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, with a minimum of 5 IP. Close calls are decided by Playback chat.
Nick’s 2023 Streamer Record: 72-60
My pick yesterday: Emerson Hancock @ KCR
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 67-65
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Jordan Lyles vs. SEA
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
Luis Castillo @ KCR – Aces gonna ace. Duh.
Kevin Gausman vs. PHI – Aces also gonna ace.
Clayton Kershaw vs. MIL – Gonna be an aces gonna ace soon.
Justin Verlander @ MIA – Probably not an aces gonna ace but it’s safer than Snell’s matchup.
Blake Snell vs. BAL – Aces gonna likely ace but also precarious with his walks and against an electric Orioles team.
James Paxton @ WSN – He’s been after the AGA tag and has been slightly trending down across his last three outings.
Kenta Maeda vs. DET – Maeda has certainly been an ace for you since returning from the IL, though his last outing was the first we saw where he didn’t earn splitter whiffs…against the Tigers. The slider stepped up and made most ignore it, and he’s fortunate to get them again. Let’s hope the splitter returns so he doesn’t have to do the same trick twice.
Probably Starts
Andrew Abbott vs. CLE – He rebounded in a big way last time out, though I’m not going to ignore the floor he’s displayed across the last month.
Aaron Nola @ TOR – I love that Nola is going mostly four-seamer and curve these days. I hate that the other 20% of his pitches are allowing so much damage. That has to end, right?
Jesús Luzardo vs. HOU – Nick, he’s been so rough lately! Yeah, I know. I also know his skills were there against the Rangers and he had a rare blip against the Yankees. I don’t think that’s the new bar for Luzardo now. I’m going for it.
Dean Kremer @ SDP – Kremer’s cutter has been fantastic and the Padres offense has been weird, to say the least. It’s a solid Win chance and if the four-seamers are peppered upstairs, he’s all good.
Aaron Civale @ SFG – Civale hasn’t been as smooth sailing as we hoped during his first two games with the Rays and we can only hope it’ll work out well in San Francisco. That’s as good as it can be.
Charlie Morton vs. NYY – Ehhhhhh, he’s such a Cherry Bomb but there is a great Win chance and strikeouts should be there.
Jon Gray vs. LAA – It was far better in San Francisco last time for Gray and while the four-seamer isn’t exactly precise, it’s better than we saw before, while the slider is cooking. I think it’s enough to believe he’s on an upward trend.
Questionable Starts
Matthew Liberatore vs. OAK – We saw the best Liberatore start of his career last time out. It’s unwise to believe he’s hit a plateau, though it’s likely worthwhile to take a shot here against a poor offense and see how he looks before everyone runs to the wire.
Javier Assad vs. CHW – Assad came through across seven frames against the Jays and yet…I’m not sold. It wasn’t an impressive arsenal and I think he got awfully fortunate. That said, it’s the White Sox and Assad’s cutter could be better located this time around to earn outs + sinkers inside to right-handers may tie up the poor White Sox lineup.
Johan Oviedo @ NYM – The slider is great, the four-seamer generally is not. He’s a Cherry Bomb through and through and that may be worthwhile against a demoralized Mets crew.
Reese Olson @ MIN – Olson had himself a strong outing last time out, though the changeup is not what I want it to be. He’s had that slider even in the poor outings, which speaks more to things going his way than a sustainable change. But hey, maybe he puts it together for a repeat matchup against the Twins.
Do Not Starts
Reid Detmers @ TEX – With Canning tossing 70 pitches in relief on Monday, I imagine the Angels will turn their six-man into a five-man and push Detmers up two days from Friday to Wednesday to pitch on four-days rest. It’s a far worse matchup for the young southpaw and I’d avoid it while hoping he flexes skills that make us want to jump back in a potential start against the Reds after.
MacKenzie Gore vs. BOS – He’s a Cherry Bomb who you may want to consider against the Red Sox, but Gore has been far worse in his last two months than the first two.
Mike Clevinger @ CHC – We’ve seen some Clevinger magic, I just hate chasing a guy who relies mostly on two pitches where neither one is exceptional.
Paul Blackburn @ STL – Blackburn didn’t have the skills we want with his slider and change last time out and for a guy who is already a risk given the team he pitches for, it makes for a tough gamble.
Ross Stripling (Opener) vs. TBR – Stripling has moments and will likely get an opener to give him a higher Win chance, but the Rays are still dangerous – even if they are possibly distracted and stumbling lately.
Wade Miley @ LAD – Wade is looking solid, but it’s the Dodgers. Go for the next one as this carries a limited ceiling.
Tylor Megill vs. PIT – Megill isn’t doing enough with his slider and changeup.
Austin Gomber vs. ARI – Eight of his last nine starts have come with 2 ER or fewer, where he’s earned five Wins, a 2.72 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in that time…with just a 14.4% strikeout rate. This can’t continue…right?
Alec Marsh (Opener) vs. SEA – Not the worst matchup I’ve seen, but Marsh is very distant from his eleven-strikeout game.
Noah Syndergaard @ CIN – Naaaaaaaah.
Randy Vásquez @ ATL – It’s Atlanta. I can see a world where Randy induces enough weak contact to survive, but hot dang good luck rolling that Nat 20.
Slade Cecconi @ COL – It’s Coors and Slade is not a pitcher to trust.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
George Kirby @ KCR – He’s looking like an ace, though I will mention the Royals are a better offense suddenly + his slider wasn’t McAwesome McFilthy last time out (yes, even with 9 IP 0 ER!)
Zac Gallen @ SDP – Gallen has his curve locked in and the fastball is doing great things upstairs for whiffs and landing down for called strikes.
Chris Sale @ WSN – Sale looked great in his return from the IL and is stretched out enough to make this easily worthwhile.
Tarik Skubal @ CLE – Skubal’s four-seamer is too good to bench.
Lance Lynn vs. MIL – Lynn has been phenomenal with the Dodgers and the Brewers aren’t scary.
Probably Starts
Corbin Burnes @ LAD – What, Burnes in the second tier!? It’s the Dodgers + Burnes’ cutter isn’t overpowering batters as we’ve seen in the past. He hasn’t fanned more than six in five starts.
José Quintana @ STL – I’m shocked Quintana isn’t more rostered as his command is back to its great 2022 self. He just cruised past Atlanta with it and the Cardinals make for an easier time…even if the red birds have been hot lately.
Questionable Starts
NONE – We only have twelve pitchers and it means there aren’t any that I’d consider “not great but I can see it.” I don’t add pitchers to tiers just to make a nicer table.
Do Not Starts
Xzavion Curry vs. DET – It’s the most interesting start of this tier and yet I cannot endorse a guy who relied on a 90% slider strike rate in his last outing.
Patrick Corbin vs. BOS – Even a Patrick has his days.
Rich Hill vs. ARI – He doesn’t go deep enough to consider. Maybe he gets opened for and snatches a Win…?
Angel Zerpa (Opener) vs. SEA – I imagine the Royals will use an opener for Zerpa once again and I have very little interest here, save for a slightly larger Win chance given the innings he’ll likely pitch.
Adam Wainwright vs. NYM – The Cards are going to let Waino continue in hopes he gets two more Wins before season’s end to earn #200. Good luck, Cardinal legend.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)