CWS

Seth Lugo looked great in his first start against Atlanta, tossing six shutout innings. He allowed five hits, with three strikeouts and no walks. He lines up to face the White Sox next, which should play in his favor.

The White Sox have started the season, as many expected, as a high strikeout team. They are second in strikeouts and in strikeout rate as hitters. Chicago also ranks ninth worst in groundball rate. Lugo has been an above-average groundball pitcher throughout his career, so this matchup works well for him. He also does not strike out many batters, so facing a team with a little extra swing-and-miss could result in a slightly higher K total than normal for the veteran hurler.

Lugo has possibly the widest pitch arsenal in the majors, featuring 10 pitches last season. He does not throw with much velocity, so mixing up his pitches is how he keeps batters guessing and how he has maintained success the last few seasons.

Lugo may not be available in deep leagues, but in shallow leagues, he should be one of your top pitching streamers for the week ahead.

Clay Holmes (SP – NYM)

Next Start: Friday, 4/10 vs ATH

Clay Holmes posted an uneven stat line in his first start this season, which came against the Cardinals. In 5.2 innings, he allowed two earned runs on four hits, with five strikeouts and three walks. He faces the Athletics in his upcoming start.

The A’s have been off to a rough start, with the league’s highest strikeout total and strikeout rate as an offense. They have also scored the seventh fewest runs and have the fourth highest groundball rate. Holmes has an incredible 62% career groundball rate, so facing a team that hits grounders as much as the A’s do should help pad Holmes’ stats. He showed strikeout stuff as a reliever, but has not seen the same success as a starter. However, Holmes could get a boost to his K totals against the Athletics.

Holmes relies heavily on a mix of his sinker, sweeper, changeup, and slider. Of those, his sweeper and changeup were excellent last season. They had 25% and 30% whiff rates, respectively. If he can continue to lean on those pitches for outs this season, he should find success. Here is a look at his changeup from late last season:

Clay Holmes, Disappearing 87mph Changeup. 👻 pic.twitter.com/8IScFuGxR9

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 23, 2025

If he is available, Holmes is a must-add for this matchup and should be one of the top pitching streamers on your radar for this week.

Noah Cameron  (SP – KC)

Next Start: Saturday, 4/11 vs CWS

Noah Cameron shone against Minnesota in his season opener. He went five innings, and allowed one earned run and four hits, while striking out five and walking one. Cameron faces the White Sox next.

Chicago’s offense has been prone to strikeouts and groundballs, both of which are strengths of the young starter. While his high strikeout totals in the minors did not match his production in the majors last season, he could very well take the next step this year. And this is a great matchup for him to continue to develop his strikeout stuff.

Cameron has some nasty stuff, including a curveball and changeup that posted 29% and 41% whiff rates, respectively, and 24% putaway rates last season. Those two pitches will likely be heavily featured against the White Sox and should continue to induce swings and misses.

Make sure to add Cameron for this matchup, as one of your main pitching streamers wherever available.

Pitching Streamers for Deep Leagues (0%-24% Rostered)

Janson Junk  (SP – MIA)

Next Start: Monday, 4/6 vs CIN

Janson Junk faced the White Sox in his 2026 season debut. He allowed two earned runs across 4.1 frames, finishing with five hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. He is at home against Cincinnati in his next outing.

Cincy ranks sixth-worst in runs scored, and is ninth-worst in total strikeouts and K% as an offense. Much like Holmes and Lugo, Junk does not typically rely on strikeouts to get outs. This makes facing a team like the Reds a chance for a few bonus strikeouts. Junk’s bread and butter as a pitcher has been his ability to limit the long ball and induce grounders. That matches up well against the Reds, who rank in the bottom half of the league in homers so far this season.

In his game against the White Sox, Junk flashed an absolutely filthy changeup – a pitch he worked on over the offseason. He also ticked up his fastball velocity from last season by nearly two miles per hour. These are both great signs that could portend future success. One thing he will have to improve on is his location against lefties:

Janson Junk (MIA) struck out five over 4.1 innings, highlighted by his changeup, which posted a 43% CSW pic.twitter.com/fWNwv59Wx2

— Pitcher List Stats (@PitcherListPLV) April 1, 2026

Junk has a great opportunity for a successful start against the Reds, and should be in consideration as one of your pitching streamers for the upcoming week.

Taj Bradley  (SP – MIN)

Next Start: Tuesday, 4/7 vs DET

Taj Bradley looked excellent in his 4.1 inning debut this season against the O’s. He finished with nine strikeouts, three walks, and three hits, with one earned run. He takes the bump against Detroit next.

Detroit had a successful 2025 campaign, but look like a great target for streaming early in the season. They have the fewest home runs, so far, while also posting the seventh most strikeouts, and the fourth highest K%. For Bradley, this could be a game where he tallies double-digit strikeouts. He finished with a double-digit K/9 rate in 2023 and 2024, and facing a team that strikes out as much as the Tigers plays right into his strengths.

Bradley’s splitter, in particular, looks like it is going to be an absolute weapon this season. In his start against Chicago, he tossed it 27 times. It posted a 63% whiff rate and a 75% K rate. Those numbers make sense when you see them:

Taj Bradley's Splitter.

"My goodness what are we seeing!" 🔊😲 pic.twitter.com/gQN6u1cSZ8

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 28, 2026

This could be a breakout year for Bradley in Minnesota, and you may not have more opportunities to add him as one of your pitching streamers. You may want to hold onto him after this start, depending on how it goes.

Will Warren  (SP – NYY)

Next Start: Wednesday, 4/8 vs ATH

Will Warren carried over a hot spring into his regular-season debut against the Giants, where he tossed 4.1 innings of one-run ball. He struck out three and walked two, while allowing five hits. He faces the Athletics at home in his next outing.

As mentioned, the Athletics are a high strikeout team that also struggles to score runs and hits a bunch of grounders. Warren was above average at inducing grounders last season, something that he should be able to rely on in this start. He has also shown an ability to induce a high strikeout rate, finishing with a 9.4 K/9 rate last season. That should also play in Warren’s favor against the A’s.

Warren’s sinker has been a major key to his success when it comes to inducing grounders. It had a 62% GB rate last season and resulted in an 83% GB rate in his season debut this year. We should see a ton of sinkers in his game against the A’s, considering how effective it has been for Warren early in his career.

Make sure to add him as one of your top pitching streamers for the coming matchup.

Jameson Taillon  (SP – ChC)

Next Start: Sunday, 4/12 vs PIT

Jameson Taillon went 4.2 scoreless innings in his season debut against the Angels. He allowed two hits and walked four batters, while striking out three. He lines up against Pittsburgh for his start on Sunday.

Pittsburgh’s offense has performed decently well early in the season. This is more a belief in Taillon’s abilities than the Pirates’ deficiencies. The Pirates do own the league’s sixth-highest GB%, and Taillon has been an above-average pitcher when it comes to inducing grounders over his career. Taillon has also been excellent at avoiding walks, making the four walks against the Angels uncharacteristic and likely not to be repeated against the Pirates.

Taillon was the only pitcher last season to have five pitches grade above average in Out%. This means those five pitches induced outs at a higher rate than league average. His stuff continued to perform well in his first start this season, allowing just two hits on 85 pitches. Of the six pitches he threw in that game, five turned in a 25% whiff rate or higher. He will need to locate better against a slightly better team in the Pirates, but still has a chance at turning in a similar or better start than this one:

Jameson Taillon (CHC) walked four but allowed no earned runs over 4.2 innings against the Angels pic.twitter.com/HHKMXIldd7

— Pitcher List Stats (@PitcherListPLV) April 1, 2026

Taillon should turn in a productive fantasy outing against the Pirates, and should be in consideration as one of your pitching streamers for the weekend.

Backup Plan Streamers

• BAL Dean Kremer at CWS – Monday 4/6; vs SF – Sunday 4/12
• PIT Mitch Keller vs SD – Wednesday 4/8
• NYY Ryan Weathers vs ATH – Thursday 4/9
• STL Dustin May vs BOS – Friday 4/10
• BAL Chris Bassitt vs SF – Saturday 4/11
• COL Kyle Freeland at SD – Sunday 4/12

Desperation Streamers

• MIL Chad Patrick at BOS – Wednesday 4/8
• MIA Max Meyer vs CIN – Thursday 4/9
• COL Jose Quintana at SD – Thursday 4/9
• COL Ryan Feltner at SD – Saturday 4/11