Here are today’s daily SP Streamer rankings. Welcome back, y’all.
Every day of the 2024 baseball season, I’ll be looking at today and tomorrow’s slate of scheduled starting pitchers and ranking their matchups for your fantasy baseball streams.
There’s a lot that goes into this and you can hang out with me on Playback.tv/pitcherlist to talk about the specific ranks as I make them every weekday morning from 10am – 12pm ET. If you have questions about these ranks, please ask during the morning Playback AMA. Those are my office hours as I generally don’t answer comments on the site.
There are four tiers to these rankings with 12-teamers in mind:
Auto-Start – Just do it. Don’t overthink this, start the man. This includes “if I have them rostered, I’m starting them” pitchers.
Probably Start – I’m likely starting these arms, though I recognize there is more risk than we’d like there to be. Either it’s a tough matchup for a good-not-elite pitcher or a weak lineup for a volatile arm. These pitchers have a 50% or greater chance of performing well in my view.
Questionable Start – Think of this tier as “I don’t want to start these pitchers in a vacuum, but you could do worse.” Streamers found in this tier are not pitchers I’m targeting and are only if you are in dire need of one. To play it safe with streaming, just start the Probably Start streamers.
Do Not Start – The reward is not worth the risk. Don’t do it. Seriously, these pitchers have a very slim chance of success or sometimes none at all.
Obviously, there will be circumstances where pitchers should move between teams for your situation specifically and these new tiers should act as a little more help than the straight table from last year.
Please keep in mind that streaming is far from a perfect play. In fact, if they work out over half the time, I’d consider it a success. These matchup rankings & streamer picks are going to be wildly different than the actual results throughout the year, so please, have sympathy before the scathing comments and tweets. I’m only trying to help!
Make sure to read the notes if you’re wondering why I’m favoring certain pitchers over others – I won’t get to everyone and hopefully I answer what questions you will have.
There is a second table for tomorrow’s starting pitcher matchups as well, helping everyone get a jump on their nightly pickups. Please note that these matchups are subject to change, though, and there will be times when I have the incorrect pitcher going. I thank you for your future understanding.
Finally, there are my streaming picks of the day, and please keep in mind that I am forced to pick a streamer every day. Those highlighted in Green are that day’s streaming pick in the second tier and I’d roll with them everywhere. Those in Yellow are in the third tier and should be okay if you’re searching for something on a given day, but I don’t recommend streaming unless you’re in need. Finally, those are Red are those I really don’t want to start (they are labeled as “Do Not Start”, after all) but have no other choice. Don’t stream these guys until you are truly desperate. A streaming pick is defined as “rostered in 20% or fewer leagues,” which really emphasizes the point that I’d be happy if over 50% of these worked. I could do the whole sub 30/40% rostered, but there’s no fun in that. You can use the rankings to realize who would be those picks, instead.
(Opener) – Outlines that a pitcher is being opened for that day & the pitcher listed will follow the opener.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to showcase a table of how we’re ranking offenses (in Alphabetical order):
I’m sure it’ll change through the year + there are differences to be made about teams vs. LHP or RHP, but it works as a general table that y’all should keep in mind.
Alright, let’s get to it.
This year, with our new daily fantasy baseball projections powered by PLV, I’ll be competing against PL Bot to pick the best streaming option each day.
To get access to PL Bot’s picks each day, sign up for PL Pro here.
The streaming record is determined by “Was this a productive game for 12-teamers if I started them?” Roughly a PQS with a Win and a strikeout per inning with a sub 1.20 WHIP, with a minimum of 5 IP. Close calls are decided by Playback chat.
2023 Results:
Nick’s Record: 101-77
PL Bot’s Record: 90-89
Nick’s 2024 Streamer Record: 0-0
My pick yesterday: IT’S OPENING DAY
PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 0-0
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: IT’S OPENING DAY
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.
My streaming pick of the day is Underlined and Italicized.
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Corbin Burnes vs. LAA – Aces gonna ace.
Luis Castillo vs. BOS – Aces gonna ace.
Pablo López @ KCR – Aces gonna ace.
Tarik Skubal @ CHW – Aces gonna ace.
Tyler Glasnow vs. STL – Aces gonna ace.
Cole Ragans vs. MIN – Aces gonna ace. LET’S GOOOOOOO.
Zac Gallen vs. COL – Aces gonna ace.
Logan Webb @ SDP – Aces gonna ace.
Shane Bieber @ OAK – He’s been 92/93 in the spring and revised his curveball. Throw in a terrible Oakland squad and this is relatively safe start.
Yu Darvish vs. SFG – He worked abut the Dodgers on a limited pitch count. This start should be longer and with less stress.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. CHC – As long as Eovaldi is healthy and sitting 96+, he should be a no-brainer against all but the elite squads.
Jesús Luzardo vs. PIT – The strikeout ceiling is high against the Pirates.
Framber Valdez vs. NYY – It’s Framber, though the matchup ain’t fun at all.
Zach Eflin vs. TOR – The Jays are a bit scary and Eflin’s 2023 success relied on cutters and curves working. We’re still a go, but it could be a start or two for Eflin to get going.
Justin Steele @ TEX – I hate the matchup, but Steele has looked this spring like the guy we want him to be.
Probably Starts
Brayan Bello @ SEA – He’s stretched out and the Mariners offense is not intimidating.
José Berríos @ TBR – It’s the Rays. It’s The Great Undulator. You let it fly.
Mitch Keller @ MIA – I have a massive distaste for Keller’s volatile command, but against the Marlins, the risk is worth the potential reward.
Questionable Starts
Frankie Montas vs. WSN – You may have forgotten about Montas, who has looked perfectly acceptable this spring. The Nats make for a potential stream, though pitching inside GABP adds too much haze to trust on Opening Day.
Garrett Crochet vs. DET – I’m not the biggest Crochet fan as he’s showcased mostly a two-pitch approach this spring without exceptional command. I also wonder how long the White Sox will let him go, even if it is the questionable Tigers lineup.
Nestor Cortes @ HOU – I’m thrilled Cortes had a healthy spring, though I wasn’t impressed by his overall performance. He may need a moment and the Astros have a decent chance of roughing him up.
Kyle Freeland @ ARI – Sneaky sneaky sneaky. Freeland is 3.5 ticks up on his fastball and commanding as good as ever + he’s outside of Coors. And yet, he’s at the very bottom of questionable. Don’t unless you have to.
Do Not Starts
Alex Wood vs. CLE – I imagine some of you are tempted to roll with this. Wood hasn’t been a consistent producer in ages, we don’t know how long he’ll go, and the Athletics provide a minimal Win chance. Nope.
Josiah Gray @ CIN – Josiah Gray, the HR machine, in the HR park? No thanks.
Miles Mikolas @ LAD – The Dodgers. At least Mikolas is going far more secondary focused these days.
Patrick Sandoval @ BAL – The Irish Panda hasn’t been a strong option for ages and the Orioles offense looks vicious.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Spencer Strider @ PHI – Aces gonna ace.
Zack Wheeler vs. ATL – Aces gonna ace.
George Kirby vs. BOS – Aces gonna ace.
Bobby Miller vs. STL – Aces gonna ace.
Freddy Peralta @ NYM – Aces gonna ace.
Joe Musgrove vs. SFG – He battled overseas and now gets the comfort of Petco and the Giants.
Merrill Kelly vs. COL – It’s a solid matchup (even if they haven’t played in Coors yet) and Kelly can go six.
Nick Pivetta @ SEA – He’s ready to go at least five if not six and showcased the whirlybird well in his final tuneup.
Probably Starts
Chris Bassitt @ TBR – The matchup is rough and we can’t forget the 9 ER blast in his first start last year, right?
A.J. Puk vs. PIT – I’m super excited for this one as Puk has looked phenomenal all spring.
Aaron Civale vs. TOR – The matchup is tough, though if you have Civale, you’re chancing it for a potential Win + hoping the slider becomes a larger part of his game as he expressed back in December.
Cristian Javier vs. NYY – I adore Javier’s new changeup addition (he can throw it for strikes!) and despite failing to record an overwhelming spring outing, I’m a believer in Javier’s new approach.
Questionable Starts
Logan Allen @ OAK – Shocking, I know. We’ve neglected him entirely and yet, here he is, getting the streaming pick on the second day of the year. It’s a great matchup, Allen is a Toby and this could be a quiet productive day. I’d prefer not to go for it, but hey, he’s the streaming option.
Carlos Rodón @ HOU – Boy do I hope to have egg on my face after this start. Rodón hasn’t been able to sit 95/96 mph all spring and it’s entirely possible he shows up in this one and pumps gas all game to prove that he’s ready. PLEASE.
Kyle Harrison @ SDP – It’s a 50/50 if Harrison has good enough command to give himself a shot at 5+ frames without destroy your WHIP, then there’s the whole “aren’t the Padres good against LHP?” thing that makes me turn away from this.
Martín Pérez @ MIA – Another sneaky potential stream here as Pérez’s command has been on point this spring. Not a great Win chance, but you could do worse here.
Jose Quintana vs. MIL – I’m not sold that Quintana is able to locate his fastball well enough yet to trust him as a Toby, but he could turn into a Vargas Rule soon enough.
Do Not Starts
Ross Stripling vs. CLE – Naaaaaaah.
Cal Quantrill @ ARI – COL story, Bro.
Zack Thompson @ LAD – This has all the makings of a rough day.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)