Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 6/1 & 6/2

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: 33-27

My pick yesterday: Jared Shuster @ OAK

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 29-31

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Jared Shuster @ OAK

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 vs. MIL – He’s the clear #1 against the Brewers. Funny enough, the splitter is arguably worse this year as it has dipped below a 60% strike rate for the first time in years.

Max Scherzer vs. PHI – Scherzer gets the toughest matchup of the lot, but the Phillies chase a ton of pitches and after a 20-whiff game in Coors, he deserves the high rank.

Pablo López vs. CLE – He’s two starts away from the AGA label and I so badly want him to get it.

Joe Musgrove @ MIA – Musgrove is still searching for the slider, but the curve and cutter stepped up last time out. I’m not worried about the Marlins’ offensive surge as of late. Coors does that.

Chris Sale vs. CIN – The velocity has slightly dipped lately, but Sale has been a legit ace after his first start of the season. Just a few more games without turbulence and he’ll get the label.

Framber Valdez vs. LAA – He’s a clear start, but I really hope Framber has his cutter back. It’s a gamechanger for him and transforms him into a legit fantasy ace when it’s on.

 

Probable Starts

 

Hunter Greene @ BOS – He was a stud in his last game and Fenway isn’t as scary as Great American Ballpark. Please go double-digit strikeouts again.

Tanner Bibee @ MIN – It’s all about repetition with Bibee. He has enough tools in the arsenal to flourish on any given day, and we just need to see it happen with frequency.

Jesús Luzardo vs. SDP – The bad luck has to end at some point, right? The K-BB% rate is elite and it’s just that dang 1.39 WHIP that’s killing us with a three point jump in hits-per-nine. It’ll get corrected.

Freddy Peralta @ TOR – It’s the Jays and Peralta has been all kinds of shaky…and he doesn’t deserve it. In addition, Peralta is one of those like Darvish and Gibson – he performs how he does regardless of the opposition.

 

Questionable Starts

 

Reid Detmers @ HOU – You’re fed up with Detmers and now he gets the Astros. This is a play to make only if you’re hankering for strikeouts. Otherwise, you’re putting yourself at a large WHIP risk.

Zach Davies vs. COL – He’s our streaming pick of the day with a date against Rockie Road. I don’t love it, but if Davies has his changeup, he just needs to steal a fair number of called strikes with his sinker to make this worthwhile.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Taijuan Walker @ NYM – If the splitter is good enough, Walker can survive this. That ceiling isn’t worth the start, sadly.

Chase Anderson @ ARI – You know, when I do these rankings every day, I often ask myself “Is this pitcher actually going to return the worst game of the night?” and in this case, it seems clear that Anderson has the worst opportunity, and yet, he’s had surprising games inside Coors and now gets to be outside the horrid park. It could happen.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

Auto-Starts

 

Zack Wheeler @ WSN – He’s fresh off his best outing of the year and it’s the Nats.

Shohei Ohtani @ HOU – Ohtani starts, you start him.

Luis Castillo @ TEX – The Rangers aren’t a fun offense to face, but Castillo is pitching as well as we’ve seen him all season.

Cristian Javier vs. LAA – Javier hasn’t had his slider for strikes across the last three games, but I’d expect that trend to change shortly.

Corbin Burnes @ CIN – His secondaries haven’t come through lately and there is a touch of concern inside Cincy, but you’re obviously starting him.

Clayton Kershaw vs. NYY – The last two games have been rough for Kershaw and I anticipate a reset back to the norm against the Yankees.

Tyler Glasnow @ BOS – The skills were there in his season debut. We start Glasnow until further notice.

Logan Webb vs. BAL – The new slider could propel the strikeout rate back to 25%+ levels.

Chris Bassitt @ NYM – He stumbled for the first time since his season debut and don’t let the small sample deter you.

 

Probable Starts

 

Jon Gray vs. SEA – His slider has been stupid good. My skepticism lies in his heater and changeup, and it should be enough against the Mariners.

Justin Verlander vs. TOR – The slider isn’t there and the Jays are tough. Be careful – I may keep lowering Verlander until I see the slider return.

Luis Severino @ LAD – He’s looked like his former self, save for a few missing whiffs on the slider. It’s good enough to start here.

Merrill Kelly vs. ATL – Kelly has been dominating so much that I’m breaking the Toby rule to start him against Atlanta. Arizona’s #3 infield defense helps, too.

Bailey Ober vs. CLE – The Guardians are a gift as Ober has had his fastball command and a solid breaker.

Edward Cabrera vs. OAK – It’s Oakland and we can only hope he throws enough strikes.

Charlie Morton @ ARI – He’s a premium Cherry Bomb and I need to come to terms with that.

Jack Flaherty @ PIT – The velocity and whiffs oscillate between starts, though a date with the Pirates makes this worthwhile.

 

Questionable Starts

 

Hogan Harris @ MIA – He’s a craft lefty who could perform against a mediocre Marlins team. Weird to have him as the streaming pick (I get it), but I see it working.

Michael Wacha vs. CHC – Changeup has been great, but is the command good enough on everything else?

Garrett Whitlock vs. TBR – I like his three pitch mix, but the Rays are the Rays.

Josiah Gray vs. PHI – The ERA is all he has going for him and that will likely get worse after this one.

Brandon Williamson vs. MIL – If he’s nailing his cutters, there’s a chance he takes down a poor offense.

Dean Kremer @ SFG – Kremer doesn’t have a whole lot of firepower in his arsenal and the Giants are a solid squad.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Mike Clevinger vs. DET – It’s a Still ILL, even against Detroit.

Aaron Civale @ MIN – It’s also a Still ILL, even against Minnesota.

Roansy Contreras vs. STL – The slider is good, the rest isn’t. Low Win chance as well.

Reese Olson @ CHW – He’s fanned 19 across his last two Triple-A games, but has a massive history of terrible control and walk rate issues. Far too risky for an MLB debut.

Jameson Taillon @ SDP – I’m waiting for him to get into a groove with the great Cubs defense behind him.

Jordan Lyles vs. COL – Despite the matchup, don’t lean on Lyles coming through for you.

Austin Gomber @ KCR – He’s not the Gomber we want him to be.

 

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