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):
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: 9-1
My pick yesterday: Paul Blackburn vs. DET
PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 7-3
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Steven Matz vs. MIA
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
Logan Webb vs. SDP – Aces gonna ace.
Chris Sale vs. ARI – He’s healthy. You start him.
Cristopher Sánchez @ WSN – Sánchez had his changeup and velocity and it’s the Nats. Yes please.
Tanner Houck @ LAA – Houck looked solid against the Athletics and now gets the weak Angels crew.
Garrett Crochet @ KCR – Arguably a better options than Houck given how he just took down Atlanta. I see a higher floor for Houck, especially in the Win department.
Jack Flaherty vs. OAK – It’s the Athletics, even if I worry about Flaherty’s arsenal outside the slider.
Bailey Ober vs. CLE – You’re scared after last week. I get it. If you want to bench, you have that freedom. I’m not going to let one weird day without a degradation in repertoire define Ober.
Probably Starts
Gavin Stone @ CHC – It’s a great matchup with a wonderful team context. Some slight worry about the lack of depth in his arsenal + relatively short leash.
Alec Marsh vs. CHW – Do I like Marsh long-term? Nope. Did he just look like his best self and now gets an ideal matchup? Yuuuup. Maybe he outlines that last week was legit and you don’t actually let go with the Mets next…
Luis Gil vs. TOR – I dig Gil a ton, though he didn’t have his best command last time + the Jays are hot/cold as an offense. They’ve been bad. Okay fine, that’s one week.
Triston McKenzie @ MIN – His velocity was way down last time and he disturbed us with nearly 50% sliders – his worst pitch of the trio. Here’s to hoping it was a flukey start and he can take advantage of the Twins.
Questionable Starts
MacKenzie Gore vs. PHI – I dig the new cutter a ton + the velocity is holding above 95 mph (97 last week!). It’s the Phillies, though.
Shota Imanaga vs. LAD – PLV has his four-seamer as a 98th percentile pitch among all SP’s four-seamers. And yet, it’s the Dodgers. Womp womp.
Dean Kremer @ PIT – You’re here for the Win chance.
Max Meyer @ STL – Hes a Toby and the Cardinals are okay?
Chase Silseth vs. BOS – There’s some upside here with his strikeout potential, though I’m not sold it’s come together enough against a solid Red Sox crew, even they are away from Fenway.
Andrew Abbott vs. NYM – Abbott is a Cherry Bomb, though the Mets offense is struggggling right now.
Sean Manaea @ CIN – Manaea had himself a great debut for the Mets, but hot dang, this is Cincy, not hosting the Tigers. I worry that fastball won’t have the same success.
Bowden Francis @ NYY – Francis’ four-seamer suggests long-term success, though the Yankee offense packs a punch.
Joe Boyle @ DET – Look, I can’t trust Boyle, but if he finds a way to throw enough strikes in this one against a poor Tigers crew, he will return strikeouts. Big Risk/Reward here.
Kyle Gibson vs. MIA – Gibson made it work last time and the Marlins are not a threat.
Ronel Blanco @ TEX – Blanco deserved his no-hitter in many ways. Now it’s a tougher lineup + we typically see a hangover in the following outing. At the very least, he’s sure to have a short leash to give him some extra rest.
Ryan Pepiot @ COL – It’s Coors, even if I dig the new approach. But is that offense still just that poor even in Coors?
Colin Rea vs. SEA – Rea has the opportunity to go six frames against a meh offense. Don’t love his arsenal, though.
Do Not Starts
Matt Waldron @ SFG – Don’t Trust a Knuckleballer.
Dane Dunning vs. HOU – It’s the Astros + Dunning
Marco Gonzales vs. BAL – If he has his pristine command, Gonzo can survive here,
Emerson Hancock @ MIL – Hancock is a Toby and has the chance to skirt through at least five frames, but I don’t like starting in Milwaukee.
Ryne Nelson @ ATL – It’s Atlanta + Nelson didn’t have the hard slider against the Yankees.
Dakota Hudson vs. TBR – COL story, bro.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zach Eflin @ LAA – This is an easy one.
Yu Darvish vs. CHC – Same here.
Luis Castillo @ TOR – Aces gonna ace, though Castillo has been starting slow and it’s not as good of a matchup as the first two.
Zac Gallen @ COL – Aces gonna ace. Gallen has shockingly been great in Coors.
José Berríos vs. SEA – He’s been looking great thus far and the Mariners are not a strong crew.
Blake Snell vs. WSN – Hey, he’s back! I imagine a shorter leash than the rest.
Probably Starts
Charlie Morton vs. NYM – The Mets are not a good offense.
James Paxton @ MIN – This looks like a great Win chance for Paxton.
Nestor Cortes vs. MIA – Cortes isn’t impressing me a ton, but the Marlins are a lovely matchup.
Jesús Luzardo @ NYY – It’s a bit scary facing the Yankees, though Luzardo has done well with both his heater and slider thus far.
Reese Olson @ PIT – The Pirates may be a little better offensively than we anticipated, but I’m all in on Reese as a strong Holly type.
Framber Valdez @ TEX – It’s the Rangers and Valdez does what he does.
Logan Allen vs. CHW – A solid streaming option here as Allen has enough to take down one of the worst lineups in baseball.
Questionable Starts
Mitch Keller vs. DET – He’s a Cherry Bomb, yes, even against the Tigers.
Spencer Turnbull @ STL – Turnbull’s approach looks somewhat good now…?
Graham Ashcraft vs. MIL – His command was better last time out and he has a long enough leash to make it work.
Tyler Anderson vs. TBR – Anderson looked fantastic against the Marlins and the Rays are not inspiring fear.
Javier Assad @ SDP – He was great against in a good matchup, but this is the Padres.
Do Not Starts
Andrew Heaney vs. HOU – The Astros make this far too risky, even if Heaney came through last time.
Trevor Williams @ SFG – #NeverTrevor.
Miles Mikolas vs. PHI – He always has a chance for six, but it’s the Phils. And it’s Mikolas.
Louie Varland vs. LAD – Varland hasn’t settled in yet + the Dodgers.
Chad Kuhl @ CLE – Kuhl story, bro. He’s not in Colorado anymore. DOESN’T MATTER.
Kyle Freeland vs. ARI – It’s in Coors and Freeland has been rough.
Julio Teheran @ ATL – Teheran. Against Atlanta.
Aaron Ashby @ CIN – He’s returning to the majors but will likely be limited + it’s Cincy + Ashby hasn’t soared in a while.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram) –