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.
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. Close calls are decided by Twitch chat.
Nick’s 2023 Streamer Record: 59-44
My pick yesterday: Griffin Canning vs. NYY
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 54-49
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Quinn Priester vs. CLE
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
Aaron Nola vs. MIL – He’s not at ace level and has been volatile, but the matchup is too good.
Joe Musgrove @ TOR – AGA, but it’s the Jays.
Lucas Giolito @ NYM – He’s been on a tear and the Mets aren’t too dangerous.
Mitch Keller vs. CLE – I’m not sure what direction Keller is heading, but he hasn’t fallen off yet.
Bailey Ober @ SEA – He’s been as steady as they come.
Bryan Woo vs. MIN – I’m excited to see if his new sinker emphasis and command stick around.
Tarik Skubal @ KCR – He’s getting stretched out and the Royals are a fun team to pitch against.
Tyler Wells vs. LAD – I know it’s the Dodgers, but if Wells starts, you start him.
Probably Starts
Jordan Montgomery vs. MIA – I wonder if the Cardinals will limit The Bear a touch after the hamstring scare last week.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. TBR – His velocity is still down and it’s the Rays, but he’s not on the IL…?
Logan Allen @ PIT – Allen is returning to the bigs and gets a gift of a matchup against the Pirates.
Bryce Elder vs. ARI – Elder hasn’t quite hit the wall yet (it was the Rays!), so we start him against the Diamondbacks
Domingo Germán @ LAA – His curve is elite and if you roster Domingo, he gets the nod with Trout out of the lineup.
Questionable Starts
Carlos Carrasco vs. CHW – I want to believe Carrasco is turning a corner, but we need more starts first.
Taj Bradley @ TEX – Bradley is volatile and the Rangers are dangerous.
Hunter Brown @ COL – Hunter has been volatile as well and it’s, well, Coors.
Alek Manoah vs. SDP – I don’t trust the first start back from Manoah and the Padres can mess him up.
Edward Cabrera @ STL – Cabrera is back from the IL in a clear Still ILL scenario.
Patrick Sandoval vs. NYY – He’s a Cherry Bomb that hasn’t been all too sweet.
Anthony DeSclafani @ CIN – I don’t trust Tony Disco’s fastball command, but there’s a chance this works, even in his former stomping ground.
Jameson Taillon vs. WSN – His command was far better last time out, I want to see him replicate it before trusting him, even with a start against the Nationals.
Luis Medina vs. BOS – The slider was filthy last time out, can he replicate it?
Trevor Williams @ CHC – There’s an outside chance Williams goes six frames of production here.
Do Not Starts
Daniel Lynch vs. DET – Lynch hasn’t locked down an approach that works yet.
Julio Teheran @ PHI – Absolutely not.
Michael Grove @ BAL – If Grove can survive with his heaters and nail his slider, this could work. Those are huge IFs, of course.
Luke Weaver vs. SFG – Weaver hasn’t been it for a long time.
Zach Davies @ ATL – It’s Atlanta and Davies is rough.
Noah Davis vs. HOU – It’s Coors and Houston.
Chris Murphy @ OAK – Murphy will not pitch a whole lot and it’s not something to put your hat on.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Luis Castillo vs. MIN – Aces gonna ace.
Shohei Ohtani vs. NYY – He’s been a little off and the blister has affected him. I wonder if the Angels push Ohtani back a start, but if they don’t, you let him fly.
Carlos Rodón @ LAA – After tossing nearly 90 pitches last time out, I feel this is the start where we see Rodón fully unleashed.
Julio Urías @ BAL – He’s looked solid and Camden is a great place to pitch.
Justin Verlander vs. CHW – Verlander isn’t at his peak, but still an obvious start.
Sandy Alcantara @ STL – This is pretty straightforward.
Charlie Morton vs. ARI – Morton may be less volatile than usual (welcome to July!) and the Diamondbacks are not the strongest offense.
Kenta Maeda @ SEA – I’d LOVE to see more sliders teasing swings outside the zone in this one.
José Berríos vs. SDP – He’s in a groove and the Padres aren’t enough to bench him.
Probably Starts
Brayan Bello @ OAK – I was tempted to place him in the top tier with the great matchup. I’m a little worried that sinker/change are the only exceptional offerings in his arsenal.
Yu Darvish @ TOR – I adored what Darvish did in his last start and I need to see it repeated for me to believe he’ll leave a start in Toronto unscathed.
Eduardo Rodriguez @ KCR – His command was better last time out and the Royals are a lovely gift.
Cristopher Sánchez vs. MIL – Cristopher’s change wasn’t as elite last time out, but it could come through in a big way here against the Brewers.
Kyle Hendricks vs. WSN – The changeup command was way off in his last outing and I expect Hendricks to get it back.
Questionable Starts
Aaron Civale @ PIT – He’s a Toby with a solid matchup. Debatedly in the tier above.
Dean Kremer vs. LAD – It’s been fun watching Kremer soar with his four-seamer and cutter, but the Dodgers could stop his momentum in a flash.
Graham Ashcraft vs. SFG – The slider command has been good, the cutter command not so much. Has it ever? No, not really.
Do Not Starts
Colin Rea @ PHI – He could chuck fastballs that find gloves.
Jon Gray vs. TBR – It’s the Rays and Gray is not in rhythm.
Rich Hill vs. CLE – It’s a desperate play, one you don’t need to make on a Wednesday.
Touki Toussaint @ NYM – It’s a huge dart throw, but with the way the Mets have been playing, this feels like that kind of start.
Patrick Corbin @ CHC – I know it’s Corbin, but every so often he has that lovely six inning game. Just saying.
Ryan Yarbrough vs. DET – Maybe the Fratty Pirate has it in him against the Tigers. Maybe.
Dakota Hudson vs. MIA – Hey, he’s back! And maybe he gets all the grounders for outs like the old days.
Ross Stripling @ CIN – It’s in Cincinnati and Stripling still doesn’t have his change, nor has he actually gone a full five. He did have a chance to last time out, though, and maybe this is it. Only if he’s cruising, of course.
Ken Waldichuk vs. BOS – He’s elevating and not doing a whole lot else, sadly.
Brandon Bielak @ COL – In Coors?!
Ryne Nelson @ ATL – Against Atlanta?!
Cooper Criswell @ TEX – In four frames in Texas?!
Austin Gomber vs. HOU – AS GOMBER?!
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)