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.
And of course, there are my streaming picks of the day. 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.
(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):
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 PLV, 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: 27-8
My Pick yesterday: Tyler Anderson @ SEA
My Pick today: Colin Rea @ PIT
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 27-8
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Tobias Myers 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.
Thursday 5/1 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Paul Skenes vs. CHC - Aces gonna ace.
Shane Baz vs. KCR - He's nearing "AGA" status and this shouldn't hold him back.
Seth Lugo @ TBR - He's a sturdy "Holly". You don't need me.
Probably Starts
Justin Verlander vs. COL - Just at 20% rostered, Verlander is the clear stream hosting "Rockie Road". This is set up for success.
Casey Mize @ LAA - Mize's four-seamer and splitter have worked as he's still figuring out what else to mix and match. The Angels aren't an intimidating lineup, making it easy for me to slot him in the second tier.
Kodai Senga vs. ARI - Senga was pushed back a day and is in a solid place with his arsenal. The cutter isn't quite utilizied as we've seen in the past, but we're cool.
Matthew Liberatore @ CIN - I love seeing Liberatore at 94/95 mph with a legit slider + an embrace of the cutter. It's a little risky in GABP, though he's on a good enough roll to let it ride. Don't overreact if he has a little bit of a stumble here if the velocity is still there.
Zac Gallen @ NYM - Do what you want. I think you're going to trust Gallen, the vet, to make it work. It's really difficult to discern what to do with this "HIPSTER".
Andrew Abbott vs. STL - I wish I had a touch more faith in Abbott after three starts, but the matchup is solid and I like his emphasis on the changeup, even if its command has been hit-or-miss.
Questionable Starts
Colin Rea @ PIT - I debated putting him in the tier above with such a lovely date against the Pirates. Thing is, Rea isn't a dominating pitcher. He can spot his pitches often and that should lead to a successful day at the park now that he's fully stretched out. The ceiling isn't very high, sadly.
Tyler Mahle vs. ATH - I dig the introduction of the cutter to help complement the heater and he's maintained 92 mph while keeping the fastball high. Let's see if those two offerings can perform better than the "HAISTBMBWT?!" we saw last time. It may require the splitter to start earning whiffs again.
José Berríos vs. BOS - The Great Undulator is here. MAKE WAY.
Do Not Starts
Simeon Woods Richardson @ CLE - Even with 5.1 IP of 93+ mph heaters at a ton of vert, I'm still not encouraged by SWR. That four-seamer fluctuates between starts and I'm skeptical there's enough supporting it, nor do I think the Twins will let him go a full six even if he's feeling it.
Yusei Kikuchi vs. DET - I have zero faith in Kikuchi's velocity returning or that he'll have a feel for his arsenal like he did in the past.
Jeffrey Springs @ TEX - Springs hasn't shown his true colors much this year and it's possible we won't see the end of the rainbow for a bit.
Ben Lively vs. MIN - Lively always has a chance to give you a Quality Start, especially against a mediocre lineup.
Kyle Hendricks vs. DET - If Hendricks has his premium changeup, he has a shot.
Tanner Houck @ TOR - This is just painful at this point. He has a higher ceiling than the others here, but I have zero faith he'll get there.
Chad Patrick @ CHW - Patrick has those rare moments with the cutter and maybe that's enough against the CrySox? It'll likely be an Irish exit.
Sean Burke vs. MIL - Burke's four-seamer is gaining a touch of velocity but we're still far from the September version.
Taijuan Walker vs. WSN - It's Taijuan. Please don't.
Kyle Freeland @ SFG - Freeland was good for two starts to kick off the year outside of Coors. Remember that?
Brad Lord @ PHI - Oh...Brad.
Friday 5/2 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Tarik Skubal @ LAA - Aces gonna ace.
Max Fried vs. TBR - Aces gonna ace.
Hunter Greene vs. WSN - Aces gonna ace.
Robbie Ray vs. COL - "Rockie Road" is the greatest gift of all.
Dylan Cease @ PIT - He's at the very edge of "AGA" and fortunately Pittsburgh should get him back on track.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto @ ATL - Aces gonna ace.
Framber Valdez @ CHW - How lovely is this?!
Joe Ryan @ BOS - It's Fenway and the absurd sweeper was obviously aided by the wind, and yet, I believe in that sweeper being a better #2 pitch than he's ever had.
Bryan Woo @ TEX - Woo's fastballs are still elite.
Sonny Gray vs. NYM - His wide arsenal makes him Sonny more often than Gray.
Jesús Luzardo vs. ARI - Luzardo has been on fire thanks to adopting a sweeper over the gyro slider. Here's to hoping he doesn't fall into his patented disaster stretches.
Probably Starts
Clay Holmes @ STL - Holmes' inefficiency and poor WHIP floor make me annoyed in 12-teamers, though he could become a stable "Holly" if he's able to generate more whiffs with his kick-change and breakers.
Jack Leiter vs. SEA - We saw the better version of Leiter after the first frame and with the "STILL ILL" start out of the way, I'm excited to see him unleashed once again.
Questionable Starts
Ryan Pepiot @ NYY - I love Pepiot's stuff and he returned a "Bailey Special" last time facing the pinstripes when he wasn't even at his best. Still awfully scary, of course.
Michael Wacha @ BAL - Wacha is a solid "Toby" with his classic changeup at the ready.
José Soriano vs. DET - Soriano hasn't gotten into the groove we saw plenty last year and this could go either way.
Walker Buehler vs. MIN - It's a great matchup (sadly at home), though I'm still waiting for Buehler to display electricity. 93 mph heaters with mid curves, cutters, and changeups are not enough for LHB. At least the sweeper works well against RHB. So far.
Chris Bassitt vs. CLE - Bassitt's curve has disappeared and he'll need it against the LHB-heavy Guardian offense. I'm worried about this one.
Osvaldo Bido @ MIA - It's the Marlins, and it's also Bido's chaotic nature.
Merrill Kelly @ PHI - He's a "Toby" who can find outs even against the Phils. Not a great ceiling and lower floor than usual, of course.
Mitch Keller vs. SDP - Keller is maddening and I simply want to avoid it. I recognize this could be six frames of decent production.
Do Not Starts
Grant Holmes vs. LAD - I just want "The Real Estate Broker" to experiment a little and do his best to get the curveball back to earning whiffs. He needs that + the slider missing bats to get back on track. It's all about seeing something good enough here to target him when he hosts the lowly Reds next week.
Dean Kremer vs. KCR - Kremer is a "Werewolf". Anyone check the moon lately?
Ben Brown @ MIL - He still doesn't have a third pitch. Y'all know this by now.
Quinn Priester vs. CHC - Priester has a decent leash and "Koufax" could be watching over his sinker once again as we hope the breakers wake up.
Logan Allen @ TOR - Allen has survived for 5+ frames before. That's it? Yeah...
Jonathan Cannon vs. HOU - Please let us blast the 1812 Overture. PLEASE.
Michael Soroka @ CIN - He's back! It's a clear "Still ILL", but there is upside here and there's a small possibility he deserves the SP Roundup focus where I dive into all of it. It's a mystery box with a terrible floor of both quality and volume.
Antonio Senzatela @ SFG - Senz-A does what Senz-A does.
Adam Mazur vs. ATH - Oh snap, they're giving Mazur another shot! It was rough last year and you should expect absolutely nothing here.
Saturday 5/3 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.
Fri missing Mitchell Parker @ CIN
Yo Nick sorry for blowing up your inbox but one more question. Since I’m good pitching wise this week I’m looking ahead to next week and I have one roster spot I can stream with. Should I target Gonsolin, Leiter, Giolito(who I just noticed your write up for) or Liberatore? I’m kind of leaning Liberatore or Gonsolin because of the little leaguers they face next week. Who would you target? Probably can only get one since there are five teams who stream religiously, but usually on a daily basis for that day. I have the luxury of looking ahead because the guy I’m playing got blown up this week and his remaining 2 matchups look like they could be the World Trade Center. What would you do with the information given?
Stream = Gonsolin. Longterm = Giolito. Fun upside = Leiter.