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 (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.
Nick’s 2023 Streamer Record: 16-13
My pick yesterday: Kyle Bradish vs DET
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 14-15
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: José Suarez @ MIL
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.
Today’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.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Typical aces kick off the first tier, while Joe Ryan against the White Sox nearly took the second spot. If I believed in his slider or splitter taking the leap to be a strong #2 pitch, he’d be there.
- I know Zac Gallen is in the middle of another scoreless inning streak, but the Rangers are a tough crew and will provide a hefty challenge as he flirts with another historic run.
- At the end of the tier, I’m starting Freddy Peralta even with a date in Coors. Some may remember his phenomenal MLB debut inside Coors as I believe Peralta’s arsenal isn’t as affected as others.
- We’re fortunate to have our streaming pick of the day lead off the second tier with Tyler Wells against the Royals. He’s a safe play against the worst wRC+ lineup in the majors where you could steal an early Win this week.
- The Yankee, Cardinal, Marlin, and National lineups are all weak enough to start the likes of Tanner Bibee, Bryce Elder, Patrick Sandoval, and Hayden Wesneski on Tuesday.
- Seattle hasn’t struck fear in many pitchers this season either, but Mason Miller hasn’t been able to pitch a full five frames yet – even with his pitch count above 85 in his last start. From a stuff standpoint, he’d be at the top of this tier, but I want to see one start where he puts it all together first. Here’s to hoping it comes Tuesday evening.
- I have my concerns about Graham Ashcraft, Yusei Kikuchi, and Jon Gray. Ashcraft isn’t able to put together strikeouts and the Padres with Tatis make for an explosive crew. Kikuchi’s command is still erratic, and Gray doesn’t pack the punch we want him to carry. I’m leaning start on all three, but I understand if you want to play it safe instead.
- The third tier features Steven Matz as I have high hopes he’s beginning his path of redemption against the Angels. The stuff is better than the results he’s gotten thus far.
- While there’s a chance Michael Wacha has his best command or Anthony DeSclafani can navigate a tough Astros lineup, I’d prefer to chase other options instead.
- Michael Kopech has been a disaster for trusting managers this year, though his fastball velocity has flirted with 97 mph across his last two starts. Facing an easier (still not weak) offense with the Twins could open the door for the productive outing we’ve been dying to see.
- With uncooperative weather hitting Detroit, the Mets are likely playing it safe with Max Scherzer and pushing him to Wednesday, allowing Joey Lucchesi to get another start. As we saw last time out, it’s hard to believe in a strong start from Lucchesi, but I won’t rule it out against the lowly Tigers.
- In the bottom tier, the Dodgers are worse against LHP, but I have little faith Matt Strahm can survive long enough nor carry enough firepower to make this a worthwhile outing.
- Despite being productive last time out, I would hate to roll with Tanner Houck against the Jays. His slider can be fantastic, but the rest doesn’t do enough for me to risk facing a top tier offense.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)