Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball: 6/5 & 6/6

Here are today and tomorrow’s daily SP Streamer rankings for fantasy baseball.

Every day of the 2024 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 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!

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 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. You can use the rankings to realize who those picks would be 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 by tier):

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.

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, 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.

 

Nick’s 2024 Streamer Record: 40-29

My pick yesterday: Spencer Arrighetti vs. STL – L

PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 39-30

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: David Peterson @ WSN – W

Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign up for PL Pro here.

My streaming pick of the day is Underlined and Italicized.

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

Auto Starts

 

Aaron Nola vs. MIL – Aces gonna ace.

Logan Gilbert @ OAK – He’s on the path to redemption. He can hear a voice through the breeze. Find the cutter…

Dylan Cease @ LAA – You’re still two-pitch and it shouldn’t matter against the Angels.

Paul Skenes vs. LAD – Aces gonna ace…and I’m awfully curious how he responds. Watch the game and have a ball – this is the fun!

Ronel Blanco vs. STL – He’s a steady Holly against a middling offense. You want this.

 

Probably Starts

 

Carlos Rodón vs. MIN – Trust in Rodón’s four-seamer and slider, even if the Twins are a bit better with Royce returning.

Zach Eflin @ MIA – I’d have him higher but it’s a Still ILL without a rehab assignment. He’ll likely have his innings limited.

Nick Pivetta vs. ATL – The sweeper returned last time out, though the cutter was oddly missing. Atlanta hasn’t been the strongest and I’d roll with Pivetta here.

Jordan Hicks @ ARI – Hicks has been generally solid (stupid Judge) and as long as one of his secondaries is there, he soars.

Jordan Montgomery vs. SFG – He’s a Toby against a weak opponent.

Jameson Taillon vs. CHW – He’s a Toby against a weak opponent.

James Paxton @ PIT – This is a solid play for a Win.

 

Questionable Starts

 

José Berríos vs. BAL – The Orioles scare me and Berríos isn’t overwhelming enough to make him a clear Tier 2 play.

Brady Singer @ CLE – He’s a textbook Cherry Bomb.

Braxton Garrett vs. TBR – It’s a solid matchup, but does Garrett have more than his sinker and slider?

José Soriano vs. SDP – He’s a Cherry Bomb with starts of 0/1 ER or 4 ER this season. All thanks to the sinker.

Erick Fedde @ CHC – Fedde has solid command and the Cubs aren’t too threatening at the moment.

Joey Estes vs. SEA – I was tempted to push Estes higher as I have a sense his four-seamer will perform well against the Mariners. The floor is low, though.

Spencer Schwellenbach @ BOS – I’m awfully curious how he looks in his second outing in the bigs. Will his command improve? Can he get those cutters gloveside? He could be a decent start to roll with as a potential hold past it.

Luis Severino @ WSN – He’s a borderline Toby going just fastballs/sweeper these days.

Albert Suárez @ TOR – Four-seamer whiffs are here to stay (hopefully), but are the secondaries good enough to steal a Win?

José Ureña vs. DET – It’s a desperate Win/QS shot against a poor Tigers lineup and the Rangers offense at his back.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Logan Allen (Opener) vs. KCR – I don’t trust Allen these days and the Royals offense is looking solid. Maybe there’s a vulture Win in here as the follower?

Miles Mikolas @ HOU – Mikolas has a long leash. At least he’s got that going for him.

Kenta Maeda @ TEX – He’s a Cherry Bomb without a lot of sweet these days against a strong offense.

Dakota Hudson vs. CIN – Maybe the sinkers find gloves and his breakers are working?

Graham Ashcraft @ COL – His cutter and slider can find a way to get outs. Who knows.

Aaron Ashby @ PHI – He’s back! And likely limited. Against the Phils. Yikes.

Patrick Corbin vs. NYM – Not a chance.

Chris Paddack @ NYY – In this economy?!

 

Enjoy these rankings? Support my work and Pitcher List by getting PL+ or PL Pro! You’ll get an Ad-Free website, access to our incredible non-toxic baseball Discord community, my weekly PL Pro exclusive SP FAAB Forecast podcast, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

Auto Starts

 

Sonny Gray vs. COL – Aces gonna ace.

Tanner Houck @ CHW – He’s been unreal and it’s the CrySox.

Kyle Bradish @ TOR – Bradish is still an ace, right? The Orioles may give him Thursday off and push him to Friday, in which case I’d avoid whoever goes in his stead.

Reynaldo López @ WSN – ReyLó has been dependable all season and it’s the Nationals.

 

Probably Starts

 

Bryan Woo @ OAK – I’d have him higher, but the injury concerns are very much present.

Marcus Stroman vs. MIN – No reason to hold back Stroman here. Sinkers + a collections of secondaries all day.

Walker Buehler @ PIT – Buehler is still figuring out how to command his arsenal, but the stuff is there + the Pirates make for a solid Win chance.

Tanner Bibee vs. KCR – Bibee has lowered his arm angle and gotten more success from his four-seamer as a result. The Royals are not to be trifled with, though I’d risk it to roll with Bibee’s hot streak.

Pablo López @ NYY – I have no idea where to place Pablo, but he came through in his last start and we have to hope that wasn’t a Dennis. The Yankees are super hot, though.

Hunter Greene vs. CHC – Greene struggled to earn strikes last time out and we’re gonna roll the die once again. The ceiling is too good.

Javier Assad @ CIN – Assad is still living his Vargas Rule. For now.

 

Questionable Starts

 

Cal Quantrill @ STL – He just struggled against the Dodgers, but that was the Dodgers, right? The splitter has been stupid good this year and could very well pick up where it left off.

Yusei Kikuchi vs. BAL – I’m terrified of this start for Kikuchi. Baltimore is strong against LHP and Kikuchi’s slider has been laboring for weeks now.

JP Sears vs. SEA – Sears is moving away from heaters in favor of sliders and sweepers, though I wouldn’t be shocked if he turned to more heaters against the Mariners given their struggles against overpowering fastballs. Just get the thing upstairs and abuse the super flat release, please. K thx.

Mitchell Parker vs. ATL – The last time Parker faced Atlanta, he unleashed 8/22 slider whiffs. He abandoned the pitch in his last game, though, and I wonder if he’ll return to the approach or lean more into his curve and splitter.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Bailey Falter vs. LAD – Falter has had some moments lately, but this is the Dodgers. Nooooope.

Randy Vásquez vs. ARI – Vásquez doesn’t offer a whole lot in his arsenal to make me chase this.

Slade Cecconi @ SDP – Cecconi isn’t the arm you’re looking for.

Daniel Lynch IV @ CLE – What is Lynch’s best pitch? Exactly.

Jake Woodford vs. BOS – As you know, it’s no wonder the Amish Mustang has no electricity in his arsenal.

 

Enjoy these rankings? Support my work and Pitcher List by getting PL+ or PL Pro! You’ll get an Ad-Free website, access to our incredible non-toxic baseball Discord community, my weekly PL Pro exclusive SP FAAB Forecast podcast, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.

Photos Courtesy of IconSportswire | Adapted by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)