Here are today and tomorrow’s daily SP Streamer rankings for fantasy baseball.
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: 4-0
My pick yesterday: Jared Jones vs. MIA
PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 3-1
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Reid Detmers @BAL
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
Shota Imanaga vs. COL – It’s Rockie Road and the strikeouts will pile up quickly.
Tanner Houck @ OAK – I’m absolutely SHOCKED he’s rostered in under 10% of leagues. This is such a fantastic matchup and Houck has looked much improved over the spring.
Charlie Morton @ CHW – It’s too good of a Win chance to pass up.
MacKenzie Gore vs. PIT – Gore has looked fantastic this spring and while the Pirates have displaced the Marlins starters a bit, Gore’s heater looks ready to dominate.
Triston McKenzie @ SEA – McKenzie’s curve is back and his four-seamer should dominate like Pivetta’s did.
Probably Starts
James Paxton vs. SFG – Paxton should be able to dismantle the Giants and steal a Win.
Cristopher Sánchez vs. CIN – It’s not in Cincy (Philly ain’t great, but still better). I’m a little worried about the changeup we’ve seen this spring, but at least the sinker velocity is still up two ticks.
Reese Olson @ NYM – Olson’s slider is great, changeup is solid, sinker works well, and the four-seamer needs to be sent home on the bus. The Mets don’t scare me here.
Max Meyer vs. LAA – His slider should have a field day against the Angels.
Chase Silseth @ MIA – Silseth looked fantastic in his last spring outing and I’m hoping he’s already in rhythm with his slider and splitter.
Luis Gil @ ARI – I’m obsessed with Gil’s arsenal, but the Sneks aren’t the greatest matchup (the Rockies SP aren’t anything like Gil, though) and it’s possible Gil doesn’t go a full five. I’m still going after it.
Ryan Pepiot vs. TEX – I’m thrilled Pepiot is executing high heaters unlike his time with the Dodgers, but does his first start have to be Texas?!
Questionable Starts
Dean Kremer vs. KCR – It’s a solid Win chance, though it still requires Kremer to have both his cutter and four-seamer working.
Sean Manaea vs. DET – I hope his sweeper is well spotted down, though I worry the ceiling isn’t worth this.
Matt Waldron vs. STL – There’s a sneaky Win chance in here given Waldron’s solid arsenal.
Andrew Abbott @ PHI – This is a risky play against a strong offense, but we have seen Abbott excel before. Go for Wins with Wacha/Marco, strikeouts for Abbott.
Ryne Nelson vs. NYY – Nelson is super interesting to me, but I’d rather not test it against the Yankees.
Michael Wacha @ BAL – Not a terrible Win chance, but it just happens to be Baltimore.
Marco Gonzales @ WSN – It’s the Nationals and Marco has decent command at the moment.
Do Not Starts
Bowden Francis @ HOU – I love his fastball shape, but this is too risky.
Ronel Blanco vs. TOR – He struck out ten…minor leaguers in his last start. This is the Jays.
Emerson Hancock vs. CLE – He could bea Toby, but I don’t think he’s polished enough yet to go six frames, let alone five.
Joe Boyle vs. BOS – The command is atrocious and the Red Sox are solid.
Kyle Gibson @ SDP – Maybe he can earn all the slider whiffs again?
Dane Dunning @ TBR – I’m not a fan of Dunning’s arsenal and the Rays are legit.
Dakota Hudson @ CHC – There’s an outside chance he has BABIP on his side, I guess.
Chris Flexen vs. ATL – Absolutely not.
Keaton Winn @ LAD – Not a chance.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Tyler Glasnow vs. SFG – Aces gonna ace.
Luis Castillo vs. CLE – Aces gonna ace.
Shane Bieber @ SEA – Aces gon–oh. Right. He looked like a new man against the Athletics and the Mariners aren’t scary. I get the sense he’ll be AGA before May 1st.
Zac Gallen vs. NYY – Lower velocity, worse command, and a solid Yankee offense. And yet, we gotta AGA this.
Jesús Luzardo vs. LAA – Slider and four-seamer were great against the Pirates + it’s the Angels.
Yu Darvish vs. STL – Fantastic pitch variety and confidence to not give in last time out.
Brayan Bello @ OAK – Bello is a QS fiend against a poor lineup.
Logan Webb @ LAD – AGA, even against the Dodgers. Still worth it.
Probably Starts
Casey Mize @ NYM – I’m absolutely stoked to watch Mize and his new four-seamer go after a mediocre Mets lineup.
Reynaldo López @ CHW – He should be able to go five frames while Atlanta does the rest.
Nestor Cortes @ ARI – The Sneks just had an offensive barrage, though it was against Colorado pitching. Cortes settled in after his first frame last week and this should be smoother sailing.
Framber Valdez vs. TOR – He’s not going to walk six again.
Zach Eflin vs. TEX – He had a rough opening outing as he left far too many pitches over the plate. Feel free to bench him against the mighty Rangers offense if you like, I’m expecting a rebound start.
José Berríos @ HOU – Berríos’ command was stellar against the Jays, allowing me to lean start against a strong Houston squad.
Questionable Starts
Garrett Crochet vs. ATL – We all know how well Crochet performed…against the Tigers. Now he faces Atlanta and has to maintain the same four-seamer precision, which may not be enough.
Louie Varland @ MIL – I’m excited for him to have runway as the SP #5, though we may want to give it a start before we lean into it.
Adrian Houser vs. DET – There’s a decent shot at a QS or Win here for Houser as he pumps heater after heater into the zone against a poor lineup.
Cole Irvin vs. KCR – I want to be more in, though Irivin’s spring velo fell and his command wasn’t pristine. However, we’ve seen arms rebound in their first starts already + this is a solid Win chance.
Tyler Anderson @ MIA – Are we scared of the Marlins offense? Maybe? Anderson is a Toby at best and there’s a shot here.
Graham Ashcraft @ PHI – I don’t want to face the Phillies offense, even if Ashcraft is outside of Cincy. He could go six with 2 ER and 2 Ks or whatever, though.
Kyle Freeland @ CHC – Look. I know. The Cubs aren’t as good as the Sneks + Freeland ran into some bad luck last time. THERE’S A CHANCE.
Do Not Starts
Andrew Heaney @ TBR – I don’t trust Heaney’s command and the Rays should scare you
Miles Mikolas @ SDP – Maybe he throws enough strikes with his secondaries and skirts through six frames.
Alex Wood vs. BOS – His stuff wasn’t the worst thing ever against the Guardians and he certainly has a decently long leash.
Alec Marsh @ BAL – Marsh struck out 11 in one game last year, right?
Javier Assad vs. COL – I don’t expect Assad to go long in this one, nor do I have plenty of adoration for the skill set.
Jakob Junis vs. MIN – It’s just a good slider.
Spencer Turnbull vs. CIN – Turnbull is four-seamer/sweeper with said heater acting more like a cutter. Is he even stretched out for 5+ frames?
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)