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: 31-10
My Pick yesterday: Lucas Giolito vs. TEX
My Pick today: Ben Brown vs. SFG
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 30-11
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Jeffery Springs vs SEA
PL Bot's Pick today: Get our Daily & Weekly PLV Projections with PL Bot via PL Pro here.
Wednesday 5/7 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Hunter Greene @ ATL - Aces gonna ace.
Max Fried vs. SDP - Aces gonna ace.
Bryan Woo @ ATH - Aces gonna ace.
Sonny Gray vs. PIT - Pittsburgh is a Tier 2 offense! Don't care.
Framber Valdez @ MIL - He's a "Cherry Bomb", but Milwaukee does help with strikeouts.
Probably Starts
Cristopher Sánchez @ TBR - He would be auto-start if we weren't still a touch scared about the forearm "injury".
Michael Wacha vs. CHW - This is such a clear stream.
Grant Holmes vs. CIN - "The Real Estate Broker" (REB) gets such a lovely matchup and is throwing enough strikes to take advantage of it.
Dylan Cease @ NYY - If Cease is on, it doesn't matter who he's facing. You can interchange these three "Cherry Bomb" arms in this tier however you like.
Robbie Ray @ CHC - If Ray is still boasting the slider for strikes, this shouldn't be a problem.
Shane Baz vs. PHI - Baz hasn't been as sharp lately and it's the Phillies. It's a tough call, I know.
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.
Kodai Senga @ ARI - I don't love the matchup but is it enough to bench this "Holly"? I don't think so.
Merrill Kelly vs. NYM - Kelly has a great team behind him with the only enemy being his body. Monkeys don't cramp. Yes, I've already told Kelly that, he's watched the video many times.
Questionable Starts
Gunnar Hoglund vs. SEA - I was impressed by his debut, but the Mariners are not a push over away from Seattle, especially in Sacramento.
Casey Mize @ COL - It's Coors, but he's fastball/splitter against a terrible lineup. Mize may be less affected by the thin air than other arms.
José Berríos @ LAA - The Angels are not so terrible...? Whatever, he's the Undulator.
Tanner Houck vs. TEX - This may be too low for Houck after sitting two ticks up in his last start. He still has to figure out the splitter and gain more movement on the sweeper, but that's a huge gain that we hope sticks against a struggling offense.
Mitch Keller @ STL - It's the Cards, so maybe we get 6 IP of 2 ER ball and a 1.33 WHIP.
Ben Brown vs. SFG - It's just two pitches and I can't endorse it often, but the Giants? Ehhhh fine.
Michael Soroka vs. CLE - Soroka is back! And his changeup earned 6/18 whiffs in his last rehab start (11 strikeouts! 94 pitches!), but they were all gloveside, not armside. Still, this feels like a day to try it out some more with the LHB squad and I'm kinda digging this.
Tyler Mahle @ BOS - I hate starting guys in Fenway. Mahle may have found something with his cutter to complement the four-seamer, though.
Do Not Starts
Landon Knack @ MIA - There's a chance for a Win. He was also pulled at 4.2 IP last time out and it's so frustrating.
Yusei Kikuchi vs. TOR - Kikuchi is still struggling, even if the Jays are too.
Simeon Woods Richardson vs. BAL - There are moments that make me want to believe in SWR, then the velocity changes or the command disappears or he can't go through five frames. Not a terrible upside play if you need to chase a Win.
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 weapons.).
Logan Allen @ WSN - Ehhhhhhh, at least it's the Nats.
Jonathan Cannon @ KCR - Is this the day? He nearly lit the fuse last time. I just want to play Tchaikovsky.
Quinn Priester vs. HOU - Sure, maybe the slider and sinker are just that good.
Charlie Morton @ MIN - Oh, he's back in the rotation? Like actually?
Kyle Freeland vs. DET - It's Coors. And Detroit's thump.
Valente Bellozo vs. LAD - Uhhhh. Poor fella.
Thursday 5/8 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Joe Ryan vs. BAL - Aces gonna ace.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto @ ARI - Aces gonna ace.
Spencer Schwellenbach vs. CIN - You're hosting the Reds. This is the start that vaults you onto the right path.
Jesús Luzardo @ TBR - There isn't a world where you're benching Luzardo given his start to the year.
Probably Starts
Kris Bubic vs. CHW - This has obvious written all over it.
Brayan Bello vs. TEX - Texas isn't the strongest of offenses - they fired their hitting coach after all.
Chris Bassitt @ LAA - Here's to hoping the curve shows up against for Bassitt.
Nick Lodolo @ ATL - I still like Lodolo's skill set, even if this is against Atlanta.
Ryan Pepiot vs. PHI - A tough one here. I have zero issues with anyone wanting to bench Pepiot. That said, if he's on, it doesn't matter who he's facing.
Questionable Starts
José Soriano vs. TOR - The Jays are a good matchup. Just throw strikes.
Casey Mize @ COL - Coors isn't so terrifying at the moment.
Brandon Pfaadt vs. LAD - I dig Pfaadt's adjustments this year and good luck enduring your anxiety against tthe Dodgers.
Do Not Starts
Jack Leiter @ BOS - It's Fenway and Leiter hasn't found his groove post-IL stint yet.
Dean Kremer @ MIN - There's always a chance.
Davis Martin @ KCR - The ceiling isn't high enough for me to chase.
Keider Montero @ COL - Maybe the Rockies offense is just that bad.
Kyle Freeland vs. DET - Coors against one of the hotter offenses? No thanks.
Tanner Gordon vs. DET - Absolutely not.
Friday 5/9 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.
