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: 10-3
My Pick yesterday: Landen Roupp vs. CIN
My Pick today: Max Meyer @ NYM
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 11-2
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Ben Lively vs. CHW
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.
Wednesday 4/9 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Max Fried @ DET - Aces gonna ace.
Joe Ryan @ KCR - Aces gonna ace. You're fine, right?
Hunter Brown @ SEA - Brown and Valdez are both under the weather. If Brown is starting, then you start him, but it may be a little worse.
Shota Imanaga vs. TEX - Show me the man inside. IM. AN. AGA.
Ryan Pepiot vs. LAA - Pepiot is dope and makes us feel dope. But his last start...I STAND BY IT.
Seth Lugo vs. MIN - This should be an easy time at the park.
Jack Flaherty vs. NYY - Yikes, that matchup hurts, though Flaherty looks like the guy we loved in 2024's first half.
Probably Starts
Tylor Megill vs. MIA - Alright Megill. You've gone two starts with your four-seamer upstairs, a new slider down, and sinkers for strikes. It's the Marlins now. This is a slam dunk. FOCUS.
Yusei Kikuchi @ TBR - It's the Rays. It's also Kikuchi showcasing a worse arsenal.
Nick Martinez @ SFG - The Giants should be a dream outing for a potential "Holly".
Max Meyer @ NYM - The slider velocity came down two ticks last time out. All I want to see is that velocity holding at 95/96 mph on the heater with sliders hovering 90 mph. He should be solid if those hold.
Erick Fedde @ PIT - I moved him up because this is too good of a situation for a "Toby".
Brandon Pfaadt vs. BAL - I'm starting to dig Pfaadt after flexing a legit LHB approach in his last outing, building upon the curveball usage in his season debut. He threw more curves and changeups than sweepers, if you can believe it. Do it again.
Justin Verlander vs. CIN - Verlander is a "Toby" and I'm not scared of the Reds in the bay. Doesn't that mean it's a shark attack? NOT THAT RED.
Grant Holmes vs. PHI - We're finally getting a second start from The Real Estate Broker and it's so unfortunate he has to face the Phillies. I know how brutal this is, but we keep holding. The skills are great.
Questionable Starts
Landon Knack @ WSN - He's getting the call to space out the rotation and just went 4.2 IP in the minors. This could be a cheap Win, though I don't love it.
Mitch Keller vs. STL - It's Keller against a weak squad. Do what you want, I'd prefer to avoid.
Kevin Gausman @ BOS - Gausman went 2/34 splitter whiffs last time out. Yeah.
Logan Allen vs. CHW - Hey, it's the White Sox. There's a chance!
Tanner Houck vs. TOR - He's looked really bad. Maybe the slider bend returns and he can nail down the splitter.
Tyler Mahle @ CHC - Mahle's ceiling isn't super high, but at least he can flirt with 93 mph and throw some strikes with his secondaries now.
Dean Kremer @ ARI - Kremer is the 15-team "HIPSTER". Not 12-teamer.
Sean Burke @ CLE - Burke's velocity has dropped and the breakers are not as whiffable as they were in the fall. But maybe he needs to warm up?
Osvaldo Bido vs. SDP - I'm not a fan of chasing Bido regularly and this isn't a great matchup. I don't love this coin flip.
Do Not Starts
Jake Irvin vs. LAD - It's the Dodgers.
Taijuan Walker @ ATL - It's Taijuan and Atlanta.
Randy Vásquez @ ATH - Vásquez's upside is heavily limited.
Tyler Alexander @ COL - Yes, he went no-hit ball for a while. This is Coors.
Antonio Senzatela vs. MIL - Senz-A does what Senz-A does.
Luis F. Castillo vs. HOU - It's The Wrong Castillo!
Thursday 4/10 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Spencer Schwellenbach vs. PHI - Alright Mr. Crescendo. If you can take down the Phillies with ease, the AGA tag is yours.
Bailey Ober @ KCR - We've given you two free passes to start the year. Don't let us down.
Gavin Williams vs. CHW - Sooooo, got any of those cutters?
Probably Starts
Jesús Luzardo @ ATL - He destroyed the Dodgers and Nationals. Surely he won't disappoint against Atlanta... right?
José Soriano @ TBR - The sinker and curve are working + the slider appeared against RHB. Now it's the Rays? Sign me up.
Michael Wacha vs. MIN - The Twins are an easy offense to stream against and Wacha should exploit.
Questionable Starts
Chris Bassitt @ BOS - Bassitt is looking far better this year but it's Fenway.
Zack Littell vs. LAA - He could go "Dancing With The Disco" and escape with a Win.
Walker Buehler vs. TOR - I'm out on Buehler and yet I can grasp a "PQS" here if he takes a step forward. I doubt it though.
Do Not Starts
Ryan Feltner vs. MIL - It's Coors.
Jonathan Cannon @ CLE - Cannon hasn't put it together for a full start in a while.
Quinn Priester @ COL - He's making his first start for the Brewers and it just happens to be in Coors. I know. WHAT ARE THE ODDS.
Friday 4/11 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.
