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: 61-44
My pick yesterday: Cristopher Sánchez vs. MIL
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 54-51
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Carlos Carrasco vs. CWS
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 vs. ARI – Aces gonna ace.
Tyler Glasnow vs. BAL – Aces gonna ace.
Corbin Burnes @ PHI – Aces gonna…oh right. Maybe this is the start?
Pablo López @ SEA – He’ll get back on the horse, don’t you worry.
George Kirby vs. MIN – Love Kirby, hate the low strikeout rate.
Blake Snell @ TOR – He’d be higher, but it’s Toronto.
Zac Gallen @ ATL – It’s Atlanta and Gallen is a little weird with his approach at the moment. Atlanta is scarier than Coors right now.
Andrew Abbott vs. SFG – I don’t see an ace here, but someone solid enough for the Giants.
Marcus Stroman vs. STL – There’s your steady start.
Chris Bassitt vs. SDP – This should be fine. I don’t think you’re benching Bassitt if you have him.
Probably Starts
J.P. France @ OAK – It’s the Athletics and while I don’t see the same upside from France that I once saw, this is still a solid outing.
Michael Lorenzen @ KCR – He’s proven himself a strong streamer against weak teams.
Taijuan Walker vs. MIL – It’s a Vargas Rule at this point for Walker and the Brewers aren’t likely to act like a brick wall.
Alex Cobb @ CIN – The slider has been there as the splitter hasn’t and I hope the slider is still there when the splitter in.
Alec Marsh vs. DET – He’s fresh off eleven strikeouts and this is the perfect litmus test to see how real that is. No, I don’t think it is after watching all of it, but hey, there’s a chance.
Steven Matz @ CHC – He’s up to 95 mph on the sinker and even with his stumble last time out, I think this is still worthwhile. If this one falters, okay, we take a step back.
Questionable Starts
NONE – There aren’t any for Thursday. Just the way it is. That’s just the way it is…things will never be the same…
Do Not Starts
José Quintana vs. CHW – It’s a very clear Still ILL for a pitcher highly reliant on precise command.
Michael Kopech @ NYM – He’s in a terrible place at the moment.
Kyle Gibson @ TBR – It’s the Rays and you don’t want the anxiety of Gibson.
Hogan Harris vs. HOU – The Astros are scary and Harris doesn’t have enough wallop in his arsenal.
UPDATE: Zack Greinke vs. DET – It’s a Still ILL as Marsh gets pushed a day to start against the Yankees (that’s okay, right? The Yankees are struggling) while Greinke should not be started at all, even if there’s a slight chance at five innigs on 1 ER ball across something like 62 pitches.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Framber Valdez @ OAK – Aces gonna have a healed calf and ankle and face the Athletics. Gotta love that.
Joe Ryan vs. CHW – Aces gonna ace. Hopefully the White Sox bring out the best secondaries from Ryan. They tend to do that.
Shohei Ohtani vs. PIT – He could be pushed back and this would be Detmers (likely above Senga), but if they feel his blister is cleared up to let him go, then we stop overthinking life and start Ohtani everywhere.
James Paxton vs. NYM – Paxton allowed a grand slam in his last start, but had solid command otherwise. Let him cook.
Zach Eflin vs. BAL – He just had a rough outing and there were no red flags to suggest he’s suddenly on a downward trend. Great pitchers have bad starts and rebound far more times than not.
Justin Steele vs. STL – Ditto about Steele.
Kodai Senga @ BOS – I could see an argument for Senga in the second tier, but the strikeouts are just too tantalizing to pass up while the cutter has been working well.
Probably Starts
Clarke Schmidt vs. KCR – I’m a bit shocked we can stream Schmidt as he’s been looking as good as ever as of late. Loved his sweeper and cutter last time out.
Seth Lugo @ DET – Lugo is a fantastic streaming option as well against the lowly Tigers. Too bad the Padres aren’t as much of a winning team as we anticipated, though.
Lance Lynn @ MIN – The four-seamer and cutter skills have persisted through the rough matchups and now an easier time could mean production across the board.
Jack Flaherty @ CHC – Flaherty has done enough with his repertoire to be an easy decision here against the Cubs.
Gavin Williams vs. PHI – The heater has been spotted well upstairs, we’re just waiting for the secondaries to land low for Williams to soar in the second half.
Freddy Peralta vs. ATL – I wrestled with this and the rest of this tier mightily. Peralta is in such a good groove, yet Atlanta is arguably the toughest matchup around. I have no judgments if you want to play it safe, though Peralta is generally opponent-agnostic.
Bryce Miller vs. TOR – It’s the Jays and yet I want to take a chance on Bryce coming through with his elite four-seamer. That said, if you’re trying to limit risk, it’s better to go after one of the guys below.
Michael Soroka @ MIL – Soroka feels like a safe play for the rest of the year as a Toby if not a Holly if he can get his slider and changeup in rhythm.
Braxton Garrett vs. COL – It’s a great matchup, but Braxton hasn’t had a feel for his slider nor kept up the command of his cutter & sinker across his last three games. This feels like judgment day.
Alec Marsh @ NYY – He was pushed back from the Tigers to the Yankees and it doesn’t really matter, does it? He won’t strike out eleven again and I have my doubts for a legit second-half run, but there’s still room for a productive outing.
Yusei Kikuchi @ SEA – The Mariners usually allow breakers to excel…when they are reliant on O-Swing. Kikuchi is a little different in using his slider and curve inside the zone, which may make this a bit of a trap play. Or maybe I’m just being too big brain about it. Deep breath…okay, I’ll take the chance with Kikuchi.
Questionable Starts
JP Sears vs. HOU – Sears has been remarkable with WHIP and strikeouts this year, but tough matchups like the Astros may be wise to avoid.
Reese Olson vs. SDP – Olson’s changeup hasn’t been the pitch he hinted at early in his time inside the Detroit rotation, but there’s still hope it comes back while the slider has been stellar. Throw in solid heaters and a tendency for jammed balls in play, and you have yourself a decent streaming option.
Johan Oviedo @ LAA – He just had a brilliant outing, though I don’t trust the four-seamer getting away with as much as it did last time. Too many foul balls, which are one of the noisest pitching stats and prevented balls in play to help Oviedo get deeper into counts for punchouts.
Kyle Bradish @ TBR – He’s been super hot with one of the best sliders around, but it’s the Rays. Is it worth the gamble?
Andrew Heaney vs. LAD – Did someone say gamble?!
Tony Gonsolin @ TEX – It’s boring against a rough offense. He could go five for a Win if Heaney isn’t precise, but that’s all I’d realistically be chasing here.
Do Not Starts
Jake Irvin vs. SFG – I really want to see 95/96 mph again from Irivin with the curve stepping up, but he’s just too risky if that doesn’t happen, let alone the slightly average reward if it actually comes together.
Alex Wood @ WSN – Maybe he goes five innings, maybe he goes three and makes you stare outside the window, wondering why you make the choices you do.
Tommy Henry @ CIN – The slider isn’t heavily present these days and you don’t want to pitch in Cincy.
Ranger Suárez @ CLE – The Vargas Rule is over. Don’t do this to yourself until he shows legit command again.
Chase Anderson @ MIA – It’s Chase, even if he’s outside of Coors.
Ben Lively vs. ARI – The slider hasn’t been there for what, two months now?
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)
Whoops on SP rankings for Saturday and Sunday
Last year’s maybe?