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.
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. Close calls are decided by Twitch chat.
Nick’s 2023 Streamer Record: 45-35
My pick yesterday: Yusei Kikuchi vs. MIA
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 42-38
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Ryne Nelson @ MIL
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
Luis Castillo @ NYY – His four-seamer is too dang good.
Kevin Gausman @ MIA – He hasn’t had one of his patented stud starts for a little bit and the Marlins may open the door for it.
Zac Gallen @ MIL – I loved watching Gallen have his four-seamer and curve on point last time out.
Shohei Ohtani vs. LAD – Please bring back the slider more than 30% of the time.
Cristian Javier vs. NYM – If Javier can land his slider 60%+ of the time for strikes, he’ll dominate.
Aaron Nola vs. ATL – We’re watching this one live as a community via Playback.tv tomorrow and I’m excited to see if Nola can avoid the blowup inning. The curve and heaters are still excellent.
Yu Darvish @ SFG – I wonder if we see the sinker-focus return here. I still dream of a sweeper/cutter approach with heaters supplementing.
Probably Starts
Garrett Whitlock @ MIN – I don’t understand how he’s rostered in just 13% of fantasy leagues. Get the guy, his sinker is great, the slider misses bats, and the changeup may be the best pitch of them all.
Taj Bradley vs. BAL – The strikeouts are there, it’s all about pitch efficiency that hopefully will pull him well past five frames.
Tyler Wells @ TBR – He’s absolutely cruising, but it’s the Rays.
Sandy Alcantara vs. TOR – I know, he just got blown up (again) and it’s the Jays. He has a TIARA in my view and I think we still start him.
Sonny Gray vs. BOS – Gray has been a ratio killer over his last six games, but hopefully the slider and/or curve can step up against the Red Sox.
Andrew Abbott vs. COL – I don’t believe in Abbott’s ability a whole lot, but Rockie Road is a welcome sight.
Brady Singer @ DET – He’s a Cherry Bomb who may get some help facing the Tigers.
Matthew Boyd vs. KCR – His four-seamer precision has aided two of his last three starts, though I’m not sold that he can replicate it consistently.
Rich Hill vs. CHC – He just walked six batters, surely that’s not going to be repeated, right?
Kyle Hendricks @ PIT – The sinker and changeup command have been there and I’m still hoping the curve makes a major appearance.
Questionable Starts
AJ Smith-Shawver @ PHI – I didn’t love Smith-Shawver’s command last time out (he is 20 years old, after all) and this may be a trap start against the Phils.
Paul Blackburn @ CLE – He earned 17 whiffs last time out and the Guardians aren’t fearsome.
Julio Teheran vs. ARI – Do whatever you want. He can’t keep getting away with it.
Miles Mikolas @ WSN – I’m not a fan of this, but I recognize the decent PQS chance here against the Nats.
UPDATE: Gavin Williams vs. OAK – I know, it’s Oakland, but we don’t start pitchers in MLB debuts + Gavin hasn’t gone more than five frames in his time in Triple-A. I anticipate a very inefficient outing here.
Martín Pérez @ CHW – The White Sox are better against LHP and Pérez isn’t blowing us away.
Randy Vásquez vs. SEA – Vásquez has a shot to go five frames for a Win with his fastballs jamming right-handers frequently.
Michael Kopech vs. TEX – His fastball earned just 3/61 whiffs last time out and the Rangers are as scary as it gets.
Do Not Starts
Hunter Gaddis vs. OAK – It’s a lovely matchup, but will Gaddis even last long enough to make this worthwhile?
Trevor Williams vs. STL – Never T-Ells.
UPDATE: Michael Grove @ LAA – He’s on the Taxi squad and will likely get the call for the Dodgers. The slider was amazing last time out, but success here is highly dependent on his four-seamer elevation.
Tylor Megill @ HOU – He came through against the Cardinals and I have little faith he can repeat it against Houston. There just isn’t a whole lot to latch onto inside that repertoire.
Kyle Freeland @ CIN – Ha.
Sean Manaea vs. SDP – He’ll be opened for and likely give you fewer than four frames of mediocrity.
UPDATE: Connor Seabold @ CIN – No thanks.
TBD Dodgers SP @ LAA – It could be Emmet Sheehan, who would be in the third tier ahead of AJSS. Otherwise, it could be a bullpen game.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Shane McClanahan vs. KCR – Aces gonna ace. Duh.
Joe Ryan vs. BOS – Please show me a fantastic slider or splitter in this one. Preferably slider.
Blake Snell @ SFG – Can he go 12 strikeouts for the third straight start?
Mitch Keller @ MIA – It’s the Marlins and I want to believe Keller is on the path of redemption.
Braxton Garrett vs. PIT – Garrett has been lights out with his new cutter.
Probably Starts
Logan Allen vs. OAK – He was dropped in many leagues and yet it’s the Athletics. He needs his slider back, but even with just his fastball and changeup, this could be well worthwhile.
JP Sears @ CLE – We’re hoping he can flirt with 20 whiffs again focusing on elevated heaters.
Domingo Germán vs. SEA – The Mariners have been whiffing a ton and Germán is not the man you saw against the Red Sox.
Bryan Woo @ NYY – The fastball is solid, the slider still needs work. That may be fine for the Yankees and I’d take the chance.
Bryce Elder @ PHI – He rebounded against Rockie Road and given the magnificent 2023 campaign thus far, you’re still starting him. It does feel a little risky, though.
Questionable Starts
Tommy Henry @ WSN – The slider has been great recently and the Nationals aren’t too scary.
Taijuan Walker vs. ATL – Who knows what Walker will do on a given day (is it 92? 94? Splitters 45% usage? A new cutter?!) and even against Atlanta, I won’t rule out some Taijuan magic.
Do Not Starts
Alex Wood vs. SDP – He’s not fully stretched out yet and the Padres are hot.
Jake Irvin vs. ARI – Absolutely not.
Nick Pivetta? @ MIN – If he does get the start, Pivetta isn’t stretched out enough to make it worthwhile, let alone the whole “is he actually going to pitch well” part.
Max Castillo @ TBR – Oh dear.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)