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!
There is a second table (and now third for PL Pro members) 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 for my streaming record, I am forced to pick a streamer every day even if they are in the bottom tier. 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 Do Not Start pitchers unless 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 and it applies to a smaller audience.
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.
(Opener) - Outlines that a pitcher is being opened for that day & the pitcher listed will follow the opener.
Nick's 2025 Streamer Record: 58-24
My Pick yesterday: Win - Michael Soroka vs. COL
My Pick today: Mitchell Parker vs. COL
My Pick tomorrow: Cade Horton vs. MIL
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: 58-24
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Win - Ben Brown vs. MIL
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.
Wednesday 6/18 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Tarik Skubal vs. PIT - Aces gonna ace.
Garrett Crochet @ SEA - Aces gonna ace.
Chris Sale vs. NYM - Aces gonna ace.
Framber Valdez @ ATH - He's been on such a stupid good run that we ignore "Sacré Verde".
Kris Bubic @ TEX - He was bamboozled by the Yankees. We move past it.
Sonny Gray @ CHW - This should be Sonny and not Gray against the CrySox.
Ranger Suárez @ MIA - Suárez has been in the groove we know and love.
Probably Starts
Jameson Taillon vs. MIL - He's been on such a good run and I'm sure he'll enjoy taking down his "younger brother" making his second career start.
Luis Castillo vs. BOS - It's "@TEA" and without Devers.
Nick Lodolo vs. MIN - I'm still a fan of Lodolo and this matchup doesn't worry me.
Questionable Starts
Mitchell Parker vs. COL - Parker didn't come through against Miami, but it's "Rockie Road"! I can't resist.
Jacob Misiorowski @ CHC - It was all kinds of fun watching the debut, though he won't have adrenaline (good or bad) and pitching Wrigley is far tougher.
Bailey Ober @ CIN - I've been heavily discouraged by Ober and his admission of hip + knee injuries that he's pitching through.
Ryan Yarbrough vs. LAA - We've seen it work mutliple times with the "Fratty Pirate". Maybe there's some more magic left?
Taj Bradley vs. BAL - You never know and I really hate taking the chance, but I recognize some may want to roll the dice for strikeouts.
Andrew Heaney @ DET - Heaney is a weird one and I'd prefer not to chance it, even if the Tigers are weaker these days.
Do Not Starts
Logan Allen @ SFG - The Giants have Devers on their squad and you shouldn't overrate his last game against the "Reds Carpet".
Sean Burke vs. STL - It's not the worst matchup, but I'm not sold on Burke's progress.
Eduardo Rodriguez @ TOR - The Jays are fantastic against LHB, though Erod did have a great changeup last time out. Ehhhh, I'd rather not.
Patrick Corbin vs. KCR - Corbin has yet to allow more than 3 ER all season. THERE'S A CHANCE.
Luis Severino vs. HOU - It's in "Sacré Verde" and Severino has been more harmful than helpful this season.
Emmet Sheehan vs. SDP - He's back! I'm excited to see what we get in this clear "Still ILL". I wonder how long he'll go...Note: Justin Wrobleskiwill pitch bulk innings. Not a terrible play for a vulture Win.
Justin Verlander vs. CLE - Verlander is returning from the IL and boy do I hope we see 95 mph heaters upstairs and power sliders down.
Trevor Rogers @ TBR - With Povich dealing with a hip injury, Rogers is taking his spot for his second outing in an Orioles uniform. I hope the changeup and slider are better than what we saw in Fenway, even if the line was a pretty one.
Paul Blackburn @ ATL - Oh, you're returning, eh?
Germán Márquez @ WSN - At least it's not in Coors! And the curveball has been okay!
Jack Kochanowicz @ NYY - Oh dear.
Stephen Kolek @ LAD - Yikes.
Eric Lauer vs. ARI - You're not going to go long.
Adam Mazur vs. PHI - The Marlins have called up Mazur and after last year's lack of production, there's no way I'm chasing this before we see something different.
Thursday 6/19 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Jacob deGrom vs. KCR - Aces gonna ace.
Paul Skenes @ DET - Aces gonna ace.
Logan Webb vs. CLE - Aces gonna ace.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. SDP - Aces gonna ace.
Carlos Rodón vs. LAA - Aces gonna ace.
Cristopher Sánchez @ MIA - It's the Marlins as a LHP.
Drew Rasmussen vs. BAL - Rasmussen is a high floor, low strikeout arm.
Spencer Strider vs. NYM - Strider is a low(er) floor, high strikeout arm. Also, I'm not as sold as others that he's "BACK" after taking down "Rockie Road". The slider is still down in velo and 96 mph is great, but not 97+ mph.
Probably Starts
Freddy Peralta @ CHC - He's a "Cherry Bomb", though the risk is a little higher against the Cubs.
Clay Holmes @ ATL - It's not a fun matchup, but "The Adobe" has been a comfortable home all year.
Michael Wacha @ TEX - I wouldn't be scared of the Rangers and Wacha's changeup is legit.
Cade Horton vs. MIL - I'm excited to watch Horton develop this year with his cut-fastball and legit breakers. The Brewers aren't enough of an obstacle to bench Horton.
Chris Paddack @ CIN - Paddack had a shockingly terrible day at the park for the second time this year and after he bounced back for an incredible stretch after his first disaster, I'm expecting another game of redemption here. The skills are still there.
Questionable Starts
Gavin Williams @ SFG - Williams massively reduced his velocity and extension in his last start and I don't know why. Maybe it was a tough day, maybe it's an injury, or maybe he elected to slow everything down in his mechanics. I'm not sure and hopefully it's all forgotten about after this one.
Kevin Gausman vs. ARI - Gausman's splitter movement is back, but the command has lost its way. The Sneks make this a tougher play.
Trevor Williams vs. COL - #NeverTrevor. It's "Rockie Road", but the hashtag stays.
Erick Fedde @ CHW - He's a decent streamer against weak teams. Ayyyy, it's the CrySox!
Tyler Anderson @ NYY - The Yankees have been, uh, terrible.
Charlie Morton @ TBR - He's been better since returning to the rotation, but we all know how low the floor is.
Nick Martinez vs. MIN - Like Fedde, Martinez is a decent streamer against weak teams. The Twins are in the middle tier, though.
Keider Montero vs. PIT - Montero is terrible and the Pirates are a streamable team. The ceiling isn't very high, though.
Jacob Lopez vs. HOU - If you're dire for strikeouts, Lopez has a shot. I don't love starting him in "Sacré Verde" with the "Shag Rug" very present.
Colton Gordon @ ATH - Gordon has done shockingly well, but this matchup is not in his favor.
Edward Cabrera vs. PHI - This looks terrible and yet, if Cabrera throws strikes, he should succeed. But he's getting pulled so early. Okay, that's annoying and shouldn't last, right?
Do Not Starts
Adrian Houser vs. STL - He's a decent play for QS leagues, but there isn't much else to chase here.
Chase Dollander @ WSN - At least he's not in Coors? The Nationals are better against RHB, though.
Ryne Nelson @ TOR - I'm waiting for Nelson to have that start where his four-seamer cooks and he has a secondary pitch he can trust for strikes (and hopefully whiffs).
Ryan Bergert @ LAD - I dig the high heater and slider combo. It's unrefined and he needs a third pitch + the Dodgers are terrifying.
Friday 6/20 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.
