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: 9-2
My pick yesterday: Alec Marsh vs. CHW
PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 7-4
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Kyle Gibson 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
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.
Triston McKenzie vs. CHW – What better way to recover from a horrific season debut than facing one of the worst lineups in baseball?
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…?
Update: Bailey Ober vs. LAD – I just want to see one start of him not getting pummeled if I’m going to start him against the Dodgers. I do trust he’s fine long term, though.
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.
Jared Shuster @ CLE – We simply can’t trust Shuster, let alone on the White Sox and with a unclear leash attached.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zack Wheeler @ STL – Aces gonna ace.
Corbin Burnes @ BOS – Aces gonn ace in a worse matchup.
Tyler Glasnow @ MIN – Aces gonna ace.
Cole Ragans vs. HOU – Aces gonna ace.
George Kirby @ TOR – Aces gonna ace after a weird game of tragedy.
Joe Musgrove vs. CHC – We finally got a great outing and this seems fine against the Cubs.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. OAK – That’s a lovely matchup you can’t turn down.
Chris Bassitt vs. SEA – It’s Bassitt. Don’t overthink it.
Cristian Javier @ KCR – The changeup is helping y’all. Being to believe.
Merrill Kelly @ COL – BUT IT’S COORS. But the Rockies are still a terrible offense. It’s been oddly okay starting pitchers in Coors.
Aaron Civale @ LAA – A great matchup + Civale has looked strong out of the gate
Probably Starts
Reynaldo López vs. NYM – Great Win chance + solid strikeout ability.
Casey Mize @ PIT – He wasn’t the man we wanted in his season debut, though PNC Park is a great place to hurl a baseball.
Kyle Harrison vs. WSN – It’s the Nationals, even if I question Harrison’s command.
Brayan Bello vs. BAL – Bello can carve six frames in the blink of an eye, though it’s Fenway and the Orioles pack some heavy lumber.
Carlos Rodón vs. MIA – I’m skeptical that Rodón can be the man we want him to be, though the Marlins strike little fear.
Sonny Gray vs. PHI – You’re better off if you can keep him in the IL for one start given it’s a Still ILL situation.
Logan Allen vs. CHW – A solid matchup for Allen against a highly questionable White Sox lineup.
Martín Pérez vs. DET – Oh look, another great Win chance for Pérez.
Questionable Starts
Frankie Montas vs. MIL – He’s made it work the last two starts, though don’t get too ahead of yourself. It’s still Cincy and Montas isn’t suddenly the man we know pre-2023.
A.J. Puk @ NYY – Ehhhhh, I still believe Puk gets better with time. The Yankees are a bit too risky for my blood.
Patrick Sandoval vs. TBR – The Rays are not looking strong at all and The Irish Panda is
Michael Soroka @ CLE – I see a Toby here and we’re still figuring out if he can be trusted as one or not. I just wish he had his old command back.
Do Not Starts
Alex Wood @ TEX – Wood is at least going BSB. If only the stuff were better.
Louie Varland vs. LAD – The four-seamer should be solid once he finds a groove, but he hasn’t found it yet. And it’s the Dodgers. Yikes.
Adrian Houser @ ATL – Maybe he chucks heater into the zone an Atlanta bails him out?
Josiah Gray @ SFG – It’s really hard to believe Gray can produce at any level for fantasy managers, even against the Giants.
Cal Quantrill vs. ARI – COL story, bro.
Joe Ross @ CIN – Ross is sinker/slider and doing little to earn our trust.
Drew Smyly? @ SDP – This could be Ben Brown as a follower, which certainly has more appeal than Smyly. Not the worst vulture Win opportunity there if Brown is confirmed.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram) –
Nick, it looks like you’ve subbed the starters from yesterday (4/7) in for today’s matchups (4/8). The 4/9 slate looks right.
Corrected now, thanks.