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.
Note: If no pitcher under 20% rostered would have qualified for a "Streaming Win," no loss is granted.
Nick's 2025 Streamer Record: 47-18
My Pick yesterday: Win - Edward Cabrera vs SFG
My Pick today: Chris Paddack @ SEA
My Pick tomorrow: Brayan Bello vs. LAA
My Pick day after tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
My picks for the day after tomorrow are located at the bottom of this article for PL Pro members.
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 46-19
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Win -Ben Brown vs. CIN
PL Bot's Pick today: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Pick tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Pick day after tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Picks are located at the bottom of this article for PL Pro members.
Sunday 6/1 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Garrett Crochet @ ATL - Aces gonna ace.
Jacob deGrom vs. STL - Aces gonna ace. Can you strike out one batter this time? K thx.
Hunter Brown vs. TBR - Is he worthy of "AGA"?
Corbin Burnes vs. WSN - Burnes' lack of cutter depth and questionable ability for secondary whiffs has me worried for the full year, but this looks great.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. NYY - Aces gonna ace...even against the Yankees.
Clay Holmes vs. COL - The gift of "Rockie Road" keeps giving.
Kris Bubic vs. DET - It's the Tigers, but Bubic has been that good.
Probably Starts
Jameson Taillon vs. CIN - The "Reds Carpet" + the extended "Vargas Rule" is a glorious pairing.
Ranger Suárez vs. MIL - He's in a groove and you start Suárez when he's in a groove.
Ryan Weathers vs. SFG - Weathers is so hot right now.
Kevin Gausman vs. ATH - Alright Gausman, show us double-digit splitter whiffs again. You can do this.
Luis Castillo vs. MIN - I'm wary of Castillo's fastballs and lack of secondary whiffs but we keep rolling for now.
Hayden Birdsong @ MIA - It's a good matchup and I just want him to throw enough strikes. Maybe work at-bats properly too?
Gavin Williams vs. LAA - Gavin just got trounced by the Dodgers. That's okay, we didn't start him + he went 30% cutters for nearly 75% strikes. We dig that. This should be a much better outing now that he has a proper strike pitch outside of the four-seamer.
Questionable Starts
Chris Paddack @ SEA - I still can't figure out if I want road pitchers at "@TEA" or not. Does the offense outweigh the strikeout boost? Regardless, Paddack is pitching well, even without a strong #3 pitch.
Adrian Houser @ BAL - I'm maybe too aggressive here with Houser (it's still in the third tier!). I'm loving the harder heater that takes solid extension with two heaters over the plate and gets more outs than you'd expect. And hey, the Orioles aren't a fantastic offense these days.
Erick Fedde @ TEX - The Rangers aren't a strong offense and Fedde has enough skill to go six on a given night.
Taj Bradley @ HOU - Bradley just had a great game nailing his cutter on the edges. I don't expect that to return.
Nick Martinez @ CHC - He's a "Toby" going against a tough offense.
Charlie Morton vs. CHW - Morton had a great game last time and now gets the CrySox. Was it just a one time thing? I'm not sure I want to risk that.
Randy Vásquez vs. PIT - At least it's the Pirates and Vásquez will throw strikes.
Do Not Starts
Bryce Elder vs. BOS - Elder has a chance to get a Win against a poor Red Sox offense, though I'd prefer not to chance this.
Keider Montero @ KCR - At least it's the Royals and Montero has a decent leash.
Jack Kochanowicz @ CLE - The Jack of One Trade is showing a little more promise in his sinker these days, but he's getting a ton of LHB here, where the sinker is more susceptible.
JP Sears @ TOR - Sears has been rough for three straight now and the Jays are looking solid.
Jose Quintana @ PHI - He's back! And it's the Phils.
Ryan Yarbrough @ LAD - "The Fratty Pirate" has shocked us all of as late. That's cool. The Dodgers? Not cool.
Andrew Heaney @ SDP - Heaney has brief moments of bliss mixed with horrific floors. Good luck.
Mitchell Parker @ ARI - At least he can go six if things break his way.
Carson Palmquist @ NYM - He's not the worst rookie out there. That's it? Yep.
Monday 6/2 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Joe Ryan @ ATH - Aces gonna Ace.
Logan Webb vs. SDP - Aces gonna Ace.
Jack Flaherty @ CHW - Fastballs got a lot of whiffs last time out and it’s the White Sox. I expect the breaking balls to be better this time too.
Probably Starts
Brady Singer vs. MIL - Slider isn’t doing amazing things, but this is Milwaukee. We're still rolling with it.
Max Meyer vs. COL - It’s “Rockie Road”. This should be fine even if Meyer isn’t at his peak.
Questionable Starts
Dustin May vs. NYM - The cutter is getting better. The Mets scare me a little bit. I don’t love his sinker command.
Luis Severino vs. MIN - He should be fine. It’s not exciting. I love the new cutter emphasis. If you need a quality start, he’s a good option.
Brayan Bello vs. LAA - He’ll face a lot of right-handers. I’m not sure the slider will be good enough, and he hasn’t had all three of his main pitches working in a single start this year.
Do Not Starts
Stephen Kolek @ SFG - He’ll throw enough strikes. It could work in San Francisco, but the upside is so minimal.
Aaron Civale @ CIN - It’s against the Reds Off, unfortunately, in GABP. I haven’t seen a start with his breaking balls back since last year.
Tyler Anderson @ BOS - It’s Fenway. Maybe the changeups are good enough and maybe that offense is lagging enough for him to get away with this. I think the floor is too low without a high enough ceiling.
Jonathan Cannon vs. DET - I didn’t hire the orchestra, and I don’t plan to play the 1812 Overture.
Paul Blackburn @ LAD - It's the Dodgers. It’s Blackburn. It’s “Still ILL”. It's a clear pass.
Germán Márquez @ MIA - Let’s just be happy he gets to pitch.
Tuesday 6/3 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 from everyone else, and I thought this was a good compromise.
