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):
Remember, these offensive rankings are based on each offense's Process+ so far this year and how we project their lineups moving forward. It means you're going to see a little different offensive rankings than you may see elsewhere and there will always be some surprises. This is based on skills, not purely results!
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: 30-9
My Pick yesterday: Will Warren vs. TBR
My Pick today: Shane Smith @ KCR
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 29-10
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Lance McCullers Jr. vs. CHW
PL Bot's Pick today: Get our Daily & Weekly PLV Projections with PL Bot via PL Pro here.
Monday 5/5 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Cole Ragans vs. CHW - Aces gonna ace.
Carlos Rodón vs. SDP - He's killing it this year.
Bryce Miller @ ATH - If you have Bryce, you're starting him.
Probably Starts
Matthew Boyd vs. SFG - A great matchup even if Boyd wasn't his best self against the Pirates.
Shane Smith @ KCR - I'm unsure if this is the right tier for Smith, who has yet to display legit stamina to go through six strong. Still, his stuff is legit and he's been productive across five frames constantly.
Questionable Starts
Nick Pivetta @ NYY - Did it have to be in Yankee Stadium?
Ben Casparius @ MIA - Is he stretched out enough to take advantage of this? Please just let him complete five frames. That's all we ask.
Landen Roupp @ CHC - I hate the matchup and if you're concerned about ratios, Roupp isn't the play here. The strikeout rate is awfully tantalizing, though.
Luis Severino vs. SEA - The Mariners have been far better offensively than expected on the road, though they are expected to cool down past the small sample.
Ronel Blanco @ MIL - If Blanco has his changeup and slider working, he'll take advantage of the increased strikeout rate in Milwaukee.
Brady Singer @ ATL - This is a dangerous one, though we know Singer can cruise through six if he's on point.
AJ Smith-Shawver vs. CIN - Hosting the Reds is a gift, let's hope AJSS can throw enough effective strikes.
Sandy Alcantara vs. LAD - You're probably benching him, I know. We all recognize this as a potential great outing, but yeah, bench him. He'll get a much easier schedule after this.
Luis L. Ortiz @ WSN - The whiff potential is always there, but can he locate the heaters upstairs for enough strikes?
Griffin Canning @ ARI - He's been far better than expected, especially with his slider precision. This is too much to ask, though. I don't think the ceiling is worth this.
Jake Irvin vs. CLE - I'd have him in the second tier if not for Irvin falling to 90.1 mph in his last start. He was sitting 92 mph previously. Something feels wrong.
Do Not Starts
Miles Mikolas vs. PIT - Mikolas has been shockingly effective and now he gets the Pirates. If there has ever been a trap play...You really don't need to take the chance. What, you want 5.0 IP of 1 ER, a 1.00 WHIP and 3 strikeouts? That's not worth the chance of obliteration.
Ryne Nelson vs. NYM - It's the debut of Nelson in the rotation now that Burnes is on the IL for shoulder soreness. He tossed just under 70 pitches last time out and could go closer to 80 here, though I'm not sold on the quality yet. Let him have a day as a proper starter and then we can assess.
Tobias Myers vs. HOU - I've elected to hold out on Myers until he displays his upside first.
Carmen Mlodzinski @ STL - We want Bubba dangit.
Tuesday 5/6 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zack Wheeler @ TBR - Aces gonna ace.
Paul Skenes @ STL - Aces gonna ace.
Chris Sale vs. CIN - He lost his ace status and effectively cut up his ranking on the list in outrage.
Seth Lugo vs. CHW - Lugo is such a lovely "Holly".
Michael King @ NYY - It's the Yankees and I don't care.
Pablo López vs. BAL - We're obviously rolling with PabLó until further notice.
Nathan Eovaldi @ BOS - All four pitches are working in tandem. It's lovely, even if he's in Fenway.
Drew Rasmussen vs. PHI - The last two lines haven't been as pretty as we've hoped. The stuff is still incredible, though.
Probably Starts
Tony Gonsolin @ MIA - It's the Marlins again.
Matthew Liberatore vs. PIT - The Pirates are exactly what we want.
Lucas Giolito vs. TEX - I was impressed by Giolito's four-seamer and changeup in his first game back. I do have some concerns about his #3 pitch, though. That slider was rough and it may still be off in this one. Maybe a cutter shows up (it's the Red Sox) or maybe we get a better breaker. Don't feel that you have to start Giolito here (same goes for all four below!)
Zac Gallen vs. NYM - Gallen suddenly went "Canibal McSanchez" against the Mets and it was brilliant. Don't expect replication, though Gallen obviously has the ability to adjust and find a way to get through games as a vet.
Jackson Jobe @ COL - Coors doesn't help things, but their lineup certainly does. You're okay starting road pitchers in Coors this year. Weird, right? The one concern we may have is Jobe's hyper reliance on sliders lately, which may get distorted by Coors' effect on breakers (thin air = less movement). I'm still going for it.
David Peterson @ ARI - The Sneks are not a great matchup and this is more of a general belief in Peterson's extension + hoping at least one of his slider or changeup (if not both) are in a groove.
Colin Rea vs. SFG - Rea is proving himself as a solid "Toby" in a good matchup. This is one of them.
Questionable Starts
Hayden Wesneski @ MIL - I wish I could get behind Wesneski's package for LHB a bit more as the sweeper should be enough with his sinker at solid extension to deal with RHB.
Tyler Anderson vs. TOR - The changeup is always there and maybe he finds more than a "PQS" here.
Jeffrey Springs vs. SEA - It hasn't been sunshine and rainbows and you may want him even lower on these rankings. He can still make it work with his changeup down and four-seamers up, though.
Andrew Abbott @ ATL - Abbott is still under 92 mph and has yet to do something that I can say "Okay! Do that a ton!" The changeup? Okay fine, he had one game of looking great with it, but that's not a full arsenal approach.
Justin Verlander @ CHC - Verlander's velocity cratered last time out and now he gets the Cubs. Oh boy.
Sean Burke @ KCR - Burke is slowly getting it back but we're not close enough to trust this one.
Cade Povich @ MIN - Here's to hoping his cutter usage inside to RHB goes up after I chatted with him on Friday...
Clarke Schmidt vs. SDP - I'm worried the Yankees will be limiting him after getting pushed back due to left side soreness. Schmidt hasn't been locked in, either, and this feels like a much lower floor than usual.
Do Not Starts
Ben Lively @ WSN - There's always a chance with Lively.
Chase Dollander vs. DET - Still in Coors. I wonder if the curve can be an absurd strike rate pitch again. Highly unlikely. Quick note about curveballs: Outside of splitters, they are the least likely reliable #2 pitches for strikes. Why? Because they have the largest movement. Generally tougher to nail their locations consistently. On top of my head, Nola and Gallen are the only two reliable ones (Morton, Eovaldi, Eflin, Lugo all have a variety of options.)
Emerson Hancock @ ATH - He's not ready.
Chad Patrick vs. HOU - He'll get a ton of RHB to hurl cutters away to. It could work.
Brad Lord vs. CLE - Lord had a moment last time out and even that was a pretty capped ceiling.
Eric Lauer @ LAA - He's still here!
Cal Quantrill vs. LAD - I could hear your GASP through the screen.
Wednesday 5/7 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.
