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 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 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 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.
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.
Nick’s 2024 Streamer Record: 20-8
My pick yesterday: Clarke Schmidt vs. OAK
PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 18-10
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Matt Waldron @ COL
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
Freddy Peralta @ PIT – Aces gonna ace.
Zack Wheeler @ CIN – Aces gonna ace.
Luis Castillo @ TEX – Aces gonna ace.
Cole Ragans vs. TOR – Aces gonna ace. What is it with our Tier 1 studs facing mostly tough matchups on Thursday? Whatever, don’t overthink it.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto @ WSN – Ahhhh, much better. GET. YOUR. HEATER. UPSTAIRS.
Bailey Ober vs. CHW – It’s the CrySox and Ober has allowed just two runs in three starts after his opening blunder. What, like fool’s mate? SAVE THE JOKES FOR THE ROUNDUP.
Nestor Cortes vs. OAK – Cortes gets Oakland and he’s surprisingly going deep into games lately.
José Berríos @ KCR – He’s been consistent to kick off the year and like Bassitt, it’s best not to think about it and let him fly.
Probably Starts
Brayan Bello @ CLE – Bello is near Berríos, but without as much of a track record.
Justin Verlander @ CHC – Verlander didn’t overwhelm with whiffs and strikeouts, though he did go nearly 80 pitches. The Cubs without Bellinger make this an easy call.
UPDATE: Simeon Woods Richardson vs. CHW – As expected, Varland’s spot has been taken by SWR and the CrySox are such a great team to stream against.
Questionable Starts
Triston McKenzie vs. BOS – He’s pitching with a torn ligament and still came through against the Athletics. The Sawx are without Casas, though Devers should be expected to be in this lineup.
Andrew Heaney vs. SEA – Heaney pulled off the BSB in his last outing against Atlanta and this could be a step up against a worse Seattle crew.
Mitch Keller vs. MIL – He’s a Cherry Bomb. Do what you want.
MacKenzie Gore vs. LAD – I’m super into Gore long term with his improved fastball and uptick in velocity. Why does it have to be the Dodgers?
Javier Assad vs. HOU – Assad has been a Vargas Rule and yet I still don’t want to do this against the Astros.
Do Not Starts
Michael Soroka @ MIN – Low Win chance + Soroka hasn’t figured it out yet. Sinker/slider isn’t the long-term answer.
Randy Vásquez @ COL – The Rockies aren’t as scary in Coors these days, at the very least.
Dakota Hudson vs. SDP – Can he earn enough grounders to survive?
UPDATE: Chase Anderson @ CLE – Ahhhh right, the Sawx have Anderson as a depth option. And with Bello enduring a lat injury, Anderson gets the call. Only Houck and Crawford remain…
Nick Martinez vs. PHI – Martinez is back in the rotation with Montas’ injury and he’s abruptly served the Phils in Cin City. Nooooope.
Alex Wood @ NYY – Wood has little to latch onto + it’s the Yankees.
Enjoy these rankings? Support my work and Pitcher List by getting PL+ or PL Pro! You’ll get an Ad-Free website, access to our incredible non-toxic baseball Discord community, my weekly PL Pro exclusive SP FAAB Forecast podcast, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Corbin Burnes vs. OAK – Aces gonna ace.
Zac Gallen @ SEA – Aces gonna ace.
Zach Eflin @ CHW – Aces gonna ace.
Jesús Luzardo vs. WSN – It’s the Nationals, lowering Luzardo’s chances of the bomb portion of Cherry Bomb.
Bailey Ober @ LAA – It’s a wonderful matchup for Ober, who has allowed just 2 ER since his terrible season opener.
Aaron Nola @ SDP – The Padres aren’t the ideal matchup, though Nola has been faring better.
Shota Imanaga @ BOS – The Sawx are without Casas, but it’s still Fenway with Devers back in the lineup.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. CIN – Eovaldi has proven himself as a reliable arm and fortunately faces the Reds outside of Cin City.
Chris Sale vs. CLE – He hasn’t done anything to suggest we should stop letting him fly on the regular.
Seth Lugo @ DET – It’s the Tigers, you’re doing this.
Probably Starts
Joe Musgrove vs. PHI – Musgrove hasn’t been terrible, but he’s certainly not showcasing elite ability quite yet.
Kutter Crawford vs. CHC – Without Bellinger, this makes for a pretty clear start…even if regression is sure to come eventually.
Chris Bassitt vs. LAD – I know it’s the Dodgers. Don’t overthink things with Bassitt.
Reese Olson vs. KCR – Our streaming pick of the day goes to Olson, who has found his slider as of late. I’m a fan of Olson not just for this outing, but for the long haul as well.
Luis Gil @ MIL – He just had a start with his four-seamer earning all the strikes, can he do it again?
José Buttó vs. STL – I wrestled with this one and eventually slotted Buttó into the second tier. I don’t think he possesses a strong arsenal, though he’s commanded well enough + the Cardinals are far from their peak.
Questionable Starts
Gavin Stone @ TOR – I’m worried Stone doesn’t have his whole arsenal working + the Jays are great at home so far. You don’t believe in Home/Road splits. Yeah, you’re right. The point stands.
Kyle Harrison vs. PIT – Harrison’s four-seamer is landing in the zone…and still not missing a ton of bats. Without that, Harrison’s Cherry Bomb status is a whole lot more of the disastrous nature.
Do Not Starts
Patrick Sandoval vs. MIN – This isn’t nearly as bad as many others in this tier, but I have no interest trusting The Irish Panda. It’s far too volatile.
Graham Ashcraft @ TEX – If he has good enough cutter command, Ashcraft could pull off a middling line of “oh, I guess that works” against even the mighty Rangers offense.
Colin Rea vs. NYY – Rea has had some moments, but it’s the Yankees and this can go poorly incredibly fast.
Miles Mikolas @ NYM – Mikolas at least has a long leash. Here’s to hoping his secondary-first approach comes through.
Emerson Hancock vs. ARI – He has the ability to go six frames, but the Sneks are too scary without enough upside here.
Logan Allen @ ATL – We want to avoid Atlanta a ton, though Logan’s ability is a proper step above those below in these ranks.
Ross Stripling @ BAL – Stripling is kitchen-sink and we’ve seen some random starters have success against the tough Orioles this year. Probably not here, though. No, probably not.
Quinn Priester @ SFG – It’s a great matchup, but Quinn doesn’t do a whole lot outside of hoping for slider precision down-and-gloveside.
Trevor Williams @ MIA – #NeverTrevor.
Chris Flexen vs. TBR – You generally want to stream against the Rays, but it’s the CrySox offense behind Flexen and, you know, it’s Flexen.
Enjoy these rankings? Support my work and Pitcher List by getting PL+ or PL Pro! You’ll get an Ad-Free website, access to our incredible non-toxic baseball Discord community, my weekly PL Pro exclusive SP FAAB Forecast podcast, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram) –