Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 4/30 & 5/1

Here are today’s daily SP Streamer rankings.

Every day of the 2023 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 Twitch.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 Twitch 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 in the second tier and I’d roll with them everywhere. Those in Yellow 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:

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.

 

Nick’s 2023 Streamer Record: 16-12

My pick yesterday: Vince Velasquez vs WSN

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 13-15

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Matthew Boyd vs BAL

Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• For an important Sunday in your fantasy leagues, I’m sad to say you have few arms you can truly trust. Drew Rasmussen is coming off a disappointment but is still the clear #1 play against a laboring White Sox offense.
• Sonny Gray makes a play for the top spot with his hot start to the season, while Nick Lodolo should rebound against the lowly Athletics.

 

• It’s hard not to love Justin Steele against the Athletics while Chris Bassitt has been a safe Holly since his first game of the year. Roll with him without thought.
• Charlie Morton has earned a spot in the top tier, while Yu Darvish just can’t make it as he pitches in Mexico City. Think Coors but worse. That’s what we’re dealing with and it’s a little too risky for me.

 

• Despite not pitching at the highest level he’s capable of and facing one of the toughest offenses around, I’m rolling with Nestor Cortes wherever I have him.
• Brady Singer is a Cherry Bomb facing a middling offense. Don’t let the season numbers change your opinion of him – if you have Singer, it’s in your benefit to roll the dice.

 

• In the Red Sox vs. Guardians matchup, I’m slightly favoring Logan Allen as he impressed in his MLB debut. We all know that Chris Sale is very capable of taking off his TIARA, though, and I’d just start both and worry about things later.
• I’m all for starting Johan Oviedo as he faces the Washington Nationals. I’m a little skeptical that his command is polished enough to assure victory, though the odds are in your favor for this to work out well.

 

• The streaming pick of the day is Kyle Bradish against the Detroit Tigers. Bradish’s success leans on his curve and slider both earning strikes, though he may get away with just one effective breaker against one of the weakest lineups in the majors.
• Speaking of which, the Yankees without Aaron Judge is a lion without a roar and Martín Pérez could cruise through 6+ frames on Sunday.

 

• In the third tier, José Urquidy had the poor luck to face a pair of elite offenses lately, but should have an easier time against the Phillies. It’s not the strongest option, but there’s a chance for a Win here.
• We’ve all been fans of Josiah Gray, but the Pirates are shockingly strong as a lineup at the moment. I think there’s more risk in this start than the transaction trends will tell you – if you feel good about it, roll with Gray. I worry that he doesn’t locate well enough and the Pirates will take advantage.

 

• With Alex Cobb opposite Darvish in Mexico City, I think it’s best to sit this one out.
• The last two of the tier are Spencer Turnbull and Noah Syndergaard. Turnbull has the ability to return value for six frames, but I’d prefer to wait until he has an approach he believes in start-to-start. As for Syndergaard, the Pirates just roughed him up, but the Cardinals are laboring as of late and he could steal a Win with the Dodgers behind him.

 

• In the bottom tier, I can imagine some hoping José Suarez turns it around against a pedestrian offense in Milwaukee, but I don’t think the juice is worth the squeeze.
• Marco Gonzales is a decent Toby and has been impressive with his improved command, but it’s the Jays. You don’t want to start middling arms against the Jays.

 

• The others in this tier are clear – Ryne Nelson is in Coors, Bailey Falter endures the Astros, and everyone else is…not great. Good luck y’all.

 

• Updates: The Mets and Braves rained out once again and will have a doubleheader on Monday.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• It’s a traditional short slate for Monday with a Mets/Braves doubleheader thrown in, making up 2/3 of our top tier with Spencer Strider and Charlie Morton.
• With Luis Garcia throwing sub 30% fastballs and facing a middling offense, he becomes a must start against the Giants on Monday.

 

• In the second tier, Drew Smyly has done a wonderful job executing the BSB as he took down the Dodgers and the Padres. Now he gets the Nationals and he’s a clear start with the easier matchup.
• Speaking of the BSB, the man himself Blake Snell gets a cushy matchup against the Reds. He hasn’t found his breakers yet but it’s a decent enough floor to take the chance he finds his step here.

 

• In the third tier, MacKenzie Gore has looked great recently, but the Cubs have been a Top 10 offense as of late. I want to lean into this start for Gore, but it may be smart to wait a little longer to buy into his escalation.
• The Dodgers limited Tony Gonsolin in his last outing to just 3.1 innings and we may not see a full five here as well. In addition, his arsenal wasn’t stellar in his season debut and I’d sit this one out until we see him grab hold.

 

• Our streaming pick of the day is Domingo Germán as he faces the Guardians. He’s managed to keep up his strikeouts and CSW rates across the last three starts and hopefully the ERA and WHIP will follow suit here.
• I wish I could buy into the resurgence of José Berríos but he’s The Great Undulator for a reason. He hasn’t had his curveball working as well as we’ve seen and trusting his fastballs to survive isn’t the bet I want to make.

 

• At the end of the tier Tylor Megill and Cal Quantrill are options to consider, but they make me all kinds of concerned, even if Quantrill faces a Judge-less Yankee offense.
• Is Taijuan Walker going to go five or six frames after getting removed last time out? This has so many more reasons for it to fail than succeed.

 

• The rest of the bottom tier are options you really don’t want to trust against strong offenses. Please don’t do this.

 

Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)