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 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.
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: 64-47
My pick yesterday: Griffin Canning vs. DET
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 55-56
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Trevor Williams vs. COL
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 @ BOS – Aces gonna ace.
Zac Gallen vs. STL – Aces gonna ace. Please figure out the low curves and changeups again.
Joe Ryan vs. SEA – This is the matchup to get the sweeper and splitter working again.
Zach Eflin vs. MIA – Obviously.
Framber Valdez vs. TEX – LHP fare better against the Rangers and even with the recent struggles, he’s another start removed from his recent injuries. AGA tag on the line…
Bryce Miller @ MIN – He’s pumping in fastballs and getting enough strikes with his secondaries.
Freddy Peralta vs. CIN – He should be performing better than he has as of late and the Reds are not so hot right now?
Sandy Alcantara @ TBR – The Rays are cooling off and Alcantara’s changeup command is as good as we’ve seen all year.
Probably Starts
Carlos Rodón vs. NYM – I was tempted to put him in the top tier but I understand some want to see him dominate for a start before auto-starting him. Me? I’m starting him everywhere.
Gavin Williams vs. KCR – I’m obviously starting Williams and I’m shocked he’s under 20% rostered. It’s Kansas City + his high heaters open the door for his secondaries to land low and dominate. Please get those breakers down.
Seth Lugo vs. PIT – It’s the Pirates (even if they keep having these ridiculous HR games) and Lugo is a strong Toby arm. Hard to deny this start.
Marcus Stroman @ CHW – Stroman has had his ups and downs, but it’s the White Sox and you shouldn’t focus too much on the start-ot-start volatility of Stroman. He’s as consistent across the full year as they come.
Kyle Bradish @ PHI – He’s on too good of a roll to stop now as the slider is an elite pitch. As long as the fastballs don’t get hit into play, he’ll be solid.
Jack Flaherty @ ARI – Flaherty is in a good enough spot that you’re fine starting him against the Diamondbacks. I like this one the least of all the others in the tier, but it’s a clear step up from Tier 3.
Questionable Starts
Lance Lynn vs. CHC – I don’t know anymore. As long as he avoids the longball, he’s fine, but who knows. Strikeouts should flow like spice, at the very least.
Patrick Sandoval @ DET – It’s a great matchup, but Sandoval has struggled mightily with his change and slider consistency throughout the season.
Michael Lorenzen vs. LAA – Lorenzen has had the most beautiful season long schedule of any starter. He’s only faced two elite offenses (ATL and @COL) and I’m conflicted about the Angels. On one hand, they have a super high strikeout rate. On the other, they are 3rd in wRC+ across the last 14 days, even without Trout. With Lorenzen’s low strikeout ceiling, this is a ratio play and I’m not sure it’s worth it to chase.
Johan Oviedo @ SDP – The rest of these starters are highly contentious, starting with Oviedo. He’s come through with his slider plenty this year, though it all comes down to sneaking fastballs into the zone. Fortunately, the Padres allow a ton of called strikes, making this a decent option.
Hogan Harris @ SFG – He just produced against the Astros, but the skills were rough. I don’t trust it, even against the lowly Giants.
Yusei Kikuchi @ LAD – His new curveball is interesting and if he has the same four-seamer command as his last start, it won’t matter that he’s facing the Dodgers.
José Quintana @ NYY – The four-seamer command was better than expected in his last outing and it’s up to the changeup and curve to separate at the bottom of the zone. The Yankees don’t scare me at the moment, either. I imagine it’ll take another start or two for Quintana to lock in, but he could awaken here.
Tony Gonsolin vs. TOR – The Jays are in a slump offensively, but Gonsolin is so dang boring.
Ranger Suárez vs. BAL – Suárez was a touch better last time and could go on another second-half run overnight, but I wouldn’t bank on this one being the trigger against the Orioles.
Andrew Heaney @ HOU – It’s the Astros and Heaney is a desperate strikeout play.
Jake Irvin vs. COL – It’s Rockie Road and if Irvin is sitting 95-96pm, there’s a chance for six productive innings.
Brayan Bello vs. ATL – I cannot emphasize enough how good Atlanta’s offense is right now.
Do Not Starts
Alec Marsh @ CLE – I didn’t like the four-seamer in his last outing and the Guardians don’t strikeout
Alex Wood vs. OAK – I know it’s Oakland, but Wood hasn’t come through a whole lot against poor lineups and he shouldn’t go long here.
Ben Lively @ MIL – He’s been a little better than I’ve given him credit over the last few weeks and yet I still don’t want to chance it.
Peter Lambert @ WSN – Absolutely not.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Justin Steele @ STL – The Cardinals are hot, but I like where Steele is at the moment, even if it doesn’t come with the same potential ceiling as Cease.
Dylan Cease vs. CLE – Wait. Why isn’t Cease above Steele when you have him ranked higher against a better offense? First of all, is it better? The Guardians strike out as little as anyone in the league. Second, Cease didn’t have his slider last time and relied heavily on his four-seamer and curve to pick up the slack, which never happens. He’s in a more volatile state than Steele, making him a riskier play among strong options. I’ll always side floor over ceiling inside the top tier.
Kodai Senga vs. WSN – The strikeouts are flowing and I just hope the forkball does its thing.
Probably Starts
Tanner Bibee @ CHW – Bibee looked as good as we’ve seen him all season in his last outing, commanding all four of his pitches. It was a sample size of one, though, and even against the White Sox, Bibee still needs to do his part.
Chase Silseth @ DET – Silseth came out of nowhere to feature a brand new “slider” that looked more like a curve with nearly four ticks down on velocity in exchange for excellent command down-and-gloveside with massive new vertical break. It dominated and with the Tigers on the docket, he’s definitely worth the chance to replicate. New pitches are stickier than new command.
Questionable Starts
Matt Manning vs. LAA – He’s been solid, and yet the Angels are near the top of wRC+ across the last two weeks. Be careful here as Manning doesn’t have anything elite inside his arsenal.
Do Not Starts
Miles Mikolas vs. CHC – I don’t care anymore about Mikolas. His ceiling is not worth the constant BABIP battles and damage he can do to you your week.
Josiah Gray @ NYM – There could be something here with Josiah in his fastball-less approach, but we haven’t seen a long track record of sliders and curves for strikes. Throw in the Mets offense heating up (sorry, Alvarez) and you have a clear avoid to me.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)