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 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,” 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: 29-25
My pick yesterday: JP Sears @ SEA
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 27-27
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Carlos Carrasco @ CHC
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.
With the new formatting for the notes, I’ve made the streaming pick of the day Underlined and Italicized.
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Kevin Gausman @ MIN – AGA. Don’t you dare bench Gausman.
George Kirby vs. PIT – The Pirates are a poor offensive squad and Kirby should take advantage.
Hunter Brown @ OAK – He’s been locked in and pitching against Oakland is a gift.
Mitch Keller @ SEA – The command is as good as we’ve ever seen it from Keller. You start the man.
Chris Sale @ ARI – Sale is looking fantastic with his heater and slider (hopefully the change comes back too?) and the Diamondbacks don’t scare me.
Freddy Peralta vs. SFG – We haven’t had that Peralta game for a bit and the Giants may give us the start we’re looking for.
Justin Steele vs. CIN – Steele starting to get a few more slider whiffs and if he can keep those up with his four-seamer command, his breakout campaign will last a little longer.
Max Scherzer @ COL – It’s Coors, but can we really sit Mad Max? This is the hardest ranking for me on Friday.
Joe Musgrove @ NYY – His slider hasn’t been there lately, but I’m going to wager that either he’ll get it back or his curve is good enough to make this worthwhile.
Lance Lynn @ DET – He’s 2-for-2 on his redemption tour against poor lineups and Detroit should be more of the same.
Reid Detmers vs. MIA – How is Detmers an auto-start?! Because he just struck out 12 with a great WHIP and now faces the Marlins without Jazz in the lineup. High floor high ceiling = start him.
Probable Starts
Jon Gray @ BAL – Like bacon egg and cheese, he’s been on a roll…but so has the Orioles offense. We go with it since Gray is sporting a better slider and 95/96 mph heaters, but it’s not an auto-start.
Shane Bieber vs. STL – Bieber’s slider has come and gone throughout the year and the floor is lower than we want it to be. Sidenote: There’s confusion if it’s Tanner Bibee or Bieber as nothing has been announced and they pitched on the same day due to a doubleheader. MLB says Bieber on their website and I’m going with that. Bibee would be in the same spot.
Jesús Luzardo @ LAA – His poor luck has to come to a close eventually, right? I dig the command and stuff.
Hunter Greene @ CHC – He’s a home run threat, but the strikeout upside is too good to pass up.
Matthew Liberatore @ CLE – I’m rolling with this against the Guardians. Liberatore’s curve and four-seamer should be good enough to hold off a weak lineup. They already have, after all.
Alex Wood @ MIL – Wood hasn’t come through quite yet, but the Brewers are meh and Wood has a good enough sinker and slider to produce.
Questionable Starts
Patrick Corbin @ KCR – Look, it’s been four straight 6+ IP and 2 ER games for Corbin as he’s lowered the walk rates and now he gets the Royals. I’m still not doing it, but hey, maybe it’s an actual Vargas Rule?
Louie Varland vs. TOR – I dig Varland plenty and I feel bad for his horrid schedule, including this game against the Jays. It’s just too dang risky.
Jared Shuster vs. PHI – He showed up with a ton of slider whiffs in his last start and there’s a chance he takes another step against the Phils. Definitely don’t like this, though.
Grayson Rodriguez vs. TEX – Ugggggh, is this the start when Grayson unlocks his secondaries? Probably not.
Brandon Pfaadt vs. BOS – If Pfaadt has four-seamer/slider command, it’s good enough to make it work, I just hate that his heater isn’t the whiff pitch I thought it was going to be.
Do Not Starts
James Kaprielian vs. HOU – If Kap has his four-seamer cooking in the zone with his slider, there’s a chance this works.
Taijuan Walker @ ATL – He’s splitter focused and the splitter isn’t that great + Atlanta is really good.
Noah Syndergaard @ TBR – It’s the Rays and Thor’s ceiling/floor is all out of whack.
Update: Randy Vásquez vs. SDP – It’s the MLB for Vásquez for the Yankees and we don’t start guys in their MLB debuts. Curious what we get, though.
Cooper Criswell? vs. LAD – Looks like Jalen Beeks will open for Criswell and I’m not interested in this.
Joey Wentz vs. CHW – He got the Nationals and burned anyone trying for a desperate stream. Fool me once…
Jordan Lyles vs. WSN – Lyles has been detrimental far more than helpful this season.
Connor Seabold vs. NYM – It’s in Coors and does that actually change anything?
Ryan Weber? vs. SDP – I have no idea what the Yankees are doing for Friday’s game and I’d just avoid all of it.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Shohei Ohtani vs. MIA – Jeeeeeeeeez.
Luis Castillo vs. PIT – The four-seamer was up two ticks last time out…
Framber Valdez @ OAK – It’s Oakland, even if he isn’t an AGA like the others.
Corbin Burnes vs. SFG – He’s been shaky lately and lost his AGA label, but the Giants make for a solid floor.
Zack Wheeler @ ATL – Wheeler has been one of the more unfortunate pitchers out there.
Logan Webb @ MIL – I wonder what the leash will be on Webb as he deals with a back issue.
Chris Bassitt @ MIN – He’s been on a roll since his 9 ER game to kick off the season and the Twins aren’t a major threat.
Clayton Kershaw @ TBR – I want to emphasize that Kershaw’s last outing was influenced by sad personal news. I hope he’s emotionally ready to go.
Pablo López vs. TOR – The Jays are as tough of a matchup as you’ll see, but it’s PabLó. You do it.
Justin Verlander @ COL – I initially had him in the second tier, but if you have Verlander, it’s hard to resist, even with Coors.
Probable Starts
Luis Severino vs. SDP – He’s one start removed from the IL, but he should be stretched out enough to go 80-85 pitches in this one. Velocity n all are back.
Charlie Morton vs. PHI – He had a rough one last time, but the CSW rates were there.
Josiah Gray @ KCR – I wouldn’t call myself a major Josiah fan at this point, but the Royals are far from a team to fear.
Andrew Heaney @ BAL – The strikeout ceiling is too high to put him in the third tier, though I recognize that if the slider isn’t there, this could be rough.
Tanner Bibee vs. STL – He didn’t have his arsenal depth last time out and the Cardinals has thump in it. Still, Bibee has a high QS chance here and it’s worth the gamble.
Questionable Starts
Jack Flaherty @ CLE – This feels like it should be a strong game for Flaherty as he gets the Guardians, not the Dodgers like last time out. That said, we’ve seen him waver consistently through the season and it’s hard to lean into this with conviction.
Tyler Glasnow vs. LAD – It’s a Still ILL against a strong offense, even if he’s tossed 70 pitches in Triple-A for rehab. I just don’t know what we’re going to get.
Michael Lorenzen vs. CHW – Despite not coming through for us last time, Lorenzen has enough in the tank to make this stream work against an often lacking offense.
Michael Wacha @ NYY – If he has his changeup on point (and four-seamer, for that matter), Wacha could cruise 6+ against the Yankees.
Edward Cabrera @ LAA – The walk rates have fallen across the last two games, though his fastball control hasn’t normalized. The change and curve are legit, though.
Brady Singer vs. WSN – He’s a Cherry Bomb – if the slider is there, then we’re golden.
Garrett Whitlock @ ARI – It’s a Still ILL and I dig Whitlock once he gets his heels dug into the rubber. Seems like this is best as a “wait-and-see” as we leave him on the IL.
Brandon Williamson @ CHC – The cutter + four-seamer worked in Coors and there’s a chance it works against the Cubs.
Tommy Henry vs. BOS – He was able to whip out a legit curve last time out and I wonder if he can replicate it against the Sawx.
Dean Kremer vs. TEX – The four-seamer can get whiffs at times but the Rangers are awfully scary.
Do Not Starts
Roansy Contreras @ SEA – I hate the heaters and the slider needs to be that good to make this work.
Jameson Taillon vs. CIN – He hasn’t found a groove that makes me think he’s ready to soar against the Reds.
Jesse Scholtens @ DET – I don’t think there’s enough here for you to chase.
Chase Anderson vs. NYM – It’s Chase. It’s Coors. It’s sadness.
Hogan Harris vs. HOU – He’s getting the chance to start for Oakland and he has to endure the Astros. Nope.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)
Sorry. I see Sevy is Saturday. My apologies..Thank you