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: 34-28
My pick yesterday: Hogan Harris @ MIA
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 30-32
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Mike Clevinger vs. DET
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
Spencer Strider @ ARI – He may be the #1 SP on Monday.
Gerrit Cole @ LAD – He’s hoping to still be the #1 SP on Monday.
Cristian Javier vs. LAA – Slider hasn’t been earning strikes, but it’s still very worthwhile.
Sonny Gray vs. CLE – Super inconsistent with his repertoire as of late, but it’s the Guardians.
Update: Tyler Glasnow @ BOS – The stuff was good against the Dodgers and he threw strikes, Go for it.
Yu Darvish vs. CHC – Darvish does what Darvish does.
Probable Starts
Eury Pérez vs. OAK – There’s still polish to be had for the 20-year-old, obviously, but he’s in a good enough place to dominate the Athletics.
Logan Allen @ MIN – After boasting incredible command against the Orioles, we have to hope it sticks against a middling Twins offense.
Dylan Cease vs. DET – It’s the Tigers…but he just struggled against the Tigers. It’ll come down to his slider earning strikes like the good days.
Drew Smyly @ SDP – The BSB is still in effect, even if things didn’t go his way last time out.
Alex Cobb vs. BAL – I worry about the splitter not being there, but it’s been present for the majority of his career, pushing him into the second tier by a hair.
Questionable Starts
Jordan Montgomery @ PIT – Traditionally, a Toby with a good matchup goes into the next tier, but JorMont is struggling with the hook a whole lot lately.
Andrew Heaney vs. SEA – The strikeout upside is real, I wonder if he’ll have his slider or not.
Luis Medina @ MIA – This may be a surprise streaming pick, but I see Medina as a relatively safe QS play against the Marlins.
Michael Lorenzen @ CHW – You may want to take a chance on Lorenzen instead and it may be the wiser move, honestly. It’s close between him and Medina.
MacKenzie Gore vs. PHI – Tons of strikeouts last time out, but I worry about the explosiveness of the Phillies offense and the inconsistency start-to-start of Gore. But Nick, the Phils are struggggling right now. Yeah, I get that. Feel free to move him higher up if you want to lean on that.
José Berríos @ NYM – Berríos is looking a whole lot better with his sinker over his four-seamer, but the Mets are a tough team to endure.
Luis L. Ortiz vs. STL – I hope the sinkers and sliders are good enough. I worry that his heaters don’t miss bats and his command is volatile.
Update: Garrett Whitlock vs. TBR – I like his three pitch mix, but the Rays are the Rays.
Graham Ashcraft vs. MIL – This seems like an obvious play, but Ashcraft’s command is not a strong suit and he’s just a two-pitch pitcher now with cutters and sliders. He’s not the man you envisioned.
Kyle Bradish @ SFG – Maybe he has enough with his breakers and sinkers. The Giants are kinda good, though.
Do Not Starts
Bryan Woo @ TEX – It’s an MLB debut for an intriguing pitcher with a low VAA arm-angle four-seamer. I’m curious what we get.
Tanner Houck vs. TBR – Houck fell from his peak command and now gets the Rays.
Daniel Lynch vs. COL – There’s a chance this one works given it’s Rockie Road though I’d prefer to wait until he showcases an arsenal that demands production.
Patrick Sandoval @ HOU – The Astros are strong and Sandoval isn’t in a good rhythm with his slider and changeup.
Colin Rea @ CIN – We’ve seen him have surprising success this season, but it’s no fun pitching in Cincy.
Dylan Covey @ WSN – Hey, there’s a chance. It’s the Nats, after all.
Josh Fleming @ BOS – Fleming is infrequently a guy you want to start.
Corey Kluber vs. TBR – Kluber has rarely been productive this year and the Rays are solid (doubleheader day!)
Marco Gonzales @ TEX – He’s only worthwhile against the weakest of offenses.
Ryne Nelson vs. ATL – Ryne doesn’t have his secondaries and that frightens me against Atlanta.
Austin Gomber @ KCR – Even outside of Coors, I still have zero interest in Gomber.
Tylor Megill vs. TOR – Megill hasn’t looked solid for far too long + the Jays are destructive.
Michael Grove vs. NYY – We haven’t seen Grove excel this year and the Yankees can punish him quickly. I imagine his pitch count is heavily limited, too.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Joe Ryan vs. CLE – Ryan had a stumble last time out but it’s the Guardians. This is cool.
Sandy Alcantara vs. OAK – It’s been a wild ride of a season, but Sandy could go eight strong against the Athletics.
Zac Gallen vs. ATL – His command has been slightly off lately and Atlanta is tough. Still, you start him, of course.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. SEA – Eovaldi has been cruising and the Mariners shouldn’t be a major bump in the road.
Probable Starts
Tyler Wells @ SFG – It’s hard to deny Wells with his high heater and effective secondaries.
Marcus Stroman @ SDP – He’s hot off a perfect game bid, though the Padres should put up a fight.
Bobby Miller vs. NYY – I’ve loved the command and deep repertoire of Bobby in his first two starts, making me lift him above the other young options as he can maneuver around the fastball-focused Yankee offense.
Taj Bradley @ BOS – Bradley’s high heater + cutter is a great combo and should make for another strong strikeout game.
Miles Mikolas @ PIT – Mikolas is overperforming at the moment, and it could continue for another outing against the Pirates across 7+ innings.
Bryce Miller @ TEX – He got trounced by the Yankees and the Rangers are a tougher crew to
J.P. France vs. LAA – He has the skills to produce across 5/6 frames for a winning team.
Michael Kopech vs. DET – The strikeouts have been there and the Tigers create a decent floor.
Questionable Starts
Ranger Suárez @ WSN – His command was much better last time out and it could be the start of a Suárez run against a weak offense.
Anthony DeSclafani vs. BAL – I worry if the fastball command is good enough against the Orioles.
Triston McKenzie @ MIN – It’s a Still ILL and I’m excited to see Triston back in action.
Paul Blackburn @ MIA – I was impressed by Blackburn’s curveball and slider landing in the zone and the Marlins make for a sneaky stream.
Michael Soroka @ ARI – Soroka’s fastball and changeup looked great in his return, though the slider needs some work. I want to see another start or two before elevating him to the second tier.
Ben Lively vs. MIL – The slider has been fantastic and the Brewers make for a good streaming opportunity.
Brady Singer vs. COL – He’s a Cherry Bomb but the Rockies make for a safer floor than usual.
Kodai Senga vs. TOR – The forkball was incredible in his last start and if he can replicate it against the Jays he can produce despite the matchup.
Domingo Germán @ LAD – The Dodgers are tough and I’m not completely convinced he’s back to his old SwStr ways.
Do Not Starts
Matthew Boyd @ CHW – The slider is improving but I need to see the whiffs to return across multiple starts.
Griffin Canning @ HOU – The Astros create too low of a floor, but there is a chance Canning produces with his secondaries.
Tanner Houck vs. TBR – The command didn’t return for a second start and the Rays are a strong crew.
Kyle Freeland @ KCR – Freeland has had a wild season and maybe the Kauffman helps him a bit.
Adrian Houser @ CIN – Houser can get fortunate with his heaters, but it’s not a gamble I want to take.
Yusei Kikuchi @ NYM – The curveball emphasis has improved Kikuchi, but it’s too risky against the Mets.
Ryan Weathers vs. CHC – He couldn’t handle the Marlins.
Rich Hill vs. STL – There’s an outside chance but the Cardinals are not a bottom-tier offense.
Trevor Williams vs. PHI – Williams doesn’t bring enough to the table to start.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)