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.
And of course, there are my streaming picks of the day. 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.
(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):
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 PLV, 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: 25-7
My Pick yesterday: Jordan Hicks vs. TEX
My Pick today: Nick Martinez vs. STL
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 25-7
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Zack Littell vs. ARI
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.
Monday 4/28 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Jack Flaherty @ HOU – He sure feels like an ace these days.
Dustin May vs. MIA – It was a terrible start last time out. This is the Marlins. Let’s not be rash here.
Probably Starts
Bailey Ober @ CLE – The LHB-heavy lineup suits Ober well with his elite changeup, allowing the lagging slider and cutter to take a backseat.
Gavin Williams vs. MIN – He’s fresh off his best performance with strikes galore with his curve and sweeper + the cutter showed up. FINALLY.
Nick Martinez vs. STL – NiMart has been a solid "Toby" and gets a good matchup.
Questionable Starts
Ronel Blanco vs. DET – He brought back the change and slider usage last time, hopefully it’s enough against the Tigers.
Griffin Canning @ WSN – Yes, he did well last time out. I’m not confident he’ll have the same feel for his slider and changeup.
Will Warren @ BAL – Warren’s four-seamer is better, but not stellar (unfortunately), and he has to show he has the breaker + changeup working before I’m pushing him up a tier.
Do Not Starts
JP Sears @ TEX - Sure, it can work, but the ceiling isn't too high and the floor is still low.
Trevor Williams vs. NYM - #NeverTrevor. If you're not sure why I always say that, I suggest googling him.
Andre Pallante @ CIN - If you really need a potential Win or QS, I'm fine with it. The WHIP and strikeout rate have little upside to provide.
Patrick Corbin vs. ATH - At least Corbin is leaning on the cutter and slider as a tandem these days.
AJ Smith-Shawver @ COL - It's Coors, even with the worse offense, and AJSS has yet to display great command.
Tomoyuki Sugano vs. NYY - It's the Yankees.
Edward Cabrera @ LAD - It's the Dodgers.
Ryan Feltner vs. ATL - It's Coors, even if Feltner has had surprisingly decent starts.
Bryce Elder @ COL - Coors. Elder. A match made in a random office somewhere.
Tuesday 4/29 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zack Wheeler vs. WSN - Aces gonna ace.
Garrett Crochet @ TOR - Aces gonna ace.
Jacob deGrom vs. ATH - Aces gonna ace.
Shota Imanaga @ PIT - Aces goo--Oh right. Not quite there despite his prophetic name granted at birth, but it's the Pirates.
Freddy Peralta @ CHW - This is super obvious.
Logan Webb @ SDP - Webb has found a rhythm with his sweeper and change.
Carlos Rodón @ BAL - Rodón's changeup is working like a charm.
Bryce Miller vs. LAA - Okay Bryce. It's @TEA. It's a RHB-heavy crew. THIS IS YOUR MOMENT.
Nick Pivetta vs. SFG - Pivetta has been cruising and no one is benching him now.
Probably Starts
Tanner Bibee vs. MIN - It's pretty clear you're going to start him, though I recognize that Bibee has not been at his peak.
MacKenzie Gore @ PHI - Gore has been on more than off and performed at his best against strong teams. Let's hope for a replication of opening day.
Bowden Francis vs. BOS - Is this the start that everyone starts believing Francis isn't that great? I hope not. Seriously, I want every pitcher to be dope!
Reese Olson @ HOU - Olson's changeup and slider were both filthy for the first time all year.
David Peterson vs. ARI - Peterson's extension + pair of whiffable secondaries makes me inclined to let him ride. We haven't seen both the change and slider dominate in a game thus far, though.
Questionable Starts
Sandy Alcantara @ LAD - Yikes. Sandy has been rough since his paternity leave and it's the Dodgers.
Jack Kochanowicz @ SEA - Sometimes decency is all we want in this world.
Ryan Gusto vs. DET - His four-seamer is a fun offering upstairs, but does he have enough in the utility belt to support it for 5+ frames?
Brady Singer vs. STL - Singer isn't showcasing a super wide arsenal these days and it's GABP, but this should be fine.
Andrew Heaney vs. CHC - Heaney has been a "Vargas Rule" and this will be a true test to see how much we believe in that term.
Taj Bradley vs. KCR - Bradley's command is not fun to endure throughout a fantasy season.
Eduardo Rodriguez @ NYM - We know the rare ceiling. This is really a shot at a QS or Win.
Michael Lorenzen @ TBR - Please go six frames.
Do Not Starts
Chris Paddack @ CLE - This may be worthy of the third tier with a LHB-heavy lineup that serves his split-change well. I still question if the ceiling is worth the jump. You say that a lot. It's a good phrase!
Miles Mikolas @ CIN - Mikolas could spin sliders a ton and find a way through six.
AJ Smith-Shawver @ COL - AJSS is returning and they're throwing him into Coors. The command is the real issue and I'm skeptical he'll make us confident for multiple starts.
Matt Sauer vs. MIA - How long is he going? Does it matter?
Hogan Harris @ TEX - We've seen Hogan have a kitchen-sink of pitches to be a deep-league streamer. That's the best I can do.
Kyle Gibson vs. NYY - This floor is so low.
Bryse Wilson vs. MIL - Absolutely not.
Germán Márquez vs. ATL - COL story, bro.
Wednesdsay 4/30 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.
Bailey Ober is getting absolutely wrecked this year by lefties -. 934 OPS
Huh? Sandy just tossed a QS vs Cincy. I get that it’s the Dodgers and probably a sit but he was fine last time out.