Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 5/4 & 5/5

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: 18-14

My pick yesterday: Louie Varland vs CHW

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 15-17

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Brandon Pfaadt @ TEX

Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top half of the first tier is explosive. Kevin Gausman has been incredible, Max Fried should cruise against the lowly Marlins, Pablo López has been granted a lovely gift of the White Sox offense, and George Kirby, fresh off eight shutout frames, gets the Jokeland Athletics.
• Following them, each pitcher has concerns but can’t be denied a spot in your lineup. Grayson Rodriguez has a lovely matchup against the Royals, though he hasn’t been locked in with his arsenal yet. Jesús Luzardo is a solid play, but Atlanta could make it a little more difficult than ideal, and Justin Verlander could be considered a Still ILL, but it’s the Tigers. This can’t actually hurt you, right?

 

• In the second tier, Lucas Giolito kept his head above water against the Rays and should have an easier time with the Twins, though I haven’t seen him settled with his four-seamer/change/slider arsenal yet. We’re not out of the woods.
• Jack Flaherty has been much better as of late, sitting 93/94 and earning 10 breaker whiffs in three of his last four outings. The Angels can pack some thump, but I’m leaning start here.

 

• I’m not the biggest Zach Eflin fan and the Pirates have been surprisingly good offensively this season. This isn’t a lock, but I grasp he’ll still be started in the majority of lineups.
• Our streaming pick of the day is Griffin Canning as he takes on the slumping Cardinals offense. I dig his 25% fastball approach and think this could be a worthwhile start for those who need it this week.

 

• In the third tier, I like both Eduardo Rodriguez and Vince Velasquez, but matchups against the Mets and Rays are too dangerous for me to comfortably start them, sadly.
• In the bottom tier, Brayan Bello is an easy bench against the Jays, Jordan Lyles and Wade Miley also have the potential for 6+ frames, but are not arms to chase against the Orioles and Coors, and the rest are easy to bench.

 

• Updates: The Cubs are reinstating Jameson Taillon from the IL against the Nationals and I’d be cautious starting him in a Still ILL situation.
• In addition, Atlanta have called up Dylan Dodd as he takes over Kyle Wright’s spot in the rotation. He’s been a bit shaky in Triple-A, but he could still make it work in a redemption start against the Marlins.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top tier is a standard affair. Don’t overthink any of this and just start the dang guy.
• Joe Musgrove longing looks above him, hoping to be with his friends. I want to wait until I see a strong outing from him before making him a clear start each time as the Dodgers are a rough hand to be dealt. He should come through, but I understand if some want to be cautious.

 

• With last game’s first inning behind him, Chris Bassitt is a relatively safe play moving forward, even against the shockingly good Pirates offense.
• Despite being a Cherry Bomb, taking on Rockie Road should return dividends for Kodai Senga managers.

 

• Then we have a trio of guys who should come through but have a bit of risk attached to them. Nathan Eovaldi has to endure the Angels, Lance Lynn is seemingly trending upward but has to survive Great American Ballpark, and it’s hard to feel confident in Chris Sale against the Phillies, however his fortune seems to be coming around. I’m starting them all, though I understand your anxiety.
• Conversely, the final three of Merrill Kelly, Josiah Gray, and Bailey Ober are seemingly high floor plays, but don’t carry the same ceilings as the veterans above.

 

• The third tier begins with Sean Manaea as he finally has a clear rotation spot and faces a weak offense. If there’s ever a time to begin an upward trend, this is the game.
• I don’t trust Edward Cabrera’s control, especially against the Cubs, though I recognize he could walk about with 8+ strikeouts in this matchup.

 

• The rest of the tier has a chance to make it work, but I’m staying away. Peyton Battenfield could be his best self against the Twins, Matthew Boyd could sit 92 mph with a good changeup (I don’t trust the slider to earn whiffs again, sadly), Brad Keller could flip stellar curves against the Athletics, and Tyler Anderson may be able to hold off the Texas firepower with his changeup.
• You may be tempted to start Kyle Muller against the Royals and I’ll beg you to please consider something else. He’s not nearly as polished as we want him to be.

 

• Closing out with the bottom tier, Rich Hill has had a nice run, but a start against the Jays isn’t a fun day at the park, and Dean Kremer has a chance against Atlanta and it’s not enough to put yourself in harm’s way.
• It’s been a better few starts for Jhony Brito, but the upside here is five innings of 2 or fewer ER with fewer than five strikeouts. That’s a terrible ceiling to chase when facing the Rays.

 

Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)