Fantasy baseball Pitcher Streaming Options: Quintana, Vargas

Jose Quintana, who starts against the Cleveland Indians Sunday, racked up 12 K's in seven innings in his first start.

Barry Gutierrez/AP

Pitchers don't increase their strikeout rate by five whole percentage points in one year simply because of luck. The southpaw Quintana has always been effective against lefties, but he greatly improved his performance against righties last year, holding them to a .240/.296/.392 slash line and posting 117 strikeouts in 146.2 innings. That performance had to be a large factor in his earning a long-term extension from the White Sox, and it should be enough for him to earn the tust of fantasy owners. Quintana takes the ball for the White Sox on Sunday against the Indians. You will note that a handful of their best players -- Jason Kipnis, Nick Swisher, Michael Brantley -- are lefties. Regardless of what you're chasing this weekend, Quintana is a great stream option.

Jason Vargas will have the opportunity to take advantage of the bumbling Twins on Sunday.

Orlin Wagner/AP

• Martin Perez, Texas Rangers -- Perez has had some hard luck this season, allowing six earned runs in 12 innings despite a 2.33 FIP. He has yet to allow a home run and has walked just three, but he has surrendered 15 hits, resulting in a .429 BABIP. Obviously it's way too early to even start drawing any conclusions based on batted-ball rates, but Perez's peripheral numbers all suggest he has pitched better this season than his ERA indicates. But let's forget that for a second and note that he takes the bump for the Rangers on Sunday against the Astros, a matchup that could make even the lowliest of starters worth streaming. Perez can help you this weekend, regardless of what categories you're chasing down.