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Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball: 7/29 & 7/30

Nick Pollack ranks the starting pitcher streamers for 7/28 & 7/29

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 StartI’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):

Nick’s Loose Team Offense Rankings (Updated 7/29)

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: 66-53

My pick yesterday: José Soriano vs. OAK – L

PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 67-52

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Austin Gomber @ SFG – L

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

 

Zack Wheeler vs. NYY – Aces gonna ace.

Paul Skenes @ HOU – Aces gonna ace.

Jack Flaherty vs. CLE – Aces gonna ace.

Logan Gilbert @ BOS – Aces gonna ace.

Nathan Eovaldi @ STL – Eovaldi should cruise here.

Luis Gil @ PHI – Gil is in a great place with his arsenal, even if this is the Phillies.

Nick Pivetta vs. SEA – Pivetta just had a disaster of a game, but the Mariners’ offense still isn’t something to fear.

Tanner Bibee @ DET – It’s the Tigers, even if I’m not the biggest Bibee fan.

Zach Eflin vs. TOR – He’s in Baltimore and has a strong crew behind him. I expect a little extra adrenaline in his first start with the club.

 

Probably Starts

 

Simeon Woods Richardson @ NYM – The sole member of the second tier is our streaming pick. He’s been far better than I’ve given him credit, including taking down the Phillies last time out.

 

Questionable Starts

 

UPDATE: Mitchell Parker @ ARI – He’s a solid Toby and the Sneks aren’t too scary.

Alec Marsh @ CHW – The White Sox are so bad.

Jose Quintana vs. MIN – The command has improved, but the Twins with Royce are not a fun matchup.

Jordan Montgomery vs. WSN – He looked fine in his return from the IL and it’s the Nationals. Let’s hope he clicks into rhythm.

Cade Povich vs. TOR – He’s getting called up as the extra man for the double-header and has a chance as a Toby against a middling lineup.

Jameson Taillon @ CIN – Taillon has done well spotting his pitches over the last month, though it’s Cin City.

DJ Herz @ ARI – He’s a pure Cherry Bomb – will he have two pitches working well?

Yariel Rodríguez @ BAL – The Orioles are not a fun offense for Yariel to face, even if his cut-fastball is creating a ton of poor contact.

Colin Rea vs. ATL – He just showcased the ability to go 6+ once again and I still don’t know what to make of the Atlanta offense.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Chris Flexen vs. KCR – We’ve seen days where he has multiple pitches and spots the edges, turning into Flexen At The Beach.

Jake Bloss vs. PIT – Is there enough in the arsneal (and leash!) to make this a worthy start?

Carson Spiers vs. CHC – He hasn’t started for a bit and I’d rather not chance it.

Andre Pallante vs. TEX – Pallante has had a shockingly productive run, but the Rangers bats are heating up with the Texas summer.

Darius Vines @ MIL – Vines may be getting a start here and nothing suggests it’s worth your time.

Bowden Francis @ BAL – How long is he even going to go?

 

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.

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

Auto Starts

 

Tyler Glasnow @ SDP – Aces gonna ace.

Corbin Burnes vs. TOR – Aces gonna ace.

Robbie Ray vs. OAK – Let’s be honest with ourselves. He was so good against the Dodgers and now it’s the Athletics.

Luis Castillo @ BOS – Aces gonna ace, even in Fenway. I’m a little worried the slower slider isn’t returning, but the fastball floor is still excellent.

Aaron Nola vs. NYY – Aces gonna ace.

Gerrit Cole @ PHI – Aces gonna hopefully give us more confidence in Cole moving forward as he faces a legit offense.

Max Scherzer @ STL – Scherzer was fantastic in his last start and gets a cushy matchup.

Justin Steele @ CIN – Aces gonna ace…for now. He’s holding on by a thread and he should come through against the Reds in Cin City.

 

Probably Starts

 

Gavin Williams @ DET – The arsenal is coming together, just don’t throw another hanging breaker to Baez.

Hunter Brown vs. PIT – He’s been on a roll with an approach that seemingly changes every start. But hey, the Pirates.

Michael Wacha @ CHW – It’s the CrySox + his changeup is still good.

Chris Bassitt @ BAL – It’s a tough one in Baltimore, but it’s Bassitt.

 

Questionable Starts

 

Griffin Canning vs. COL – Rockie Road is a horrible lineup right now and Canning has a solid enough floor to make him the streaming option.

James Paxton vs. SEA – The Mariners are horrific, though we’ve seen some wacky starts from Paxton. Throw in Fenway + a debut start for a new team and it’s a riskier start than usual.

Ryne Nelson vs. WSN – Nelson’s heater has been fantastic…outside of his last start when he failed to locate it properly. He could rebound here.

Cal Quantrill @ LAA – It’s the Angels away from Coors. The splitter isn’t the pitch we saw in May/June, but it’s serviceable as Quantrill could find himself six frames.

Sean Manaea vs. MIN – I don’t love Manaea against the Royce-powered Twins, but we also know he has a long leash and improved command this year.

Edward Cabrera @ TBR – Cabrera is a proper Cherry Bomb against a struggling offense. Just. Throw. Strikes.

David Festa @ NYM – love what we saw from Festa in his return to the majors and I hope I feel silly for ranking him this low.

Jeffrey Springs vs. MIA – He’s returning from TJS and gets an easy ramp-up start against the Marlins crew. It’s a Still ILL, though, especially with his heater sitting two ticks down in his last rehab start (over three on his slider!). The changeup is still looking pretty, however. Just play this one safe (he could go just four frames, it’s the Rays) and take it from there. This shouldn’t be a massively productive game.

Jonathan Cannon vs. KCR – If Cannon can find the edges with his sinker, he could mimic a proper Toby. Witt Jr. is massively better at home though…

JP Sears @ SFG – Sears is your standard Cherry Bomb, regardless of opponent. Don’t let the Giants sway you.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Bryce Elder @ MIL – The Brewers are without Yelich, but the Win chance isn’t as high as you think. Elder is too much of a wild card.

Matt Waldron vs. LAD – Sure, the knuckleball could be so chaotic for the Dodgers lineup that Waldron dismantles batters for 6+. Or his knuckleball is as erratic as ever and he gets pummeled tossing his other offerings.

Lance Lynn vs. TEX – Lynn has been shockingly productive over the last month, though it includes a 10 ER start. Do you really need to put yourself in harm’s way?

Bailey Falter @ HOU – Falter is returning from the IL and we’ve seen some magic here and there with his elite extension.

Frankie Montas vs. CHC – Sure, maybe it’s the BSB and six frames. It’s likely mediocrity as you wonder why you considered it.

Patrick Corbin @ ARI – Corbin has gone cutter-heavy for two straight starts and looked far better. Not incredible, but possibly fantasy-relevant. One more start of the new approach and I could be convinced to try it out as a streamer.

Joe Ross vs. ATL – Is he really coming back though? Like really?

Joey Wentz vs. CLE – It’s likely a bullpen game. No thanks.

 

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

 

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

Nick Pollack

Founder of Pitcher List. Creator of CSW, The List, and SP Roundup. Worked with MSG, FanGraphs, CBS Sports, and Washington Post. Former college pitcher, travel coach, pitching coach, and Brandeis alum. Wants every pitcher to be dope.

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