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.
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: 52-42
My pick yesterday: JP Sears @ DET
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 49-45
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: JP Sears @ DET
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
Max Scherzer @ ARI – Aces gonna ace. He gets the worst matchup of the top tier but he’s Scherzer.
Pablo López vs. KCR – Please get the changeup working…
Bobby Miller vs. PIT – Miller had two rough outings, a middling one, and now gets the Pirates. There’s still room to grow with his secondary strike rates, but that sinker is glorious with a ton of O-Swing and fantastic command. I see legit Top 10 upside for Miller in the second half if that slider creeps closer to the zone and the changeup or curve become reliable pitches. Sorry for the tangent, go start him against the Pirates. My bad.
Justin Steele @ MIL – His four-seamer is more like a cutter and comes with plenty of precision. The slider finally woke up last start as well and the Brewers shouldn’t give him a rough time.
José Berríos @ CHW – He’s on a roll and the White Sox aren’t enough to stop us.
Probably Starts
J.P. France vs. COL – It’s Rockie Road for a Toby on a winning ball club. I dig it.
Alex Cobb vs. SEA – The splitter didn’t get whiffs last time and the Mariners looked at Cobb to say Hold My Beer.
Jon Gray @ BOS – I have a hope that Gray is steadily getting his feel back for his four-seamer, though he’s not quite there yet. The slider is still solid, though.
Michael Soroka @ CLE – Soroka had a better slider in his return to the bigs and with his fastball command, we go with this.
Questionable Starts
Eduardo Rodriguez vs. OAK – It’s a Still ILL, even against the Athletics. I understand starting him regardless, it’s your call.
UPDATE: Kodai Senga @ ARI – You never know what you’re going to get from Senga.
Seth Lugo vs. LAA – Lugo is solid, the Padres defense is great, and the Angels are without Trout.
Lance Lynn vs. TOR – We’re gonna get eight strikeouts with 4 ER, aren’t we.
Brayan Bello vs. TEX – I dig Bello, I hate facing the Rangers as a right-hander. If the slider were cooking, I’d have more faith, but just as a sinker/changeup guy, I think we pass.
Hogan Harris @ DET – It’s an interesting streaming option, though Harris doesn’t carry a massive ceiling to force me to do it. Good for 15-teamers.
Dean Kremer @ NYY – He’s a bit of a Cherry Bomb with his volatility, but if the four-seamer and cutter are cruising at the top, the Yankee offense could roll over.
Randy Vásquez vs. BAL – You’re hoping for five innings of inside heaters that stifle the Orioles for 2 ER and a 1.20 WHIP.
Graham Ashcraft @ WSN – His slider was filthy last time out, though the cutter command needs a lot of work. We know the floor and it’s terrifying.
Adrian Houser vs. CHC – The Cubs are meh and could give in to Houser’s plan of chucking fastballs and generating outs.
Tommy Henry vs. NYM – The slider has made him a strong arm across his last three outings and the Mets aren’t as scary as the offenses leading the bottom tier.
Do Not Starts
Taijuan Walker @ TBR – Walker has had some weird magic as of late, but this is Tampa Bay. You avoid Tampa Bay.
Josiah Gray vs. CIN – The sinker may be the ticket to his success, but the Reds are hot and I just can’t trust Josiah to come through here.
Bryan Hoeing vs. STL – There’s an outside chance that Hoeing and his sinkerball can squeeze five innings of production here.
Steven Matz @ MIA – Hey it’s Matz! Against the Marlins! Why is he down here then. You know why. Ah. Right. He hasn’t been good for a long time, let’s wait and see.
Yonny Chirinos vs. PHI – Maybe I’m too low on Chirinos as the splitter is making a small comeback, but the Phils have thump and make this too risky for the small reward.
Patrick Sandoval @ SDP – He hasn’t had both his changeup and slider working on the same day, and even though the Padres are not the stacked lineup we thought they were, I don’t want to chase the massive anxiety that is starting The Irish Panda.
Darren McCaughan @ SFG – He’s taking over for Bryce Miller in the Mariners rotation and sports a sloooooow sweeper and changeup at 81 mph each with 90/91 mph sinkers. It’s not the ceiling you want and this could be fewer than five frames.
Alec Marsh @ MIN – There’s some intrigue here for Marsh but we need to see him dominate before he gets any sort of consideration.
Osvaldo Bido @ LAD – Bido has a shot if he can jam Dodgers batters with his heaters and get some slider whiffs.
Cal Quantrill vs. ATL – It’s Atlanta, but if Quantrill gets the sinker inside and off the plate with cutters jamming left-handers, maybe there’s a chance?
Chase Anderson @ HOU – It’s Chase against the Astros. You don’t need me.
UPDATE: Tommy Milone @ SFG – OH SNAP.
UPDATE: Ken Waldichuk @ DET – Harris was pushed to Thursday and Waldichuk gets the call today, likely leading a laundry list of relievers for a bullpen game.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Framber Valdez vs. SEA – He’s coming off an ankle injury, but if they say he’s fine, he’s fine.
Tyler Glasnow vs. PHI – You spin the wheel each time Glasnow pitches.
George Kirby @ HOU – It’s Houston, but Kirby has been too solid not to start him.
Freddy Peralta vs. CHC – Peralta was far better in his last outing and the Cubs are not a deterrent of an offense.
Julio Urías vs. PIT – He’s just one start removed from the IL and wasn’t sharp in the slightest.
Nathan Eovaldi @ BOS – I sure hope the 96 mph velocity is still there.
Marcus Stroman @ MIL – Stroman hasn’t been in as good of a groove as we saw across the first two months, but still very much worth your time.
Eury Pérez vs. STL – Ignore the start against Atlanta and start the youngin’ while you still can.
Tanner Bibee vs. KCR – Bibee has more work to do with his repertoire (yes, even last outing) and yet, it’s the Royals. Let him fly, of course.
Probably Starts
Jack Flaherty @ MIA – His breakers were working against the Yankees, but we’ve seen how volatile he can be.
Yusei Kikuchi @ CHW – The curve and slider were still in the zone last time out even during the blip and those skills have turned Kikuchi into a solid arm across the last month.
Michael Lorenzen vs. OAK – It’s a Toby against a horrid offense. We start those.
Questionable Starts
Hogan Harris @ DET – It’s an interesting streaming option, though Harris doesn’t carry a massive ceiling to force me to do it. Good for 15-teamers.
Kyle Bradish @ NYY – He’s been performing well and yet I’m hesitant as I still don’t like the fastballs and his curve often goes on vacation.
MacKenzie Gore vs. CIN – The strikeout upside is there, we just don’t know what this Cherry Bomb will look like.
Luis Severino vs. BAL – He’s in the third tier simply because we can all understand that Severino’s slider and change could look marvelous in the blink of an eye. I suggest benching in most cases, though.
Ryne Nelson vs. NYM – His fastball/change approach could be the answer for Nelson. I wouldn’t call myself a zealot, but I’m curious to see how this plays out.
Do Not Starts
Brandon Williamson @ WSN – He’s like a Wade Miley apprentice. Not really the thing I want to chase.
Cristopher Sánchez @ TBR – His slider and change have complemented the sinker decently well, but this is the Rays.
Carlos Carrasco @ ARI – I’m sorry Carrasco, even with your slider and change looking good, you’re still not doing a whole lot for fantasy teams and the Diamondbacks are not a crew to casually mess with.
Kutter Crawford vs. TEX – It’s the Rangers, even if we’re encouraged by the long-term outlook of Crawford’s four-seamer paired with sliders. Please throw 30%+ sliders and sweepers.
Johan Oviedo @ LAD – There’s a shot if Oviedo has his precise four-seamer. Obviously not one to take, of course.
Jordan Lyles @ CLE – Oh Lyles. You deserve one Win, at least.
Tanner Banks vs. TOR – Cease was pushed to Friday and you want to stay far away from this outing.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)