Fantasy Baseball 2-Start Pitchers and SP Streamers

The two teams entered the sixth inning in a scoreless battle. Ke’Bryan Hayes came through with a two-out RBI double to get the Pirates on the board in the top half of the frame then Burleson answered with his two-out, two-run double in the home half to put the Cardinals on top to stay. He finished the evening 1-for-3 and is now hitting .257/.304/.352 with a pair of long balls, 11 RBI and two stolen bases on the year.

As a team, the Cardinals tallied just four hits off of Paul Skenes and company in the ballgame, so Walker going without a knock wasn’t completely surprising. The 22-year-old outfielder is off to a brutal start to the 2025 season though — slashing a putrid .194/.263/.269 with just two homers, nine RBI and a pair of stolen bases. You’d had to think that he would need another trip to Triple-A Memphis to figure things out again, but the Cardinals can’t continue to settle for the subpar production that they have been receiving from the position.

Cardinals’ closer Ryan Helsley was unavailable on Tuesday after picking up saves in each of the previous two days, so manager Oli Marmol turned to Graceffo to preserve a one-run advantage in the ninth inning. The 25-year-old right-hander made it look easy, needing just six pitches to dispatch of Adam Frazier, Enmanuel Valdez and Joey Bart in succession. While his 6.30 ERA looks bad at a glance, Graceffo has posted a 1.10 WHIP and a 7/1 K/BB ratio over his first 10 innings with the Cardinals while snagging a pair of victories and a save. He’s not going to suddenly displace Helsley in the ninth inning, so don’t rush to the waiver wire to grab him after Tuesday’s performance.

The 25-year-old southpaw allowed just three hits and three walks on the evening. All of the damage that was done against him came on an RBI double off the bat of Ke’Bryan Hayes with two outs in the sixth inning. Aside from that, he was in complete command. Liberatore got a whopping 17 swings and misses on 99 pitches on the night — seven of those on his heater — while registering an elite CSW of 38 percent. He’ll look to keep the good times rolling as he carries a 3.07 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and a 38/6 K/BB ratio (41 innings) into Monday’s showdown against the Phillies in Philadelphia. It goes without saying, but if he’s hanging around on the waiver wire in any shallower formats, now is the time to rectify that.

Hayes looked like he was poised to be the hero in this one, as he broke a scoreless tie with a two-out RBI double off of Matthew Liberatore in the sixth inning. That would be the Pirates’ lone run in the contest though and that lead would evaporate before the inning was through. Hayes has been swinging a hot bat in the middle of the Pirates’ lineup — albeit without power — as he’s slashing .254/.307/.315 with one homer, 14 RBI and three stolen bases.

Skenes piled up six strikeouts on the evening, but also struggled with his command and issued four free passes for the second consecutive start. He kept the Cardinals off the board entirely until his final inning of work where Alec Burleson smacked a two-out, two-run double to put the Cardinals ahead. The 22-year-old right-hander got 13 whiffs on 102 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 25 percent. Now 3-4 on the season, he’ll tote a terrific 2.77 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and a 47/12 K/BB ratio (48 2/3 innings) into Monday’s matchup against the Mets in New York.