SP Streamers for today's, tomorrow's and the day after tomorrow's games for fantasy baseball.
Every day of the 2025 baseball season, I'll be looking at today's 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 and I'm starting them in the majority of situations.
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 according to Fantasy Pros. This 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 those picks would be 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, granted by our PLV powered Projections (in alphabetical order by tier):
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.
To spice up these streaming recommendations, I've included our new daily fantasy baseball projections powered by PLV, and I'll be competing against PL Bot to pick the best streaming option each day.
These projections are different from your typical projections as they incorporate our pitch quantifier, assessing pitcher and hitter skills at a much more granular level than your standard box score.
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.
Nick's 2025 Streamer Record: 16-6
My Pick yesterday: Will Warren @ TBR
My Pick today: Luis L. Ortiz @ PIT
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 17-5
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Kumar Rocker vs. LAA
PL Bot's Pick today: Get our Daily & Weekly PLV Projections with PL Bot via PL Pro here.
Note: Names below in Italics are my streaming picks of the day.
Friday 4/18 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zack Wheeler vs. MIA - Aces gonna ace.
Cole Ragans @ DET - Aces gonna ace.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto @ TEX - Aces gonna ace.
Logan Webb @ LAA - He'll be far better than last time against the Yankees.
Bryan Woo @ CIN - Woo is looking like Wheeler. Oh no. Sorry, good Wheeler. Okay, phew.
Carlos Rodón @ TBR - It's a good matchup and he was so close to having a far better line last time out.
Jacob deGrom vs. LAD - Aces gonna scare a lot of y'all facing the Dodgers. He has an 18% SwStr rate, y'all. Start the ace.
Freddy Peralta vs. ATH - He's in a good place, even with last week's questionable outing.
Sandy Alcantara @ PHI - That last start was just a hiccup due to rust, right?
Drew Rasmussen vs. NYY - I know, it's the Yankees, but he's just so dang hard to hit.
Corbin Burnes @ CHC - Yes, I prefer Rasmussen over Burnes. Both have tough matchups and one pitcher looks great and the other is struggling to make his best pitch stellar again.
Probably Starts
Jackson Jobe vs. KCR - Jobe hasn't reached his peak yet, but the production in the meantime is a solid floor.
Bowden Francis vs. SEA - I guess we're just rolling with this until it's apparent it doesn't work, right? But the Orioles start wasn't good! Ehhhh, it was for the most part, even if the ERA disagrees.
David Peterson vs. STL - The velocity is normal with the weather improving and it's the Cardinals.
Luis L. Ortiz @ PIT - Please hold 60% HiLoc on the four-seamer. That would be so dang cool.
J.T. Ginn @ MIL - Ginn added velocity and more drop to his sinker in his return to the rotation. Hopefully it's here for another start in a pitcher-friendly park (it is! Increased strikeouts!).
Questionable Starts
Tyler Anderson vs. SFG - A "Toby" in a good matchup, though Anderson isn't the best one out there.
MacKenzie Gore @ COL - You never know with Gore.
Andrew Abbott @ BAL - Abbott didn't impress me in his return to the mound, even if the ERA went his way. Two ticks down and a 50% strike changeup aren't it.
Chase Dollander vs. WSN - It's Coors, but Dollander carries obvious upside with his velocity. I'm scared but I get it if you're giving it a spin.
Do Not Starts
Kyle Hart @ HOU - He's trying to be a "Toby" but his changeup and sweeper aren't what we want them to be. He'll get a ton of RHB and the change isn't elite.
Cade Povich vs. CIN - There isn't enough juice for the squeeze. You could get a Win or QS here and maybe a peak curveball game for strikeouts, but I'd rather not deal with it.
Bryce Elder vs. MIN - Maybe there's a Win in here.
Chris Paddack @ ATL - Paddack hasn't been as bad as the CHW start, but it's Atlanta.
Miles Mikolas @ NYM - Just don't throw the four-seamer, okay?
Hunter Dobbins vs. CHW - At leat it's the White Sox for this spot start in Fenway.
Martín Pérez @ BOS - His command was worse last time out, he shouldn't go deep, and it's Fenway.
Ryan Gusto vs. SDP - The four-seamer has some intrigue and maybe he develops over time, but this is just the second start and it's the Padres. No thanks.
Colin Rea vs. ARI - I miss Justin Steele. Rea isn't fully stretched out yet.
Carmen Mlodzinski vs. CLE - If the sweeper and slider are cooking, this could work. Highly doubtful.
Saturday 4/19 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Garrett Crochet vs. CHW - Aces gonna ace.
Paul Skenes vs. CLE - Aces gonna ace.
Logan Gilbert @ TOR - Aces gonna ace.
Michael King @ HOU - Aces gonna ace.
Hunter Greene @ BAL - Aces gonna ace.
Chris Sale vs. MIN - Aces gonna ace.
Kodai Senga vs. STL - He has a wider arsenal and back to 96 mph on the heater.
Seth Lugo @ DET - He's not leaving your lineup, especially for the Tigers.
Probably Starts
Landen Roupp @ LAA - The curveball is insanely good and the rest of the arsenal supports it well. The walks will lower in time.
Shane Baz vs. NYY - He's just too dang good with his 97/98 mph heater and filthy curve. There's even a whiff-heavy changeup because of its change of speed from the heater.
Zac Gallen @ CHC - We're not sitting Gallen yet...right? I really hope that time doesn't come.
Roki Sasaki @ TEX - I'm tempted to bench him given the lack of bridge pitch, but the potential for his first major strikeout game is there if the splitter is earning strikes and the four-seamer location improves.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. LAD - It's the Dodgers. It's also a crafty Eovaldi with an improved curve.
Questionable Starts
Ben Lively @ PIT - He's a back-end "Toby" against a poor offense.
José Berríos vs. SEA - Please undulate in the direction we want you to.
Casey Mize vs. KCR - Mize is essentially two pitch and it's not a great situation.
Luis Severino @ MIL - This could be a start that works inside Milwaukee and hopefully the cutter.
Hayden Wesneski vs. SDP - I love the extension, I'm still worried about the four-seamer and if the approach to LHB is good enough. I want it to be so badly.
Kyle Hendricks vs. SFG - You know, he could sneak six frames of meh in here.
Matthew Liberatore @ NYM - Liberatore's changeup needs work, but at least he's at 95+ mph with a legit slider.
Shane Smith @ BOS - I think he'll be dope in time. He doesn't have the stamina yet to hold off destruction past the third or fourth and the command needs refinement. But it could be so fun.
Do Not Starts
Carlos Carrasco @ TBR - We got a cheap Win before, maybe the Yankees score enough off Baz?
Taijuan Walker vs. MIA - It's Taijuan, I don't care if it's Miami.
Brandon Young vs. CIN - Oh snap! I hope this works out for the kid. We don't start MLB debuts round here.
Ben Brown vs. ARI - I know he succeeded against the Dodgers, but he doesn't have a third pitch, the Sneks are good, and the four-seamer is too hittable.
Simeon Woods Richardson @ ATL - SWR isn't the play you want it to be.
Chad Patrick vs. ATH - Two first names.
Kyle Freeland vs. WSN - COOOOOOORS.
Cal Quantrill @ PHI - Cal isn't the commander in chief of any fantasy team.
Brad Lord @ COL - You don't know him and that's completely fine.
Sunday 4/20 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
New for PL Pro members - I am making the streaming table for an extra day out (no write-ups as these pitchers change often). I wanted to add a bonus for those who support us without taking anything away to everyone else and I thought this was a good compromise.
