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: 42-32
My pick yesterday: Garrett Whitlock vs. COL
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 39-35
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Mike Clevinger @ LAD
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
Cristian Javier vs. WSN – It’s too good of a matchup, even if he hasn’t been able to return a 60% strike rate on his slider in five starts. It’ll come back.
Yu Darvish vs. CLE – Darvish does what he does, though the floor is higher than others with a date against the Guardians.
Shohei Ohtani @ TEX – It’s Ohtani, but it’s also one of the better offenses in the majors.
Aaron Nola @ ARI – If he doesn’t throw his sinker, this can be brilliant.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. LAA – He stumbled last time and we’re not letting that get to our heads.
Marcus Stroman vs. PIT – How can you deny Stroman a start against the Pirates?
Sonny Gray vs. DET – Gray looked much better last time out and the Tigers are a luscious day at the park.
Taj Bradley @ OAK – It’s Oakland and as long as Bradley throws strikes, he’ll soar.
Probably Starts
Tyler Wells vs. TOR – Wells is on such a good run that I can’t deny him against the Jays…even if it is the Jays.
Dylan Cease @ LAD – Cease hasn’t gotten his slider back on track in full and the Dodgers are no fun. Still, I think you go for it.
Rich Hill @ CHC – He’s performed well when matched up against mediocre offenses this year and the Cubs are struggling.
UPDATE: Johan Oviedo @ CHC – The Pirates are going with Oviedo instead and given their bottom ranked wRC+ over the last two weeks, Oviedo should bring enough to the table to make this work.
AJ Smith-Shawver vs. COL – Atlanta pushed him back to Thursday and he gets Rockie Road. I wonder if the command will be better than his premiere start and the Rockies are a nice cushion if he falls.
Questionable Starts
Yusei Kikuchi @ BAL – The curve and slider are working inside the zone, though the biggest knock on Kikuchi over the years has been his consistency. Let’s hope he can replicate it.
Logan Allen @ SDP – The Padres are heating up and this will require Allen to have precision with his slider and fastball.
Do Not Starts
MacKenzie Gore @ HOU – Despite the fastball that should be dominant, Gore doesn’t have an approach for it that works while the Astros are a solid crew, even without Alvarez.
Michael Grove vs. CHW – It may seem a little high, but I think his slider can mess up the White Sox + if he elevates his four-seamer, he could soar through five frames.
Kyle Freeland @ ATL – Freeland has somehow made it work a fair number of times this season.
Paul Blackburn vs. TBR – The Rays are too scary, though Blackburn could be a Toby at the end of the day.
Matthew Boyd @ MIN – He’s not getting slider whiffs and the four-seamer’s precision was a fleeting moment.
UPDATE: Ryan Weathers vs. CLE – The matchup is great, but I don’t trust Weathers to get it done.
Ryne Nelson vs. PHI – The secondaries need to do more before I lean on Nelson.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Shane McClanahan @ SDP – He’s my SP #1 right now.
Kevin Gausman @ TEX – This is a case where you have the two best pitchers facing tough matchups vs. three great but not the same tier pitchers against weak opponents. You can do what you like, I personally feel more comfortable with Gausman’s ability to overcome the matchup against Texas, even with his recent blowup.
Joe Ryan vs. DET – The secondaries have been missing for a bit, but hey, it’s Detroit.
Sandy Alcantara @ WSN – The Nationals have oddly messed up some guys and let’s be honest, Sandy has that one inning sometimes against the weirdest of teams
Zac Gallen vs. CLE – Gallen hasn’t been locked in since the end of his scoreless inning streak, even if he’s still been productive. The Guardians should help.
Yu Darvish vs. TBR – You start Darvish regardless of opposition.
Probably Starts
Triston McKenzie @ ARI – McKenzie has displayed both the highs and lows in his first two starts and I’m more of a believer in this ceiling.
Michael Kopech @ SEA – Kopech has racked up the strikeouts on the back of his improved heater and you can’t stop now.
Domingo Germán @ BOS – The swinging strike rates are still there and Boston is struggling.
Rich Hill @ MIL – Hill has consistently performed well against weaker opponents. Wild, I know.
Taijuan Walker @ OAK – He sat 2.5 ticks harder in his last start, the Athletics aren’t great (but are they hot right now…?) and Walker’s splitter focus has seemingly helped more than hurt. Okay, I’m a little skeptical of that last line.
J.P. France vs. CIN – He wasn’t able to get strikes in order last time out and Cincy is still solid on the road. That said, France shouldn’t walk six batters again and he carries an above-average Win chance.
Questionable Starts
Julio Teheran vs. PIT – Teheran is on one of the more outlandish stretches we’ve seen and yet we can’t stop, can we?
Patrick Sandoval @ KCR – He earned a Golden Goal, but the ratios were rough as his slider and sinker couldn’t support the filthy changeup. Be careful.
Kyle Hendricks vs. BAL – Hendricks doesn’t have his curve yet, but the changeup and sinker have been well commanded.
Tanner Houck vs. NYY – Will the command be there? At least he doesn’t have to deal with Judge.
Miles Mikolas @ NYM – The Mets are without Alonso and while I wouldn’t do this, I understand how it could work for those in QS leagues.
Bryan Woo vs. CHW – I like the four-seamer and this start may bring out the slider from Woo as the White Sox are terrible against RHB breaking balls.
JP Sears vs. PHI – The whiffs haven’t been as consistent as of late.
Brady Singer vs. LAA – He’s still a Cherry Bomb. Always has been.
Cole Irvin @ CHC – He tossed just 75 pitches last time out, but if Irvin is allowed to flirt with 90, there’s a decent QS shot here.
Andrew Abbott @ HOU – I worry a little about the fastball/curve approach and Houston can mess a guy up.
Do Not Starts
Jared Shuster vs. COL – Zero strikeouts against the Nats = I can’t endorse this.
Trevor Williams vs. MIA – I’m not a fan of Trevor, even against the Marlins.
Martín Pérez vs. TOR – It’s the Jays.
Tylor Megill vs. STL – It’s Megill.
Alex Wood @ LAD – It’s a Still ILL against the Dodgers.
Tyler Alexander @ MIN – It’s T-Lex. I can do this for days.
Dinelson Lamet @ ATL – He’s not the guy you remember from the old days and he has to endure Atlanta.
Dodgers Bullpen vs. SFG – The Dodgers have outlined that Bobby Miller is going Saturday and that this will likely be a bullpen game.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)