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: 6-1
My Pick yesterday: Landen Roupp @ HOU
My Pick today: Charlie Morton vs. BOS
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 6-1
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Jameson Taillon @ ATH
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.
Thursday 4/3 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Joe Ryan vs. HOU - Aces gonna ace. Are we going to see 94+ mph here?
Hunter Brown @ MIN - I haven't been the biggest fan, but Brown is obviously making it work with a wide arsenal. Maybe the four-seamer is better than I'm giving it credit..?
Probably Starts
Nick Lodolo @ MIL - Lodolo finally has a clean bill of health and I loved the changeup feel last time out. Milwaukee hasn't impressed, either.
Questionable Starts
Charlie Morton vs. BOS - There's a chance for a Win and QS. The other three? Either looking terrible or a stupid good offense.
Merrill Kelly @ NYY - It's the Yankees. Kelly is a crafty fella though, and those can make things annoying for big boppers like the Yankees. There's a chance at production here.
Nestor Cortes vs. CIN - Yes, it was horrible. You probably shouldn't do this, though we should likely just forget about that first outing entirely. But the lower velocity! Okay, fair. Let's hope that's back to 92 mph.
Tanner Houck @ BAL - Houck had a horrific spring and it carried over into his first outing. The Orioles are not an offense to mess with either. I don't like this at all.
Do Not Starts
Taijuan Walker vs. COL - It's "Rockie Road" but hot dang. Taijuan.
Antonio Senzatela @ PHI - Sure, whatever Senz-A.
Carlos Carrasco vs. ARI - Carrasco is unlikely to go five frames here, let alone with a line you'll enjoy.
Friday 4/4 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Spencer Schwellenbach vs. MIA - He's on the path to AGA in a great matchup.
Jack Flaherty vs. CHW - The White Sox y'all.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto @ PHI - Aces gonna ace.
Max Fried @ PIT - Aces gonna ace.
Bryce Miller @ SFG - He's not home, but this should be fine.
Shota Imanaga vs. SDP - You Are An AGA, right?
Seth Lugo vs. BAL - Sure, he's a "Holly".
Probably Starts
Gavin Williams @ LAA - It's a great matchup Gavin, please don't let us down. SHOW US THE CUTTER.
Kevin Gausman @ NYM - This and the other arms below are mostly "Toby" plays so fine, go with Gausman.
Tylor Megill vs. TOR - Megill looked so good in his last start and I'm being aggressive here to showcase how he should be picked up just for the chance he keeps it going. If he does, this may be the breakout pick of the year. No joke. It's a big IF? Kinda, yeah.
José Soriano vs. CLE - He's solid with sinker/curve and don't expect the world.
Nick Martinez @ MIL - I dig Martinez's schtick and it's good to pitch in Milwaukee for strikeouts. 12% increase!
Justin Verlander vs. SEA - Verlander isn't the greatest, but this is a lovely situation.
Max Meyer @ ATL - Should Meyer be higher? Maybe? I see this as the test for Meyer against a solid offense that hasn't fired on all cylinders yet. Hopefully the non-sliders step up to demand just as much success as the signature breaker.
Questionable Starts
Brandon Pfaadt @ WSN - I'm so curious if the curveball returns to face LHB. 3/9 whiffs last time out and if that is a true solution for LHB, then I can finally get on board.
Tyler Mahle vs. TBR - Mahle's first outing was an obvious fluke of a day. He struggled to locate the heaters as he normally does and the secondaries were blegh (even if they are usually blegh), but it was 93 mph and I'm willing to give him a first-start-back pass against a mediocre Rays offense. Let's see how this goes.
Jesús Luzardo vs. LAD - We saw Luzardo feature a new sweeper and strike out a ton in his first start against the Nationals. This is the Dodgers. Good luck.
Dean Kremer @ KCR - Kremer's skills have been on the good side of the pendulum in late spring and even in his first start. This could work...?
Erick Fedde @ BOS - Fedde is a "Toby" heading to one of the worst pitcher parks.
Zack Littell @ TEX - Littell went "Dacing With The Disco" once again and had fantastic precision last time. I don't believe he'll do that often.
Jake Irvin vs. ARI - Maybe the curve is back in full?
Walker Buehler vs. STL - His last start was so bad. He looks as lost as ever and is sitting 93 mph. Even against the Cards, he's in hitter-friendly Fenway and I've already dropped him. I sure hope he shows us something different here.
Mitch Keller vs. NYY - This has all the signs of a disaster, but at least Keller can go 5/6 innings with a wide arsenal and throw strikes...? Yeah, you're not doing this.
Do Not Starts
Osvaldo Bido @ COL - It's Coors for a guy without good command.
Jonathan Cannon @ DET - If you're desperate for a QS, there could be one here. That's all.
Randy Vásquez @ CHC - Vásquez earned the fifth spot and I hate this matchup against the Cubs. He could find outs and a Win out of nothing and but the ceiling isn't worth the jump.
Ryan Feltner vs. ATH - Feltner is in Coors. Noooope.
Tyler Alexander vs. CIN - T-Lex has arms like his leash. Super short.
Saturday 4/5 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
New for PL Pro members - I am making the streaming table for an extra day out. 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.
Luis Castillo (Seattle) is projected to go Friday 4/4 @ San Francisco unless i’m missing something here. Just thought I’d pass the word along for fantasy peeps out there.
Edit: Luis F. Castillo, and not the one that is a good pitcher on their team already. This is another one that they are calling up from AAA-Tacoma. Crazy!