SP Streamers for today's, tomorrow's and the day after tomorrow's games for fantasy baseball.
Every day of the 2025 baseball season, I'll be looking at today's 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!
There is a second table (and now third for PL Pro members) 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.
And of course, there are my streaming picks of the day. Please keep in mind that for my streaming record, I am forced to pick a streamer every day even if they are in the bottom tier. 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 Do Not Start pitchers unless 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 and it applies to a smaller audience.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to showcase a table of how we're ranking offenses, granted by our PLV powered Projections (in alphabetical order by tier):
Remember, these offensive rankings are based on each offense's Process+ so far this year and how we project their lineups moving forward. It means you're going to see a little different offensive rankings than you may see elsewhere and there will always be some surprises. This is based on skills, not purely results! If you have questions about these offense rankings, reach out to Kyle Bland (@blandalytics).
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 PLV, 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.
Note: If no pitcher under 20% rostered would have qualified for a "Streaming Win," no loss is granted.
(Opener) - Outlines that a pitcher is being opened for that day & the pitcher listed will follow the opener.
Nick's 2025 Streamer Record: 81-40
My Pick yesterday: Loss - Zebby Matthews vs. BOS
My Pick today: Kumar Rocker @ SEA
My Pick tomorrow: Tyler Anderson vs. CHW
My Pick day after tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
My picks for the day after tomorrow are located at the bottom of this article for PL Pro members.
In addition, PL Pro Members have access to my 14-Day Sit/Start SP Grid, ranking all expected starters into the four tiers across the next fourteen days. You can find it on the PL Pro Hub Page.
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 79-42
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Loss - Zebby Matthews @ CLE
PL Bot's Pick today: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Pick tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Pick day Sunday: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Picks are located at the bottom of this article for PL Pro members.
Thursday 7/31 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
George Kirby vs. TEX - I love his new embrace of four-seamers nibbling the edges and low secondaries. He may get his former "AGA" back if he keeps it up.
Andrew Abbott vs. ATL - Abbott returned to form last time and Atlanta is missing Acuña again.
Probably Starts
NONE - I don't change my rankings just to satisfy these tiers. You deserve better than that,
Questionable Starts
Ryan Pepiot @ NYY - Not a great matchup and I'd rather not chance it with Pepiot lacking consistency in feel start-to-start. But at least Judge isn't in the lineup?
Kumar Rocker @ SEA - Hey. I know you elected to feature your cutter as your #4 pitch last time out. It didn't work. Please don't do that again.
Do Not Starts
Marcus Stroman vs. TBR - The Yankees haven't acquired another arm yet, which makes this likely to be Stroman's final start. For real this time. We're hoping for five frames of 3 ER or fewer with a Win. That's it.
Carlos Carrasco @ CIN - He's back! Atlanta needs arms and maybe Cookie can replicate Stroman's goals for Atlanta in GABP.
Friday 8/1 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Joe Ryan @ CLE - Aces gonna ace.
Carlos Rodón @ MIA - Aces gonna ace.
Logan Gilbert vs. TEX - Aces gonna ace.
Hunter Brown @ BOS - Aces gonna ace.
Robbie Ray @ NYM - Aces gonna ace.
Ranger Suárez vs. DET - He bounced back brilliantly against the Yankees.
Nick Pivetta vs. STL - We've seen no signs of slowing down.
Probably Starts
Kevin Gausman vs. KCR - Gausman had it in last outing. Here we go.
David Peterson vs. SFG - Peterson is a little bit of a WHIP killer, but the Win chance is too great.
Jack Flaherty @ PHI - Flaherty's velocity can be a major factor for his success, though I love when he has feel for both his slider and curve as he does now.
Merrill Kelly @ ATH - Kelly is likely not making this start as he should be traded at the deadline. If he's still in Arizona, I guess we roll with it despite "Sacré Verde". I wouldn't touch the replacement arm.
Tyler Anderson vs. CHW - Anderson's changeup is still great and it's the CrySox, likely without Luis Robert Jr.
Cade Horton vs. BAL - The Orioles don't scare me and Horton is decent enough.
Gavin Williams vs. MIN - Who are you these days? WHAT CAN YOU DO?! I love the sinker addition, but let's find good strikes, eh?
Trevor Rogers @ CHC - It's the Cubs and maybe I should have him in the third tier, but Rogers has been on a tear. Are you really going to bench him?
Questionable Starts
Jose Quintana @ WSN - Quintana is decent enough with his curveball and sinker to LHB that this can work. Not enough of a ceiling to risk it in standard leagues, IMO.
Matthew Liberatore @ SDP - I'm still a little worried about Liberatore and the Padres are heating up.
Brady Singer vs. ATL - Singer was atrocious then at his best across his last two. Let me know how the coin flip goes.
Michael Wacha @ TOR - It's the Jays in Toronto. That's terrifying.
Shane Baz vs. LAD - Baz is so close and maybe the Dodgers aren't their best selves right now. If Baz can execute the "BSB" with his heater and curve + nail the cutter and change for strikes, he's a stud.
Jack Leiter @ SEA - It's a great situation for Leiter to be at his best, but we rarely see it. Last start! It was better, but not refined.
Jacob Lopez vs. ARI - Lopez is a "HIPSTER" facing a weakened Diamondbacks offense.
Shane Smith @ LAA - Alright Shane, you're going to get back on the horse now, right? And not get limited to fewer than five frames or 75 pitches...?
Do Not Starts
Clayton Kershaw @ TBR - I do not trust Kershaw at all these days.
Janson Junk vs. NYY - If he can be a JunkBaller, there's a chance, but the risk is too high.
Andrew Heaney @ COL - Heaney is too volatile for me + Coors.
Mitchell Parker vs. MIL - You know, Parker has gone two straight starts leaning into his slider to RHB (it's about dang time!) and it's worked. I wonder...
Cooper Criswell vs. HOU - Oh hey, what's going on Criswell. At least you have experience going 4/5 frames of decency.
Bryce Elder @ CIN - Elder's floor is lava. I'm too old for that game.
Antonio Senzatela vs. PIT - Senz-A does what Senz-A does.
Saturday 8/2 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
New for PL Pro members - I am making the streaming table for an extra day out (no write-ups as these pitchers change often). I wanted to add a bonus for those who support us without taking anything away from everyone else, and I thought this was a good compromise.
In addition, PL Pro Members have access to my Sit/Start SP Grid, ranking all expected starters into the four tiers across the next fourteen days. You can find it on the PL Pro Hub Page.
