Early Week Streamers for August 25 – August 28

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  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on August 24, 2025 11:34 pm by Anthony Kates | Published: August 24, 2025

    This year, we’ve decided to do two streaming articles a week for our premium subscribers. The podcast only provides one day of streamers at a time (a day ahead), whereas the streamer articles will provide three and four day streaming outlooks, giving you a leg up on those non-premium Sports Ethos members (and those in your league who don’t use Sports Ethos at all…even though they should).

    The articles will come out every Sunday and every Thursday.Ā You will notice that I have very few single digit percentage rostered players during the early part of the week and that’s because I do not want to assume a ton of risk early in the week. There is zero reason to be desperate before Friday, at the earliest, so there is zero reason to take on any kind of high risk stream. But, if you DO want to have risk on a daily basis with your streams, I will highlight the low-rostered and/or high risk streams that might have a modicum of upside, but I wouldn’t personally start, after I’ve discussed the streams I do recommend.

    Monday – August 25 – Probable Starters

    Cam Schlittler – NYY – vs WAS – 29%

    I’m not sure the Yankees expected Schlittler to make it all the way to the major leagues this season, especially since this is just his third year in pro ball, but after dominating Double-A and smacking around Triple-A hitters, combined with the Yankees rotation suffering injury after injury, made the move inevitable. Since being called up, Schlittler has been pretty damn good. He has made seven starts, throwing at least five innings in six of seven, allowing three earned runs or less in all seven starts and striking out more than a batter per inning. He has had some control struggles, though, with a 3.96 BB/9 and a 1.49 HR/9, but an 88.7% strand rate and a .283 BABIP have helped him to limit the damage done by his walk and home run problems. His statcast data isn’t terrible and neither is it great, with a 9.2% barrel rate and a 41.8% hard-hit rate, but a ground ball heavy approach (45.9% ground ball rate vs 35.7% fly ball rate) plus a 33% chase rate and an 11.4% swinging strike rate means he hasn’t been punished for those not-so-great numbers.

    He is facing a Nationals squad that has a middle of the league offense in the month of August when facing right-handed pitching on the road. They have a 106 wRC+ that is 15th in the league, with a .323 wOBA, 15th, a .745 OPS, 13th, and a .169 ISO, 15th. They had the exact same amount of ground balls as fly balls, with the 10th highest line drive rate, 21.1%. They had the 10th lowest hard-hit rate and the sixth lowest soft hit rate. The Nationals had the fourth fewest amount of plate appearances versus a right-handed hitter in August so far and hit six home runs, the 23rd most, tied with the Braves, and scored 28 runs, the 22nd most, tied with the Padres and Tigers. They had 19 extra base hits, the 10th fewest and tied with the Pirates.

    The Nationals will be a decent test for Schlittler. Though they are not a top offense, they have fared well against RHP on the road in August and their power and runs have outpaced their plate appearances. Schlittler will look to continue his three earned runs or less streak while also throwing at least five innings in his sixth straight start.

    High-risk: Tomoyuki Sugano vs Red Sox, Brad Lord @ Yankees, Shane Smith vs Royals, Eduardo Rodriguez @ Brewers, Ian Seymour @ Guardians, Johan Oviedo @ Cardinals, Mitch McGreevy vs Pirates, JP Sears @ Mariners, JT Ginn vs Tigers, Emmet Sheehan vs Reds

    Tuesday – August 26 – Probable Starters

    **Athletics, Cubs, Orioles all TBD on Tuesday starters**

    Parker Messick – CLE – vs TBR – 4%

    Messick has been a baseball professional for just three years now and, in each of those three years, has spent time at just two levels. After 98.2 innings of pretty damn good pitching at Triple-A this year, they decided to call him up to replace Joey Cantillo in the rotation. In his first big league start, he faced Arizona, one of the ten best teams against lefties in the league, and limited them to just one run over 6.2 innings, striking out six and allowing just one walk. In the minor leagues Messick was a big strikeout pitcher who showed decent control, with four above average pitches and near elite command. He was a ground ball heavy starter who allowed far too many line drives, but also limited home runs. He generated big whiff numbers, with a swinging strike rate around 15% coming into the season, and limited contact, with just a 69% contact rate coming into 2025. Though I do not expect Messick to be an absolute dominant arm, the Guardians have a long track record of generating solid, above-average performers who have a fantasy impact. Messick is one of those performers.

    And he is facing a Rays offense that has been surprisingly poor against left-handed pitching in the month of August. They have a 69 wRC+, the fifth lowest in the league, a .268 wOBA, fourth lowest, and a .619 OPS, fifth lowest. Their .137 ISO is the ninth lowest, their 28% strikeout rate is the second highest in the league and their 3.8% walk rate is the second lowest. On the batted ball side, they have a 48.6% ground ball rate, second highest in the league, a 31.1% fly ball rate, the third lowest, and a 20.3% line drive rate, 13th highest. They have a 34.3% hard hit rate, 13th highest, and a 14.6% soft hit rate, tied with the Giants for 15th highest. They hit eight home runs, ninth most and tied with five other teams, even though they had 265 plate appearances against lefties in August, the sixth most in the league. They scored 25 runs, the 15th most and tied with the Mariners and Astros and had 17 extra base hits, the 16th most, tied with the Pirates, Marlins and Orioles.

    With how poorly the Rays have been performing, struggling to score runs and generate extra base hits, I believe Messick will once again have a great performance. The Rays are swinging and missing a ton and have not been patient at the plate, which should give Messick the opportunity to strike out plenty of batters while limiting walks and runs.

    Charlie Morton – DET – @ ATH – 33%

    Morton has pitched fairly well as of late, earning three wins and four quality starts over his last five starts (and six quality starts in his last eight starts overall). He only had one bad outing, against the Angels, when he allowed two home runs and six earned runs over 4.1 innings, but he also struck out 10, so a bit of a good news/bad news start. Over the other four starts, he allowed just six earned runs, two home runs and 10 walks, striking out 21 over 24 innings. He had a solid strand rate, of 80.2%, but not much BABIP luck, with just a .274 BABIP, not that much lower than the league average. He had a ground ball rate eight points higher than his fly ball rate and a line-drive rate under 20%. He was hit kind of hard, with a 46.8% hard-hit rate and a 7.8% barrel rate. More importantly, though, he’s allowed a barrel rate of just 70.8%, has a chase rate of 31.5% and a swinging strike rate of 14.1%. Minimal damage and plenty of strikeouts will continue to pile up so long as he continues to pitch like he has.

    Morton is facing an Athletics squad that has been a middle of the pack offense against RHP at home in the month of August. The Athletics have a 107 wRC+, 14th, a .335 wOBA, 10th, and a .781 OPS, ninth. They have a .186 ISO, the 11th highest, a 19.6% strikeout rate, the sixth lowest and a 6.8% walk rate, the fifth lowest. They have hit more ground balls than fly balls, but have a 23.9% line drive rate, the fourth highest. They have middle of the pack hard hit and soft hit rates, and hit nine home runs, the 12th most and tied with the Yankees and Orioles, even though they had just the 18th most plate appearances against RHP in August. They scored 31 runs, 18th and tied with the Cubs, and ground into four double plays, eighth most and tied with 11 other teams.

    Morton hasn’t been dominant, but has pitched very well lately. And he is facing an Athletics squad that has been hitting for power at home and scoring runs at a decent rate, but haven’t really stood out in any one way. This will be a tough matchup for Morton, but one that I think he can handle. He shut down the Phillies at home (number one offense in August against RHP at home), so I believe he can handle the Athletics as well.

    High-risk: Martin Perez vs Royals, Andre Pallante vs Pirates, Patrick Corbin vs Angels, Tanner Gordon @ Astros, Justin Verlander vs Cubs, Nick Martinez @ Dodgers, Michael Lorenzen @ White Sox, Lucas Giolito @ Orioles

    Wednesday – August 27 – Probable Starters

    **Baltimore, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs all TBD on Wednesday starters**

    Nolan McLean – NYM – vs PHI – 40%

    McLean has been as advertised so far. He’s made just two starts, but has looked electric in both. He blanked the Mariners over 5.1 innings and allowed just two earned runs over 7 innings against the Braves, striking out 15 combined batters, allowing one home run and four walks. He’s always been a strikeout per inning guy who walks a few more batters than you’d like, who generates plenty of ground balls and limits home runs. He’s done well to limit contact across three levels this season, though his below-average chase rate and only okay swinging strike rate will hamper his ability to generate a large amount of strikeouts in the future.

    McLean is facing a Phillies team that has been surprisingly poor on the road against RHP over August. they have an 81 wRC+, the fifth lowest in the league, with the fifth lowest wOBA and OPS, as well. Their .124 ISO was the fifth lowest, their 5.8% walk rate is the second lowest and tied with the Rangers, while their 22% strikeout rate was in the middle of the league. They had a 44.8%, fifth highest in the league, a 35.7% fly ball rate, the ninth lowest in the league, and a middle of the pack line drive rate. Their 35.9% hard hit rate was the 10th highest and their 17.3% soft hit rate was the fifth highest. The Phillies had the seventh fewest plate appearances against righties in August, but hit just four home runs, the second fewest and tied with the Orioles and Guardians. They scored 18 runs, second fewest and one of two teams to score less than 20, and had just 17 extra base hits, the fifth fewest and tied with the Braves and Tigers.

    McLean has had an impressive start to his big league career, more than capably handling two offenses that have been much better than the Phillies as of late. As a team, they’ve struggled to score runs, hit for power and generate extra base hits and should continue to do the same against McLean. I expect another above average game from the righty, as the Mets slowly chip away at the Phillies divisional lead.

    High-risk: Cade Cavalli @ Yankees, Slade Cecconi vs Rays, Joey Wentz @ Marlins, Ryan Gusto vs Braves, Taijuan Walker @ Mets, Aaron Civale vs Royals, Chase Dollander @ Astros, Carson Whisenhunt vs Cubs, Luis Morales vs Tigers, Ryan Bergert vs White Sox, Ryne Nelson @ Rangers

    Thursday – August 28 – Probable Starters

    **Colorado, Pittsburgh, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Miami, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox all TBD on Thursday Starter**

    Jason Alexander – HOU – vs COL – 19%

    Alexander has been a welcome addition to the Astros rotation this year, filling in as a more than reliable number three starter over his seven starts. He has allowed more than three runs in a start just once this season and is on a great five start run at the moment. Over his last five starts he has thrown 28 innings, allowing just six earned runs, three home runs and seven walks, while striking out 24. He earned three wins and three quality starts. He has been very lucky, as any pitcher would be who has been pitching like this, with a .224 BABIP and a 92.4% ground ball rate. He has been a ground ball heavy pitcher, with a ground ball rate 14 points higher than his fly ball rate, which is a good thing, because he has been allowing too many hard hits. His hard hit rate is 49.4%, which is far too high, while his barrel rate is 7.6%, which isn’t that bad, but combined with such a high hard hit rate can lead to some problems. He has just an 8.1% swinging strike rate and a 26.9% chase rate, which explains the low strikeout rate, but with his great control, he has been great at limiting base runners.

    He is facing one of the worst road offenses in the league when facing a right-handed pitcher in August, the Colorado Rockies. They have a 55 wRC+, tied with the Guardians for the lowest in the league, and 23 points lower than the third lowest offense. They have a .248 wOBA, worst in the league and tied with the Guardians (only two teams under .282), a .562 OPS, worst in the league (and one of two under .639) and just a .091 ISO, lowest in the league and the only team under .100. They had a 23.5% strikeout rate, the 11th highest in the league, and the lowest walk rate in the league, 4.1%. On the batted ball side, they have the second highest ground ball rate, 49.4%, and the fourth lowest fly ball rate, 33.3%, with the sixth lowest line drive rate, 17.3%. They have the eighth lowest hard hit and soft hit rates, which has resulted in just three home runs, while they have the 25th most plate appearances against right-handed pitchers on the road in August. They scored 16 runs, one of only three teams to score less than 20 and the fewest in the league, and ground into five double plays, 12th most and tied with four other teams.

    Though Alexander had had plenty of luck on his side, he has pitched plenty well. And he is facing an absolutely dreadful Rockies offense that has struggled on the road against right handed pitching for months now. The Astros need to bounce back in a big way, so a three game sweep at home against the worst team in the league is something they could really use. So let’s bet on Alexander to throw another two earned runs or less, five innings plus start, grabbing a win and a handful of strikeouts in the process.

    High-risk: Cade Povich vs Red Sox, Nabil Crismatt @ Brewers, Jose Quintana vs Diamondbacks, Miles Mikolas vs PiratesĀ 

    Check back on Thursday for Nathan’s streams for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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    August 24, 2025, 11:34 pm